Make it Fast

If you’ve been following the All Over Albany Tournament of Pizza, you know I’ve been eating like a beast unchained. It’s a lot of pizza. And sausage. And ricotta. Jon in Albany is doing an admirable job in following up the official posts with detailed notes from his seat at the judge’s table. Bless him and his pizza obsessiveness.

Me, I’m just feeling bloated and incredibly thankful that ouzo exists.

This weekend is filled with great stuff. There is Queen Mab’s Enchanted City over in Troy and then the Harvest Festival in Albany. Just over the border in Massachusetts there is a meat terroir dinner that sounds simply amazing.

As usual, I won’t be taking part in any of the festivities. Mostly because tonight marks the beginning of the Day of Atonement. Tomorrow, I will fast. And I can’t even believe what I’m going to be doing on Sunday.

Really, this past week I should have been apologizing for all the mistakes I made over the last year. Perhaps I can try and make a blanket statement over the internet to try and cover off my obligation. Sure, it’s half-assed. But that has to be better than nothing at all. Right?

So first, I’m sorry to my friend CMRB whose Facebook page I stole this from without permission, and apologies to the original writer of these words who remains uncredited,

For those I may have wronged, I ask for forgiveness. For those that I have helped, I wish I could have done more. For those I could not help, I ask for understanding. For those who have helped me, I’m grateful for all you did.

While they may not be my words, I still offer them quite sincerely. And since I clearly haven’t done enough, I will reflect on my lapses tomorrow. The fast will be good. I hope to come out of it feeling rejuvenated, reminded of my fallibility, ready to start this next year afresh with the optimistic hope that this time I’ll do better.

But fasting really does a number on me. More than the loss of food, it’s the caffeine headache that I dread. Hopefully, I’ll recover quickly, because Sunday we’re hosting a party at casa Fussy.

Well, maybe it’s not a party per se, but Mrs. Fussy is having a bunch of people over and I’ll be whipping up some slow cooker pulled pork. It’s got to be my new favorite easy dish to feed a crowd. And I’ve been very pleased with the pasture raised pork shoulder I’ve been buying at the Schenectady Greenmarket from Bella Terra Farm.

Hopefully I won’t be too grumpy from the fast and will be able to enjoy our guests. And maybe, maybe, once all these events are over, I can sit down and start to look forward to see if we can squeeze out any time to go donut picking.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the heck out of the weekend.