I have returned from Jail and ready to begin posting again. Stay tuned.
Tonight’s menu is seared scallops, turkey meatballs with asian bbq sauce and those amazing little itty bitty hot dogs. And of course… plenty of booze.

“But we don’t beat the Reaper by living longer. We beat the Reaper by living well.” Raise a glass tonight to a great man, Randy Pausch; he passed away this morning. He was 47 years old.

Courtesy of Bon Appetit, this salsa is incredible. A new twist on your basic guacamole.
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)*
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon wasabi paste (horseradish paste)*
2 cups coarsely chopped trimmed watercress (leaves and tender stems [...]

Part maraschino cherry juice, part pineapple juice, part vodka with a splash of soda. Dangerously delicious.

I traveled for 24 hours straight yesterday. I almost missed my flight, lost my aisle seat, and gained a middle seat (suppressed groan), next to a screaming baby. My solution was to drink beer profusely until I passed out. Success! Once I arrived at the Tokyo airport, a mere 11 hours later, my ride was [...]

In 1969, Susan Atkins and other members of the Manson family brutally killed five people at a Benedict Canyon mansion and a couple the following night. Among them, was the eight-and-half months pregnant actress, Sharon Tate, whom Atkins testified to stabbing repeatedly. “She asked me to let her baby live,” Atkins told parole officials in [...]

Just my luck, disease stricken tomatoes are on the prowl; salmonella is ruining my summer. This recipe looks so good, it just might be worth the risk. Sure you may die from it, but what a last meal it will be. Sigh. Recipe via Bon Appetit:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 medium tomatoes
3/4 [...]

It is mind numbingly hot, especially in the house, working without air conditioning. I have drank an entire pitcher of iced tea and dreaming about this cooling punch: Negroni.
4 cups assorted fresh fruit (cherries, berries, peaches)
2 to 4 tbls. of sugar (optional)
1 cup Campari
1 cup sweet vermouth
1 cup gin
2 750-ml bottles chilled Prosecco
Ice (lots and [...]

This morning I woke up and began the 300 Workout. Anyone familiar with the film, 300, will recall how greatly out of shape you felt after watching it.
It’s daunting, and includes these weight-training moves:

25 pull-ups
50 deadlifts at 135 pounds
50 push-ups
50 box jumps with a 24-inch box
50 “floor wipers” (a core and shoulders exercise at 135 [...]

I’m quite certain I missed my calling as a doctor. In the past few days I have performed various surgeries. Among them, pulling a tick out of my cat Tim’s neck after explaining to everyone else “that is not a skin tag. He is not Italian.” Cleaning a nail wound and extracting glass from a [...]