Thank you. One of my New Year's resolutions was to write more thank you notes, and since this is where I most often write, here's a quick thank you note for reading my blog and passing it along to others. I owe John and Stu the Wine Genius promoter's fees, truly. Stu's forwarded my blog to half the serious Bordeaux wine drinkers in the Twin Cities and beyond - way better than I deserve! He also sent it to Philip Dorwart, which garnered the surprise mention on Cities 97 last Thursday, too cool for school. And you may have noticed comments from "Whatsername" in a few of my posts, which if you follow her linked name, you'll discover she's the anonymous author of a Twin Cities Business magazine blog called Company Time. Why anonymous? Because she writes the nitty gritty - and sometimes girlie! - details about life in corporate Minneapolis. It's a riot, insightful and gossipy and smart. And she loves to eat and cook! Wish I knew who the heck she is, I'd like her in a flash, I can tell! But for now, we'll just know each other online, and that's pretty sweet too. Who knew the internet would be this fun? Crazow.

And for everyone else, thanks for reading, man. Keep cooking, and eating, and telling me about it, and I'll do the same. Cheers!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Nothin' like a little love on VD, we all need some love, right? If you're cooking up love for your honey, which I most often do (although not tonight; more on that, below), it's hard to beat the, uh, aphrodisiac perfume of truffles, even in something as simple as Chicken Soup with Bacon, Asparagus & Truffle Oil (add warm, crusty bread for a fully sensual experience, crunch). Or, it never hurts to bring on a little heat, baby, perhaps in the form of Pasta with Tuna Sauce. And for dessert, chocolate but of course, even something as basic as Killer Chocolate Sauce served warm and melty over really good ice cream. Lick the bowl. Rarrr!

My love already arrived, and not in the form of chocolate (perhaps later), jewelry (not later, I'm quite sure, oh well), a card (certainly later) or flowers (hopefully later?), but in...an email from Baseball Mom Beth.

Huh?

Well, Beth just happened to be listening to Cities 97 this morning, and just happened to catch a segment with "Chef Philip," and Chef Philip just happens to be none other than Philip Dorwart of Create Catering, where we just happened to have our amazing dinner last Friday night... So? Well, after I wrote about our dinner, Stu the Wine Genius sent Philip the link to my blog (thanks man!), and Philip scoped it out (eek! nice!), and in turn gave Ye Old Moderate Epicurean some sweet raves this morning as he chatted about food and dining blogs - and naked sushi! - with hosts Lee Valsvik and and BT. You can listen here, if you're so inclined (the "2/14 Chef Philip" segment).

So gosh, thanks to My Super Surprise Valentines - Beth, Stu, and Philip!

How do I top that VD thrill? Well, I probably don't (sorry John!), although I'm gonna give it the old college try when we whisk off for love=food in the bar at Cafe Lurcat. It's abso-friggin-lutely (to paraphrase Mr. Big from Sex and the City) a pommes frites and vino night for me, my friends. Chocolate to finish (just like you)! Hopefully completely immoderate. (Back with moderation over the weekend, don't worry...) Oh. Yeah.