Technically, I'm not sure if I'm all that Irish after all.  I know for certain that I have Scottish heritage from my dad's side of my family, but on my mother's side I'm a Heinz 57.

I digress...  I guess I just feel a little Irish today because I'm eating cabbage and potato soup for lunch.  I love this stuff and Lenny doesn't.  He was apologetic about it last week, but I don't really care because that means there's more for me.   It's a nice thin soup with onions, cabbage, potatoes, and a little carrot.  The thing I love about it, is that it's spiced with clove, which is not something you get in a soup very often.

Come to think of it, I have no idea why this soup makes me think "Irish".  Probably because I eat corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's day.  But that is the only association that I have that links cabbage and Ireland.  For all I know, I could be dead wrong but since it's in my head that way, it's not likely to change now. 

Last night was our dinner with Anthony Bourdain.  We arrived a little early, so we sat outside for cocktails before dinner.  Tom Collins' for me and Lenny, champagne for our friends.  About 10 minutes later, out walks a very tall, thin, recognizable man wondering what we're all doing outside.  Chef mills around chatting with people and then goes inside to start the event.  The book signing was first and he was gracious enough to let us get a picture.  He was very no nonsense at this point because there were a number of people in line waiting for their books;  about 150 people total.  Our table was next to the host table and after a very brief speech dinner was served.  Chef Bourdain didn't talk much at this point - couple of jokes and a Top Chef reference, of which he is a self-proclaimed "major fan-boy".   (Hung was far and away the best in his opinion.  The others were good, but Hung was at a different level all together.  Ahh, the wonders of television editing.)

The dinner itself is not prepared by the guest chef but is typically designed by them.  Let me tell you:  Dinner was AMAZING!!!!



 

I'm going to start keeping track of some new recipes that I try. Instead of having endless pieces of paper around the house, I thought it would make more sense to keep things organized here under a separate tag. I acticipate using links to recipes and then supplementing with my own comments about things that I changed and my thoughts. I'll also keep track of what is worth making again. And, I'll probably have photos so I know what it's supposed to look like.

If you want to be added to the filter, let me know. I usually make everything light and where I can, I'll have the nutritional information. Every once in a while, I make full-fat things but that is usually relegated to special occassions only.