Return of the Divine Ms. M

It was a bloody beautiful sight for sore eyes to see the Divine Ms. Sherry McCall returned to the fold at BN tonight. Sherry worked with us before and has now rejoined us after a stint in Atlanta. Sherry is a mini-force of nature and a visionary artist, particularly with fabric. She is also a sorceress with spice as well as fresh herbs. Her latest venture is medicinal wine. She created her latest with apples,rosemary,ginger, fresh honey and cinnamon sticks. This particular wine is said to aid blood pressure, circulation and energy levels. I look forward to sampling her wares. Whatever her latest project, we are just happy she's back!

While we're in the book world, I should mention the excellent book I just finished. It's the New Yorker Book of Food and Drink called Secret Ingredients. It is a hefty collection of brilliant writing written by a wealth of celebrity scribes. All are recommended but here are my particular favorites:

-Woody Allen writes on dieting...and Dostoevski
-Dorothy Parker has a stream-of-consciousness rant on dinner conversation
-Jane Kramer on the reporter's kitchen
-Calvin Trillin on the search for the best bagel...and most importantly to me, he also seeks out the history of the Buffalo wing. Buffalo wings will always be one of my favorite foods and I've had some of the originals in Buffalo, NY
-Malcolm Gladwell talks about the evolution of mustard and the attempts to evolve ketchup
-John Kenney's hysterical tale "Your Table is Ready"
-Steve Martin's hilarious menu comparison

...and much,much more. A Cuban slice-of-life from Susan Orlean. Ruminations on hot pastrami from Nora Ephron. A slew of the ever-entertaining New Yorker cartoons. Last but not least, the inspiration behind the Soup Nazi! Yeah, he's real and seems even more terrifying in reality.