In case you haven't noticed, I've been a bit of a reading machine lately. I'm sure you didn't notice, but you'll have to take my word for it. I have a stack of books piled up by my bed anticipating being opened.

If you're into food then you know who Ruth Reichl is. For those of you who are not, she's the former food critic for the LA Times, the NY Times, and now editor and chief of Gourmet magazine. I finished reading Ruth's book Garlic and Sapphires weeks ago and found it to be some of the most enjoyable reading I've done in awhile. It is true what they say about this book, reading about the food is almost as good as eating it. This is one food book that actually will make you hungry. If the salivation factor isn't enough, I also learned a lot about haute cuisine from this book -- she paints a lovely picture of each dish she tastes that sticks in your head. The Le Cirque chapter is priceless, infamous, hilarious, ridiculous.

Despite all the reading I've been doing, I haven't been doing very much cooking. I've been in a depressive food funk as so often happens. I think I'm on the up and up as of this week though. We had dinner early this week out at Spanish River Grille which was both tasty and inspiring. The experience got me thinking about new combinations, new styles and recipes. I was tempted to bring my camera like all good food-bloggers should but I wussed out -- maybe next time. The food was simple but flavorful and well prepared. I'm still thinking about that gazpacho. Even more tempting was the sea scallop cooked in duck fat atop foie gras with figs and pomegranate reduction. Another time.