It's a stellar day in the newsgathering bizness. Yeah, yeah, there's the buzz about Bush and the Big Brother tactic of pulling our phone records. But enough about Bush and how The Establishment will one day soon implant tracking devices in our young shortly after birth. On to the real news!
A London mom has removed her 5 year old daughter from a British school where massage therapy is being introduced as a means to improve concentration. "It's all very concerning, particularly as the sessions are cross-sex involving girls and boys. What will be the long-term effect?" the mother queried. Hmm...I wonder what the long-term effect on sexual orientation would be, if a 5 year old girl has to rub down a "boys are icky" classmate?
To show how different Americans are from our across-the-pond neighbors, a mother in Maine is charged with helping her daughter and two other teens bake Ex-Lax cookies. Wow. We always made brownies with them.
And in Shanghai, four Australian men are set to live for a month in a 650 square foot glass cubicle complete with a shower. The bathroom comes with frosted glass so as not to offend public decency. Too bad.
What is raising eyebrows in your part of the world?
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Friday, May 05, 2006
Civic Duty
Wondering why I've been so quiet? I've been out all week on jury duty. Want to hear all the dirty details that are now a matter of public record? Offer to meet me for happy hour and buy the first round. Here's why I need adult bevies: it was a murder trial and we had a brutal time coming to a unanimous verdict.
Wink Wink Nudge Nudge
Having grown up in the Deep South, I have tasted so many desserts that my desire for cake, pie, cookies and other assorted sweet pastry creations is virtually nonexistent. I'd rather have a piece of good dark chocolate and a flute of champagne instead of a slab of cake. My real love is for unusual entrees, not dessert. In my gustatory adventures throughout life I've tasted many things that don't qualify as dessert but do qualify as bold choices.
I ate my first oyster off the shell, standing in shallow water outside a fishing boat that was pulled up on the beach in Rockport. My father and uncles had gathered a great bucket full of oysters and were shucking them while my sister and I played in the waves nearby. We were too young to be anything but curious, and so it was as a fearless 3 year old that I began my love affair with mollusks.
Since that first briny bite, I've gone on to other courageous choices that include many types of wild game, ethnic dishes with unusual main ingredients and various organ meats. Yes, organ meats. I am a girl who doesn't shy away from liver, has tried calf fries (anything is good fried and dipped in ranch dressing) and now can add sweetbreads to my list.
On a recent visit to Wink for a post MS150 celebration dinner, Frank and I shared a delightful dining experience. Wink is an upscale restaurant cleverly hidden in a shopping strip. I say cleverly hidden because I'm certain that's the only reason my late request for a reservation was honored. Someone couldn't figure out that Wink is located behind Whole Earth Provision, next to the dry cleaners and had given up their spot. Wink's decor is trendy fabulous and their food is nothing but sensational.
We started off with a green onion tartlet amuse bouche--always a nice touch to get a free little bite of something while waiting for your cocktails. Frank enjoyed a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale with his meal while I tantalized my tastebuds with a sparkling pinot noir cuvee that was TDF. To.Die.For. I have the full name written down at home and will be attempting to find it at Central Market, Grapevine Market or somewhere else in town. It was the perfect blend of sweet and dry without being over the top on either and it was bubbly. Loved it. And I loved our tuna tartare appetizer. Served with a few homemade potato chips, the tuna was so tasty I wished for two servings. I almost resorted to growling over the plate but luckily Frank gave me the last few bites.
Our entrees were impeccable. Frank had a phenomenal duck breast, so tender and flavorful that if you closed your eyes you'd swear you were eating a fine cut of steak. It was served with fingerling potatoes and amaranth, a green similar to spinach but with a milder flavor, and a red wine sauce. My sweetbreads were seared to a nice crunchy finish on top, creamy tender underneath and were mouthwateringly delicious. The taste was delicate but with a richness that lingered and mixed perfectly with the nutty quinoa and slices of elf mushroom served alongside it. Perfection on a fork. We both swapped bites and admired the other's choice while leisurely devouring our meals.
I did eat dessert, despite my opening paragraph stating that it normally doesn't thrill me. We chose a selection of mini offerings that included a berry topped creme brulee, lemon meringue pot and a flourless chocolate torte. The creme brulee was good. The flourless chocolate torte was sublime. The lemon meringue pot was outstanding. The meringue itself was in the shape of an Easter egg, with the lemon filling in between the top and bottom half. Garnished with thin strips of candied lemon peel, the dessert was pleasantly tangy with a punch of refreshing lemon flavor.
Over all, our dining experience was wonderful. Wink is a great restaurant for any special occasion, although I did not see much on the menu for my vegetarian friends. And please, try the sweetbreads. As our waitress said, "they're the best dish on the menu."
I ate my first oyster off the shell, standing in shallow water outside a fishing boat that was pulled up on the beach in Rockport. My father and uncles had gathered a great bucket full of oysters and were shucking them while my sister and I played in the waves nearby. We were too young to be anything but curious, and so it was as a fearless 3 year old that I began my love affair with mollusks.
