I hear good things about cooking in foil packets.

I went to a friend's place for the first time last night, and holy shitballs. They owned a tiny apartment in a good neighborhood in Manhattan before, and traded it for an ENORMOUS three-bedroom in New Jersey. Holy crap that place was big. And her husband spent a lot of time on the decor, so it's really cool as well. Jealous. Makes we want to focus more on finding a husband with capital.

Salmon on a cedar plank (you can find reusuable ones at most decent grocery stores) also doesn't tend to smell too fishy baked in the oven since the smell of the cedar wood counteracts the fish.

I do it this way or in foil. Sometimes I just broil a fillet with some lemon slices and a touch of Mrs. Dash.

Can't copy paste until iphone 3.0 but the quick & dirty cassoulet is from Dan & Steve if you search on foodnetwork.com. It uses duck sausage instead of confit and is quite nummy if inauthentic.

This looks like it could be it. I don't think I could eat a whole serving, what with the bounty of sausage, but it does look good. I'll have to spend the next year or two trying to wrestle other people into position to order it for themselves. I need to practice puppy dog eyes. But I'm sure I'd come out more like the cat in that clip from Bolt.

So it's officially morning and I haven't slept yet. I wonder when I'll crumple. But I did blow the dust off some knowledge and gain some more, so it wasn't a lost night by any means.

That's the one. It makes a TON.

I'll still swing by.

Heh. I'd love to see you sometime soon. Do I need a cassoulet to tempt you?

WRT fish I seem to have a higher tolerance to fishy smell than to finding clever ways to cook it. Plus the kids prefer simple food preps. Our go-to fish dishes are steamed salmon with sea salt and pan-fried tilapia. Steaming contains the smell pretty well, frying NSM.

State of the Boo update:

Last night, after a lovely dinner and bottle of wine with megan walker, we all curled up on the couch to wind Matilda down for the night with the newest episode of Yo Gabba Gabba, "New Friends" with special guest star Jack Black. Result: Total and utter FAIL. Jack Black is deeply, viscerally, existentially horrifying to her. We lasted three minutes into the episode before she was sobbing and drenched in weepy snot, wailing, "No more! No more! Don't want new friends! No no no!" We quickly switched over to another ep and, Demon Jack banished, she was again all smiles and joy and butterflies and unicorns.

This morning, before going out to the playground, we've been watching Animal Planet shows about the African veldt, and she's capering about in her meerkat costume, delighted to have a waggly tail.

To sum up: Meerkats good, Jack Black soul-devouring hellspawn.

To sum up: Meerkats good, Jack Black soul-devouring hellspawn.

I kinda thought that was an accepted fact of the universe.

Regardless, Matilda remains incredibly precocious with an added hefty dose of Quite Wise.

Jack Black soul-devouring hellspawn

How harsh for it to have come to her so young, but how wise she is at her age.

I kinda' feel sorry for Ugly Bat Boy. He's not a Sphynx, so his hair aesthetics are all wrong.

Still, if I saw him I'd tell him what a good and pretty kitty he was....