Let There Be Steak

Sometimes, when you just don't know how you feel or exactly what to do, you just want to eat something that you can count on: steak.

I had a very nice dinner with The Author on Saturday night. We had a bottle of rose, a salad of heirloom melon, lime, and mint, and a small plate of the most delicious grilled octopus of all time. It had been braised then grilled, and was served with homemade chorizo and a southern specialty known as chowchow (sweet, tangy pickled vegetables.) Then we had fried sweetbreads over a bed of creamed spinach with some grilled artichokes (yum!). And a panacotta for dessert. It was lovely and delicious, but by the end of the meal, I just didn't know. Generally, first dates fall into two categories for me: OH MY GOD YES or NO WAY. I felt kind of 50/50 at the end of this date; while the food and conversation were both great, I just wasn't sure I was feelin' The Author.

So I have decided to wait until after the next date to decide...and live in the gray zone for a while (very uncharacteristic of me.)

While I may have felt slightly ambivalent about this date, I did not feel ambivalent AT ALL about the dinner I made myself last night: a perfectly seared filet mignon, swiss chard with red pepper flakes, and sweet, yellow, roasted potatoes from the farmer's market. It was pretty much exactly what I wanted.

Moral of the story: when you don't get exactly what you want in one area of life, there's always dinner at home.