One of Many Where I Discuss the NYT Dining Section

Now I’m all for getting ready for spring, which hasn’t truly arrived in NYC yet. I’ve whined here about not having peaches and tomatoes…but at the heart of it, I’m willing to wait. That’s half the fun! The anticipation, the excitement, the impatience, the drama! And to be really frank, I find all that so sexy! So I felt all grumpy when I read a recipe in last week’s NYT Dining section for Rum and Chili Roasted Chicken Thighs with Pineapple. I mean, come ON! They so crossed a line! Pineapple?! However, to be fair, they did title the article “Rushing Spring with a Dash of the Tropics.” They seem to recognize their own desperation for warmer weather!

On the other hand, I just swooned over the Octopus, Gallician Style recipe. It has the lightness that spring and summer cuisine calls for, but this recipe still has some of that winter earthiness by way of the potatoes. Oh lordy, how I love octopus/squid/calamari done to perfection. Likewise, I’ve gone so far as to spit out octopus that has been criminally overdone. I’ll definitely try this super simple recipe.

I read a wonderful article about the Spanish wine Rueda in this Dining section. I had never heard of it before, and I am one of those people who enjoy white wines in the summer so I was intrigued about a white that would spruce up my collection (no more Sauvignon Blanc, for god’s sake!). Then I was checking Bloglines today (those of you who regularly read this will know all about my love of Bloglines), and read one of my faves, Appellation Feirling. And as part of a larger post, she said:

…almost all whites I see from Spain are yeasted avec beaucoup de fruit tropicale or primed with grassy sauvignon blanc yeast like they do in Rueda to the poor verdejo grape, the wine that the sommelier suggested.

I felt all sheepish because I think Alice knows her stuff, and I love her blog. Regardless, being fairly new to wine appreciation, I still want to try a Rueda to make up my own mind. And on a side note, I do encourage you to read the rest of Alice’s blog post: it’s proof positive why I don’t put too much weight on and don’t spend too much time thinking about those pretentious wine places – you can still encounter idiots that don’t know what they’re doing in those sorts of places, too.

Bon appétit!