Grilled Pork Tenderloin, my Favorite Food Pic of 2006 - healthy, fresh, al fresco dining; nothing beats it!

Navy Beans Sauteed with Cabbage and Bacon, my Favorite Recipe of 2006 - quick, healthy, delicious, and filling; yep, works for me!

Happy New Year! I had a great New Year's Eve, fabulous food, top-notch bubbly...just kidding! I actually was sick on NYE, I rang in the new year 1) nauseated, 2) with a crushing headache, and 3) thankfully, eventually soundly asleep. BOR-ING! I've been sick on NYE once before, around '94 or '95, and I can now report that it totally sucks. Oh well! Perhaps it means '07 will RAWK! That's my plan, anyhow...

BIG plans for this year, in fact! I don't know what they are yet, but when I do, you'll be the first to know! Let's assume it includes some Damn Good Times - in moderation, of course.

Last night was the first time I actually cooked something in more than a week - in 2007, as it were. (I really felt like hell there for awhile, eek.) Anyhow, Nathan, John, and I scarfed down open-faced steak and mushroom sandwiches, so delicious (especially since I terribly, naughtily dipped the bread in wine-y pan juices, rarrr...).

I'll be having my First 2007 Official Good Time tomorrow night - a pre-40th birthday dinner pour moi, with Suz and The Coreman, the Maven and Brian, and of course my Johnny, tomorrow night at Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's hoppin', stylin' Minneapolis venture, Chamber's Kitchen. There should be a few tasties and laughs around that table - yeah, baby! I'll be wearing something rock-n-roll (I'm in a badass, don't-mess-with-me mood as I approach 40) and this gorgeous necklace, received today from my dear Suz. She couldn't wait for me to open it - and I can see why! It's vintage and lovely and looks a bit like a present, how perfect is that?

And then Saturday, the actual dreaded (birth)day, a lovely post-Nathan-basketball-game luncheon at La La Lucia's.

And then? But of course, stay tuned...