Hahahaha, get it?!

After receiving the good news at my doctor’s appointment Wednesday, I spent the train ride back up to work nearly bursting out of my skin with excitement. I got to my office and literally glided down the hall where I announced to my coworkers (while probably simultaneously jumping up and down and flapping my arms): I CAN EAT!!!!!!

The whole office stood and applauded … and then directed me to the conference room where a platter of Maria’s homemade yucca was waiting 😀

This yucca was the most amazing thing I had ever tasted. I tried to eat it slowly and savor every single bite. It was wonnnnnnnnnderful.

I took a break for some CSA cucumbers:

But I couldn’t resist and went back for two more baby plates of yucca to finish the platter 😛

My coworkers were thrilled to see me going back for more and kept patting my head with relief and saying, “She’s back!”

Belkis also put out a box of alfajores that Nitza had brought back from her recent trip to Argentina:

Mmmmm, I got introduced to alfajores in Peru and loved them! An alfajor is a sandwich cookie with dulce de leche (in Peru, they call it manjar blanco) in the middle. This particular box of alfajores contained some covered with chocolate and some covered with meringue. I kept my personal promise of moderation in mind (along with the awareness that refined sugar had not passed my lips in four days!) and just had two itty bitty wedges:

Mmmm, they were yummy but super super sweet — the little bite was enough to satisfy!

When I got home, I had the cup of mom’s homemade grape nut pudding that I’d been saving in the fridge since I got back from MA on Sunday:

I topped it with cinnamon and CSA blueberries, and it was delish!

Thursday morning, I got to have my first real breakfast in days!

Tea, diluted prune juice (about 1/4 juice; the rest water), brown bread from Saturday’s clambake, and a CSA egg with CSA “reject” greens (broccoli leaves, turnip greens, balcony arugula flowers) and CSA green onion:

I actually got full mid-meal and had to save the other piece of brown bread for a snack at work later in the morning.

When I got to work, there was an adorable little arrangement waiting on Belkis’ desk:

Jessica and Nydia had refilled the candy jar, and Belkis wanted to make sure they got credit. In front of the jar is a little solar-powered flower Belkis found — when the light shines on, it starts to sway back and forth. So cute! (I just admired, though — no candy for me yet.)

Lunch was two small bowls of CSA salad (I brought a bunch and shared with Belkis and Jessica) topped with avocado from Jessica, pepper, and a couple tbsp of Diana-inspired baba-humma:

Seriously, it is so exciting to be back to food!!! I couldn’t contain myself Wednesday night and had to cook to celebrate my triumph 😛 My giant hunk of CSA eggplant roasted beautifully:

And it made a perrrrrfect salad dressing blended with some pine-nut hummus (also from Diana!):

And I had a little bite of this steak that Deborah’s mom cooked:

OMG, seriously, I was born in the wrong country.

For dessert, I had some of these maduros left from Nydia and Lillian’s lunch:

Some other little treats over the rest of the afternoon included a handful of grapes, some more bits of alfajor (I kept cutting the dulce de leche part out of the middle of the last cookie and eating just that, shhhhh!), and an amazing homemade Guyanese coconut dessert that Pansy brought in to share:

On my way out, I had a CSA apricot (again, please disregard the apple!) and a coffee Werther’s and called it a day (until I got home for dinner, of course!):

Oh right, and between my office and the subway, I stopped into the grocery store for THIS:

I had to try to re-create Maria’s magic for myself of course 😛

Yay for food! Yay for food! Yay for food!

What is the most exciting bite of food you have ever eaten?