Friday Randomness

Just a few random thoughts for Friday, in no particular order:

• My wife and I will be away on vacation this coming week in Florida. We are sorely in need of some "downtime" away from home and I suspect white sandy beaches will be good therapy. I'm also looking forward to two of my favorite Florida food indulgences: Waffle House, and Steak & Shake. Yum.
• I stopped into the library the other day hoping to pick-up a copy of Mark Bittman's new book, Food Matters. I happened to read a chapter or two at the bookstore and it's fantastic--a very common sense approach to eating locally, earth-conscious and healthy and losing weight as a side-effect. Unfortunately, there are 26 copies in the state library system and 83 people on the waitlist. I kid you not. I decided to purchase a copy and donate it to the library when I'm done. :-) For those who don't know, Mark wrote How to Cook Everything, a hefty tome larger than Julia Child's first cookbook.
  
• My container garden (which I haven't written much about yet, but I will) is starting to come together. A friend of mine with a very green thumb will be watering it while I'm away and I'm hoping his green thumb rubs off on it a bit. :-) This year, in addition to my herb box, I'm hoping to get a few cherry tomatoes, maybe some sweet banana peppers, a few heads of garlic, onions, and butter crisp lettuce. I've traditionally had difficulty with peppers and tomatoes because my third-floor balcony has a wide overhang and no direct sun. The plants grow well, but the fruit never ripens and the yield is low. However, I'm trying smaller fruits this year in hope that they can get away with less sun and ripen quicker.
• According to @Foodimentary on Twitter, today is national Chocolate Parfait day. Need an excuse to gorge yourself on chocolate...there you go!

That's all for now. See you when we return from the sunshine state!