Oh, you gotta know it’s the holiday season. There are eating orgies everywhere. Let me tell you about this weekend!

Saturday was my birthday, so hubby took me to Seattle for a night on the town. We went to Jazz Alley to see Taj Mahal. He was as good as ever. In fact, I think he has matured into a great entertainer, as long with his good music. All I had there was a vodka martini, with olives. After the show we went to the Dahlia Lounge for dinner. Tom Douglas is a pretty well known chef who owns four restaurants in Seattle. He puts food together in ingenious ways, and it always tastes good. Usually I can find a compliant dinner on the menu, but this time there was always one big avoid stuck in the middle. And these are the kind of meals that you don’t dare ask for a substitution, or it ruins the art of the presentation. The lamb dish had lentils in it. The salmon dish had polenta with it. The halibut had potatoes. So, I ended up ordering a five spice duck with rice and vegetable complement. They bake their own bread on premises, so that could not be avoided. I was too stuffed for dessert, but hubby ordered their signature doughnut holes with marscipone and raspberry preserves. I finally forced one down, but I was too full to really enjoy it. I have to add that one manhattan and a bottle of red wine (shared) accompanied the dinner. We spent the night in a nearby hotel to avoid driving home with that amount of alcohol in ‘his’ system.

On Sunday, we invited two couples over for dinner. Hubby decided he wanted to do an Italian dinner, so I was conscripted to make my famous spaghetti sauce. There are no avoids in my sauce. It is a recipe my mother always used, and it still stands up to the test of time. Appetizers were assorted olives, some mixed nuts, and a brie with water crackers. The salad course was tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. The spaghetti sauce was served over some really good penne (wheat, of course) accompanied by toasted crostini with anchovy paste. This was served with a couple good bottles of Chianti. We sort of cheated on dessert by buying individual pumpkin tarts. But, after a heavy meal like that, not too many of us were even interested in the tarts.

I had pasta eyes this morning. Lots of edema around the face. My nose was totally stuffed up, too. I hope this isn’t going to be the norm for the next six weeks. I’m going to have to take it day by day and eat mostly beneficials between these holiday happenings. Wish me luck!