I've been dieting since January. After two months of being stuck on a plateau, I'm losing weight again-- 8# in the last two weeks. In consequence, all I can think about is food, food and cooking.

I made ice cream two days in a row this week, a quart at a time. Other than licking the beaters, I haven't eaten any of it. Yesterday, I made dozens of savory pastries for a picnic dinner for three people. While we ate them as lunch, and snacks both before and after the Red Green show, there are still several left.

Today, I'm indulging in a recipe that I can indulge in without sabotaging the diet. I'm doing Francis Lam's eggplant pasta sauce: http://www.salon.com/food/francis_lam/index.html

So far, I'm drying the tomatoes. I think my oven temperature is not correct; the recipe says that the tomatoes should dry in about two hours at 200 degrees. I've had them in the oven for five hours so far, and they're still juicy.

I'm really looking forward to this. I only discovered Francis Lam last week, when his ginger-scallion sauce appeared in "Salon," and I'm completely smitten. If you like good food writing, prepare to spend a few hours in the Francis Lam section of "Salon."