Osteria Mozza!

Just returned from my third visit to Osteria Mozza and all I can really say is WOW! I absolutely adore this place. (I happen to adore the pizzeria next door too, but that's another post!) It is difficult not to over order at Osteria Mozza because there are so many enticing dishes on the menu. This time we selected the grilled figs wrapped in pancetta with dandelion greens and the grilled octopus as appetizers. The figs were wonderful (how can anything wrapped in pancetta be bad?), but the octopus was outstanding. It had a serious char which gave it great flavor and the celery greens and lemon vinaigrette were the perfect foil. It was one of the stand-out dishes of the night. Next, we selected three items from the mozzarella bar. Nancy Silverton is a genius. Just thinking about her wonderful creations makes my mouth water. We had the scamorza panino featuring mole salame from Mario's dad's place. I've mail ordered this stuff before. It's that good. Here it is the star of a wonderful little pressed sandwich set off with pickled cherry peppers--scrumptious! We also had the ricotta and grilled radicchio with fried rosemary, honey and candied walnuts. This was the least impressive dish. The honey and rosemary worked beautifully together. The radicchio, which I'm sure was meant to offset the sweetness of the dish, didn't really work. Our third mozzarella bar selection was the bufala mozzarella, culatello and pickled shallots on pane pomodoro--this was so crazy good, I don't have words to express it. I have actually dreamed about this dish and hope it is on the menu next time I go!

Rather than have a pasta and an entree, I decided to have two dishes from the primi section. I started with the incredibly decadent raviolo with ricotta and egg yolk in browned butter with sage. For those of you who haven't had this dish, the magic comes when you break into the raviolo allowing the soft cooked egg yolk to pour out and meld with the browned butter making a luscious, velvety sauce. It is sublime. For my final course I chose the gnocchi with wild boar ragu. The sauce was rich and hearty and paired really well with the Brunello di Montalcino I brought. The gnocchi were ethereal--wonderful little pillows, melting in my mouth. It was truly a revelation. Unfortunately, after the second pasta course we had eaten too much to even think of getting a dessert. Once again, the meal was incredible. I look forward to returning to Osteria Mozza soon because life is too short not to enjoy incredible meals with good friends on a regular basis!

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Wow! What a tremendous weekend for me! X-Games (not to mention the X-Files movie!! Go see it!!) and the Hall of Fame Game! Woooo Hoooo! I'm so excited to have NFL football back! Plus, the X-Games were phenomenal as always. All I can is Danny Way is truly amazing. I don't think Hollywood could have written a better script. When he said "I'm taking all the runs" I got chills. What a performance by Danny, Jake Brown, and Bob Burnquist. I'm just in awe of these guys. They embody all that I love about sport.

You know it's bad when even your spam hates you.

A few weeks ago I began receiving spam with the subject line "I have naked video of you, Helen." My reaction, before hitting delete, was good for you! I hope you enjoy it. I mean I'm not getting a lot of play these days so really I took it as a compliment. Then I started getting messages with the subject line "your face looks so stupid, Helen." Well, gee, thanks! Isn't it bad enough I'm in the midst of an existential crisis here? Do I really need to be insulted by spam when I sign on to my email? And what exactly do the spammers expect to get from this? I hit delete so I don't know what the point of the messages were. Perhaps a plastic surgeon offering to fix my stupid face? What the hell?

Mistakes Were Made

Remember when you were young, like just starting college or maybe even just finishing undergrad? Recall how you felt like you had your whole life ahead of you? You were bursting with potential…the world was your oyster, the possibilities were endless. Then life happened and things maybe didn’t go quite as planned. Now here you are fantasizing about winning lotto because all that potential didn’t really amount to anything and you realize that winning ticket has become your last best hope--your ticket out of the job you hate and into the life you always thought you would have. Do you ever wonder how it is you ended up here? I mean was there one huge mistake you made that lead you down this path or was it a series of small missteps? Would my life be different if I hadn’t blown off the guy I met at the orientation dance during my freshman year of college? If I hadn’t started hanging out with guys in rock bands? If I had taken the job at my university instead of in the office downtown? If I’d gone to law school? If I hadn’t broken up with the boyfriend before the Rat Bastard? If I’d never met the Rat Bastard? If he’d never broken up with me? Am I somehow where I’m supposed to be? (What a cruel joke that would be!) Because I can assure you this is not where I ever imagined I’d be. I keep waiting for my “real life” to start, but as John Lennon said, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” And all that "I've got my whole life ahead of me" optimism is fast becoming frantic despair--hence Lotto as a viable option. As I’ve said before, mistakes were made. I just wish I knew exactly what they were so I could undo them!

