Woodchuck and Moby Dick's

My favorite scene in the surprisingly delightful movie, "The Wedding Planner" (yes yes, the one with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McC....et cetera), shows her sitting alone on her couch eating a simple dinner on a TV tray, meticulously arranging her napkin and fork at 90 degree angles, and watching PBS, when just before one of her clients sighed at how enviable her life must be.

I wanted to record tonight that food memories can be created from the simplest of pleasures, and that I haven't taken up eating foods that should be italicized every night. However, my day could have shaped up to be quite glamorous. If I hadn't taken so long to shower today and if my gas tank hadn't been nearly empty, I might have instead stopped at Starbucks to get a $4 cup of soy milk foam and sugar. If I hadn't had to stay late at work, I could have gone on a possibly intriguing date with a complete stranger at a fancy restaurant (but one that also got panned on this blog). Also, if I hadn't been so busy during work, I might have been able to eat the warmed remnants of my petite filet, creamed spinach and mashed potatoes from last night's dinner at the fine restaurant Ray's the Steaks, at a table with other people.

However, I ate cold leftovers alone at my desk, at 3 pmmsupplemented my lunch with two oatmeal packets, missed my date after work, am currently drinking Woodchuck Draft Cider in bed, and have dirty dishes in the sink. Tonight, I am not writing about the intersection of love and food in the traditional sense. However, I received the loveliest letter tonight from my Yiayia, which included her recipes for Beef Pot Roast, Banana Cream Pie, and Meringue, that my handful of readers may recall as items from an especially delicious meal she cooked for me at her house over Christmas. With my upcoming self-exile this Inauguration weekend, I might even try to replicate that fine dinner for myself. While receiving her letter was a wonderful cap to a mildly uninspiring food day, dinner proved to be predominately pathetic but still delightfully indulgent event. A project kept me at work past dinnertime, so I ran out to Moby Dick's for takeout for myself and colleagues. I ordered Combo III (see left), rice with both lamb and kubideh (Persian kafta, which is ground sirloin with onions and spices). I drowned it in yogurt sauce (essentially tzatsiki), stole my friends grilled tomatoes after eating mine, ate chilly dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves) and enjoyed delicious, freshly-baked bread. We were all waiting for someone else to finish something before we each left, so we were able to take the moment to enjoy a lovely restaurant-style dinner on a table that usually is host to an opened bag of sunflower seeds that's been there for two weeks (that functions as a detachable feed bag for one of my colleagues) and serious work discussions.