I've been a bad blogger.

This, I know. And it makes me have the sad. But I have been thinking about you all, so that's something, right?

Here's the thing: I've been SO BUSY having fun doing fun things and also having fun writing more fun books for you that I left you high-and-dry.Some fun things I did:

• Not make any resolutions (except to be a better blogger, which I am doing right now!!).
• Hung out with my son who visited from a far-away land (Missouri).
• Crocheted a massive blanket that was almost too heavy to lift and a bunch of scarves. (If you didn't get one yet, that doesn't mean you're not going to, although it may be too warm for scarves at that point. Hmmm.)
• Aaaand...The Chef and I had super fun when we saw these guys on New Year's Eve at a fancy-pants (not really) event. I may have danced a little bit, but not on the dance floor because that would be NUTS!!

This is Brass Attack. I knew all the songs!!! Shocking! Loved them!!

Happy New Year!

In which I break the "What happens in Vegas" rule

Also while I was away from you, we went to Las Vegas. For WORK. The Chef's work, not mine--although prepare yourself to be featured in a book sometime soon, Las Vegas. You've been warned!


We stayed here:

The Venetian. You have to sleep here. You may also want to dance in the lobby next to Thomas Keller's bakery with an Australian guy who hasn't slept in 48 hours because he just came from Kuwait.

You HAVE to eat here. "The menu, created by James Beard Award-winning Executive Chef Luciano Pellegrini, features an array of traditional and contemporary Italian cuisine that includes a variety of homemade pasta dishes, enticing entrees and decadent desserts." That's a fancy way of saying you want to put every morsel of food they make right in your face.

We also ate at the Mexican restaurant, right there on the right, which was weird as the gondoliers sang "O Solo Mio."

But the best part? Besides being there with The Chef?  This:

Obviously I didn't shoot that video, but we saw this one in real life, and can you say SUPER COOL? (I thought you could.) The best of the zillion fountain shows we saw. "Just one more!" I kept saying. The Chef is so kind to put up with my shenanigans.







We're so AWESOME!!! And we're definitely staying here next time!

I did realize during the trip that I may not be cool enough for Las Vegas. I was shocked--SHOCKED!--that in all the amazing shops in all the amazing hotels, I did not see one bookstore. NOT ONE! What the...?  Las Vegas, you've got some 'splainin to do.



So I went to Pittsburgh...

And I ate this whole sandwich all by myself. We were at Primanti's, which you may have seen on various Food Network shows throughout the years.

I know what you're thinking: Holy moly. Are those french fries in that delicious looking sandwich? As I recall that ginormous meal also had pastrami, lettuce, tomato and an egg. Don't ask--the Pittsburgh people seem to like eggs on lots of things that normal people don't usually put eggs on. I've learned it's best just to accept that.

But I CAN explain the fries thing. Stolen directly from the Primanti's website

Back in the 1930's, Joe Primanti opened a cart in the Strip District selling sandwiches to truckers on the go. It was decided that he should expand to a small restaurant on 18th Street. The hours were 3am to 3pm to accommodate truckers and the like. His brothers, Dick and Stanley, joined him along with nephew John DePriter who was the cook.

According to John, "One winter, a fella drove in with a load of potatoes. He brought a few of 'em over to the restaurant to see if they were frozen. I fried the potatoes on our grill and they looked pretty good. A few of our customers asked for them, so I put the potatoes on their sandwiches." And the rest is history. The Primanti Sandwich: a true taste of Pittsburgh.

That's not all the deliciousness, though.

As you may know, or may not know because you live on the moon, my birthday is on Christmas. I spent the holiday and Christmas (heh heh. See what I did there?) with my family, in the traditional holiday/Christmas celebration: Helping my son pack a UHaul trailer so he could move to Missouri the next day.  Then there was food and presents with the whole clan. Delicious and fun.

