John Brase

Ed was inspired to make Goan Pork Vindaloo with a sauce filled with warm spices (ginger, paprika, cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic) but which also required side trips to MidEast Market (for Kashmiri chiles) and PanAsia Market (for coconut vinegar). Totally worth the extra effort.

Best Christmas leftovers ever: Ed’s lasagna alla bolognese, featuring the mandatory green (spinach) noodles, layered with pork ragù and béchamel (traditionslly used instead of mozzarella in Bologna).
Note that the Parmesan scoop is my spoon from when I was a baby.

Can we just add: THE most self-hating Jew since Roy Cohn.

Red sky on BlueSky:

An autumn evening —at Christmas— in St. Louis.

It kinda looks like, oh, I dunno, a ballroom.

Quiet romantic Christmas Eve for two, courtesy of @russanddaughters.bsky.social and @veuveclicquot4ever.bsky.social

Ed spent Christmas week making
Tagliatelle with ragù alla bolognese (the extra ragù is for the traditional Christmas lasagna);
Coquilles St Jacques;
Chinese-American stir-fry;
Chicken stew with biscuits; and
Spinach and cheese soufflé.
He’s a machine.

She scared me. Thx in advance for tonight’s nightmares.

Finding Your Roots | Brittany Packnett Cunningham Meets Her Great-Grandparents | Season 8 | Episode 2 Brittany Packnett Cunningham learns the identity of her great-grandparents.

SO excited that amazing St. Louis homegirl Brittany Packnett Cunningham @mspackyetti.bsky.social is on our Nine PBS teevee this week! Be sure to tune in

www.pbs.org/video/britta...

Final meal in Bologna, and since it was cold and rainy, Ed took me back to his favorite neighborhood spot for tortellini in brodo, the bolognese version of a healing chicken soup.

Our last date night in Bologna was at a cozy table at Angolo degli Orefice, where we shared more local specialties: a perfect bolognese lasagna, passatelli con crema di parmigiano e funghi porcini (which is NOT pasta per se) and regional meats and cheeses. All quite wonderful.

Al Sangiovese is a cozy restaurant with traditional Bolognese dishes and charming staff.
Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs, though: gramigna with sausage cream sauce, the local lasagna that includes bechamel and the mandatory green pasta, polpette with stuffed zucchini, and beef carpaccio.

Ristorante da Cesari is a cozy place with a charming host and a hearty traditional Bolognese menu.
After a shared starter of porky mortadella, a wonderfully chewy gramignone verde al ragù di salsiccia, and the Scaloppina alla Petroniana con Tartufo Bianco (because: white truffles!).

Excellent lunch at Corte De’Galuzzi featuring a couple traditional Bolognese favorites. First, a salad of mâche (lambs lettuce), bresaola, tomatoes, avocado, and walnuts. Then, my tortellini in brodo and Ed’s tagliatelle verdi. Then, time for a nap!

Ed took me to lunch at one of our favorite destinations in Bologna, the always excellent Drogheria della Rosa, where host Emanuele Addone makes sure we feel special and cared-for. Today’s traditional treat: tagliatella al ragù. Perfection.

A morning stroll off the Piazza Maggiore in Bologna took us past all the wonderful vendors of local prosciutto, mortadella, parmigiano, tortellini, and gorgeous vegetables.

Nothing like good pasta to make you forget a tough travel day. Ed took me to Trattoria Trebbi near his Bologna apartment: mortadella with mortadella mousse to start, then his tagliolini and my tortellini, both with that rare autumn treat, white Alba truffles.

It might have been wise to add a hyphen between the second and third words, but as is, I have questions: Are some ass toys bad? How would I know? And where should I drive them?

I swore off pasta until I join Ed in Bologna this weekend BUT I could NOT turn down the gnochetti (with Spanish octopus and ‘Nduja) at Vicia. Thanks to my buddy Alex Levine Clardy for being my Ed-free date (although she didn’t get near my duck-liver mousse with apricot and sweet-corn madeleines).

The autumnal butternut squash tortelloni at Katie's Pizza & Pasta Osteria (in deep brown butter with crispy sage) is a wonderful treat, made more so by dining with my amazing long-time friend David Toben. A perfect lunch experience.

One, then the other.

Seriously, does he think that since absorbing Greenland and Canada hasn’t worked out, he’ll just take Colombia and Venezuela?

My niece is staying with me this weekend while she attends and vends at SLICE (the St. Louis Independent Comics Expo), which means I need to look my best.

Trolls discovered its no fun trolling other trolls on Xitter, so they’ve invaded Threads and BlueSky. Just block and block and block.

Another Ed-free date on The Hill:
I had to have Anthonino’s Taverna’s t-ravs because (prove me wrong) they have the most flavorful marinara in town.
Their traditional pizza (a little wet in the center “come i napoletani)” is mostly a take-home treat today.

I tried the new Bites Revolving Bar in Cape Girardeau, and it’s a hoot. Dishes wander past your table like an Automat on an airport people mover, and you grab what looks good. (I ordered the bibimbap off-menu.) It’s hypnotic: even when you’re chatting or not hungry, you can’t not watch.

Another Ed-free date night, another dinner on The Hill.
Last evening’s treat was on the side patio of Lorenzos Trattoria: a gloriously messy pile of bright fresh bruschette followed by an Italian-American classic, tortellini with peas and prosciutto. A cocktail might have been involved.

This one is for my girlfriends. You know who you are.
(And I repeat: Brenda Starr was a goddess.)

Another Ed-free week of dinner dates, and the first of three on The Hill.
Charlie Gitto's has, for my money, the best t-ravs in town (they claim the title of OG): filled to bursting w/ meat and w/ all sharp edges trimmed off. Add their Fiore Boghese (in a pink cognac sauce) and it’s a great dinner.

I have an event (not a date) tonight, and that always poses an important question.
(Side note: Brenda Starr was a goddess.)