It struck me how young, and trim, Fugaise Chef Don Saunders was last night (here with Ana and Rudy). How does he do it, working so hard, with all that fabulous food? Man, I do not feel young and trim this morning, whew. I am t..i..r..e..d. Oh it was worth it, definitely, I had such a blast last night. But I stayed up until 2 a.m. documenting it all for the blog. Two a.m.? I can't do that! I am WAY too old for such behavior. And it takes its toll on me, I just can't bounce back from a late night the way I used to be able to. Sigh. My feet are back on the ground today. Along with the bags under my eyes...

I'm thinking a nice piece of fish for dinner tonight. I have to haul Siggy Roo over to the groomer anyhow, makes it pretty simple to bop into Coastal Seafoods and pick up something nutritious. Oh, I know, fish soup. That sounds delicious. Slightly involved, but I can do the broth portion ahead. It's a Gourmet Cookbook recipe and it rocks (I'll post it below, in comments)! A movie, and home for fish soup, that'll get me back on track. Little walk. Little bath. Oh yeah, I'll be good as new.

Oh my, I am tired this afternoon, whew. Getting through, however, got Sigs to the groomer, visited Coastal Seafoods and picked up some halibut and grouper, whipped through Byerly's to pick up a few staples, then made my way back here to start the soup. And to think through a little brunch for tomorrow - Rishia Zimmern and baby Noah are coming to visit us, yay!

So this soup, Fish Soup with Bread and Rouille. I've made it several times, and it is truly delicious, a big favorite in this household. From Gourmet Cookbook: This is one of the best fish soups we've ever had. It's not at all aggressive; rather, it's light and brothy, and it takes a faintly smoky turn from the grilled bread used to make its croutes. The secret to the croutes, by the way, is a simple one. After the bread is grilled (use a good sourdough), tear it into rough pieces, leaving them craggy, like a coastline. When you bake them, the edges get beautifully crisp, and they are absolutely delicious in the soup. The rusty red sauce called rouille, which is both stirred into the soup and served as a condiment, makes the soup come alive. This recipe is from Melissa Kelly, the chef-owner of Primo, in Rockland, Maine. There are basically three recipes within this one, none of them complicated - the broth, the croute, and the rouille. The broth and rouille can be made the day ahead to save some time. Nathan actually loves this soup, even though he's not a big fish eater, because the broth is so good, especially with the bread. Make this on a weekend day, active time is listed at 1.75 hours, start to finish 3.5 hours. It's definitely worth it.

I bowed out of the movie, so John's going without me. When he gets back we'll have the soup, and in the interim, once I have the broth finished, I may slide into the bedroom for a little nap. Or not. Now that I see what time it is, that would be pretty stupid. Guess I'll hold out for an early bedtime...

Soup = lovely. Bed = now.