The next morning I went to Logan Airport and got on a plane ALL BY MYSELF* with NO LUGGAGE** and a ONE-WAY*** ticket, which meant a first-class pass to a full body scan. Good times, people. Yeah, like I would risk blowing up my new Vera Wang purse or missing out on that sandwich above.

Anyway, back to food.

After apparently some serious shenanigans including The Great Search for a Round Pan and Is Your Lemon Curd Lemony Enough? on Christmas night, in anticipation of my arrival the next day, The Chef and his family stayed up all night while he created the best birthday cake ever, complete with homemade aforementioned lemon curd and delicious coconut, my all-time favorite cake flavors.

I will end this post by allowing you to bask in the glow of the lemon curd...and no, I will not stop saying lemon curd.****


I am a delicious cake and you should be jealous because you cannot eat me!



"Nom nom nom," said the little butterfly...

* I was only a little bit afraid.

** Because I had sent it along with The Chef when he drove out to see his family.

*** Because I would be driving back with The Chef and my luggage.

****Lemon curd, lemon curd, lemon curd...

Happy New Year!

Our traditional/annual Grainy New Year's Eve picture!



(Why the pink hue? Who knows???)



XOXO

764 words (for now)

I came; I wrote; I showered, got ready to go out, and then went out and partied like the rock star that I am.

Stop laughing.

We are going out later. Probably partying more like a chamber music choir member than a rock star, 'cause that's how I roll!*

It's research for my next book! I pinky swear!

XOXO

*Actually, in the movie Rock Star, wasn't Mark Wahlberg's Chris "Izzy" Cole a member of the church choir?

"When is choir practice?"

The Other S&W

No, not Smith & Wesson, although I love their work, too.  This was Smith & Wollensky, where The Chef and I had the most amazing dinner.

A. Maze. Ing.

We went here:



I am a castle. I was built by soldiers who raised enough money for construction by putting on theater shows. All men. Playing all roles. (Think "drag.")

 See that booth on the left (below)? That's where we sat, after we got a tour of all four floors with Executive Chef Matt King. I would like to have a big fancy party in this castle. Anyone interested in paying for it?

I am not necessarily even the most gorgeous floor in the place. You should see my level three! (And my three kitchens are nothing to shake a stick at either.)

The Chef and I each had this:


You will love how my 28-day dry-aging process further intensifies the flavor before the house butchers create the final magnificent cut you’ll savor. Oh wait. Translation: Damn good meat. And lots of it.

 Before we got to the steaky goodness, Chef King brought us each a sampler plate of meat (steak), meat (scallop), and more meat (shrimp) to whet our appetites. Consider us whetted.

Then I had the curried asparagus soup and The Chef had steak tartar. (Insert your own joke here.)
Then! The bone-in ribeye (medium rare), creamed spinach (his choice) and onion rings (my choice. You can take the girl out of the...)

And then the best coconut cake ever made on this or any other planet. I want to go there again, sit at the bar, and eat cake. Daily.

Knee-Slappin' (or Lickin') Funny

The Chef and I saw Michael Ian Black at Catch a Rising Star* in Little Rhody** on Friday. (See photo. Yep. That guy. You've seen him a million times. Remember The State? LOVED that show!)

Anyway, I won tickets via the facebook and then a most awesome friend scored us a front row table.*** I could have licked his knees. MI Black, I mean, not my friend. That would be weird.


*I have something to tell you about this place, but not today, dear. I have a headache.

**I HATE when people call it this. Is there a Big Rhody somewhere I don't know about? Like when a father and son have the same first name so one of them is the Big and one is the Little?

***The Chef taught me that "It doesn't hurt to ask." If you don't ask for what you want, you're not giving someone the opportunity to do something kind. So really, asking people for what you want is a public service. Please note that this is MY interpretation. The Chef's mind isn't nearly as convoluted.

Sorry, kids. Be back soon!

And then I will show you cool Valentine's Day pictures.  But in the meantime, this should keep you occupied...

