If you’re looking for ramblings about football, you’ve come to the wrong place. The Shop Tart watched the Super Bowl at her parents’ house with her children, husband, sister, brother, brother-in-law and aunt. They ate a lot of food and shushed everyone during the commercials. The Shop Tart was ever-so-vaguely pulling for New Orleans, because she has a friend from Louisiana and New Orleans seems like more fun that whatever the other place was. The most important thing was a surprise the Shop Tart’s mother had been planning all day: Salmon ball. Made to look like a football. (Now you know where the Shop Tart gets her sometimes bizarre approach to entertaining.) She could not resist taking a picture of the delicious sculpted salmon covered in horseradish mayonnaise and messing with it until it looked like a picture from a seventies cookbook. It was delicious. And, yes, there is a toothpick holder in the background shaped like a tiny man with toothpicks in his mouth.

So, while some many all of you may have tired of reading about meals over which the Shop Tart celebrated her birthday, she is not tired of sharing. One was her family birthday party. The second was a public birthday extravaganza, a lovely gift. The third - actually the first, since it was three days before her actual birthday - was a lovely lunch with friends. (As an aside, she will try to never complain again about hosting her husband’s yearly birthday bash on Christmas Eve. After all, she had three parties.) When her friends asked where she wanted to go, she jumped at the chance and said Solstice, which she’s been wanting to try for ages. Dinner there is always divine and she knew lunch would be just as good. The ladies started with French Quarter pimento cheese, a famously delicious signature dish also served at Mr. Friendly’s.

Four out of five ladies at the table agreed the special - fish of the day over fried green tomato and creamy polenta with dijon beurre blanc and sautéed spinach - was the best choice. Being ladies, they ordered it several different ways. There was one request for “more spinach, no polenta,” one for “light polenta, heavy spinach,” as well a couple others. Ladies know what they want, n’est-ce pas? Whatever the variation, it was delicious.

In true ladies-who-lunch fashion, the Shop Tart and her table mates followed their hot tea with a glass of wine, a delightful pouilly fuissé recommended by the knowledgeable staff. The Shop Tart had forgotten all about her love of pouilly fuissé, which had given way to her love of sancerre, which has been more or less abandoned for “a dry white wine that’s minerally, not buttery.” In any case, pouilly fuissé might be her summer jam. It’s a little bit cougar, a little bit lady-like and a whole lot yummy. The fifth lady at the table asked for shrimp. The exact dish she wanted was not on the menu, but Solstice was happy to oblige, offering this delish grilled seafood over sautéed spinach.

Because it was her birthday, dessert was in order. Krispy Kreme bread pudding? Oui! With a steaming cup of fresh-brewed coffee, it was part of a balanced breakfast.

All in all, it was a lovely lunch and Solstice is at the top of the Shop Tart’s list for long, lady lunches. So, when would you like to meet her there?

Do you have a sudden desire to make your own Krispy Kreme bread pudding? The Shop Tart has done it. Here is her recipe.

Sophisticated Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding

Butter a casserole dish and fill it with a dozen randomly torn Krispy Kremes. The beauty of this recipe is it’s okay if they’re a little bit stale. That’s what bread pudding is all about. Sprinkle the following on the doughnuts:

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup chopped pecans

the zest of one lemon. (You can just zest the lemon over the dish.)

In a separate bowl, mix the following:

a 12 ounce can of evaporated milk.

2 eggs.

2 teaspoons lemon extract.

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.

Blend until the eggs are beaten. Pour the mixture over the Krispy Kremes.

Cook it for 30 to 40 minutes in a 350° oven. It’s best served hot, although it can be polished off over the course of a day, spoonful by spoonful, right out of the dish. A dollop of not-too-sweet vanilla ice cream would be lovely. (The Shop Tart created this recipe a couple years ago after being stuck with a lot of leftover doughnuts from a fundraiser. The recipes she found online all included added sugar. Ew. That would be disgusting. Seriously. Although she doesn’t know this for sure, she suspects Solstice’s Krispy Kreme bread pudding had little - if any - added sugar.)

Happy Shopping and don’t forget to tell them you read it on the Shop Tart!

P.S. Only six shopping days left until Valentine’s Day! Unforgettable Fine Jewelry has a brand new line of men’s Seiko watches. They are offering 15 percent off the already reasonably priced timepieces to Shop Tart readers through Saturday. (Look for pictures tomorrow or just go to Unforgettable and see for yourself!) Don’t forget to think outside the box: These would make great graduation gifts and now is the time to buy, when you can get a discount.

P.P.S. Did you see the great recipe from Spotted Salamander in yesterday’s surprise post? Yum. Also, there is a link to Otis Taylor’s great story in the State yesterday about Terra. Chef Mike Davis, wine expert Howard Jarrett and a few more peeps from Terra are headed to New York City to wow guests at the James Beard House with a sophisticated, southern style dinner. Terra will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday, and will reopen Thursday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, they’ll offer a special Valentine’s Day menu, so make your reservations now. And mark your calendar: On February 27th, they will be celebrating National Open that Bottle Night. You bring that bottle you’ve been saving for who-knows-what and Terra’s knowledgeable staff will recommend dinner to go with it. The Shop Tart will be there, probably with this:

P.P.P.S. The Shop Tart hates to see an institution closing its doors. Otis Taylor posted this video on Twitter this morning, “Lindsey Downen, a USC graphics arts major, did her senior project on ‘The Final Days of Biscuit House.’ ” Pretty cool. (And pretty sad. The Shop Tart is a sucker for the plaintive sound of acoustic guitar.) The Biscuit House will be open through the end of May, so don’t miss your chance to enjoy it a few more times. The Shop Tart sincerely hopes she will be able to get their sweet potato biscuit recipe, because life will not be the same without it. Maybe if we all clap our hands and believe, they will re-locate rather than disappear. Please?

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