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Spring does make us extra-frisky-- I highly recommend a surprise bubble bath with two flutes of champagne with cut strawberries inside them. Cliche but a nice one!

I prefer Peeps to the bunnies, personally...

@roboopy - HOLA! Do not be fooled...it's actually a means of irony. While I do like vegetables, I LOVE everything, especially SUGAR. I drink my coffee VERY strong and black, which probably will give me an ulcer. Btw, did I mention I love SUGAR? I just finished a chocolate chip scone with the foulest coffee for a snack, and I'm starting to a shake a bit. Hey, at least the guy told me it was coffee.....

My favorite commercial was from a while back- pork: the other white meat. Like the true juvenile I was, I would start giggling uncontrollably. Which caused mi madre to think there was insidious intent in some sort of subliminal message directed at corrupting youth. In my case, it was too late.

Oh, and I was raised in a kosher household!

I might "I"s, though my typo strangely makes sense to me right now...
Probably not a good sign.

@Traveller: btw, I know how you feel. I'm just learning how to cook in the first place, and the only time and energy my BF now and I have for cooking is on the weekends. That said, as @WhatsCookin shows, I'd also like to make certain changes in my life too. I do think about the environment, especially since I grew up in a VERY polluted area of Mexico, and if my (future) child ever had to grow up like that, I don't know what I'd do...

Friday morning is my coffee/pastry/book morning. I go down to the local bakery, have a seat at the counter, swivel around a few times to see if I got one of the good seat (full swivel necessary) and the have whatever the bakeress recommends that morning. She is awesome. She made pumpkin empanadas when I described them as a weekend treat of my childhood. (TRY THEM!) I take with me a book that I read simultanenously. For some reason Right now I'm reading BROTHERS by Yu Hua. Strongly suggest it. This morning I had a Sumatra blend and an almond flaky croissant. Most wondrous.

Hola Ed! Not too long ago, I too fought stress, but I did not have a Grace to stop me. My problem was when I got behind things, I went and shopped. And these proprietors fully aided and abetted me. Dresses as much as my rent. Specialty foods that belonged, of course, on beautiful new and creative plates. And then there was that rare Yaakov Shabtai book...in the original Hebrew...don't even ask how much I paid.

Point is, now I was pointed recently by a friend to other ways of combating stress. I don't know if these will help but I offer them up:
(1) Put on "I Will Survive" by Gloria G and dance your socks off. Just because you are male AND in an office AND there's people around AND it's a really a breakup song doesn't mean you can appreciate the chorus and sing along...
(2) Install a small punching bag in the corner of your office and get some boxing gloves. Or have a pillow handy. Or, for the true minimalist, a squeeze ball.
(3) Try a cup of ginger tea. I like to cut up raw ginger thin, pour hot water over it, cover with a plate and steep for 15 minutes. It's also a great stomach soother.
(4) Look at this picture: http://www.thecuteproject.com/images/items/1143.jpg I'm not into cutsie but this always makes me smile. In truth, I want one of those but believe federal law prohibits it.
(5) The whole deep breathing thing...let me know if it works...

I am nuts for any stinky cheeses. Limburger and pickles on bread.
Second, Pont l’Eveque on anything; this one is hard to find, which makes the BF and other passing through the kitchen very, very happy.

@chisai-- I will do that. One part TV on the Radio to two parts Avi Gefen (with a dash of Rihanna-- yes I'm over 20 and listen to her!)

@PerkyMac - you are not old. I hear alarms, sirens, snooze buttons and screams so often in NYC, I say oh, someone else will get to it...wait...it's coming from my kitchen...and no one else is home...

So I feel the need to now reveal one problem-- that I should have revealed earlier. The BF is Chinese and is bilingual. His mother, though, is not. I speak a few languages (Spanish and Hebrew being native) but alas Chinese is not one of them. And she speaks Mien, a certain dialect. I am in the process of learning Mandarin, but probably sound like a 2 year old...and not a smart one. So I've decided, who cares? I will take my gibberish and utilize hand gestures-- and I will communicate with her anyway! (I must say though that despite the fact we rarely speak, the BF's mother and I get along very well.) Any way thank you for your comments-- I think this weekend, I'll let her run my kitchen and perhaps I'll learn the language of cuisine...

(Ok, that was cheesey)

Interesting-- I will make an effort to find the middleground of the menu...

But as for the decorative swirls and colors, I will probably continue to be entranced...

I have had an ongoing argument with my meat-loving BF concerning protein. Since he grew up in a rural part of China where meat was an occasional treat, I've come to the conclusion it's some sort of forbidden fruit for him. While I grew up in Mexico, in similar circumstances, the opposite happened: I've never adjusted to the taste of red meat. For us, I suppose, meat is also a class issue: the more you can eat, the more prominent you are. Of course with the advent of McDonalds, you could see why Americans don't share this point of view, but for us, it has been an ongoing adjustment.

He eats oxtail for breakfast...sometimes a steak...and always tries to make me more red stuff. Somehow a bloody, thick slab of bovine doesn't mesh well with a work-is-upon-you-get-going-NOW Monday morning. We both read Pollan's book which he found too theoretical for real life. But I've always like Bittman's column in the Times, and slowly but surely, he does recognize that Americans by and large get too much protein. That doesn't mean he'll give up his beloved oxtails, but it does mean I feel less guilty about daily avocado stuffed with greek yogurt and walnuts: this is my mecca of social prominence!