Foodstuff and Stuff (but not H.R. Puffenstuff)

So The Chef and I went to NYC this weekend under the auspices of me going to the SCBWI (make it up or look it up) conference. He frolicked about whilst I...did not. Although I did play nicely with my friends.  More about the conference another day. Maybe I'll even tell you about hanging out with R.L. Stine (yes, he of Goosebumps fame).

But! We frolicked together in the night! And on Friday, we went to one of our all-time favorite places, Eataly.  There, amongst the amazing foodstuffs, we had meals made of the very foodstuffs we'd been mingling amongst. (Please tell me you caught the gist of that sentence.)

Imagine this as a whole pizza, with buffalo mozz and high-end olive oil, and basil of course. We also talked the folks sitting next to us to get one of their very own. We are very good suggestive sellers. That was not meant to sound dirty, and yet...it does.

This is fritto misto. Or it was...before we ATE it. I had the calimari and a piece of skate. The Chef ate everything I didn't, because he will eat anything (almost). And he WILL try everything. I try to try everything, but sometimes I have to squash that idea.

This is me squashing the try everything idea. It is a SEA URCHIN and it was still MOVING (which was both gross and cool). It also made quite a nice hat. I think The Chef is tired of me openly mocking this foodstuff. But...but...I just can't help it. As my BFF pointed out, a few years ago I wouldn't even eat garlic in my mashed potatoes. So this...no.

More NYC reports coming up, but not now, as I am very tired from the jaunt that shall bring you more blog posts--another time.

Look, Kids, I may be from New England but...

I loves me some Steelers.* So sue me.

And I may have spent a major international holiday in Steelers Country. (If you're guessing my birthday, then you're guessing right!)

The Chef: Let's go to the overlook.
Me: Can we not?
The Chef: Is it because you're afraid of heights?
Me: Yes.
The Chef (taking my hand): Then we're definitely going.
Sister of The Chef: You should have said you were cold. Then you wouldn't have to do it.
Me: So noted.
By the way, I am not screaming. It was effing cold and wind-chilly. Actually, maybe I am screaming.

*I mean, it's not like I've ever said I wanted to see Tom Brady's Patriots head roll down the field while still in his helmet.**

** What? Oh. Well, I may have said it, but only, like, once.***

***Fine. Once times a million.

Happy Newbery (and other awards) Day!

Also, can you find me in these pictures???: Lisa Yee's blog

In case you didn't know, the Newbery Award is the Oscars of children's writing. You can see a list of many winners here. But! Also! If you go here you can find more info about the other awards!

But let's get back to the me part of the show.

So Lisa Yee, who we LOVE, said on facebook to "like" her up-to-the-minute tweets about the award winners and we could win free books. So I did. All of them, one right after the other. Because I like books, especially free ones. And, apparently, that's the very moment she took screen shots. (There are more, but I'm sparing you the level of Book Need* from which I suffer.)

*I would appreciate any and all donations to help me deal with this terrible afflication. Just sayin'.

Happy New Year!

I've missed you. I've missed blogging. But I felt like A Diet Coke-Fueled Life* had run its course, so I abandoned ship, much to the chagrin of my mom, who couldn't keep track of me nearly as easily without daily updates via The Mighty Internets.

Yes, I am still doing a kabillion things all at once, but I no longer feel frantic. Or at least I still have a kabillion things on my mind. Something like that. Things. Lots of 'em, like writing, friends, family, adventures with The Chef, and other things Diet Coke allows me to do, despite my love of sleeping.

My goal here is to focus on the positive and to remind us that we need to be kind to ourselves, two ideas that have shaped my life and made it so much better over the past year.

Okay, I've used all of today's allotted brain cells, the number diminished due to last night's New Year's Eve celebration at Smoke Lounge in Providence, RI, one of my new favorite places. I'll share a pic and highlights when I get to a real computer; the iPad won't let me finagle photos (but I still love it so very very much).

XOXO
P.




*It has gone into hiding, so don't bother looking for it. It has requested we respect its privacy.