One Fine Day

I have the most amazing day planned, with an adundance of gratitude to my gorgeous friend Mimi for inviting me along on the adventure!

The first order of business -- literally -- will be going to work. I like to eat, so I've gotta earn some money.

But then I get to leave early to play hooky and also play hostess: the fabulous cookbook author Joan Nathan is coming to town today for a book signing and presentation ... and Mimi (Cultural Arts and Education Director at the Jewish Community Center here in Ann Arbor) asked me to help her escort Joan this afternoon!!! I'll catch up with Joan at 4 o'clock at Zingerman's Deli, where everyone is welcome to come and visit during a "meet 'n' greet" session, and then we'll head to a lovely, lovely dinner.

And where will dinner be held for a woman who's traveled all over the world and could have eaten at any of Ann Arbor's hundreds of fabulous restaurants??? At eve, the one restaurant Joan said she absolutely wanted to go to, featuring the one chef she wanted to meet during her brief visit here -- Eve Aronoff, who had appeared on Bravo's "Top Chef "and whose restaurant was recently named one of the very best ones in the Detroit area.

Then there will be the much-anticipated appearance at the Jewish Book Festival tonight with moderator (and Zingerman's co-founder) Ari Weinzweig at 7:30, where I will get my new cookbook -- Quiches, Kugels and Couscous: My Search for Jewish Food in France -- autographed ... sigh ... :)

So stay tuned to hear all about the luscious dinner, the conversation, the entire escape from daily routine! And in the meantime, read all about the Chocolate Almond Cake I baked recently with a 400-year-old recipe featured in Joan's new cookbook. Tom said I should rename it "Chocolate Orgasm Cake;" and it's hard to argue that point -- there is more than half-a-pound of chocolate in this magnificent specimen!

Here's the link to my post on AnnArbor.com: C'est Magnifique! Exquisite French Chocolate Cake Recipe Doesn't Disappoint. Read it, go shopping, and bake the cake. I promise you won't be disappointed either ....