The wives were off to the local terme- a natural hot springs spa in the town of Spello – for soaking, facials, massages, etc. This was an excursion for the group known as “Umbrian Girls Go Wild” – a disparate, dissolute organization made up of various wives and non-wives, who get together at odd times during the year to do odd things.
Because the women needed to take a few cars, the eminent Don Michele di Sicilia and myself were left with only one car between us for the day. We offered to shop and cook dinner for our spouses after their soak, and this led to one of the longest afternoons of my life.
Everyone in the town of Trevi knows Don Michele. Everyone. So what would have been a brief stop in the coffee store in Borgo Trevi, became an hour of rumination, gesticulation, exaggeration and flirtation from the eminent Don Michele. I almost forgot to buy coffee.
What do you turn to when it seems like there's nothing to eat and the
stack of leftovers in the fridge is way past its prime? I turn to eggs.
It's a staple I always have in the fridge. It's great to have on hand
for baking and of course for a fast healthy and nutritious breakfast.
But eggs can also make a great meal in a pinch. The other day I had
nothing to eat and all I could find were some vegetables I hadn't yet
used and a carton of eggs. So supper became this simple frittata, an
Italian-style omelette that's baked. Dinner doesn't need to be
complicated when you have a frittata recipe in your back pocket.
New Year's would not be complete without the traditional foods that celebrate the start of a new year in a somewhat superstitious way. Many cultures eat foods that are symbolic of luck, progress, prosperity, and wealth. Ham and pork are often eaten because pigs root forward with their snouts. Stay away from chicken, because they scratch backward. Legumes double in size when cooked and thus represent prosperity. Lentils look like tiny coins. Leafy greens resemble paper money and symbolize wealth. Even if these food customs seem superstitious, they are rooted in culture, tradition, and history.
Of all the things you can do with a radish — slice it into salads,
chop it into salsa, shred it into slaw or, better, top it with a thick
layer of sweet butter and a sprinkling of flaky sea salt — the last
thing I’d thought to do was cook it.
Have you ever called someone you knew to ask a simple question and before you know it you are having a full-fledged discussion about everything that's wrong with the world.