I’m on the second floor of the new Chocolati Cafe (1716 North 45th Street ) in Wallingford. Like many of my other favorite coffee shops, Chocolati has a mezzanine level. The wireless is a little weak up here, and my main view is of the air conditioner, but I still give this place the thumbs-up for the interesting internal and external views and the excellent hot chocolate for $2.

I had a dream last night about geoducks. In the dream, I went up to the shellfish stand at the farmers market and the guy running the stand was dressed as a ship’s captain. I said, “Hey, how far in advance would I have to order a geoduck?”

“I can give you one right now,” said the guy, throwing a live geoduck at me. I caught it, and the siphon was flopping all over. Then Iris walked by and said, “Dada, why you got a geoduck?”

I’m really glad Freud is too dead to comment on blogs.

Last week we had a leftover braised duck leg in the fridge, and I turned it into duck hash. It was so good that Laurie requested that we have it again soon.

So yesterday I was down at the market and I noticed that Don & Joe’s sells Grimaud duck confit for less than $5 per leg. I bought a bag of two legs and brought them home to make hash. If this sounds extravagant, Laurie pointed out that the rest of the hash ingredients cost basically nothing. I used both duck legs, but as it turned out I could have used just one and it would have been even better.

Duck makes better hash than anything besides good corned beef. Here’s how I make mine. I boil some Yukon Golds, cool them, then peel and dice them. I saute some diced onions in duck fat and butter in a large skillet. Add the potatoes and meat from one duck leg, shredded, along with chicken or duck stock and a little cream if I have some, or milk if I don’t. Cover and let bubble for ten minutes. Uncover and let the liquid boil away. Then scrape the hash up from the bottom and redistribute the crust every five minutes or so until it is seriously crispy throughout. Serve with a poached egg on top.

Laurie reports that leftover duck hash is the world’s best breakfast. Iris seeks out the largest pieces of duck meat and leaves the rest.

Laurie brought home a new ice cream flavor: Dreyer’s Drumstick Sundae Cone. It has crunchy nuts and other chocolate bits. It’s not bad, but in no way does it remind me of an actual Drumstick, a confection of which I’m a big fan. (The mint flavor is my favorite, followed by Cookies and Cream.)

While I was eating it, I realized what they should have done. You know how the best part of the drumstick is the last inch of cone with the plug of solid chocolate in it? The Drumstick ice cream should have dozens of those in it.

I suggested this to Laurie, who is in charge of ice cream R&D for our family.

> **Laurie:** How would they get all the tips?

> **Me:** I don’t know, but there’d be a lot of unhappy kids.

It would be just like that Seinfeld episode where Mr. Lippman opens a muffin shop called Top of the Muffin to You!, only this ice cream flavor would be called Bottom of the Drumstick.

Today I had English muffin pizzas for lunch and I’m proud of it. Just as the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association certifies Neapolitan-style pizzerias, I am forming my own organization, the Associazione Pizza Focaccina Inglese, which will certify your EMP as tasty if it abides by the following guidelines. (Note: I’m guessing “focaccina inglese” is not a proper Italian translation of “English Muffin,” it’s just what Babelfish told me.)

**The muffin:** Thomas’s Super Size, formerly Sandwich Size. Each muffin splits into two distinct parts, a larger, thinner bottom half and a smaller, thicker top half. The bottom half makes a far superior EMP, so you may want to save the top halves for peanut butter. The muffin must be well toasted before applying toppings.

**The sauce:** Bertolli Marinara with Burgundy Wine. A bit chunkier than the pizza ideal, but it’s our house spaghetti sauce and works fine on pizza.

**The cheese:** Any brand of low-moisture **whole milk** mozzarella. I buy Trader Joe’s, because it’s cheap. And Parmigiano-Reggiano to sprinkle on top.

**The toppings:** Three small pepperoni slices.

Startup fees for the APFI are comparable to the Napoletana cartel.

Tomorrow’s lunch: english muffin pizzas!