Since that first briny bite, I've gone on to other courageous choices that include many types of wild game, ethnic dishes with unusual main ingredients and various organ meats. Yes, organ meats. I am a girl who doesn't shy away from liver, has tried calf fries (anything is good fried and dipped in ranch dressing) and now can add sweetbreads to my list.
On a recent visit to Wink for a post MS150 celebration dinner, Frank and I shared a delightful dining experience. Wink is an upscale restaurant cleverly hidden in a shopping strip. I say cleverly hidden because I'm certain that's the only reason my late request for a reservation was honored. Someone couldn't figure out that Wink is located behind Whole Earth Provision, next to the dry cleaners and had given up their spot. Wink's decor is trendy fabulous and their food is nothing but sensational.
We started off with a green onion tartlet amuse bouche--always a nice touch to get a free little bite of something while waiting for your cocktails. Frank enjoyed a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale with his meal while I tantalized my tastebuds with a sparkling pinot noir cuvee that was TDF. To.Die.For. I have the full name written down at home and will be attempting to find it at Central Market, Grapevine Market or somewhere else in town. It was the perfect blend of sweet and dry without being over the top on either and it was bubbly. Loved it. And I loved our tuna tartare appetizer. Served with a few homemade potato chips, the tuna was so tasty I wished for two servings. I almost resorted to growling over the plate but luckily Frank gave me the last few bites.
Our entrees were impeccable. Frank had a phenomenal duck breast, so tender and flavorful that if you closed your eyes you'd swear you were eating a fine cut of steak. It was served with fingerling potatoes and amaranth, a green similar to spinach but with a milder flavor, and a red wine sauce. My sweetbreads were seared to a nice crunchy finish on top, creamy tender underneath and were mouthwateringly delicious. The taste was delicate but with a richness that lingered and mixed perfectly with the nutty quinoa and slices of elf mushroom served alongside it. Perfection on a fork. We both swapped bites and admired the other's choice while leisurely devouring our meals.
I did eat dessert, despite my opening paragraph stating that it normally doesn't thrill me. We chose a selection of mini offerings that included a berry topped creme brulee, lemon meringue pot and a flourless chocolate torte. The creme brulee was good. The flourless chocolate torte was sublime. The lemon meringue pot was outstanding. The meringue itself was in the shape of an Easter egg, with the lemon filling in between the top and bottom half. Garnished with thin strips of candied lemon peel, the dessert was pleasantly tangy with a punch of refreshing lemon flavor.
Over all, our dining experience was wonderful. Wink is a great restaurant for any special occasion, although I did not see much on the menu for my vegetarian friends. And please, try the sweetbreads. As our waitress said, "they're the best dish on the menu."
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Necessary Evil
I had my third mammogram in less than a year yesterday. When I had my very first mammo, some slight abnormalities showed up. I was told they were most likely dense tissue--muscle that hadn't yet aged into fat. To be safe I had my first diagnostic exam. The initial screening mammo was okay. It wasn't as bad as most women make it out to be, or perhaps my breasts aren't as sensitive to pressure. Very possibly my small cup size may mean less painful exams than women who are well endowed. Still, it's unnerving to see your breasts smooshed down to the size of an IHOP pancake.
The first diagnostic exam was much more uncomfortable. Yesterday's diagnostic was downright torturous. I don't know why, in this day and age, we can come up with all kinds of new techniques, equipment and drugs to keep people alive and stressing over their taxes but a mammogram hasn't changed much in decades. For those of you who have yet to have your first screening mammo, please be assured that it isn't so bad. Yes, there's pressure, in order to flatten out your breasts to the size of chicken cutlets. But it isn't too horrible. Yesterday's diagnostic was much worse.
You know it's bad when the mammographer says "You're going to feel a tearing sensation along with the pressure." She wasn't lying. She positioned the plates so that the maximum amount of tissue would be imaged, which means she started the flattening a few inches below my collar bone. I had no problems with the directions to "don't move, hold your breath". I was pretty certain that if I could move even a fraction in any direction, or inhale the tiniest amount of air that my breast would separate from my body. I was thankful the x-rays only take seconds and that as soon as they're done the machine automatically releases it's viselike grip.
Four x-rays later, I was hanging out waiting for the radiologists to take a look at me from the inside out. It was good news. I don't have to have another mammo until I'm forty. When I went to get dressed I wasn't shocked to see angry red arches on the tops of my boobs. One was already bruising. This morning it wasn't as bad as I expected. Lefty has a bluish black line of a bruise but righty looks okay. Better yet, I'm okay.
Ladies, have you scheduled your mammo yet? If you're 40 or older, you need one every 1-2 years. If you have a family history of breast cancer it's recommended that you have one 10 years earlier than the age of the relative's diagnosis. An estimated 190,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Over 40,000 will die from it. That's one woman every 13 minutes.
Go get squished.
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