G and I have a ritual of watching Everyday Italian and Barefoot Contessa every Sunday on Food Network. One of two things usually happens: Ina Garten inspires us to spend the afternoon drinking champagne and fantasizing about her house in the Hamptons, or Giada makes us cook (or want to cook) someting rich and indulgent. This past Sunday Giada was the winner: she sent us scurrying around the neighborhood for ingredients to make Gnocchi with Butter Thyme Sauce. Our stops included: Fratelli for the gnocchi, Mastellone Italian deli for the romano and bread, Park Natural Food for the thyme, and Scotto's for some Chianti. As much as I love grocery mega-plexes like Hannaford, I love being able to stroll around the neighborhood and pick up fresh ingredients and different specialty stores.

Anyway, this is probably the easiest, most delicious, most fattening dish I've eaten in a long time. You will not be disappointed. Save some time and buy the gnocchi already made. All you have to do then is melt some butter, sprinkle fresh time leaves in it and stir it around for a little while. I'm still salivating at the thought...

Hot Lunch Bookshelf: Recipes from a Very Small Island by Linda Greenlaw and Martha Greenlaw.

Tales from a Corporate Cafeteria

The "Featured Hot Dog for June" in the cafeteria is the Texas Corn Dog. According to our weekly company newsletter: Invented for the Texas State Fair in 1942, the corn dog is now a popular favorite throughout the South. This all-beef frannk is dipped in corn batter and fried crisp. Served with mustard and coleslaw, the Texas Corn Dog is a great favorite. Try it with honey mustard!

Perhaps they should have timed this special offering with National Corn Dog Day. My favorite place for dogs is F&B on 23rd St. I love the veggie bare bones with onion frites. Although everytime I eat one of their veggie dogs I always get paranoid that it's actually a meat dog. They are incredibly convincing.

It's so hot all I can eat is yogurt for dinner.

Tales from the Corporate Cafeteria

Today I saw a guy ladel some chicken noodle soup into a container, walk over to the salad bar and top it with a heaping glob of caesar salad dressing, drizzle it with balsamic, put a lid on the container and shake it! Ugggg....

Good Lord...

Chocolate Bar is offering limited edition CBGB's chocolates to help save CBGB.

My roommate made one of her fabulous stir-frys for dinner last night. I don't know how she does it: they are so simple but they taste so good! I should watch her next time she makes one. This one was broccoli, carrots, and tofu on brown rice with soy sauce and ginger, with a sprinkling of flax seed flakes. Sounds bland, huh? Nope! Yeah, I don't get it either. Thanks Michelle!

Hot Lunch Bookshelf: La Dolce Vegan by Sarah Kramer.