Involtini, and to bed

People, I was sidelined by an insanely awful muscle spasm under my right shoulder blade today. It was so awful that I had to buzz out for a few hours, get a massage (disappointing) and take a muscle relaxer. Not a welcome interruption to my day. And it's a bummer to pay for a massage that for the most part felt like when your 2 year old plays doctor on you. Ah well. The involtini turned out well overall (fresh ricotta was the bomb as usual), but I am always stunned by just how much salt Italian food really needs. If you are making any Italian dish, just put aside any hesitation you might have about sodium and open that salt shaker to max. You won't be sorry.

I am off to bed. Happy Halloween.

Sunday market and cooking plans

These asparagus (not yet cooked in this pic) were so good last night, as was the Bolognese and other roasted veggies. We enjoyed a great bottle of wine too (Hess Select Block 19, Mount Veeder, Napa) and all went to bed stuffed and happy. Today is the first really, really cold day but it's gorgeous out; so we bundled up and spent an hour at the farmers market, the kids eating their way through, as we adults managed to buy food for later during the graze-and-binge. Just look at all this beautiful bounty. I'm going to use the eggplant for involtini tonight; fresh ricotta is finishing up on the stove now.

Bill Maher's panel last night, roasted veggies, Bolognese

Wow! Did anyone see the Real Time with Bill Maher from last night? I have never seen such an intensely intense panel. You had Cornel West and Michael Ware on one side, and they were such a mutual admiration society I thought they might move in together after the show. Don't get me wrong; I'm a big fan of them both. Michael Ware is not only a brilliant journalist, but also has been kidnapped at least six times, has a fantastic Aussie accent and suffers no fools. And Cornel- I mean who can get enough of his "uniform"? He's such a dynamo. He, too, has no tolerance for stupid BS. At the end, on the other side, emerged Ron Christie, an insufferably smug fellow (literally, in academic speak) from the Kennedy School. He was so full of BS about the fabric of America and how invading Iraq was just so gosh-darn justified that I, T, and certainly and vociferously Ware and West, could hardly bear to listen to him. Everything about him was dissonant. I thought Michael was going to leave, and Cornel's head might blow off. I'm also not sure I've ever seen Bill in the role of slightly nervous referee- the whole thing was fabulous. Oh, and dinner was fabulous too. You can't go wrong with hearty pasta and roasted veggies. I did the asparagus with just EVOO and salt but dressed the yams/onions/garlic/kohlrabi/apple mixture with Aleppo chile, EVOO, honey, and salt. Delish!

If you do not already roast apples and yams together, do. Fab!