Good-Bye, Carbs … Good-bye, Happiness …

I don’t even remember what we ate this week.

I seriously don’t.  It seems like forever ago.  I just finished my first day with a personal trainer, you see, and let me tell you, if you are thinking of doing it, hiring a personal trainer, be prepared to feel very awkward about how you see yourself.  The trainer won’t say anything, but when someone who is in perfect shape is advising you how to get in shape and there are mirrors … (fucking) everywhere, you start to feel pretty pudgy.

Anyway, we did have a good Sunday.  In anticipation for this new lifestyle change that I am putting myself through (why???), I made a dinner that would be a sort of send-off to carbs.  Not that I had committed to any kind of diet in advance, but I just figured the trainer would look at me and say something to the effect of, “Okay … so we’re going to be laying off the carbs for awhile, okay?”  (Which he did, but in a much nicer way.  He’s actually a really good guy.  Very supportive.)

On the Menu: Creamed Soup Florentine, Spinach and Hydroponic Lettuce Salad with Spring Onions, Radishes, and Hard Boiled Eggs, Garlic Bread with Basil and Mozzarella, Fettuccini Alfredo with Pan Seared Asparagus

Megan, Rene, and the gang went off to the Cozumel Air Show for the day and so I was alone in the kitchen.  Oh, except for Joseph.  (Who used to own and operate his own high-end restaurant.)  Except for him, I was completely alone.  I tackled the Alfredo sauce, while Joseph handled the soup.  The salad, Joseph also prepared, and the garlic bread was a team effort.

The soup was awesome.  Just the right balance to make it warming without being too heavy.  The salad was light and fresh and played off the spinach in the soup nicely.  The garlic bread went with both perfectly, the basil and the garlic complimenting the two appetizers well.

The fettuccini, I hate to admit, was a little on the disappointing side.  I had thought that we had parmesan at home, but we did not.  Alfredo without parmesan in the preparation is not really Alfredo and my sauce was judged to be lacking.  It was still good, but was missing that certain something that would have put it over the top.  (As evidenced by the tiny piles of noodles left scattered on various plates.

Alfredo should be something that you eat even when you know you should stop.  It should compel you to eat it.  You should get to the point where you feel full, your instincts are pulling you back, but your desire to finish what’s in front of you is like a pack of ravenous dogs, breaking their master’s chain, ignoring his commands, and gorging themselves on their helpless prey.  Without all of the ingredients, however, it just doesn’t do that.  Without all of the ingredients, it makes you feel a little like you are eating papier–mâché.

The wine, on the other hand, was fantastic.  Let’s talk about that!

The Wine: Sancinos, Crianza Rioja, Spain, 2008, $230 MXN

Rating: Three Bottles

This wine was awesome.  Oaky, earthy tones mixed with plums and chocolate-covered cherries.  Peppery and deep, this wine immediately wakes up your taste buds on the first sip.

There is a slight harshness to this wine, but kind of in a warming way, like ginger, or port.  Megan and I got a little silly off this wine.  We’ve had rain for the past week or so, and the wine was kind of like a feeling in a bottle.  The rain be dammed, it seemed to say once uncorked.  Bring us your rain, for we car not!  Let’s sing a chantey, what!

And Megan’s mom is visiting!  She brought a bottle down from British Columbia, so we’ll tell you all about that next week.  (Wink!)

All right: that’s enough.  My body is screaming at me and my trainer promised me that my calves would cramp up excruciatingly at some point in the night, so I want to be all tucked into bed so I can enjoy that to the fullest.

Until next week,

Cheers!

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