Mussel thoughts
Cleaning mussels this morning after a trip to the fishmonger got me thinking about food and the differences between how we regard food in the US and here. (After all, what else are you going to do while you clean mussels except think? It’s a boring job but someone has to do it.) The thing I’ve noticed is how in the states we expected everything to be already processed for us. We wanted our meat to be boneless with no fat on it and our shrimp to be already cleaned. I’m not quite sure why things got to that point. Actually, by using food this way, we were missing out on a lot of flavor. The other day I bought some pork “steaks” at the but

Reading the signs
Lately I’ve begun reading again…..well, when I can. It’s not always easy and if Luigi sees me with a book in hand then he wants it. He’s pretty tricky too, finding ways to get me to put it down where he can reach it and then trying to snatch it when I’m otherwise occupied. Getting back to reading, which I’ve always enjoyed, made me think about the fact that I don’t see many people reading here. Back in the States, people carry books around with them whenever they think they may have to wait for something for longer than a couple of minutes. Many people take them with them to work and would read during their breaks. Here I have neve

Sausage Ragù
Usually when I make pasta it’s fairly light, with vegetables or tomato sauce and without meat. But, every once in a while a good stick-to-your-ribs meaty sauce (ragù) like this one hits the spot. Of course, these kinds of sauces also take more time to make since the longer the cook the better they taste. You can make this one spicy or not according to your tastes by using hot sausage instead of sweet sausage or by using ground hot pepper. Ingredients 3/4 lb sausage 2 ounces prosciutto crudo 1/2 onion salt pepper paprika and/or ground hot pepper 2 cups crushed tomatoes 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 tablespoon oliv

Wham!
A few weeks ago I wrote a post complaining about the winged residents of the unfinished building that is across the street from us. Well, it seems that they’ve decided to heat the battle up a notch. The other day I was sitting on the floor playing with Luigi when I heard a loud bang that sounded like something heavy hitting the sliding glass door that leads to my balcony. I quickly looked up in time to see a pigeon flying away. Consequently, I figured that I must have been mistaken about what I thought caused the noise. That is, until I saw this

At least once a year
Yesterday was All Saints’ Day, a holiday here in Italy. Traditionally on this day, people head to the cemetery to leave flowers on the graves of their loved ones who have passed on. Many may do this only once a year, using the holiday to travel to their hometown. Some have many stops to make, the graves of their loved ones being scattered through different towns. Even if it is the only time they can get there, one thing is for certain – they tend these graves with love. By the end of the day almost every grave in the cemetery will be polished clean and will have at least one fresh bouquet of flowers and at least one new candle.