Such a pretty, gray day. I just love snow, ice, freezing rain, slush, and gusting winds in April. Refreshing! Plus, it's so great for the hair, shoes, and spirit. Yeah.

Actually, it is good for the spirit...to get the giggles. Which is exactly what happened last night, after another amazing performance of Jersey Boys, when Mom and I had to make our way across the street to the parking ramp. The icy-slushy sidewalks made for excruciatingly slow, dangerous going (in heels no less, ack). The wind was too strong for an umbrella. So we just had to take it, 40 mph gusts driving heavy, wet snow into our hair, faces, and coats. We thankfully made it inside, took one look at each other, and burst out laughing. What else can you do? We looked like two drowned rats! At least it was the end of the night, sheesh.

Despite the nightmare weather, it was a pretty fantastic night. As I said, Jersey Boys completely rocked (again), I loved seeing it a second time. We preceded the performance with a lovely dinner at Palomino - garlicky shrimp scampi for Mom, a bowl of the best minestrone I have ever had for me. That soup, I craved it today. Rich broth, chewy pasta, tender beans and vegetables, topped with a crouton and a generous grating of cheese.

I couldn't have eaten it today, though, too full from the coconut rice pudding I had at Suz's this morning (Friday Morning Coffee with Suz)! OMG, delicious, creamy, decadent, the perfect comfort food. Who the hell needs lunch when you have coconut rice pudding? We did our usual gab and shriek and evil gossip and I'm now fortified with good cheer for the weekend. Hey, we all know our fair share of unhappy, crazy people - they're everywhere, unforch - but nothing balances it all out better than other amazing women - girlfriends, sisters, step/mothers, aunts. I am disgustingly lucky to have them all and oh, am I grateful, very, very grateful. Thanks - yet again - ladies!

So! Every-other Friday I have dinner a la moi, and this happens to be one of those Fridays. As I've mentioned before (bit repetitive today, sorry), I take the opportunity to make and eat things that no one else in the fam much digs: kale, okra, tofu, polenta, brown rice, squash, brussels sprouts, beans, miso, beets, veggie burgers, cabbage. Good things. Healthy-yummy things. Things that some men and children have decided to not like (long sigh). Tonight I'm planning tabbouleh (heavy on the parsley, tomatoes, and cukes), a garbanzo salad I bought at Whole Foods (with mint and red onions, tasty), and braised kale. Rarrr...

With lots of HOT tea! In front of a WARM fire! Baby, it's cold outside - stay warm out there!

All hail kale! OMG I hated the stuff when I was kid - or at least I thought that I did, I never actually tried it. My Grandma Meyer cooked it, long and slow, with some form of pork (I think), which sounds absolutely delicious to me now but egads it stunk up her house. I don't know when I turned the kale corner - probably about the time I turned the cheese-steak-salad-egg-nuts-tuna corner, around age 14 or so. And thank goodness! Kale is wonderfully nutritious, easy to cook, and when braised and then drizzled with best-quality (syrupy, rich) balsamic vinegar... The. Kill.

Check out this Star Tribune review of Gary Taubes' new book, Good Calories, Bad Calories. Taubes stirred the pot - BIG time - with his 2002 New York Times Magazine article, What If It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?, when he poked a big fat hole in dietary recommendations to avoid fats and eat grains. I'm no low-carb fanatic (moderation, natch), but I do steer away from most processed foods, refined grains, and sugar and try to fill my plate with veggies, add some protein, add a small amount of whole grains, and include some fat (olive oil, butter, avocado, and/or nuts). I get off track sometimes, of course, especially after trips or parties (woo hoo!). And then I feel like crap, retain water, and put on weight (not woo hoo!). Moderation, baby! Real food, prepared simply, in moderation. (Like kale!) Yeah.

Aannnd, speaking of food (awkward transition alert, sorry), Happy Birthday to my King Foodie father-in-law John!

Hey, me again, back to report that I roasted yet another buttery, crispy chicken, and oh my. So good. Here's the way to eat it - preferably alone, standing up, directly from the cutting board, dipping pieces right into the bowl of pan juices. Yeah, oh yeah. Now I'm properly fortified for our neighborhood women's association meeting - wine and chat, here I come!

Here are the veggies and herbs (from my LaFinca veggie share) that I have to play with this weekend:

carrots
fennel
green beans
corn
kale
tomatoes
cucumber
zucchini
summer squash
onions
basil
dill

The carrots and fennel are terrific additions to a packet of Potatoes on the Grill. Summer squash would be nice too. In addition, I love steamed carrots with a little butter and lots of fresh dill and lemon.

The green beans, oh man, I'm so roasting half of them for Roasted Vegetable Panzanella, one of my very favorite meals. The other half I'll save for Spicy Braised Green Beans, which calls for tomato and onion as well. Fried Walleye with some Spicy Braised Green Beans? Ohhh, now that's a summer meal. What night can I pull that off? Might have to wait until Monday...

I didn't feel like boiling a big pot of water last night, just for John and me, so I sliced the kernels off of a couple of ears of corn and sauteed them quickly in a bit of browned butter (adds a lovely, nutty flavor). Salt and pepper, done. Easy and sooo yummy. I think I'll do the same for the kids tomorrow night.

The basil is going to become a small batch of pesto - I like to have a bit on hand for stirring into sauteed corn (stir in a diced tomato with the pesto, so pretty). Or for swirling into Instant Vegetable Soup (an assortment of vegetables grated together, brought to a quick simmer with water, and finished off with a sprinkle of cheese; delicious and very nutritious, and also a good way to use up veggie-share veggies!), which makes a perfect, quick lunch.

The cucumber already became Cucumber-Mint Raita, and I already ate it, ha. Ditto for the zucchini (see below for Zucchini-Tomato Gratin).

The kale, hmmm, there's not much of it so I'll probably just saute it with garlic, then steam it with a small amount of water until it's quite tender. With salt and pepper, and a drizzle of good balsamic, it's pretty hard to beat. Even if no one else in my family thinks so...

Yeah. It's shaping up to be a very colorful, healthy, moderate (no parties, no party food!) weekend. Yay, my butt lurves veggies!