Hallelujah!

Back in June of 2004, Tom and I joined Michelangelo and some other friends at a Rufus Wainwright concert at Ravinia north of Chicago. I am not a huge Rufus fan, I admit, but we had a great time, sitting outside the Pavilion and enjoying our picnic. The night was memorable for a few reasons. One is that for the first time I heard Rufus sing Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. I AM abig Leonard Cohen fan, of his songs if not of his voice. And Rufus did a beautiful job, the music hauntingly floating out over the crowd and shushing the usual murmur of conversation.


Another memorable reason was the great dish Tom made for our picnic: a sort of avocado, grilled steak, onion etc. salad. I loved it, and it has been a long time since he made it. Happily, he made it for dinner this evening, and it is as good as I remember.

I can't share the salad, but feel free to click here to listen to Rufus's "Hallelujah". This version was recorded at a concert just a few weeks after the one we attended. If you like the song, you will also want to go on Youtube and find K.D. Lang's version performed at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Moving and awesome!

PS -- Tom reminded me after dinner while putting away leftovers that the steak salad has to be taken out of the fridge and allowed to come to room temperature before it is eaten.  I told him he way overestimated my capacity for patience. 

For some reason, it made me think of all those dental hygienists who sincerely seem to believe that the reason people don't floss is that no has shown them how to do it properly. Nope, it ain't that, trust me.

Eating this dish is sort of the complete opposite of flossing though. It is easy, pleasant and not too messy. And you can do it at the table without grossing people out.