Why on earth is the moustache of understanding-- he who has been profoundly wrong about everything from the nature of the free market-- still haunting my tee vee?

Crossposted with more and bigger.

Open thread below...

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MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan talks to Rep. Alan Grayson about the amendment passed by the House Financial Services Committee to allow an independent audit of the Federal Reserve. If Alan Greenspan is not happy about it, I take that as a good sign they did the right thing. It only took putting this country on the edge of financial ruin that we're not out of yet for the S.O.B. to ever admit he might be wrong about anything.

Ratigan: Alright first big newsmaker of the Meeting, Democratic Alan Grayson, better known for some of his fiery comments on Republicans and health care, now taking aim at the Federal Reserve along with so many others. He says the Federal Reserve is more secretive than the CIA, and his new amendment co-sponsored by Republican Ron Paul would allow the first ever independent audit of the Federal Reserve. The amendment edged out a competing proposal from North Carolina Congressman Mel Watt who wants to limit those very audits.

Congressman Grayson now joins the Morning Meeting. Your amendment approved by the House Financial Services Committeea huge step forward. Where do you go from here and whats your level of confidence Representative that you can continue to addendum behind this piece of legislation?

Grayson: Where we go is to stop the secret bailouts. There have been hints and hints now for more than two years that the Feds been conducting huge bailouts on the scale of hundreds of billions of dollars to favor large failed banks. Now were going to find out all about it, and were going to decide whether its good or bad.

Ratigan: Comments from both the former Fed chief Alan Greenspan and for that matter former Fed chief going back even further Paul Volcker to the House Financial Services Committee. They say we can assure you that this protection of internal deliberations in reaching decisions that will affect market conditions and could expose sensitive information about particular institutions is indispensable to the Federal Reserves conduct of monetary policy. Basically if you look behind the curtain, you wont like what youll see and it will screw things up worse. How do you respond to that?

Grayson: Well we are in Emerald City right now. Weve arrived in Emerald City. Toto has just run underneath the curtain

Ratigan: Excellentexcellent

Grayson: and were about to see who is that man behind the curtain and whats he up to.

Ratigan: And they dont wantand what wouldwhat do you think is behind the curtain?

Grayson: Well what I think is favoritism towards selected big banks that have failed and led us to the brink of national bankruptcy.

Ratigan: What of the fact that lending lawbeing a bank no longer pays that much money to lend money. Lending because of modern technology is a low profit business so the government legalized much higher ways to do it in secret and basically the Federal Reserve is their back end. Do youare we on our way to restoring laws for lending in this country?

Grayson: Listen, capitalism requires rewarding success and punishing failure. Thats what Joseph Schumpeter said almost a century ago. So far weve seen plenty of reward for success of Wall Street but no punishment for failurenot when the Fed is handing out blank checks.

8:09 EST: Dodd, presiding over the Senate, said the motion passed, smattering of applause. Motion is agreed to. Clerk is now reporting the bill and amendment.

And that's it for the night. Debate will begin after Thanksgiving, plus amendments, then moving on to the final cloture motion and a final vote.

8:04 EST: Cloture passes 60-39. Debate will start after Thanksgiving.

7:57 EST: Voting continuing.

7:56 EST: Clerk reading cloture motion.

The question is: Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on the motion to proceed shall be brought to a close. Clerk is calling the roll.

Voting now.

7:55 EST: Vote starting 5 minutes early.

7:54 EST: Absence of a quorum noted by Reid, and the roll is being called. Vote coming soon!

7:44 EST: The American people want us to start over. All it would take is just one on the other side of the aisle to not end the debate, but change the debate.

And he's yielded.

Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) is up.

My friend, the minority leader, has had since Wednesday to read the bill. Obviously he hasn't done so.

We debate the right to live free of disease and death by giving health care for all. The road has started many times, never been completed. Merged bills have never been done before. We couldn't have got here without the help of many Senators.

As a matter of principle, that I respect, the senior Senator from Arkansas insisted we have time to read the bill. All Senators have now had ample time. That is why we are voting tonight.

I invite Republicans to join the right side of history. Around dining room tables, families are agonizing over what to sacrifice next to afford health care. Employers are wondering whether they can afford to provide health care. Americans need reform.

