I wish I could kick this dang cold.

UGH.  I am EXHAUSTED.  And I haven't even DONE ANYTHING.  I got up today, did some work, did some stuff around the house while listening to podcasts and things, went for a walk and did some shopping, and made and easy dinner for some friends.  Watched a movie.  But I'm exhausted because this stupid hacking cough keeps me up at night.  That's my guess anyway.
In the past two months I've smoked cigarettes three times.  Not in the first month at all, but two times while I was out I had a cigarette each time, and one night I even bought a pack, one New Year's Eve.  I smoked a couple.  It had been a tough day and I was with a pretty lady who smoked anddammit if I wasn't gonna hang out with her.

I know, it's not an excuse.  That's not the point.  The point is every time I've smoked I get sick again.  So I've been sick for like a month.  My poor immune system is trying to build itself back up and get used to all these changes I'm making and I'm not helping it.  Well, not enough.

Anyway, rant over.  I woke up exhausted, like I said, and looked out the window to see I had no view of Manhattan.  Snow.

Snow's cool.

 I had a nice, if beige, breakfast.

Banana, couple eggs, toast with Special Preserves, tea.  

A little later I had a snack of Fancy Cheese with some triscuits and some more delicious homemade preserves my friend Mandy made me who lives on Prince Edward Island.  "Where did you pick the strawberries?", I asked.  "In the fields", she nonchalantly replied.  Uh, fields of strawberries.  To a New Yorker, this is like the Tooth Fairy or clean streets.  No wonder Anne of Green Gables liked it there so much.

I had to get another chicken to ensure I could feed all my friends coming over tonight so I took a bit of a walk to try to find another organic one.  First I stopped in Brooklyn Larder, where I picked up some very expensive pastured lard and my favorite, Early Bird Granola.

I stopped in Bark to try their highly-touted hot dogs. 

I ordered The Bark Dog and sat down.  It was warm in their, with lots of wood, and a nice vibe.  I saw they recycled just about anything and then I noticed that just about everything on their menu is locally sourced and/or organic, which explains why hot dog was $5.  Yes, five bucks.
I used to hate this sort of thing and role my eyes at it but over the last few months I've realized that good food costs more.  Period.  And I'm willing to pay for it.  I also like that on the ACTUAL menu, nowhere does it say free-range, organic, locally-sourced, because everything is.  It's the right thing to do.  Basically, Bark is exactly the kind of restaurant I want to be eating at.
So how was my Hot Dog?

Well, I was kind of annoyed at the squishy white-bread bun, but I guess you can't really change that.  It IS a hot dog after all.  What are you gonna wrap it in, lard leaf (sorry, foodie joke)? It came with regular ketchup and mustard and brunoised red onion and a sweet pepper relish.  Their is clearly excellent attention to detail at this establishment, and the hot dog was very fresh and unlike any Dog I've ever had.  The sweet pepper relish was excellent.  Was I blown away?  No.  Stupid Heinz ketchup got in the way of that delicious relish.  But I'll be back.  You can't judge a book by its first page.  Not fair.

Sew.  I picked up another chicken and some potatoes and carrots and things and slid carefully home, as the sidewalks were beginning to freeze.

I tossed the root veg in some pastured lard which immediately hardened again (I'm new to this cooking technique) and buttered up the nice, fancy chickens, and covered everything with thyme, inside and out, and sprinkled sea salt and pepper liberally everywhere.  And roasted the hell out of it.

That's butter under the breast skin, not tumors.  And it's not a very large roasting pan, it's two very small chickens.

The result:  a DELICIOUS dinner.  DELICIOUS.  Yes, I forgot to take more picture.  I'M WORKING ON IT.

Then we (me and three male friends) watched Notting Hill and ate mediocre organic cookies and some chocolate.

Now I'm going to try to sleep.  The End.  Good Night.