Among sports writers, writing about Tiger Woods' lifestyle lately has sometimes seemed awkward. Those who insisted "his personal life is personal, I'm just writing about golf and business" often showed a whiff of "me, too so what can I say" between the lines.

Christmas Eve, Mike Wise of the Washington Post came clean in graceful ways about his own time in what he calls "the fraternity of arrested development." Tiger Woods does not stand alone:

The reason I have yet to write about the biggest sports story of the year in these pages is because Woods's plea to one of his many mistresses brought up old, awful feelings of shame, guilt and humiliation.

I won't revisit my own crash site in any detail here, but I can say the painful first step of the journey -- of seeing myself for who I really was -- also began in the worst imaginable way.

...I am Tiger Woods, and I have poked fun at his travails because I use humor as camouflage, because if I were to deal with the truth, if the world were to know the details of my sad, pathetic electronic communication with other women at one time in my life, the horrific embarrassment would not just send me into seclusion; it would send me off the ledge.

It's a blend of empathy and tough love that must have been hard to write. Having it behind him must feel good.

But in my simpler world, after a night of unfrazzled sleep, a real rest at last, I'm just happy to have found this: Ideas for Leftover Cross Rib Roast? from a Chowhound thread.

Tian de Boeuf aux Légumes
(adapted from Mireille Johnston's The Cuisine of the Sun)

1 pound mushrooms, sliced
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 shallots, minced
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 to 10 slices cooked beef, or 3 cups chopped (use what you have -- exact proportions are not essential)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a bowl, mix the mushrooms, garlic, shallots, half of the bread crumbs, parsley, salt and pepper. Oil a large baking dish and spread half of the vegetable mixture on it, lay the meat on it, and cover with the rest of the vegetables. Add the wine. Sprinkle with the remaining the bread crumbs and the olive oil and bake 30 minutes. Yield: 6 servings.

I can easily imagine adding another layer of leftover vegetables to this, or even mashed potatoes.

I'm on vacation, blogging may be light.