Quella toscana è una cucina decisa, che non si tira indietro davanti ai sapori forti. Non c'è da stupirsi che il cibo di strada fiorentino per eccellenza sia il lampredotto, ovvero il quarto stomaco bovino. Lo si può trovare in una decina di chioschi al centro della città e in altri della provincia. La sua preparazione prevede una cottura in brodo di verdure e viene degustato come farcitura di un panino.

«I panini sono bolognesi o rosette. Non si usano più i sèmelli». Sono parole di Beatrice Trambusti, la trippaia che avevo incontrato presso il suo banco in via dell'Ariento, angolo via Sant'Agostino, davanti al mercato di San Lorenzo.
I sèmelli?
«Sì sèmelli. Li chiamavamo anche passerine» sorride un po’ imbarazzata «sa, per il taglio». Nel mio libro in uscita, Cibi di Strada, scoprirete anche l'etimologia della parola.

Sento che un avventore le chiede un panino “sbucciato”. Mi spiega che in questo tipo di panino, il lampredotto viene privato di una sua parte. «Sa, il lampredotto ha una parte frastagliata, che si chiama “gala” e una liscia, sulla quale è attaccata l’altra. Questa seconda si chiama “spannocchia”. È questa che viene eliminata nel panino “sbucciato”, perché si ha l’impressione che sia grassa, ma non lo è». Insomma, è una trovata per fiorentini schizzinosi. «I cinesi, loro sì, non sono schizzinosi. Il lampredotto lo mangiano tutto e del pane mangiano anche la midolla. Invece noi, no». Per chi non lo sapesse, a Firenze la midolla del pane è la mollica.

Quanto costano i panini? (Ricordo che la domanda è di qualche mese fa)
«Lampredotto, 2,50 euro. Bollito, uguale. Lampredotto sbucciato, 2,70 euro. Lampredotto al sugo, cioè con pomodoro e carciofi, 2,70 euro. Trippa alla fiorentina, 2,70 euro».
Allora, facciamo capire ai lettori come avviene un’ordinazione dell’esoterico panino. Come si dice, vorrei un panino al lampredotto o col lampredotto?
«Co’il lampredotto. E io chiedo di rimando: con salsa piccante – che è al peperoncino? Con verde – ovvero salsa verde? Sale e pepe?»
Sale e pepe, dico io.
«Le bagno il cappello? Significa: bagno la parte superiore del panino – che ho già tagliato a metà – nel brodo del lampredotto?»
Sì, grazie, rispondo.

Al banco continuano ad arrivare un sacco di persone. Lavoratori. Giovani e meno giovani. Locali ed extracomunitari. Donne, poche. Sì, una bella fanciulla che accompagna un ragazzo, ma non prende nulla. Gli avventori – sono le 11.30 – accompagnano lo spuntino con birra o coca.
Finalmente il mio panino è pronto, non vedevo l’ora. È buonissimo. A me la trippa piace comunque, ma il lampredotto targato Trambusti è qualcosa di diverso. Molto sapido, riesce ad essere a suo modo anche delicato. La sua ricetta, credo, sia determinante. Brava Beatrice.

Dinner. Comforting dinner. Something I can just throw together in a minute, slide into the oven, and walk away to make myself a cool drink to take into the hot shower. Yes. I said walk away. For an hour. Meaning go relax while the oven cooks your dinner for you.

I can think of nothing more comforting that the knowledge that I have containers of Bolognese sauce in the fridge or freezer to make dinner a snap. I have been a fan of meat sauces since I was a small child, smelling the smells of onions, celery, carrots and garlic sweating away in a big pot. Dinner was an important ritual in my family. My mother had it down to a science. Sauces were frozen, bread was baked, pies were assembled, and all were lovingly stocked into an enormous chest freezer in the basement of our house. Jars of applesauce, jam, pickled beets, tomatoes, peaches and chili sauce lined the cupboard shelves.

Whenever the mood struck, or company dropped in, my job was to retrieve a pie, a loaf of butter-topped bread or a jar of tomato sauce so we could share a meal. This, I thought at the time, was genious. I experienced my first taste of joy when I pulled a steaming hot apple pie from the oven, to the applause of our dinner companions the Maniacco's. My mother never told them she and her friend Molly had spent the week picking, peeling, slicing, rolling and crimping 50 pies, 25 for each freezer. She let me take all the credit. I think I was eight.

