shortlists nos. 39-42 / february & march 2012

Here we are already in April and I’m only now getting to talk about our February shortlists. I’m behind, yes, but my delay doesn’t indicate a lack of dinner parties, only a lack of time to write about them.

Notice the abundance of quiche? I blame that on the copious amount of vegetarians we had over for dinner and my unwillingness to eat yet another bowl of pasta (I’m looking at you, 42 containers of ragù in the freezer). The spaghetti al pomodoro and Wagyu steak night was Francesco’s birthday. (I was spared the sacred annual preparation of the Sacher Torte because, said the birthday boy, it was too damn hot.)

But the most obvious thing about these four shortlists – other than the fact that they’re accompanied by my feet and a favorite dress belonging to a favorite person – is that they are all (even the birthday one, on which it was forgotten) topped with focaccia.

Think of this as a little teaser, then. This focaccia is splendid, and, I think, worth the wait. Plus, I haven’t actually figured out a writable recipe just yet. It’s a throw-in-a-bit-of-this-and-a-bit-of-that kind of thing. So patience, my pets! The focaccia, the star of all our dinners for the last little while, is coming.