Make Mine Mike

Why is it that the Valentine's Day dinner I prepared -- while it tasted delicious -- doesn't look as good as it does in the cookbooks?

Chicken saltimbocca, theirs vs. mine


Cherry gingerbread, on paper and in real life.


Maybe because I'm no Giada Di Laurentiis, even in my wife's apron...

Blog identity crisis:
• Haven't seen my nephew in a week. Going to stop by tonight; he should be double in size by now. Baby blog.
• On Saturday I slept late and watched my new favorite show, "Spectacular Spider-Man". Awesome. How do I get in on that gig? Animation blog.
• That night, I took Adelphia to Primitivo, a tapas restaurant in Venice. Really good short ribs, paella, tuna tartare and arugula salad. Alas, no pictures. Or further descriptions. Foodie blog.
• Afterwards, went to a cool wine store that's not well-promoted and thus, completely empty. So we went to The Other Room, a wine bar that's way too crowded with punks in porkpie hats celebrating their 24th birthday. Boozy blog. Business blog. Born in the '80s blog.
• I ran a 10K and did well, but couldn't beat my personal best. Running blog.
• My wife ran the 5K. I was extremely impressed. I'm not gonna worry that if she keeps this up, she might outpace me. Spousal-rivalry blog.
• So the Steelers won. Right? Football blog.
• Was it me or did the post-Superbowl episode of "The Office" seem like that show might be jumping the shark? I enjoyed the reference to "The Comedy Central Celebrity Roast channel", but Dwight eviscerating a CPR dummy? Ahh, maybe I was just tired. TV critic blog.
• Weekend highlight: I made these lemon bars from scratch using our new blender and food processor. They came out delicious. Okay, I'm not eliminating the possibility of a baking blog.