This habit of having something ready, having stores, having the beginnings of a meal stashed away resonated in me. Thus I take great pleasure in starting a simmering pot of soup. Some to eat right away, some to share and some to freeze for a night of "no time to make dinner".

This night I came home, having spent the previous weekend trying out yet another recipe for our family fave, Bolognese sauce. You see Italian food is close to my heart, and being married to a man who is half Sicilian makes for a life forged over a pot of simmering meat sauce. This particular recipe came from Anne Burrell, whose show is on Food Network. I did not see this episode, but my husband says I would really like her. I guess she gestures a LOT and talks really fast. Sounds like my kind of girl. Anyway, the recipe isn't on their site anymore, but I remember what I did, and I remember what I changed. She really likes salt, and following her method resulted in a very salty sauce, so I had to fix it.

This version is super yum, freezes well, and tastes soul satisfying even when it's the dead heat of summer outside.

Lasagna Bolognese

3 pounds ground chuck

2 large onions, peeled

3 carrots, peeled

2 ribs celery

3 cloves garlic

3 cups red wine

1 can tomato paste

3 fresh bay leaves

6 fresh thyme stems

Kosher salt

Fresh pepper

Water

6 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat a dutch oven over medium heat and add the butter and olive oil. Place the celery, onions, carrots and garlic in a food processor, and pulse until chopped fine. Add to the pot. Season with salt and peppr, about 1 teaspoon each. Cook down until soft and starting to really get brown. Remove to a bowl. Add the meat to the pot, season with 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper, and brown it all very well. Add the veggies and tomato paste. Brown well. Add the red wine, bay leaves and thyme and simmer till evaporated, stirring as it cooks. Add enough water to cover and simmer till it is absorbed. Keep adding water like this for about three hours. You will need to add water about every half hour to forty five minutes. When the sauce is thick and brown, taste it and add more salt and pepper if you need to. Cool in several small containers. Put some in the fridge, some in the freezer.

Next day (or when you will cook)...

Basic White Sauce (this will take 15 minutes)

Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add a stick of butter and 1/2 a cup of flour. Stir until the butter melts and the flour forms a thick paste. Cook a few minutes until a nutty smell hits the air. Remove from heat. Microwave a quart of whole milk in a glass measuring cup for three minutes or until scalding. Return the pot to medium heat and slowly add the milk, whisking fast to erase the lumps. Keep whisking and adding the milk until all the milk is in the pot. Season with 1/2 a teaspoon of salt. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens to the contistency of heavy cream. Remove from heat.

The lasagna part....

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grab a big bowl and fill it with really, really hot water. Grab a package of no boil lasagna noodles. These will be smaller and thinner than cooked noodles. Grab a glass casserole or roasting pan for the lasagna. Doesn't matter what size. You can use the whole box or half the box. A whole box serves about 10 people. You do what you need to do. Maybe make two, one for the freezer....

Cover the bottom of the pan with some meat sauce, about half a cup. Slip four noodles into the water and let them sit in there about a minute. Cover the bottom of the pan with the noodles. Break them if you have to. Then cover with a layer of meat sauce. Leave the noodles showing through. Repeat with more noodles. Cover with white sauce. Keep alternating, finishing with meat sauce on top. If you have some cheese you can cover the top with some slices. I used fresh mozzerella here. Cover with plastic wrap, then foil, and bake for an hour. Remove the wraps and bake another 10 minutes until the cheese is brown and bubbly. Let sit 15 minutes before slicing. This is the best the next day too!

Ingredients:

Large bag of mince
Plenty of bacon
Large tube tomato purée
Pre-prepared pastry (one piece is enough)

Also:

One onion
Few cloves of garlic (4, say)
A little milk
A little white wine
Some herbs, parmesan and crème fraîche to garnish

The basic idea was to make a very rich, simple bolognese with flavour from the bacon. But naturally we added a bit more than that. Start by frying the bacon (little or no oil) in a reasonably-sized pan. Then you can move the bacon to the edges and gently fry the onion and garlic (chopped) in the bacon fat. Next, add the mince and begin to fry. You can add some milk to tenderise the meat. Then the puree - add the whole tube. I wanted to try this instead of chopped tomatoes for a really intense flavour. Finally we added a splash of white wine. The mixture can then be put into the pastry and garnished - we added slices of parmesan and dried oregano/basil. Cook at roughly 200°C until ready. After cooling for a while, serve with crème fraîche. Yummy!

