Today in history...and now

Many events have happened on this particular day in history, like most other days on the calendar (although statistically, not much can be expected to ever occur on November 3, particularly when it falls on a Wednesday). On May 22, 1931, for example, canned rattlesnake meat went on sale for the first time, in Florida. And in 1965, "Super-cali-fragil-istic-expi-ali-docious" hit #66.


This is also the day that, seven years ago, the Hero and Princess were married, ensuring that each May 22 thereafter would include, for them at least, the eager consumption of a dessert of some kind.


A couple's first anniversary typically includes the eating of, or at least the looking at, some portion of their wedding cake, which has been reserved for the occasion. In our case we were unable to either eat or look at any portion of our cake on that milestone, because, as my mother informed us, "I ate it." It had been residing in her freezer, but this had occasioned no concern on our part that she would eat it, because MANY foods reside in her freezer for enormously long amounts of time without being consumed. Some of these foods have gone through several stages of fascinating chemical evolution that are unfamiliar even to most scientists.


This year, the wedding cake long having perished, we are dining at a French restaurant in our little historic town. This decision is based on our experience some months ago, in which a chef from this restaurant, at a private party given by friends, introduced us to the full meaning of the word gluttony, and all of us ate ourselves into oblivion. The Hero and I are anxious to repeat this experience.


French food is amazing, by which I mean it contains a lot of butter. In fact, all the ingredients used in any dish, by French tradition, themselves contain a certain percentage of butter, so that when combined they contain roughly 2,000% butterfat. This is helpful to know when reading a French menu, because pretty much all of the words, including salade and sorbet, can be translated as "butter." (The others can be translated as "something taken from a secret portion of some animal.")


We hereby interrupt this post in order to begin our journey into gluttony at the restaurant. Our tale will pick up as soon as the Princess is coherent again.