Debate is constant, but the only place where silence is evened considered is the Senate. Now, finally, we have the opportunity to bring this great deliberation to this body. That and nothing more is what this vote does.

A yes vote says this issue is important and the Senate should at least talk about it.

Some Republicans would like Americans to think voting to debate the bill is voting to pass the bill. Tonight's vote is only the beginning of debate. It's clear Republicans have no problem talking about health care on TV, at town hall meetings, on the radio, yet now that we have the legislation to debate, to amend, to build on, will they refuse to debate?

If we refuse to let the Senate do its job, what are we doing here? What do we fear? And who's voice to you speak for? In who's interest do you vote?

Certainly debating reform can't be more difficult than American deciding to pay their mortgage or medical bills. It can't be more upsetting than having an insurance company take away your coverage when you need it the most.

Kennedy once said let us not be afraid of debate or discussion, let us encourage it.

Don't be afraid of debate. It's our job. We Democrats stand ready to do what needs to be done. We welcome debate. The framers intended for debate here. Imagine if instead of debating historic GI bills, this body has stood silent. Instead of debate social security or medicare, the Senate voices had been still. Instead of debating to abolish slavery or give women the right to vote.

Don't try and silence a great debate over a great crisis. Don't say you ran and hid when given the chance to debate this issue. The right response to disagreement is discussion. Democracy is discussion. Let us debate our differences.

7:32 EST: Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is up.

At a time when Americans are looking for jobs, the Chinese lecturing us about our debt, this bill costs 2.5 trillion the government doesn't have and can't afford.

It imposes punishing taxes on almost everyone. It raises premiums for 85% of Americans who already have insurance. It slashed Medicare by half a trillion dollars.

Anyone who votes "aye" tonight is voting for all of these things. It is a fact, a vote in favor of proceeding is a vote in favor of adding to the tax burden of Americans. A vote in favor is a vote to raise premiums, to deep cuts to Medicare, tells every American family sitting in a waiting room tonight that cost is not our concern. A vote in favor is a vote in favor of a spending binge that's leading to a massive long-term deficit.

If there were one Democrat, just one, who would say no tonight, none of this would happen. And then we could start over.

Under this bill, health care costs will go up, not down. 2000+ pages.

We don't want to end debate, we want to change it. Because once this bill is on the floor, the basic dimensions won't change. It's going to take 60 votes to change this bill. That means the bill that's introduced will fundamentally be the bill we'll be asked to pass sometime in the future. That is a fact.

7:25 EST: Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) is up.

Recognizing Kennedy, who "is with us only in spirit."

Then asks why we're all watching C-SPAN on a Saturday evening.

Health care costs is the single biggest threat to our financial future. Never before has this body confronted directly this issue. Health care is our most basic need. No matter how much you make, your hopes and dreams, who you are, where you live, what your job is. In America, we should be able to get the care we need.

For too many health care has become our most basic fear. Can't see a doctor. Premiums skyrocket. You lie awake at night wondering what if you lose your job, or you get sick and find out your policy doesn't cover care you need, or it's canceled altogether.

I wish I could say those fears are irrational, but they're not. Our system is broken. People are losing their homes and dying because they get sick. This is not acceptable in our America. That's why we're here on a Saturday night.

We need all the ideas we can get to fix this. But if you've watched the debate over the last few days, nobody has stood up and said we should do nothing at all. Tonight's vote is nothing more than a choice between doing something and doing nothing. I urge my colleagues to join us.

Dodd has yielded.

7:17 EST: Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) is up.

"To be mature means to face, and not evade a crisis." Our health care system is in a crisis, and this crisis will not solve itself. We must face the crisis.

For years we've studied the issue. We've held nearly 70 hearings. We combined a bill and we've brought that combined plan to the Senate floor.

We have a bill that will put Americans, patients, and their doctors back into control. It will end harmful insurance industry practices. No more denials of care. No more hyping up rates for sick Americans. No more taking away health care if you're sick. No more lifetime or annual limits. If you pay your bill, insurance companies must provide you benefits. No more discrimination based on gender. Insurance companies must disclose the share of premiums that go to medical benefits. No longer will insurance companies get tax credits if they pay their CEOs too much.

