There are so many things to list; if you emailed me an event and I forget, please let me know.  Also, if you have an event to add, please don't hesitate to leave a comment or send me an email.

Of course, those special folks who follow me on Twitter are going to be visiting me at my new job tomorrow night!

• First up, there are two great events this week at the North Market.  The first is tomorrow night, the "Ladies of the North Market Cookie Exchange."  The fabulous ladies of the North Market will be baking up their best cookies for you to enjoy (and take with you). At the event, you can enjoy coffee or wine, along with lots of finger foods and stories of the market.  Robin Davis, food editor for the Columbus Dispatch, hosts.  Saturday at the Market is the Holiday Open House & Craft Extravaganza.  Lots of local artisans will be featuring their crafts and artsy goods.  If you are committed to buying things which are locally produced as gifts this holiday season, this is a great place to find cool things.

• This Sunday is the Home for the Holidays tour of homes in Olde Towne East.  OTE is home to some of the most beautiful houses in Columbus, so this will certainly be a great tour.  While you are in that part of town, you can take in the topiary garden or just stroll around.  It's pretty.

• Of course, this Saturday is the Holiday Hop in the Short North.  The Holiday Hop is the largest Gallery Hop of the year, and it's very festive (if you aren't working).  It's another great chance to do some holiday shopping, especially if you are interested in unique and artistic gifts.
• This weekend is the Winterfair at the Ohio Expo Center.  Yet another opp to buy crafty things.  
• This weekend, the Columbus Gay Men's Chorus will perform their annual Christmas program, JOY!, at the King Avenue Methodist Church.  There's even a matinee on Saturday!  
• This Saturday is the Holiday Student Art Sale at CCAD.  If you've never been and you are looking to get more art into your life, you really have to go.  Whether you want to spend $5 on a screen printed card or $1000 on a wall-sized painting for your great room, it's a fantastic event.  
• CATCO has great things going on this weekend and beyond.  First of all, every year I say I am going to go see Santaland Diaries and yet I haven't made it yet.  This year, I'm doing it.  So, there's David Sedaris' Santaland Diaries, and also a duo of Truman Capote's stories, A Christmas Memory and the Thanksgiving Visitor.
• This weekend begins the Holiday Movie series at the Arena Grand Theatre in the Arena District.  This week's movie is White Christmas!  
• Mad Lab presents 3 in 30 this month - 3 holiday-thremed, original plays will show at 10:30pm on Saturday.  The best part? The shows are short (30 minutes) and are only $5.  It's a great place for a date, boys.
• This Saturday is the Craft Fair at Sprout Soup, a natural Mom & Baby store in Clintonville.    
• This week is membership appreciation week at the Wexner Center; you will recieve 20% off the fabulous stuff at the Wexner gift shop, a free beverage at Cam's, and a behind-the-scenes tour of Other Voices, Other Rooms on Saturday!   

As I mentioned before, I am now publishing Restuarant Widow with full feeds.  However, this seems to take longer for some services than others.  If you have Google Reader, you should be fine.  However, some readers, such as Bloglines, are still showing the preview only.  I am working to fix this!

Since it's a holiday week, may I please be excused from writing the events?  This week's events are spend time with your loved ones!  And if you are going out to eat on Thanksgiving - or going anywhere where someone is working, for that matter - please be sure to tip them well and say thank you for working on a holiday to make your life easier.  Once upon a time, when I had to work on Thanksgiving, I was also surprised at how people didn't say thank you for working on a holiday, as if I didn't have a family or someplace else to be.  No one wants to be at work on a holiday, but you can make it better by recognizing that and offering a little monetary thank you as well.

So, say thank you and tip well.  Like 30%.  I'm not working this Thanksgiving (for which I'm very thankful), so there's nothing in it for me, just all my brothers and sisters in the service industry who never get a holiday.

I promise events will be back!  And those of you who have emailed me events for next week, they will certainly be in the lineup!

Cheers,

Lisa

Beluga lentils cook up pretty quickly, although my favorite source for them is Trader Joe's, who sells them par-cooked in heat-proof plastic bags; you just plop the whole bag in a pot of boiling water and 5 minutes later, you have lentils!  They are a little undercooked for my taste, so I like to cut the bag open and add about 1/2 cup of stock or water and boil them on high until the liquid cooks out, and then they are usually perfect.

Giardiniera is a pickled condiment which can be found in the olive section of most well-stocked grocery stores or in the Greek or Italian section.  It's a mix of vegetables which are usually packed in brine - I like to buy the kind packed in olive oil, though.  The oil in the jar is so flavorful that it makes a great addition to salad dressings, pasta, you name it.

Cook lentils until they are at your desired softness.  Add 1/4 cup giardiniera, along with about a tablespoon of the oil in which they are packed.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and heat through.  Yep, that's it.  The whole recipe.  I promise it's really tasty. 

Don't be afraid of high heat in your oven - it produces a lovely caramelized exterior and really boosts the flavor and deliciousness.

Roasted Cauliflower - serves as many as you have cauliflower

1 head cauliflower
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 495 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Cut the florets off of the head of cauliflower and place them into a bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil until they are lightly coated, tossing the bowl to be sure they are all coated.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for 15 minutes, keeping an eye to be sure they don't burn.  Rotate the pan after 10 minutes to ensure even browning.  Cook until the florets are nicely browned.  Serve hot or at room temperature, as a salad.  YUM!!

Did you know that cauliflower is loaded with vitamin C?  Now you do!

I interjected to point out that part of sausage's power was its ability to spruce things up when used in really small amounts.  I was laughed out of the conversation.

This Saturday, I purchased another of those lovely hunks of jowl bacon from Wayward Seed farm, and started dreaming about another giant pot of slow-cooked pork shoulder with sauerkraut and knackwurst from Thurns.

We here at Chez Widow love pork.  We like other things, too, but oh, the mighty mighty pig.  The fattier cuts the better.

When I returned home from the market and my class at European Papers, Husband had left me a note.  A note from his doctor with the results from his most recent checkup.  Turns out, Husband is in absolutely perfect healthy except for one thing: his LDL cholesterol level.  Which is in the "congratulations, Mr. Waitress, you are twice as likely to die from a stroke or heart attack than someone with a lower LDL!" level.

*sigh*

Just think, said Husband - you can replace me with a younger model by the time you're 42!  Yeah, said our sausage-loving friend with the 155 total cholesterol, your new model is probably just graduating from high school right now!

BUT, I protested, I don't want a new younger model when I'm 40!  I want this model!

All of this to say, we here at Chez Widow are going to be eating a little healthier this winter.  Which means no *sob* tasty and delicious sausage.

I might have to bend the rules of "local" this winter, because we are going to be eating lots of those tasty omega 3s in salmon, sardines, and anchovies.  As a side note, trout is also high in omega 3, which is available locally.

Fortunately, Husband loves a lot of healthy foods - tofu, brown rice, veggies, and grains, so I don't think we have as long of a road to travel as some.  We're going to see how much we can lower the bad numbers in the next 2 months, and I'll keep you posted. 

I promise I will not be turning into a health food blog.  If anything, hopefully my snobbiness will help us all discover some new healthy recipes which are also delcious!  I promise not to become boring.  Well, if you already find me boring, then I promise not to become more boring.