"Don't take that squash away from me, and leave me with that broccoli..."

We grew broccoli! And we already harvested it! And ate it!


Here's the broccoli less than 2 weeks ago when we first noticed the head.


Watch it grow!






After we harvested it.



The final product - chicken and broccoli stir fry.

Bruno (we call him Broccoli sometimes)

We also have teeny tomatoes, strawberries, and bell peppers. Yum!

The last one

The Top Chef season finale was really kind of low key compared to previous seasons. No live cut in for the results. No reunion. Really not much hype throughout the episode, and the challenge itself just kind of slid by without much real drama. Maybe this had to do with the relatively minor personalities left standing, or maybe as I've hypothesized before, the show just isn't what it once was. (Kind of like this blog.)

Nowhere near the euphoria of Hung's great victory of last season.

Richard was putting on a clinic in mad-scientist cooking for the celebrity guest chefs, including Eric Ripert, who is opening a new restaurant, 10 Arts, in Center City Philadelphia.

But, he said it himself, he choked. No where near his best showing. I'm a little disappointed, but on the other hand, it could have went way worse.

"My menu is really going to reflect my personality." - Lisa. You would think that meant her menu would feature dogshit, armpit hair, and grease, but it really looked like she was going to win for a minute. I'm sure 96% of Top Chef viewers were ready to puke.

So Stephanie wins (Jess Sum's favorite) and at least saves the show from the indignity of having Lisa represent the pinnacle of Top Chef. Unfortunately, since they always bring back finalists in later season episodes, we probably haven't seen the last of her.

Letter to Tom at Top Chef

Dear Tom Colicchio,

Thanks a lot.

I was considering buying one of your cookbooks. But you obviously like your food greasy, so I'm not so sure that your recipes would be any good.

S & D

--

Despite our disdain toward Tom and the rest of the judges, at least they realize that Lisa sucks. From Tom's blog: "I think Lisa, along with a few chefs from past seasons (Dave Martin and Mike Midgley are two that come to mind,) benefited from a phenomenon I call the "lucky-dog-who-keeps-skating-by-effect," in which a chef of decent, but not stellar, skills gets lucky and doesn’t screw up at precisely the moment that one of their more gifted opponents does."

Summer Job

Things I like so far at my summer job at a law firm:

1. The listerine pump and tiny disposable cups in the bathroom.

2. The crazy contraption that is our coffee/tea maker. There are individual packets of about 15 kinds of coffee and 10 kinds of tea that you slip into a machine, press a button, and your cup of coffee or tea is ready in about 15 seconds... even the tea, without any steeping!

3. Walking down Market Street every morning and afternoon.

4. That the attorneys' assistants manage their attorney's bank accounts for them.

5. That in a writing seminar, all the first year associates' blackberrys were constantly vibrating with email alerts. I don't think all the buzzing would be accepted anywhere else.