three wheels, bean soup and weigh-ins

My season of overeating officially came to an end with my last trip to the east coast. Hard to believe it was three weeks ago, but I made the trek back to the Baltimore/DC area to celebrate the retirement of a close friend whom I had worked with for years through numerous department secretaries and two governors in Maryland.

Jacqui and I met years earlier when she was working for the city and I was working for a non-profit. We bonded over a hurricane that blew over most of the Baltimore City Fair. The following year I went to work for state government and our paths continue to intertwine, at one point landing us both at the Maryland Department of Juvenile Justice, which then followed with both of us in Governor Parris Glendening's press office. She was events coordinator; I was a speech writer. Though I've been gone for more than 15 years, we've remained close and I usually stay at her house when I'm in Baltimore.

This trip was no exception, and this trip, as usual, took us to my favorite restaurant. No, not my favorite Baltimore restaurant: my favorite anywhere restaurant. Woodberry Kitchen is an upscale unfancy restaurant that serves locally sourced food in what could best be described as a rustic atmosphere. From the radishes and oyster appetizers to the homemade ice cream for dessert, everything has been perfect. They do have Maryland wines on the wine list, and next time, I swear, I will order one.

The culinary experience at Jacqui's retirement party was quite different from Woodberry Kitchen, but it was authentically Baltimore. Her party was at the Sons of Italy Hall. We dined on chicken, spaghetti with marinara, Caesar salad and green beans I decided to skip. They looked overcooked and then I found out they were flavored with something akin to marzipan. Glad I skipped them. The rest of the meal was certainly acceptable, but I didn't attend the event for the food. Jacqui's coworkers and friends gathered to pay her a well-earned tribute. It was a wonderful evening. I got to see lots of old friends, at least one former boss and a host of people who had great stories to tell.

The day after the party I made my way to the DC suburbs to spend a couple of days with my friends Len and Lisa. Len was between contracts, so we had time to go out and drink Ethiopian coffee and shop at second hand stores. We ate at our favorite Burmese restaurant with some other friends and also did some cooking at home.

The highlight of the home cooking was a vegan white bean soup that I have since made at home. It calls for two heads of roasted garlic and nutritional yeast. It also gets kale and carrots added near the end of the cooking. And it's glorious. I now have a large container of nutritional yeast, so I'm going to have to either find other uses for it, or make that soup. A lot.

But first I'll have to find out how many points are in said soup. After four months of out of control eating, I have gone back to Weight Watchers. I'm weighing, measuring and working hard to lose those gloriously gained pounds.

The meeting I go to is a short distance from home, so last week I rode my recumbent trike. I do have to ride on a busy street with no shoulders, but I've got a flag on the trike, so I'm pretty visible. It was my first solo trip on the trike-- usually I ride around the neighborhood with Jerry on his single-- but it was less scary than I had imagined and actually fun. No question I get lots of puzzled looks and kids get a real kick out of seeing me.

So while I'm missing the browned butter shortbread cookies and polenta, I've already lost a couple of pounds and I'm eating so much healthier.

And I've never looked forward to AIDS Lifecycle so much. A week when I can eat almost anything and not gain a pound.