This is thick and hearty and all so "delizioso".

Ragù alla Elisabetta

2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
6 slices proscuitto, finely minced (I use a small food processor processing 3 slices at a time)
1 large onion, chopped
5 small cloves of garlic minced
1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 lb. ground pork
2-28 ounce cans of tomato puree
2-12 ounce cans of tomato paste
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup of chicken stock
1 tablespoon white sugar-optional
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 large (or 2 small) bay leaf
Good grind of pepper if using fresh or 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1. In a large pot (Dutch oven size) heat olive oil over medium heat. Sautee proscuitto, onions and garlic until onions are transparent making sure this mixture does not brown. Place this mixture in a small bowl and set aside.

2. In same pot, brown hamburger and pork, breaking it apart as it cooks to a crumble. Drain off excess fat. Stir in the procuitto mixture, and the rest of the ingredients.

3. Cook and simmer for 2 hours, stirring constantly. Be careful of the plops and splatters. This is a very thick sauce. Use a splatter screen if possible.

Serve over spaghetti or your choice of pasta.

Well, I just hung out with her for 30 minutes and I am smitten.  Not just because she has such an adorable personality but because she has a food knowledge that is (dare I say?) sexy.  I know it is a testament of just how much of a food geek I am but any woman that can take a cut of meat and tell me what part of the cow it came from puts me under her spell.

Burrell’s first menu was rustic, spaghetti Bolognese with a salad of baby arugula, grilled asparagus, and poached egg, nothing technically challenging but dishes whose most crucial aspect is attention to detail.  The humor of this menu is that, as many guys can relate, the first meal that a new girlfriend prepares for us is usually spaghetti.

Thanks to the magic of television the Bolognese was done in half an hour, however Burrell pointed out that it had actually taken four hours.  For many people it seems absurd to spend four hours making spaghetti, but to a true cook it is time well spent.  She went into ample detail on the importance of caramelization on taste, salt as well.  To many it would seem that she used an insane amount of salt but in actuality it was the exact right amount.

For decades salt has had an undeserved bad reputation, not unlike Betty Rizzo from Grease.  Thirty years and millions of dollars have yielded nothing to suggest sodium chloride causes any illness save the occasional kidney stone.  It can aggravate existing conditions like hypertension and cardio-pulmonary disease, but it does not cause them. That is why it is now known as the great salt myth.  Grossly modest health recommendations advocate we ingest no more than 500 mg of sodium a day, but most of us eat roughly 3500 mg.  That’s okay since humans can easily handle up to 35,000 mg per day.

TFN has spent so much airtime trying to appeal to the novice that it seemed they had forgotten that many of us can actually cook.  30 Minute Meals is a fine show for those who want to put together a decent menu quickly and Semi-homemade Cooking is perfect for those who don’t cook but want people to think they can.  Unfortunately neither satisfies on the pure joy of cooking.

Many have complained that lately the TFN line-up has been driven by personalities rather than chefs.  Secrets of a Restaurant Chef fixes that.  It is a show for the advanced cook and it is the show I have been waiting years for.  Anne Burrell is the perfect host seamlessly teaching technique without leaving the beginner lost in the woods, plus she makes me giggle.  I will definitely add it to my favs list on the old DVR.

Dear Anne,

I like you do; you like me? 
__ yes __ no __ maybe (CHECK ONE).

Stuart

Fascinating, isn't it?

• 125 g Soja fein (Reformhaus) als Fleischersatz
• 2 Zwiebeln
• 1 Möhre
• 1/2 Sellerieknolle
• 1 Knoblauchzehe
• 1 Lorbeerblatt
• 1 Tasse Öl
• 1/2 Tasse Weißwein
• 1 große Dose Tomaten
• 1Tl Paprikapulver
• Salz, Pfeffer, Zucker

Zwiebeln, Möhre, Sellerie und Knoblauch fein hacken und mit Lorbeerblatt und Salz im Öl andünsten. Danach das Ganze mit Wein ablöschen. Die Tomaten und das Soja dazugeben, mit Salz, Pfeffer und Zucker abschmecken und so lange schmoren, bis alles schön sämig wird. Danach entweder alles aufessen oder ganz schnell einfrieren.

