The Best of 2007
I'm a day late for a post like this, but I'm still in Seattle, my laptop computer screen is fried and I'm using a total stranger's computer. (My friend is housesitting and she said I could use the house's computer. If you're reading this and you're on vacation and wondering if it's YOUR computer I'm using, don't worry: all the porn will be deleted and the virus I accidentally downloaded only destroyed half your hard drive.)
So, 2007. What an eventful year it was: my first book was published, Craig shot his first feature, we moved in together, Lolita got a new bed, and Britney's little sister got pregnant. 2008 is looking pretty exciting so far, but before we dive into the New Year, here's my very idiosynchratic list of the Best of 2007.
Best Bite of 2007
Usually a category like this is saved for last, but after skimming my archives from the past year it's clear to me that the best bite I had this year was the bite you see Diana, Patty and I having in the picture above: the lobster rolls we devoured when we arrived at The Clam Shack in Kennebunkport this summer.
After almost six hours in the car we were starving, and the whole point of our trip was to gorge on lobster and lobster rolls and fried clams. I still remember that first bite of lobster roll vividly: it's not that it was expertly done or super gourmet, it was just the most perfect thing to eat at that moment I could imagine. Plus the sky was about to explode with thunder and the light was mysterious and moody--we stood on the back porch of The Clam Shack and ate greedily, with a great sense of inner peace. Accordingly, it's my best bite of 2007.
Best Restaurant Meal
Chez Panisse. Read the post (which may be my favorite post I wrote in 2007) and you'll understand why this meal, far from perfect, was my favorite one by far.
Best Burger
Best Recipe Invention
My gross-sounding, but actually pretty tasty Asian Peanut Butter Sandwich.
Best Meal I Cooked
This meal I cooked for my designers on the launch of the new design. The roast pork (from Suzanne Goin's cookbook, of course, which may be my most used cookbook this year) still brings tears to my designers' eyes when I bring it up. (Happy tears, that is.)
Craig's Favorite Thing I Cooked
Favorite Food Discoveries
Slow-Cooked Polenta; and, also starting with the letter P, Pho.
Favorite New Boroughs
Queens (for the Greek food); the Bronx for Arthur Ave.
Best Place I Should've Been To Already and Where I Should've Already Gone Back To
Best Alternative Because It's Closer and a Bit More Comfortable Inside
Worst Cooking Injury
Best Cooking Injury
Sandra Lee slipping on a banana peel. (If only!)
Best Song About Frozen Yogurt
Most Surreal Food Moment
Funniest Food-Related Story I Heard Recently
A friend of Craig's who works in the Starbucks corporate office told me that a man left a message on the company machine threatening to sue Starbucks because he was swimming in the ocean at 5 in the morning and that he was bitten on the leg by...
...the Starbucks mermaid.
AND NOW FOR NON-FOOD RELATED CATEGORIES
Favorite Movie of the Year
Superbad.
Favorite TV Show
30 Rock.
Favorite Book That I Read That Wasn't Published This Year but that I Still Very Much Recommend
The Kid by Dan Savage.
Favorite Off-Broadway Show
Gone Missing.
Favorite Broadway Show
Company.
And that, my friends, is my Best of 2007 list. It'll be a little while before I can post again--that is: until my computer gets fixed. So, until then, hope you're having a happy and healthy start to 2008. Thanks for reading!