Our bill is paid for, it will lower costs, and it will reduce the deficit.

Many are happy with their current plans. This bill will not change that. But too many others don't have access to quality insurance. Our bill will give people choice and know exactly what they're buying. Tax credits will help insure all Americans can afford health insurance.

Small businesses will also have access to tax credits, and will be able to spread their risk. And no longer will there be a separate congressional health plan.

Our bill will strengthen Medicare.

We hope to have a full debate. But we have the opportunity at last to face the crisis and show mature leadership.

And Baucus has yielded the floor.

7:10 EST: I believe passionately that we should defeat this bill. We need a bipartisan bill.

Before I came to the Senate, I was a small business owner, a shoe store. When someone said they couldn't afford a shoe, I didn't give them a sales pitch, I found a shoe they could afford. The people in America are complaining, we're showing them the shoe they can't afford.

We have a big decision to make tonight, that will have a lasting effect on our country. If we pass the motion to proceed, we'll debate it for a long time. America will be surprised at the time we waste when we could be doing jobs and the economy.

And Enzi has yielded.

7:00 EST: This bill creates mandatory spending in perpetuity. Talks about the debt growing and jobs being lost. Reid said this bill will be deficit neutral. But the real cost is hidden by implementing taxes first and spending later. When you extend it on out, you won't continue to cover those cost. So, disaster.

What would constitute fraud in the accounting world is being voted on. Medicare is going to go broke, and we're going to take billions from Medicare. If Washington accounting had to come under the same laws as private business, the administration would be in jail.

Now talking about the American people. Majority of Americans believe their costs will go up. The American public isn't fooled. David Broder, the dean of Washington's journalists, said a recent survey said less than 1/5th believe that health reform will be deficit neutral, and a majority oppose the legislation. Broder said it was a "budget-buster."

The group of six couldn't come to any conclusions because the topic is so big. It's a thousand billion dollars. A billion is a thousand million.

6:50 EST: Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) is discussing jobs and how health care represents a "massive government intrusion" into health care. Government will determine whether your health care costs too much. What services you should receive. Now he's bringing up the mammogram recommendations.

Saying this bill gets it wrong. Doesn't fix what's broken and leave what works. Senator Reid is trying to jam through a strictly partisan bill. Will increase the deficit and harm our jobs. No serious economist would say this bill creates jobs or helps our economy. Health care spending will increase, will not improve quality, or change the delivery system.

"The voices of August are still echoing, and coming from a vast majority."

Says there is a job-killing tax on business because they will have to provide health insurance. The health reform bill will threaten your jobs. Heritage foundation says this new job-killing tax will put 5 million at risk of losing their jobs.

The bill will threaten our nation's jobs and economic growth, and increase our debt and deficit.

----------

Hello everyone! For those who I'm meeting for the first time, I'm Jason and I write for The Seminal as well as work for Health Care for America Now.

John Amato has been kind enough to invite me over to Crooks & Liars for a little bit of liveblogging the Senate health care debate today leading up to the cloture vote at around 8 pm EST.

I'll be keeping up with the debate in the Senate (on C-SPAN 2), as well as trying to explain the Senate procedure and answer questions folks might have.

And with that, here we go...

Filed under: Photos, North America, United States, Photo of the Day, Nightlife

Photo of the Day (11.21.09) originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Filed under: Cruises

Zagat Survey rates cruise lines - picks Cunard as "top overall" originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Filed under: North America, United States, Airports

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and we're all dreading the thought of stepping on the scale the next day ... and making all kinds of empty promises about jogging and losing weight and not eating like that again next year. Some of us we'll even unleash a stream of profanities and accuse the device of lying. Out in Queens, however, a few scales have been tested, and they won't be fooling anyone at turkey-time.

Inspectors from the Department of Consumer Affairs have verified that the 741 luggage scales at New York's JFK and LaGuardia airports. On the first run, 92 percent were found to be in compliance, and following repairs, a re-inspection showed a 98 percent success rate. The remaining 2 percent? Don't worry: they won't be used until they've been repaired.

