in good company

What do my Mother, Ina Garten, and I all have in common? Come to find out my Mom and I are in agreement with the Barefoot Contessa on the ideal comfort food. The grilled cheese sandwich! This is the second time in a week I've mentioned this heavenly food. I still dare you to find someone (an American) who doesn't dig this meal. It's all about the bread and cheese (Colby is my favorite lately). Ultimately this sandwich is delicious because of the butter! A grilled cheese is just a lame piece of toast with melted cheese without the butter flavoring and crisping the outer sides of the bread. Yum! I caught Cora making Adelaide a grilled cheese without butter, just placing the bread on the pan until it was sort of crusty with the cheese still solid. Pathetic! I quickly had to fix that problem.

So how, do you ask, did I discover this commonality with the Barefoot Contessa? Yesterday, I had my regularly scheduled 6 week trim with Pascal, my French hair stylist (don't love HIM, but love his philosophy with hair. He's been a stylist for 40 years, trained in France, apprenticeship in London with Vidal Sassoon, developed Vidal Sassoon Germany, owned his own salon back in France as well as stylist school, now bringing his thing to Asia. He doesn't use thinning scissors or razors to add texture or shape, only his blunt scissors which really builds a healthy head of hair that grows really fast. He builds a shape around the geometry of the head and how the hair grows along with the architecture of the face. Lots of artsy fartsy talk but I've noticed a serious difference in my hair. The best thing is how fast it grows while holding the shape of the cut). Anyway, totally off topic. I decided to relax and get a pedicure after the trim. I figured, I'm here and I deserve a bit of relaxation after the weeks alone with the girls right? So I settle in with my bar of Koko Black chocolate and cup of green tea, along with a stack of magazines (heaven right?). Only I start to get antsy and here's where my American tendencies come out. I want to relax and enjoy the pedicure but I get bored and irritated that it's taking so long. I finish reading two Town and Country magazines in the time it takes the gal to get through one of my feet. That's like 45 minutes!!! I'm looking at my watch and finally tell her that we're going to have to hurry this up a bit. As a result my right foot looks and feels great while my left foot totally got the shaft. Next time I've decided to be up front, like the American I am, and tell the gal I have an hour for a pedicure, no more, can you please get the job done in that time. Humph! So instead of enjoying the pedicure I was feeling guilty for having sat in the salon for almost two and half hours while my girls played at home with Yaya. To top it off the dark purple nail color I chose looks more like Goth black after two coats on my toes. It's summer-hello bright fun colors. Oh well! Oh and the girls were happy as clams when I walked in. I love getting that welcome home love. It's so rare cause I'm always with them.

Long story short (too late), the only redeeming moment of the pedicure was the Jan 2010 issue of Town and Country magazine (U.S. version not the Philippine version which is just a wanna-be). I landed on a great interview with Ina Garten, all about her East Hampton "barn" house she built for her show the Barefoot Contessa on Food Network. The article includes lots of favorites. Scrolling down the list, she is asked what her favorite comfort food to indulge in is. Sure enough, she says it's a grilled cheese sandwich accompanied by tomato soup. She might as well be in my head as well as my mother's. I love Ina! I think a tea party with the three of us would be lovely.
Ina Garten in the barn at her East Hampton home. Check out the article at WWD.

Photo By: Talaya Centeno

I couldn't locate a link to the Town and Country article. If you come across it, set it aside for your next way-too-long-pedicure. She's one cool lady!