Bringing my diet to my party

In my own imagination I am still the svelte 110-pound Energizer bunny that I was ten years ago.  The truth is, reality hit after having a child and entering my thirties... the dreaded metabolism slowdown has ensued.  My personal trainer and yoga teacher both have Job-like patience with me, but I had to do away with the nutritionist.  She was the strangest combination of crazy and boring, as if she couldn't decide if she wanted to be antisocial or a glamazon, at once scoffing and gleaning when I informed her that I needed to mindful of the dinner party I would be throwing that weekend.  So I've taken nutrition matters into my own hands.  Risky, I know.

This weekend we are hosting a little soirée just for fun.  At the beginning of the week Mr. Maurice attended a reception celebrating the completion (after 2 years of construction) of a new headquarters for bank.  He said that it was the most depressing celebration he'd ever been to in his life.  Smiles were tense, greetings were mumbled, and everyone was quick to hightail it out of there.  If there was ever a time to have a small, spirit-lifting gathering, it is now.  

Normally for a soirée such as this I would serve rich foods and gallons of bubbly, but we are now economy-conscious AND I'm watching my own intake of calories.  How to keep things light, happy, and healthful?  Why, salmon, of course!  This weekend we will be feasting on salmon fillets. We'll be using one of Mr. Maurice's recipes.  He dreamed it up on his own, so forgive the lack of "official recipe" formatting here:

Drizzle white truffle oil into a large pan and set to medium heat.  Add minced garlic, and cook until it begins to turn a bit translucent. Coat salmon with Baron's Savoury Secrets Sesame Ginger Blend Secret #25 and cook skin side up until meat is opaque.  The smell will have you floating.  

Serve on a bed of steamed spinach and serve a delicious fruit dish and a cheese plate for dessert.  I plan on drizzling honey over manchego cheese and oranges coated with cinnamon sugar.  Sure, it's a little spring-y, but we could all use a little air and light right now.  Add a little ice wine to the dessert menu and mmm...mmm....mmmm!

It is sure to be a fun and lighthearted evening that will please the senses without taking me down an absolute detour from my diet!

Enjoy!

Food is Hot

The New York Times posted a blurb in "Ideas" with the headline, "Food Is the New Sex".  I was intrigued, thinking of the way cooking and eating tickle the senses.  The way that the body reacts to the unending range of tastes, changing the rate at which we breathe, the posture in which we sit, sometimes making us salivate a little.

Well, the article didn't go there.  It was pretty short and disappointing, and more about t he discomfort that we feel with how far the sexual revolution has taken us, but it got me thinking.  What about the sensuousness of food?  I for one wish I could bottle the swishy sound of crisp lettuce tearing and of butter and garlic meeting each other on the stove.  As the recession is closing it's choke hold around our weekly habits and we are eating in more, how are our attitudes toward the kitchen bound to change?  Will society in general start to pause and smell the odors as they begin to intermingle as food is sliced, mixed, then cooked?  Will it be the death of the microwave as more people take in the joys (and healthfulness) of using fresh ingredients?