Mary Dan Eades, M.D.

Forgive my lengthy absence from the blog desk. As those of you who also read Mike’s blog know, I’ve been up to my eyeballs for the last month finishing a couple of major business projects and wearing my SB Choral Society President and soprano-in-the-chorus hats getting our Verdi Requiem behind us (which, as he’s already blogged about, was a smashing critical success, thank you very much) and as such all work on my blog got pushed to the back burner. Mea culpa!

Then before you could turn around and catch a breath, we were off on this trip to China.

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In the dining section of the NY Times last Wednesday, there was a somewhat alarming article by Kim Severson, titled: Showdown at the Coffee Shop (free but requires registration) detailing the entry of the new sweetener Truvia to the world of packet sweeteners.

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Our local newspaper carried an article a few days ago by the McClatchy News Service’s Steve Schmaedeke that caught my eye: A whiff of luxury: Take Le Whif of inhalable chocolate.

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As most long-time readers know, I have the honor to sing with the Santa Barbara Choral Society in the soprano section. For the last two years, we have had plans for the Verdi Requiem on our calendar for Spring 2009. Our concert will be May 16 and 17, just a few weeks from now.

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We just had a quick bite tonight at Dargan’s, our favorite Irish pub in Santa Barbara, where they’re already gearing up for St. Paddy’s Day and today’s paper was filled with recipes for everything Irish. There was a recipe for lamb stew, corned beef and cabbage, and Irish Coddle and a lengthy discourse on Guinness. Clearly, that day when everybody sports a shamrock and wishes they were Irish is just around the corner and with it another holiday to challenge a person’s low-carb commitment.

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Nothing says love on Valentine’s Day quite like sweets, particularly chocolate, which can make it a mine-field for the low-carb devotee. But here’s a solution that may surprise you: truffles!

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As promised (by my darling husband) here is the recipe I have used for years for an authentic Spanish Andalusian Gazpacho. Mike proclaimed it difficult, which it really isn’t. Time consuming and in parts a pain in the keester, but not difficult. In the summer, when the tomatoes are at their peak, I use fresh tomatoes, but otherwise, the canned diced ones, particularly the fire roasted ones that are now available everywhere, are a tastier option.

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As a follow-up to Mike’s wonderful post today about the Elephant and the Rider and the Warring Selves, here’s a little more food for thought on the subject.

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This past New Year’s Eve, we had (as we often do) a number of friends over for dinner to ring in the new year. I had intended to post the menu, photos, and some recipes long before now, but life has been a bit hectic in our neck of the woods, with multiple projects with looming deadlines on my desk, so I apologize for my sporadic attention to this blog.

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As I’ve mentioned in these pages many times, I have an extensive cookbook library that takes up several bookcases in our homes–duplicated in many cases, since we split our time between two houses. I’m not sure of the exact count, but it’s up there. Guests to our home often ask if I really use them all. The answer is that while I enjoy them all for different reasons, out of that huge collection, there are but a few that I just couldn’t live without. A handful that I would call must-haves any kitchen library. I often give one or more from this group as a gift to a newly married couple and have made sure my own children’s kitchens have them, for my own use when there as well as for their edification.

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