The Diva Heads to Primetime

Foodies, after many weeks of sporadic posts and blogger neglect, I'm finally able to tell you all about something very exciting in the works for The Diva of Dining. Thanks to some savvy networking, friends in high places and a lucky introduction, your Diva is soon to be headed to NYC to film a pilot for a new Food Network show!

While I can't give you a ton of information now (for fear of the legal gods casting wrath upon me), look for more details to come and a drastic redesign of www.thedivaofdining.com to fit with the new show!

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

I know. Slacker blogger.

I know. I'm a slacker blogger. It's been a busy month or so between college graduations, holidays, family and friends in town and travel for work, so I haven't been able to sit down and tap out some entries. But, never fear! Things are finally settling down, so it's off to the races.

Stay tuned. More to come this week: events, new restaurant reviews, pics and more!!

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

Reflections

Okay, it's been a little over a month since I started actively blogging as The Diva and with this little work project coming to a close, I feel like it's time to take a pause from the food and reflect on what I've learned. What started as a somewhat mandatory project for work has morphed into something I look forward to doing. Let's just say I've graduated into the wonderful world of social media...

...and feel much like my hilarious friends Jim & Vieve felt after getting their diplomas in '05 (photo).

Enough hamming, onto reflection! First and foremost, blogging is fun. I read things and want to post them for other people to read and pass along. It makes my day when someone comments on my blog (go. now. comment.) and I like reading other people's blogs (hell, my fabulous new recipe for Oreos came from someone else's blog!). I figured out that Twitter is useful, fun and informative (for those of you who don't know, Twitter is like a public instant message that people can see and respond to). For a long time, I figured that I was an some whacked out foodie that got blank stares from all my friends when I complained about my pie crust not being flakey. With blogging and Twitter, I've found my own kind!!! Food writers, enthusiasts, culinary geniuses and people just like me. Hooray!

Bottom line? Don't go anywhere. Stay tuned, there's more of The Diva to come.

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

Skyrocketing food prices

An interesting article on CNN today about the rising cost of food. Many wonder if it's truly a necessity (trickling down from rising gas prices, etc.) or whether its a case of over-zealous media trying to find drama where there is none (and retailers capitalizing on the hype). Regardless, it's an interesting phenomenon.

It begs some tough questions, dear readers. Are you changing your eating habits in order to fatten your wallet? Have you changed where you shop? Maximizing your pantry? Hitting up the 99 cent menu at Micky D's or BK a little more? Planting a garden?

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

What if you could only grocery shop once a year?

Yesterday, I came across an NPR segment and article on the cafeteria at McMurdo Station, the U.S. base on Antarctica (think South, cold and penguins). The base is the year-round home to 1,100 people and contains one cafeteria responsible for providing everyone with 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, all year round.

Now, if you don't get around to listening to the segment or article, here's the deal. Antarctica has one sunrise and one sunset per year; it stays light for months....and dark for months....and if you venture too far from the base, you're toast (or perhaps ice). The kicker here is that they only get a food delivery once per year when an icebreaker can get through to them. ONCE PER YEAR!

Can you imagine that? My grocery shopping consists of regular trips to the butcher shop, farm stand and regular market -- and I *try* to spice things up and make new and different things as much as possible and take advantage of fresh ingredients that are available locally. It's crazy to think that these people get one shipment of food, mostly frozen, to last them an entire year. Actually, it's pretty damn amazing, and a testament to just how good a chef Sally Ayotte is.

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.

Baby, it's cold outside...

I know. I'm a slacker blogger for not writing for a full week. What can I say, work beckons and it's been a race against the clock to repaint my apartment before new furniture arrives tomorrow (thank goodness). I'm tired, I have a new-found hatred for those TLC/HGTV/DIY network shows where they revamp an entire house in 2 days (Crappy workmanship, I don't care how cute the carpenter is) and

Anyway. Enough complaining and onto the food!

I'm going to admit it here, for everyone in the online universe to see: I have undying love for my freezer. My roommate during senior year of college throught my love bordered on obsession. She'd stare in awe as I would individually package chicken breasts in ziplock bags (why does a single girl need 3 chicken breasts at once), freeze half a muffin (what, it was a big muffin, ok?), spoon pasta sauce into one-seving tupperware containers....the list goes on.

Look in my freezer at any given time and there's a variety of frozen meats (currently pork, chicken, beef and lamb) in a wealth of cuts (tenderloins, tenders, breasts, tips, chops, sausage, bacon strips and ground). Add in the frozen bagged veggies (a critical ingredient for working-girl dinners), all the herbs from the garden that I freeze at the end of the season and your run of the mill pastry doughs and there's very little room in there. But I don't stop there. In go the loaves of bread for sandwiches, as do the 3 dozen bagels from Jersey (sliced, individually wrapped in saran wrap and then ziplocked), the chunk of ginger that I'll maybe use twice a year (hey, Rachael Ray says its okay to freeze it....even though she's evil), candy bars, desserts, frozen pizzas, lean cuisines (a throwback to my single days), girl scout cookies, home made stews, sauces, a bottle of homemade limoncello for when Mr. D comes to town, and cookie dough.

Yes cookie dough. The Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is fantastically freezable, in case you were wondering. Use half butter, half shortening in the recipe and spoon those babies out onto a cookie sheet. Pop them into the freezer until set (30 minutes or so) and then toss them in a freezer bag until you want them (i.e., every night of the week). When you're having a cookie craving (i.e., every night of the week), preheat your oven and put a few in. They melt down just perfectly and nobody will ever know.............

Maybe it's the little old Italian lady in me, who knows. Some people hoard chachkies, I hoard foodstuffs. All I know is that if there's EVER a major disaster, you'll be wishing you were stuck at my house.

What about you out there? Any crazy kitchen obsessions? Do you like gadgets (ha, just wait until I post on THOSE fun little thingamabobbers), expensive pans? Drinking milk or OJ out of the carton? I wanna hear about it!

Fabulous Feasting,
The Diva.