The scale doesn't lie, at least not in New York originally appeared on Gadling on Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In case you haven't noticed, food blogs, food magazines, food networks and the like love Thanksgiving. They love it because, for once, the nation is intent on cooking dinner. For 364 days out of the year, that's mostly not the case--what with fast food and frozen dinners and all the other instant options at our fingertips. But Thanksgiving? Thanksgiving is something you've gotta cook. That is, unless you're me.

Me, I prefer cooking those other 364 days out of the year. It's not that I don't like preparing Thanksgiving dinner--I've done it twice before!--it's just that I don't like dealing with Thanksgiving stress. The stress of shopping, the stress of timing, the stress of catering to everyone's dietary needs.

So this year, thankfully, we'll be Thansgivinging with my sister-in-law's family in West Palm Beach. Tali's dad is an enthusiastic cook (he helped me carve the turkey two years ago) and I'm excited to eat (and relax!) at his house this time around.

But where does that leave you? Fear not, gentle reader. I, your beloved food blogging friend, crafted a pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving the other night to test some recipes that you might consider for your own Thanksgiving table.

Ignore the chicken: that was just there to take the place of turkey since turkey is actually rather expensive and I couldn't justify that expense cooking, as I was, for two. I prepared the chicken simply by coating it with softened butter (about 4 Tbs), stuffing it with a lemon and a bunch of rosemary, and then chopping rosemary and sprinkling it all over the bird along with salt and pepper. I put it in a cast iron skillet and roasted it for about 1 hour at 425.

But that's irrelevant because you can't serve chicken at Thanksgiving can you? No, you cannot. Which is why I'm grateful for my new favorite food site, Food52. It was there that I found the most tempting recipes for Thanksgiving sides; one of them a big winner, and the other very good, but not as good as what I'd made at my own Thanksgivings past.

Let's start with the latter. That was the stuffing.

I used the recipe for "What We Call Stuffing: Challah, Mushroom and Celery" by Mrs. Wheelbarrow.

For the full recipe, click the link, but essentially, you cut up challah bread (or brioche) and if you don't have time to dry it out overnight, you toast it.

Then you saute onions and celery and mushrooms (I left out the mushrooms because I only like mushrooms when they get caramelized and here I thought they'd just stay kind of mushy) with herbs (rosemary and thyme) in LOTS of butter:

Then you toss together the vegetables, the bread, MORE butter, vegetable stock, salt and pepper and place in a baking dish (I actually tossed it all together in the baking dish):

You bake at 350 for 45 to 55 minutes and here's the result:

This stuffing is really good, don't get me wrong. The challah adds a lot to it--making it rich and sweet and buttery--and the other elements give it kind of a woodsy, earthy kick. But I still prefer the stuffing I made two years in a row, a cornbread stuffing from Epicurious with sausage, leeks and cranberries (here's the recipe).

But, fear not Food52 fans, the other recipe I tried was so outrageously good, I'm a total convert---I think everyone should make it this year.

And that's the recipe for Gingered Cranberry Fig Chutney.

It really couldn't be easier. Into a big pot (or Dutch Oven) you add all of your ingredients: your cranberries, your orange juice, your chopped up ginger, your cider vinegar, your raisins, your black mission figs, your mustard seeds and brown sugar.

You bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. That's it!

What you are left with is a cranberry sauce (or chutney) for the ages; something complex, exciting, spicy, mysterious, and an absolutely perfect complement to all that rich food that'll be crowding your plate otherwise. I can't recommend it enough.

And thus, this Thanksgiving Recipe Tester tips his hat to all of you cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year. New readers may be glad to know that I have a PDF from two years ago that gives you a whole Thanksgiving game plan (click here). Otherwise, for those who are cooking and those who aren't, I salute you all and wish you very moist turkeys one week from today.

When I think pot roast, I think Americana, I think 50s sitcoms and a beleaguered housewife who intones: "Oh, darn it, I burnt the pot roast!"

It's not a dish that I ate much growing up, eating--as we did--most of our meals out. My first real pot roast memory, actually, comes from Atlanta. I ordered pot roast at one of my favorite, kitschy restaurants there--Agnes & Muriel's--and got very sick afterwards. I don't blame Agnes & Muriel's, but I did blame pot roast. I avoided it for years.

