Ever since my brother first happened to catch a few minutes of Everyday Italian at my house and observed that it is shot like food pornography, I haven't been able to watch the show with the same innocence.
Today, I watched part of an episode titled Friend In Town.
Giada will treat her friend to fluffy pancakes with her own Italian twist.
Whisk it, whisk it. Preheat my oven.
That's filthy. And delicious.
50 FLOORS OF LUXURY
I am back home now after a lovely conference in a major Southern city. The conference itself was full of conferency goodness. There were many presentations and I learned a lot and met a few people.
But the real highlights were peripheral.
1. I ate alone. There is a reason that people go to conferences in pairs or more: Eating alone suckity sucks. I know because I did it several times during my almost-week away from home. One night, I even came close to tears, called home, called friends, and decided that I needed to relinquish my Grown-Up Card, because I was clearly back in middle school, what with my inability to muscle in on other people's dinner plans, or get myself invited along. (Good news: I did get invited along at the last minute, and thus still have my Card in my wallet.)
2. I drank alone. That's not a problem, right? Or a sign of a larger problem? Do you care that it was with food?
3. I slept in the nicest bed I've ever experienced. The bed was almost nice enough to obliterate the pain of eating alone and my burgeoning alcoholism.
4. I bought a pair of wedge sandals and a Brooks Brothers sweater. Who the hell AM I? If you have met this person who drinks giant mochatinis ALONE in panAsian cafes, spills chocolate syrup on her new Brooks Brothers duds and wobbles back to the hotel aloft her high-heeled huarache slides, please, introduce us. I've never met her.
5. I stayed an extra night. Five minutes before our scheduled boarding time, the woman at the gate counter told the passengers that our flight was cancelled because (listen closely here) they didn't have anyone who knew how to fly the plane.
They gave us hotel vouchers and a coupon for $7 toward our evening's meal. (Does $7 cover the cost of a mochatini? I wondered.) And then sent us on our way to a hotel that most decidedly did NOT have the nicest beds I've ever slept in. It did have meeting rooms named after wines: The Sauvignon, The Zinfandel, The Cabernet. So it wasn't entirely unclassy.
And it gave me a chance to have a couple Cokes with a good friend who has recently moved to that major Southern city, and catch up on her fabulous life.
6. I missed my family. I really, really missed them. I won't lie. The first night away wasn't awful - that night when I ate Cantonese crispy noodles and spicy vegetables with a (have I mentioned) big ole mochatini for desert and then snuggled into my lux-fucking-urious hotel bed with its Euroshams and chenille throw and fell asleep watching Criminal Intent reruns.
But every day I missed them more and more, and by the evening of the cancelled flight, I couldn't even talk to my daughter when I called home to relay the news. I just couldn't stand it.
Anyhoo, I'm glad to be home. Very glad to be home.
I love the Food Network and one day while watching Everday Italian I got this 'sexy' vibe. I too have never really seen that show in the same light. Truly delicious.
Posted by: Kelly M. | Monday, 17 July 2006 at 07:32 PM