I miss the sun

Last week's weather: rain and clouds

This week's weather: more rain, more clouds, and maybe some snow tomorrow

This is the only city I've lived in where the weather report makes a distinction between "white cloud" and "grey cloud." Makes me so glad that I got to see the sun when Ali surprised me with a trip to Barcelona for my birthday earlier this month! We spent the weekend walking around the city, touring some of the famous sights, discovering loads of tiny art galleries and cool shops on small side streets, and having incredible food.

The beach:


Tapas as El Quim in La Boqueria, the huge market:


Typical Catalan breakfast:


Of course, how could I forget the woman walking her pet rabbit around the Sagrada Familia?

Pixar clouds my judgment

I was recently in one of the nicer grocery stores in London, when I saw a mouse run in through the doors and up the bread shelf. The few shoppers around me stopped in horror to stare at it, which made the poor thing freeze up in the middle of the baguettes.

Over the weekend, I saw another mouse hopping around on the tube tracks.

Is it wrong that instead of getting freaked out, all I can think of is Remy the rat in Ratatouille? Oh, and speaking of mice, take a look at my birthday cake:



I swear I'm not into mice (or rats)!

Ick!

My spin class this morning started with a thumping version of "California Girls" by Katy Perry - possibly the worst way to start the day. Does anyone else hate that song as much as I do?

Yotam Ottolenghi

I discovered this inventive chef through his Guardian column when I first moved to London. Since then, I've been lucky enough share my neighborhood with his restaurant and to receive both his cookbooks as gifts. He does a lot more than vegetarian food, but the column's a good (and free!) way to try out a lot of his recipes. I especially like his barley, tomato and garlic risotto, one-pot wonder, and the recipe that made me like eggplant again. You can find a few non-vegetarian recipes, like this delicious one for chili and basil roast chicken on his website.

By the way, I swear I'm not being paid to write this, though all signs point to the contrary.

Hi!

At a friend's urging, I've started a blog to share random thoughts that don't warrant an email or a phone call (and sometimes, probably not even a blog post). Here's to a new year and a new effort to keep people in the loop, even if it's just to share a blog that I'm obsessed with at the moment!