Then, a few weeks ago, one of the eminent food world figures that I follow on Twitter--John "Doc" Willoughby (@jdocwill is his Twitname)--Tweeted the following: "Since winter seems to be early, I'm making comfort food -- my grandma's pot roast with caraway seeds and green apples over mashed potatoes."

When people ask me "Why Twitter?" I often answer, "So you can follow people that you admire and interact with them." Such was the case here when, after reading that Tweet (which made me pretty hungry), I replied and asked for the recipe. And, in respectable Twitter fashion, he replied and said that I could find it in a book he co-authored with Chris Schlesinger: "How To Cook Meat."

And thus, through the magic of Twitter, I found myself a few weeks later making John "Doc" Willoughby's grandmother's pot roast on a cold autumn night. There are so many peculiar twists and turns to the recipe--caraway seeds? cider vinegar? APPLES?--but, as I trusted they might, each element revved the dish up significantly and the end result was a fork-tender pot roast with a nicely tart and acidic sauce and luscious, meaty apples. In the book, he suggests that you serve it with roasted potatoes and that's precisely what I did. And, since it's a braise, there's very little chance that you'll burst out, like a 50s housewife, with: "Darn it, I burnt the pot roast!" Instead, you'll say, like a housewife of the 00s: "I made a very good pot roast and I have Twitter and food blogs to thank."

Lazy Sunday Pot Roast with Caraway and Green Apples
by John "Doc" Willoughby (& his grandmother)
from "How To Cook Meat"

Ingredients:
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 4 to 5 lb boneless cross-rib pot roast or other chuck roast
2 medium onions thinly sliced
1/2 cup cider vinegar
3 bay leaves
1 Tbs Caraway seeds
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup fresh marjoram (or 2 Tbs dried)
2 to 2 1/2 cups beef stock
4 Granny Smith apples quartered, cored and peeled

1. Preheat oven to 300.

2. In a Dutch oven, heat oil on high heat until very hot. Pat meat dry and season with lots of salt and pepper. Brown well, 8 to 10 minutes a side. [Note: this is the MOST important step. This is where all the flavor comes from, so really let it get brown like this, ok? Promise?]

3. Remove meat to a plate. Pour off fat or add as needed so there are appx. 2 Tbs in the Dutch oven. Add onions and saute until translucent, 7 to 9 minutes:

[I think I made a mistake here; I salted the onions when they went in, and they let out so much liquid it took forever for it all to evaporate. So my suggestion is, add the onions, let them turn translucent, and then sprinkle with a little salt. It's good to season as you go with a dish like this.]

4. Add vinegar, bring to boil, scrape up brown bits. Add the bay leaves, the Caraway seeds, the sugar, and the marjoram. Place the meat back in and add enough beef stock to come up the sides of the meat halfway.

Bring to a simmer, skim off fat, cover and put in the oven for 2 hours and 15 minutes.

5. At this point, add the apples to the pot:

15 minutes later, the apples will be done.

Remove them from the pot and start checking the meat for doneness. Continue cooking, with lid on, until fork tender--15 to 30 minutes more.

6. When finished, remove meat from the pot, cover with foil, and let it rest ten minutes. Skim fat from the liquid and taste: for more flavor, boil it until it coats a spoon. [I did this, and it makes the sauce taste great.]

7. Slice meat and serve with the apples, the liquid and the onions. Enjoy!

It's my fault, really. My parents were in town and my mom asked me, early in the week, if I'd babysit my dad for lunch on Tuesday while she met some of her friends. I said, "Sure." Then, the day before, I received a confirmation e-mail from Lidia Bastianich's publicist reminding me of a lunch scheduled at Lidia's restaurant Felidia the next day. I'd RSVPed for two (I was going to bring a more talented photographer friend (why? see picture above)) and so, after some clever thinking, I decided to take my dad.

"What is this again?" asked my dad when I told him about it. "Who is this person?"

"Lidia Bastianich," I explained. "She's one of my favorite TV chefs. And she's hosting a lunch promoting her new cookbook."

My dad's a relatively shy dentist and so I assured him he wouldn't have to do much at this lunch, just sit there and eat. I was a little nervous we'd be at a big communal table, but I kept that thought to myself. I was hoping we'd all be at our own tables, Lidia'd come out to speak, and that would be that.

Well.

