Dreaming of Bourdain and a breakfast flop

I had a strange dream this morning. I was on some sort of work-related camping retreat. However, I'd forgotten a tent, so I repeatedly was asking random people if they had room for me in their tent, "or at least a sleeping bag I can borrow." Then someone (forget who) next to me was like "Wow, it's already 6 a.m. We better get to sleep soon!" Then someone (not sure who either) got on a mic and started making opening remarks. They made some joke directed to Michael Weatherly (yes, the guy on "NCIS" I listed as a TV hottie in a previous blog), who was somehow on this retreat too. And then.. I went to get in a more comfortable sitting position, and put a hand behind me to brace myself. To my surprise, my hand landed on someone's bare foot. I turned around, and it was Anthony Bourdain (the chef and writer), who was sitting crosss-legged behind me. I was like "Whoa, sorry!" and adjusted so I'd be sitting next to him instead. Then he pulled out his wallet and a little card from inside it. On the card were a bunch of names and phone numbers. He said "Check out that contacts list." I don't remember any of the names, but I remember recognizing them as chefs. I said, "Yeah, wow. You know, I've actually read your book. And I just finished 'The Reach of a Chef'" (both of which are true claims). He said, impressed, "Oh yeah?" And I replied, "Yeah, I'm actually a really picky eater, and I don't cook all that often since it's just me, but I'm really fascinated by culinary stuff." (Also all true.) And that's all I remember.

In other news, I'm making a second attempt at going dairy-free today -- for reals this time. No butter or milk-containing bread to be found! I even ditched my usual breakfast shake stuff (instant breakfast, which had dry milk powder in the mix) and mixed the usual glass of soy milk with this "Alive!" nutrition supplement. Then I made the mistake of adding my other "usual" -- an ounce of this pomegranate supplement. Being that the pomegranante stuff is so acidic, it, along with the instant-breakfast mix, usually thickens up the soy milk a bit. However, when I added it to the soy milk and this new "Alive!" stuff...yowsa! It got really thick. I was literally eating it with a spoon. It was dark green in color and definitely less tasty than the chocolate instant breakfast. I'll have to try it again tomorrow sans the pomegranate. It'd be easiest to just do the normal-person thing and sit down for a quick bowl of cereal every morning, but no way am I getting up even five minutes earlier to make time for that!