ouch!

They're gone! All four of my wisdom teeth have safely been removed and now I'm home recovering. Even though I'm uncomfortable, I'm not nearly medicated enough to sleep all day so I thought I'd pop in, say hello, and blog :).

Last Friday I had the utmost pleasure of spending an evening with a visiting friend of mine. You'd probably recognize her since she became my favorite traveling companion and best friend in Strasbourg. I chose Candle Cafe based on location, since Liz was coming from the Met, and decided to put aside my dissatisfaction with it's mother restaurant, Candle 79, for the sake of convenience. Luckily it much exceeded my expectations. The service was fantastic, the portions were large and filling, and the prices were very reasonable. No wonder it made Clean Plates NYC, it was both delicious and nutritious ;). That's Liz's plate above, btw, BBQ tempeh over brown rice and kale, she loved it.

I could not decide on one plate to tantalize my taste buds so I went for the Good Food Plate, a combination of four sides paired with two Candle dressings or sauces. I chose the bean of the day, sea vegetable salad, sautéed broccoli and daily greens with carrot & ginger sauce and ate it all with pleasure.Afterwards I was craving chocolate and Liz, with her mega-sweet tooth, is always up for dessert, so we shared two plates. I had the Chocolate Mousse Pie a la mode with Mocha Swirl ice cream while she had the Banana Cake with Chocolate ice cream. I had a bite of hers and about half of mine, both so yummy.

And if the good food wasn't enough, my gosh, the wonderful company certainly was. It was weird seeing my friend from abroad in a place I call home but what really amazing me was how quickly we fell back into our usual conversation and laughter. My camera died before I could get a picture but here we are back in France, I missed her.

Following our pleasant two-hour long dinner we made our way over to Trump Towers to meet her super cool aunt and uncle at an art exhibition. The featured artist was Loli Mari Montalvo and I adored her colorful and graphic works. We both had two drinks (wine for me) and danced the night away.

What fun! A lot less boring than this week is going to be at least :). My jaw, my teeth, and my gums are sore and swollen so I can't even eat solid foods. Nevertheless I can't complain too much because I've been puréeing just about anything I can get my hands on with my new blender for mouth-friendly meals.

I added a half of a ripe avocado to Amy's Low-Sodium Lentil & Vegetable soup for a quick and tasty lunch and enjoyed it in the natural beauty of my own backyard and patio. Loving the summer weather :). Now I actually am feeling quite drowsy so I'm going to lie down for a while. I'm thinking of making an oatmeal blend a la Caroline later this afternoon, it was scrumptious last night. Oh and quite possibly Gena's gazpacho for dinner :). Hope your week is off to a lovely start my darlings! And if you get a chance, please check out this interesting article about plant scientists, nutrition, and inexpensive foods.