What It Is

I know I shouldn’t say so myself, but I have the coolest birthdate. Ever. No sh*t.

What makes it so much cooler than, say, your birthday?

Well, I will tell you.

My birthday is 6/23/1966. I was born at 11:23pm- which I only recently (yeah, at my advanced age!) realized is also known as 23:23.

That’s 6/23/66 23:23 for those of you just tuning in. Two days before Rosemary’s baby; 3 6s, 3 23s.

3 is my all-time favorite number, the only one whose multiples always add up to a number divisible by 3. In other words, if you can divide a number by 3, you can also add up that number’s integers and the sum of those integers will also be a number divisible by 3. 3 is always 3! Once I told a good friend of mine that 3 was my favorite number, to which he replied that he preferred pi. Dude, pi is also 3, just with some extra sauce.

The photo, though it’s hard to tell, is a Chocolate Bomb, my chosen birthday dessert indulgence. It is comprised of chocolate sponge cake, milk chocolate pudding and dark chocolate pudding, combined in an unholy, decadent combo that is comforting and silky and almost a religious experience. I was indirectly involved in the creation of the Chocolate Bomb when I gave a friend a Chocolate Trifle as a birthday present. He suggested the lovely folks at Sugar Sweet Sunshine make something similar. And now they do, every day.

There was also champagne, dinner…  and a perfect, delectable Loved One. 43, yum!

Perhaps it’s a Northeast-centric sort of thing, but I love concord grapes. Something about the dichotomy between the sweet, intense grapey-ness inside the skin and the sour slippery-coolness of the fruit. I love their black skins, I love teasing out the big, easy-to-spit seeds. They remind me of other funky foods I adore, like oysters and caviar and peas. I remember my first taste of those crazy grapes in upstate NY as a child,and I still eat them every fall.

Having lived almost all my days as a hardcore urbanite, in childhood I wanted to be a pioneer, an Indian, a cowgirl, a farmer or pretty much anyone that knew a lot about the outdoors and got to hang out with animals. I dream sometimes of a future gardening self, with a kitchen garden full of vegetables and herbs and a lovely Concord grape arbor.

Then I reflect on how I’ve pretty much killed every houseplant I’ve ever owned and how I’m almost as allergic to sunlight as Dracula, and I return to my indoor pursuits.

My loved one, raised in the great state of Texas, thinks these seasonal treats are absolutely disgusting, disdaining all grapes that dare to contain seeds. Fall has barely begun, and I’m close to polishing off 2 pounds of grapes all on my own. On this autumnal equinox weekend, I can’t recommend them highly enough.

Have you ever been to Mexico? Did you know they’ve been drinking chocolate there for 3,000 years? They know a thing or two. I found this in my barrio neighborhood supermarket, and I must tell you, it’s delicious. Disks of chocolate encrusted with cinnamon sugar that you cut up into quarters and blend with hot milk (or rice milk, if you’re me.) It’s also nice to have around for an instant, albeit super-sweet chocolate treat when you really need one and can’t be bothered to walk to the bodega for candy at 1 am. Drink up, and dream of Mexico.