Asian Noodle Salad with Cashew Dressing (Vegan)

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Some people use drugs to activate their dopamine reward system.

Cocaine.  Heroin.  Morphine.

And the way it works is that they sneak into the ventral tegmental area of your brain.  Setting off axons left and right.

Whispering.  Provocatively.  Go.

And the VTA, unable to fight back against their undeniable prowess.  Well. It listens.

It spews forth dopamine so fast that it completely overwhelms your nucleus accumbens, propelling it and you into a state of euphoria.  Really cementing that resulting positive reinforcement, causing your limbic system to say this.  This is what I want.  All day.  Every day.  Ever.  And anon.

And there you have it.  Addiction.  

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Carrot, Dill, and White Bean Salad

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I’m going to clear the air.

You are here expecting a white bean salad.  I know it. I absolutely know it.

And now you’re sitting there.  Looking at these pictures.  And saying to yourself, “What in the world is that girl smoking and how can I get me some of it.”

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Braised Short Ribs with Pickled Green Tomatoes and Polenta with Blue Cheese and Garlicky Chard

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I was going to call this post The Dish That Got Me Through A Five Mile Race at an 8:40 Pace Plus an Extra 5 Miles Thrown In At the End Because I Am a Crazy Person.  (Because you can rest assured that it was the thought of being able to eat this fabulously marbled short rib without any trace of guilt at all whatsoever that got me through the cumulative ten miles.)

But (a).  That seemed little long.  Although now that I look at the title I did use.  Well. I’m not really known for my brevity, now am I.

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Mario Batali’s Pennette with Kale Ragu

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Even pirates need to eat their greens.

That’s the first thing you learn in piratry school.  Right after the class on swashbuckling and before the tutorial on how to apply your temporary skull-and-crossbone tattoos.

I’ll have you know that I’m a terrible swashbuckler.  But I’m actually quite an excellent temporary tattoo artist. That whole add water and wait thirty seconds business?  I’ve got that down.

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Pumpkin White Chocolate Chunk and Candied Ginger Blondies

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What use is having twenty cans of pumpkin sitting on your shelves.  All beautifully lined up.  Polished until they sparkle just so.  If you’re not going to use them.

Such is the question that Sophie posed to me when I kept standing in the kitchen.  Marveling at them.  Clutching my heart.  Beaming with pride.

Sigh.   They grow up so fast, don’t they?

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