9 Quotes by Dana Bate

Whenever a friend succeeds, something in me dies.

Last night I baked the Jewish apple cakes, and each one came out moist and fragrant and dense, bursting with apples I caramelized with Calvados and a touch of rosemary and then folded into a vanilla-and-cinnamon-scented cake. We braised the brisket in a tomato sauce so rich and garlicky I can still smell it on my fingers, and the honey ice cream came out silky smooth and tastes like a spoonful of creamy honey, with crunchy chunks of honeycomb toffee.

The chicken's great," says Grace on the TV screen as she gnaws on a chicken bone, much to Will's disgust. I've always felt a kinship with Grace Adler's character. Maybe it's the red hair or the fact that she's Jewish, or the way in one episode she pretended to be an alcoholic so that she could get free Krispy Kreme doughnuts and hot cocoa at AA meetings. I can relate to all of those things. There's very little I wouldn't do for a free Krispy Kreme doughnut.

Hey!" she says. "Sorry I'm late."I look at my watch. "It's nine-forty-five. We said nine."Her cheeks turn pink. "I know. I'm sorry. I overslept.""With the muscular Asian dude?"The pink in her cheeks deepens to a dark red. "His name is Jackson.""Ah, yes, another suitor you can pump and dump.""Hey!" Her indignation yields to her usual feistiness. "Listen to you- 'pump and dump.' You do realize that's a stock-trading expression. It has nothing to do with dating.""It does now.

Mounds of toasted coconut cling to the side of the cake, held in place by the fluffy cream cheese frosting. Beneath the frosting lies a moist and fragrant cake bursting with carrots and cinnamon and golden raisins, stuffed with a gooey caramelized pecan filling. It is, in my eyes, a dessert approximating perfection."A thing of beauty," Rachel says, twirling the cake stand by its base.

A few years back, the New York Times called Shauna's pork the "finest pork in America," and she has never let anyone forget it. Admittedly, her pork is fantastic- rich and flavorful, with the perfect amount of fat. Most of the charcuterie shops in town buy her meat and turn it into pâté and prosciutto and pancetta- all of which, Shauna will remind you, are so good because they start with the "finest pork in America.

Kramer's sits on Connecticut Avenue just north of Dupont Circle and is a Washington institution of sorts, functioning as a bookstore, restaurant, and bar all in one. The front always swarms with people perusing the book displays, which overflow with stacks of paperbacks and hardbacks, everything from political memoirs to the juiciest works of fiction.

I'm the same person you asked to move in with you. The same person you fell in love with. I'm your little firecracker, Adam.""More like a bomb," he mutters."You want a bomb? I'll give you a bomb." I grab his water glass from across the counter and throw the water in his face. "Boom, motherfucker!

I look forward to Millie's party as much as I look forward to a Pap smear or tooth extraction. Which is to say, not at all.