Day Seventy-Nine: Post-Indulgence

So the indulgence was really fun, but I have the weirdest hangover of my life. Also, I barely took any photos because I was too busy indulging. I made, as promised, four old favorite recipes. Three delivered, and my husband claims the fourth failed because of a bad ingredient.

1. Maple toasted walnuts: fail; bad walnuts. We've had them before and they were way better. Got consumed anyway, mostly by a friend.

2. Broiled pork tenderloin with garlic and rosemary: great success. I felt they were a little undercooked, but the crew ate so much that there was nothing left over.

(They were just surprised I was taking the picture. The pork was enthusiastically dished and snarfed.)

3. Risotto with gorgonzola and sage: massive success. Except for the guy who gets sick when he eats blue cheese (did not tell me this in response to my pre-shopping inquiry), everyone had multiple servings. This recipe includes two cups of rice, a stick of butter, and a quarter pound of cheese, not to mention the parmesan for garnish. It was everything I was missing and more. I had two small servings and almost stopped there, but the bowl still on the table a half hour after we'd all finished eating called to me and I had a little more. Wouldn't have done it if not for the thought: you can't have even a tiny little bite tomorrow.

(Also salad with oranges and homemade vinaigrette for contrast and greens.)

4. Lemon granita: so, so, so good and refreshing. Hong Kong is "cooling off," by which I mean that we just feel pleasantly warm in our short sleeves and no longer sweat the second we step outdoors. Ices are still in season. This one is just lemon juice, lemon zest, spring water, and superfine sugar. No photo because I was too busy eating. It's powerful, so portions are always small, but I had two.

I know, the only really indulgent thing on the list is the risotto, but there was salt on everything, and sugar in three of the dishes, and lots and lots of wine with dinner. Also, people to have fun with in a casual situation that involves food and drink. We played an impromptu game of Balderdash (I won, of course), and just generally had a great time until I kicked everyone out just before 11.

(See the water pitcher on the table? I drank lots of that, too.)

The fallout today was instructive. I didn't have a traditional headache-y hangover, but did have some rough intestinal effects this morning, probably from all the wine. I had to go back to the bathroom after jumping rope, and back again after finishing the strength exercises. After that, it was pretty normal. There was also strong afternoon fatigue, combined with a powerful revulsion toward food, even as my stomach rumbled. I wasn't able to finish my tuna salad at lunch--the gag reflex was just too strong.

The important lesson here is actually one learned long ago: you don't have to keep on drinking to keep on having fun. Again, I think this was more an effect of the knowledge of no more wine for another few weeks, because pre-project I was really good at stopping at a glass or two. I think it'll be easy to go back to that habit. Also, I always thought of this meal as indulgent (even before), but one of my guests said it was the healthiest thing he'd eaten in the last month. So lesson two is that when I actually cook, I generally cook good stuff. Just need to keep it to only one indulgent thing for a special meal, and a small portion of that.