holy cripes it's cold out there. minus 4 degrees this morning when i went to turn my car on in the driveway. MINUS FOUR. this is not minnesota, people. i am just not equipped for this sh*t.

i'm a thin skinned jersey girl. i like sunshine and plus thirty degree temps (actually i like plus sixty degree temps) and am not, i repeat, NOT good in the cold. every time january rolls around i begin to wonder what i was thinking building our dream house up north (well, now that i'm separated i wonder just what in the hell i was thinking building a dream house at all, but that's a story for another time)? how did it not occur to me that florida might have been a better fit for my weak-weathered constitution??

as i closed my door this morning, praying the car would heat up quickly, i glimpsed sight of a hardened jogger, headlamp bobbing as he bounced down the road. dude what are you thinking? it is was minus 4 now, what the hell was it when you left your house a half hour ago? minus 8? i can barely manage the chill of my gym when i walk in and have to talk my jacket off and start padding along on the treadmill and this spartan warrior was cutting an 8-minute mile pace in the dark. i am weak people. WEAK.

so i'm going to throw some food out there for you this week that will warm the cockles of your heart (yes, i just typed cockles. i blame the cold). we have got our savory MEATLOAF with CREAMY MASHED POTATOES for dinner along with our usual veal & ricotta meatballs over linguine, baked shrimp scampi & lasagna bolognese to stick to your ribs. or if you are still trending towards the healthy (which by the record breaking first three weeks of january it would seem you are - whoo!) we've a KALE CAESAR with GRILLED CHICKEN! yes, me: kale caesar, i'm going for it, healthy greens in hopes or cancelling out the number of diet cokes i've been throwing back. in addition, we've got our crispy CRAB CAKE SALAD (yes sir, that'll make you think summertime, boom!) or our WINTER WEDGE (think creamy blue cheese crumbles draping over a crisp wedge of iceberg with one of our delicious homemade vinaigrettes - because ALL of our vinaigrettes are homemade...yup. ask your other favor haunts if they blend their dressings by hand every morning...they do not).

we will conquer this cold together. oh, and we deliver. so you don't even have to go out in the cold for our tasty food. word.