And We're Back

Maureen says:
Our blog hiatus is over--also, thankfully, are my carpal tunnel symptoms--and June has arrived in all its characteristic New England splendor: heat, haze and humidity; startling shifts in temperature; and thunderstorms replete with hail that, believe it or not, I missed when we lived in California.

On the Plate
We launched our Sunday Dinner program on May 20th, inspired in part Suzanne Goin's concept Sunday Suppers at Lucques (some of you may have seen her as a guest judge on season two of Bravo TV's series Top Chef).

Our version is a four-course, prix fixe meal ($28) that constantly evolves based on foods in season, local market availability and the whims of our chef. Once you select your entree course (poultry, beef or seafood), the Seriously Fun starters, salads and side dishes start coming and are served family style, as is Sous Chef Nellie Booth's dessert course.

Even though Tom and I try to sit down, no matter how late, and have dinner together on Friday and Saturday nights, it's the Sunday menu that's quickly become our personal favorite to share while we reflect on the week just past and discuss our plans for the week ahead. The menu is out of the ordinary, the ingredients couldn't be fresher and, as I've been overheard to say on occasion, it's the closest I've come to eating Tom's home cooking since opened for business (and maybe, just maybe, that's his sneaky way of getting me to work a third day on site).

We've also got another fun announcement coming up this month that isn't exactly food related. Keep your eye on the blog or sign up for the newsletter--we'll make the announcement in a few places.

On the Side
What we're reading: Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and next up, Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Mineral

What we're watching: Not much, but the DVR is programmed to record season three of Top Chef (I am hoping that because it's based in Miami that some of the restaurants Tom and I love there are featured; during season one, a challenge was set in San Francisco's Frisson, where we celebrated the first anniversary of togetherness).

What else? I'm in the beginning stages of mapping out a book proposal (!). I committed, in writing (okay, email, but it still counts) to another writer-friend that I would, if nothing else, have the proposal completed by January. And then, when I shared the idea with a friend who's a photograph (Hi Matt!), he nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, in addition to everything else you've got going on, you should write a book."

Why the hell not.