It Started with a Journal

I had a latte this morning and followed it with cherry vanilla granola in milk ... now my stomach has that unpleasant full feeling even though I haven't really eaten anything. Ugh.

Yesterday I had lunch with a friend at Sushi Land, which is apparently a chain. It was one of those places with a conveyor belt. I normally avoid such places like the plague, but he suggested it and I didn't know it was that kind of sushi place until we got there. It was OK; the best thing about it was that it was very economical. Plus it was packed to the gills with people, which meant that fresh sushi was constantly being prepared. One of the reasons conveyor belt sushi places seem so iffy (other than that sushi doesn't belong on a conveyor belt, period, and the quality of the fish is lower) is because when there's not a lot of people, some sad-looking plate of sushi is going around and around on the belt, and you have no idea how long it's been sitting there. Ugh. But with that many people, at least there wasn't that to worry about. Depending on the sushi, they were on colored plates that denoted the cost of that particular plate (ranging from $1 to $3 -- or you could order special sushi such as uni that doesn't get placed on the conveyor, for additional cost). You could also order things like a small bowl of tempura udon (for $3), which we did. They also had things like fried calamari and edamame on the belt. For the cost ($25 for the both of us), it was OK, but if the prices had been any higher -- no thanks.

The other day at Whole Foods I saw a basket of beautiful-looking Meyer lemons and couldn't resist. I bought two of them, and have been wracking my brain ever since as to what to do with them. I don't feel much like baking, but otherwise they'd just rot and spoil, and I can't have that! I think I'm going to make these cookies with them. The problem is, that only takes care of the zest ... I'll still have actual lemon juice/pulp to contend with! Have you ever used Meyer lemons? What's your favorite recipe?

Speaking of desserts, yesterday I was at Half-Price Books to see if I could get any ideas about books to request from PBS, and wandered over to the cooking section. (I've got cookbooks on my PBS list, but the chances of someone sending that heavy an item are slim.) Here I found a hidden treasure! Desserts by Pierre Hermé! It's out of print, and while I could order it used from somewhere online, I was super excited to have found it on my own. It's the best thing about used book stores.

I've been watching a number of movies, primarly the ones that have Oscars significance since the nominees have been announced. I was surprised, but also not, by Gran Torino's shut out. Surprised: It's Clint Eastwood. How could they snub Clint Eastwood? Unsurprised: I actually liked it, which of course means it can't win anything. Also it got mixed reviews from critics, but that's true of The Reader as well, and yet somehow, out of the blue, it got a Best Picture nom. ( Anyway, so I've now seen... )