Dismal Time of Year

With NCAA basketball but a distant memory and fully three months until pre-season football, what is a girl to do? Oh sure, there’s baseball, but I’m sorry…it’s boring. I have tried arena football and I reject it totally. I’ve often flirted with hockey and feel there could be a connection there, but really have yet to develop any sort of passion. I’m still angry with the Lakers and refuse to jump on the band wagon just because they’re doing so well right now. Plus, NBA ball is just not as exciting to watch as college, IMHO. Beach volleyball is back, which is great. It is one of my favorite sports. Unfortunately TV coverage is limited to the final which means we get to see Rogers and Dalhausser destroy one team or another week after week. It’s a shame there isn’t more coverage considering they diminished the sport by switching from side-out scoring to rally point scoring so it would play better on television. The game just isn’t the same since the switch. Of course I still watch, but I really miss the good old days when teams could fight their way back from a huge deficit and make an exciting game out of it. Comebacks like that are pretty much impossible now and I admit I don’t follow the AVP as closely as I once did.

So for me, this time of year is just spent longing, pining actually, for Fall and the start of football season. I guess the only upside to this long dry spell is how exciting it is when football season finally arrives! Those first few weeks-- when every team can dream of making the playoffs --are like being reunited with a long lost lover. You are so happy to see them, of course you forgive how they let you down last season. This is a brand new year, a brand new team and you are all starry eyed, believing that this time things will be different. This year you will go all the way! It is a beautiful thing, but for now all I have is anticipation (just like Carly Simon sang about in those Heinz commercials!)

Help people. Sure...whatever.

So…I signed up to be a Big Sister. Sounds good, right? Hang out with a kid, do fun stuff on the weekends…Disneyland, movies, museums. Things you would do if you had kids of your own (which you might if you hadn't wasted seven of your best years with a Rat Bastard, but I digress...) Anyway, it sounds great, right? Maybe even make a difference right? Well, I signed up and I got a kid who doesn’t speak to me. Now I realize she’s had a hell of a life, so cut her some slack right? Never mind that she doesn't so much as say goodbye (I'm easy, I wasn't expecting a thank you) when I drop her off. She's troubled, cut her some slack right? You try spending an entire afternoon (your precious weekend afternoon, no less) with a child who may or may not be having fun, who may or may not actually like you, who will barely answer direct questions. You have your choice of either awkward silence or your own even more awkward rambling. Sound fun? Well, how about this? Apparently, she’s been kicked out of school for shooting a kid in the head with a BB gun. What luck! I mean she doesn't speak, possibly hates me and she has some violent tendencies. I don't care if it is only a BB gun. I'm pretty sure she could kick my ass if she wanted.

This isn't the first time my attempt at being a do-gooder has failed. I tried teaching adult literacy classes once…not so much fun. Most people drop out after a couple of weeks. One dude showed up (clearly baked) every few weeks. Who stays? The guy who needs to finish the class as a requirement for something else he’s doing…he’s in a hurry to get through and finish…does he care if he actually learns anything? Oh hell no. How rewarding was this experience for me? Not much. Now here I am a Big Sister. Rewarding? Not much, but at least I haven't been shot yet. Obviously I should get over the whole bleeding heart thing and just write a check at the end of the year like normal people.

People

Have I mentioned that I hate people? Not all people, of course. There are individual people I actually like very much. Alex O'Loughlin, for example. I'm also quite fond of several members of my family, and most of my friends. In general, however, I hate people. Mostly because people are stupid. And it isn’t just American people either (though we certainly do have more than our share). In Paris I found myself in the Louvre surrounded by (mostly) European tourists who insisted upon taking flash photos throughout the museum, despite the fact that signs everywhere specifically say “No Flash Photos.” In the US when you take a flash photo in a museum a large guy in a suit appears out of nowhere and threatens to confiscate your camera and imprison you (or at least kick you out.) In Paris, despite exorbitant museum entrance fees, there seemed to be no security staff whatsoever to enforce the ban on flash photos. Hey, Stupid Flash Photo Taking Morons, you are ruining priceless art! Stop it! Buy a postcard in the gift shop if you must, but stop taking photos. Just one small example of why I hate people.

Oh, btw, if you are wondering why someone who hates people so much is spending a fortune on grad school so she can go into a “helping” profession, well…it’s a question I’ve been asking myself lately and I have no good answer. Clearly mistakes have been made.