Recipes and BIG NEWS!!!!

This is a "kill 2 birds with one stone" kind of post.  Or as my grandmother would say, "Kill one bird with two stones."    Part one features a killer dinner in with R.  He cooked.  I watched baseball.  Somewhere, Donna Reed is having a coronary.  Part two is the BIG NEWS that has taken over Hungry Lady land.  So let's get started, yes?

Dinner in.  Three cheers for Pinterest for providing endless hours of procrastination, nerdgasms, and new recipes that I will pin, but likely never make.  Also, for providing the two recipes we tried on this particular evening.  First, we made (and by we, I totally mean R) Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Alfredo.  Yes please.  Packed with flavor and super creamy.  Utterly delicious.  Second, we made Baked Asparagus Fries.  These were utterly divine.  We didn't bother with dipping sauces, because we didn't really need them. They were crunchy and not so bready that the asparagus disappeared.  And except for the fact that breading anything is a royal pain, these were pretty easy.  Of course, we also threw in a salad for good measure.  I would very strongly suggest trying both of these recipes.  There was enough pasta for a small army, and R said it was still really good after being reheated the next day.

Such an awesome dinner.

Moving on.  Part two.  The BIG NEWS.  The new project that The Hungry Lady is somehow going to fit in between two classes, homework, and a full time job. Are you ready?  Wait for it.... Wait for it....

I'm writing a book.

Yes, that's correct.  I'm writing a book for The History Press about the local food movement in Columbia.  Basically, I'll be writing about the efforts to promote local ingredients, how it got started, and who are the key players. I'm pretty excited (and maybe a bit overwhelmed), but I also need your help:

• I'm looking for contacts with prominent chefs / restaurant owners / restaurants, events, organizations, or really anything dedicated to showcasing Columbia's local food scene.  If you can help me out, just email me.

• I'm also looking for someone to help with photographs.  You'll need to have your own camera and photo-editing capability.  You'll get credit in the book (obviously).  Plus you'll get to hang out with me.  My budget isn't really super huge, but I'm sure we could work out some sort of compensation.

Got it?  Good.  Very exciting times in Hungry Lady land.  I'm open to suggestions, contacts, or anything else you want to send me.  I've got a pretty good idea of where I'm going to start, but really, what good is it to write a local book without getting any local input?  The book should be released sometime late next spring / early summer.  If there's enough interest, I'll offer copies through the blog, but otherwise you'll be able to buy it at assorted places in town (more to come on that after I've met my deadlines). 

So that's that.  In the meantime, I'll still be reviewing and blogging as much as I can.  I'm also running out of ideas for places to go, so if you've got a recommendation, send it my way.

Big thanks to all of you who have shared this blog, retweeted my posts, joined me for meals, and for just generally supporting the effort.  Without the traffic I get, there's no way that I'd have been asked to write this book.  Cheers.