We got there at the designated time and walked upstairs to the private dining room. There was a big table of cookbooks and then, across the room, a long communal table. Two other women stood in the room with us and that was it. Then Lidia walked in.

"Eek," I thought to myself. "What if it's just the five of us? What if my dad has to talk? He's never seen Lidia's show! He doesn't know who she is! And how will I explain why he's there?"

"Hello," said Lidia, waking around the room, shaking hands. My dad shook her hand and said his name, she smiled, nodded and moved on to me. More people came. And pretty soon we were at the table, with Lidia at the center, and my dad at the head. Once the table was full, one fact was clear: my dad and I were the only men there.

The pressure was off, though, because Lidia began monologuing in a way that put the entire room at ease. She talked about her new book, "Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy," a book that inspired the meal we were about to eat; she talked about the book's pictures, taken by Christopher Hirsheimer, and her attempts to branch out on to the web. And that's when she turned to us and asked us to go around and say who we were, this being a room of bloggers, web people and my dad.

I glanced nervously to my right where my dad gave me a look like: "ruh roh."

There were people there from Daily Candy, my friend Sara-Kate from The Kitchn, and then it was my turn.

"I'm Adam from The Amateur Gourmet," I said bravely. "And this," I said, indicating my dad, "is David Lebovitz."

My dad looked confused.

Just kidding. I introduced him as my dad, Lidia smiled and said that "family is very important, I bring my mother with me everywhere."

Phew! A relief.

Then the wine started coming...

And a menu was presented...

The first course was a celeriac salad with apple and a sliver of meat (I can't quite recall what the meat was):

It was tasty and refreshing, though I noticed my dad picking around it nervously.

The next course my dad devoured: butternut squash risotto.

I loved the zip of balsamic vinegar on top.

The main course was beef braised in beer, a real triumph:

Lidia said, "You can cook chicken like this or even turkey. Imagine how good that would be at Thanksgiving!"

The dessert was a simple rustic dessert of bread, chocolate and whipped cream:

It looks complicated and fancy, but Lidia assured us it was cheap and incredibly easy to do--the recipe, of course, is in the book.

What I haven't emphasized yet, in this post, is how excited I was to be in Lidia's presence. Her show is probably the most prominent on my Tivo line-up; I look forward to new episodes each week and think of Lidia's family as my own, which is why it was so cool that not only did I get to meet Lidia but also present was Tanya, her daughter.

I began to ask questions, emboldened by alcohol. "Sometimes on the show," I said delicately, "you and Tanya have... disagreements. How do you settle them when you work on a book together?" (Tanya co-wrote the cookbook.)

Tanya answered this one: "We have six recipe testers so every recipe is tested and tested and tested to the point that by the end, we pretty much know what we all think is the best."

Fair enough. When the conversation turned to Italian cooking vs. French cooking, I asked--again, delicately--why Lidia thoguht there weren't any four-star Italian restaurants in New York yet? "Well," she said, "Italians have the most stars combined." (I'd never thought of that, but if you add up Babbo's three stars to Marea's three stars and so on, you'd get a lot of stars.)

Finally, I asked the obvious question, which anyone who's been following Lidia's career for a while would be hard-pressed not to ask: "What was it like cooking for the pope?"

"It was the pinnacle of my career," said Lidia, "both personally and professionally."

She described the security she had to go through to get to where the pope was staying; she explained her strategy. "I know he's from Germany, so I decided to cook him food that he'd find familiar. I made schnitzel and I made strudel. And at the end he paid me the highest compliment--he told me it made him think of his mother's cooking."

From the pope to my dad, Lidia's cooked for some of the all-time greats. After the desserts were cleared away, Lidia bid us adieu (or, rather, "ciao"), signing books for us and posing for pictures. And how could I resist snapping a picture of my dad and his new best friend?

He was dubious at first, but by the end he was won over.

"She's a very impressive woman," said my dad, as we were leaving. "You can see why she's successful, being able to talk to a whole table like that. If I had to do that, I'd die."

Two worlds collided at Felidia that day, but they produced a new world, a world where dentistry and cookery can co-exist in absolute harmony, as Lidia and my dad sing out together--as she does at the end of every show: "Tutti a Tavola a Mangiare!"