My favorite four-letter word

No, not that one, you filthy-minded beasts. I’m talking about food. Our American expedition provided us with a fantastic set of meals, ranging from eggs benedict at Lori’s diner to Greek treats like smelt (?) at Kokkari Estiatorio (thanks Charlie!). top-notch wood-fired pizzas at Lulu’s (thanks Cathleen!), and yummy shrimp dumplings at Forge in the Forest (thanks, erm, Lonely Planet!). We drank wickedly potent cocktails at the afore-mentioned Lulu’s, in the View Bar at the Marriott, and at Jack London’s in Carmel. We attempted to clear our overflowing plates at Margie’s Diner on Highway 101. I gave thanks for real English tea at a café in Richmond and scoffed fortune cookies and rice crackers in the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. But the foodie highlight of the trip for me was the happy hour I spent in the Whole Foods near the hotel in San Francisco. Bliss! Aisle after aisle of top-quality organic and vegetarian fare! Huge bins of perky lettuce leaves, rather than the miserable little pillow packs of damp frisee that dissolve into mush upon opening! Multiple varieties of melon, eggplant, and tomatoes! And I finally got to see a jicama! While dazed with delight, I was also hugely frustrated: So much food, so little luggage space. I wanted to buy everything – olive oil, clam juice, chevre, honeys and mustards. Reluctantly, I had to settle for light items in paper packets – cocoa nibs, sourdough starter, and veggie gravy mix – thanks to the three hefty cookbooks PJ had ordered for me from Amazon.com (Sara Foster’s Fresh From The Market, Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian, and Sherry Yard’s The Secret of Baking, in case you were wondering).

Oh well, I doubt the lettuce would have lasted the journey back. I’m still feeling the effects – definitely damp and mulchy rather than green and perky. And I’ve also porked up, despite trying to avoid the temptations of Krispy Kreme and Cheetos. I blame the empty calories in my cocktails. Time for a frugal, fat- and sugar-free few weeks.