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Three things I feel like I have to mention:

First, Mama Lucia has returned to television. There were several Mama-free weeks of Jeopardy!, but it seems like they've come to their senses, as Mama Lucia appeared again last night right after the show. Thank heavens.

Second, after watching an episode of the mostly annoying Throwdown last night (Bobby lost!), I think I need to eat a Muffuletta. I haven't had one, but I have no doubt that it will be the best damn sandwich I've ever had in my life.

Third, I enjoy stir frying now and then. After watching an episode of the mostly awesome Good Eats (see a trend here?), I've become interested in the concept of wok hei (“the breath of the wok”). Essentially, the idea is that to properly cook in a wok, you need to get it searing hot, which does, as you might expect, involve a rather hot flame. The general consensus, both from Alton Brown and, as my grandmother would say, the powers that be, is that the ideal way to achieve this is with a King Kooker (which, I suppose, has the advantage of doubling as a turkey fryer). The disadvantage to this is that using one indoors would be bad. Maybe not total protonic reversal, but still bad. Important safety tip. Thanks.

The King Kooker is not really a viable option for me at the moment, but as luck would have it, I am cooking with gas. Unfortunately, our wok also happens to be non-stick. I know that it is generally not a good idea to heat a non-stick pan to any temperature that could be described as “searing,” but I'm willing to put our very expensive wok in peril in the name of science. Yes, it's probably dangerous to me, too. I'll get a proper wok one of these days. Anyway, the point is, I still don't think I'm getting the wok hot enough, but that might just be because I'm not giving it enough time to heat up. At any rate, my chicken got a little bit of that nice wok hei last night, and it was awesome. I think I have a new goal.