It's very rare for me to rave this much about a movie, but I feel that everyone reading this should go out and see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Although it comes from the brilliantly twisted mind of Charlie Kaufman (who also brought you Being John Malkovich), it is, at its heart, a deeply romantic movie that really connected for me. I guess to some degree I saw a bit of myself in the protagonist - the straight man in awe that someone wonderfully alive would've chosen him. Also, you got to see all aspects of a relationship without any punches being pulled...albeit in that odd way that is only natural for what we come to expect from Charlie Kaufman. It lends, in its own strange way, hope for the seemingly etnerally single like Y.T.

After dinner at Fogo de Chão, I can say with certainty that I am meated out for a week or so. Temporary vegetarianism here I come!

The last of the people just shuffled off from the dinner party I threw tonight, so I figured I'd blog about it.

On the balance, the dinner party went pretty well. Everyone professed their love of the food, which make me happy.. Pepper, the adorable shepard-chow "not quite a puppy, not quite a dog", was super cute, friendly and well-behaved. The 1994 Maques de Caceres Rioja Reserva and the Delirium Tremens were quite lovely matching drinks. I did go slightly crazy during the final hours trying to do risotto as well as making the salad, chopping the fresh herb garnish, and seting out the salad. Thankfully, someone helped out with the risotto and salad so things went that much smoother.

So, what was the menu?

• A trio of cheeses - manchego, a Spanish raw cow's milk cheese, and a French cheese that is supposedly quite cheddar-like


• Baba Ganouj


• A blood orange, mixed greens and pecan salad with a blood orange/balsamic vinegarette


• Shiitake and Portobello Mushroom Risotto


• Broccoli braised in wine and chicken stock


• Sweated Julienne Leeks and Roasted Asparagus with Pancetta Bechamel Sauce


• Braised Lamb Shoulder with a fresh basil, mint, serrano chile garnish


• Pecan Pie

As wonderful as it all was, I sadly have soo much cleaning left to do. Guess it's time to go and run the dishwasher, pack up the food and then die for a very long time.

On a whim of sorts, I bought a knife roll for cutlery storage and transportation. It made sense in a way because I don't have a block to house the knives and will probably need some sort of container to transport them in. However, it's rather silly in the grand scheme of things since A) I almost never cook anywhere except for my kitchen and B) I always use the native implements of the foreign kitchen.

On the other hand, maybe it's a sign or a step forward. One of my friends suggested that I cater a dinner for her a while back. Perhaps I should be bold, bite the bullet and do it: after all, it'd be my first step into a professional culinary career. Plus it'd give me an opportunity to try out the knife roll.

Yes kids, you too can come up with the plot line for the next episode of Law and Order by using this.

A certain Salamander Lady pointed out this web page where you can look up the how the Orkut people in your area are distributed.