silly girl

Serene, dearest darling bubbele, if the first one is hazelnut, and the
second one is, too, what makes you think you won't have to throw the
*third* one away, as well?

(I hate hazelnut chocolates. I don't mind hazelnuts by themselves, but
with chocolate (e.g., Nutella), I really dislike them.)

booky goodness

Bought my mom a powells.com gift certificate for Giftmas, and they gave me a $7.50 credit for getting the gift certificate. I just redeemed it on a replacement copy of
Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary, which I lent to someone a while back and am in the mood to re-read. Total, including shipping, was less than $5. I love Powell's.

Dinner with Mahmoud

So Mahmoud (the man I talked about in this post) came over last night with a FEAST: A whole baked fish with a sweet and savory stuffing, lamb meatballs, chicken wings, tomato/cucumber salad with lemon wedges, ful madamas, some really excellent baba ganouj with a sweetness I couldn't identify (he said I must have touched it with my finger -- he's a real charmer), and a bottle of red wine. He's a really nice guy, and I hope some of you locals will have a chance to meet him. What a fascinating life he's had, too -- I'd tell you some stories, but it's more fun hearing him tell them.