Offener Brief

Zur geplanten Abschaffung der Griechisch- und Lateinkurse an der WWU Münster

An die:
betroffenen Studentinnen und Studenten,
betroffenen Schülerinnen, Schüler und deren Eltern,
Schulleitungen im Kreis Münster,
sowie an die:
Fachbereichsräte der Fachbereiche Geschichte / Philosophie und Philologie
Senatorinnen und Senatoren der WWU

Liebe Studentinnen und Studenten, Schülerinnen und Schüler,
sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

mit Erschrecken haben wir am Dienstag, dem 17.06., erfahren, dass die Leitungsgremien der Universität planen, die Griechisch- und Lateinkurse für Studierende der WWU zukünftig nicht mehr zu finanzieren. Dieses Lehrangebot ist wichtig für Studierende in den Studiengängen bzw. Fächern:

• Anglistik
• Buchwissenschaft und Textforschung
• Byzantinistik
• Frühchristliche Archäologie
• Geschichte
• Indogermanistik
• Klassische Archäologie
• Klassische Philologie
• Kunstgeschichte
• Philosophie
• Religionswissenschaft
• Romanistik

Für Studierende der Theologie sowie der Fächer der Altphilologie bleibt das obligatorische Angebot bestehen.

Nicht alle Schulen bieten Latein oder gar Griechisch an und VHS-Kurse parallel zur Schulzeit sind auch nicht der Weisheit letzter Schluss. Kommerzielle Intensivkurse können sich viele Schülerinnen, Schüler und Studierende nicht leisten.
Wir bitten dringend die Lehrerinnen und Lehrer aller Schulformen, ihre Beratungspraxis gegenüber den Schülerinnen und Schülern sowie gegenüber deren Eltern zu ändern. Was geschieht mit den Schülerinnen und Schülern, die bereits darauf vertraut haben, an der WWU die notwendigen Griechisch- und Lateinkurse besuchen zu können und darum in der Schule auf die entsprechenden Fächer verzichten? Wir wissen es nicht!
Zwar wurde in den Fachbereichen verschämt der Vorschlag gemacht, man könne die Kurse ja aus Studiengebühren bezahlen, aber gemäß den gesetzlichen Regelungen darf dieses Geld nur für eine Verbesserung der Lehre ausgegeben werden, und keinesfalls, um das bestehende Angebot zu sichern.

Wir fordern die Entscheidungsträger der Westfälischen Wilhelms-Universität Münster auf, ein Zeichen gegen den kulturellen Verfall der Universität zu setzten und im Interesse der jetzigen und zukünftigen Studierenden eine angemessene Finanzierung der Griechisch- und Lateinkurse sicher zu stellen.
Wer Innovationen und Exzellenz wachsen sehen will, sollte den kulturellen Nährboden dafür nicht austrocknen lassen!

Fachschaft Archäologie
Fachschaft Germanistik
Fachschaft Geschichte
Fachschaft Musikwissenschaft
Fachschaftenkonferenz der WWU Münster

Around noon I woke up and ate a fat breakfast, as always, and took a shower. At 1 o'clock, with my hair still sopping wet, I heard the doorbell ring and was not sure who it would be - Lorraine, Ash, and Amanda would not ring the doorbell, and I hoped it wouldn't be someone I didn't know so that I wouldn't have to I explain who I was to some random person.

Lo and behold, 2 familiar faces sprung into view as I unlocked the door...

This fool, Dave Watt! And Nev too! After a brief reunion schmaltzy talk and hugs with Dave, they asked if I wanted to go into the city with them (the city being Belfast). "What are you guys gonna do there?" I asked. "Get Subway!" they answered. In my head, I was bewildered. SUBWAY? As in "Subwayyyy, Eat Fresh!" Subway? So I asked whether Subway was some special place, or just that ordinary sandwich sub shop. "Subway is soooo good!" they replied. "Oh." I didn't have much to say. "You would drive thirty minutes to get a Subway sandwich?!" "YES!" They looked as if I had asked a dumb question. Of course, I had nothing better to do, and they assured me that we would be back by teatime, so I went with them.

Dave had to run a few errands so we stopped by all these random offices where I went in with them and didn't know anyone and looked awkward standing there with my arms folded and legs crossed, biting my lip. Yep.

We finally got to some mall, where they went to go indulge in their delicious subway sandwiches...

Nev raved about the meatball subs and was ultra-protective over that hunk of bread and round lops of meat.

"This is pure heaven, minus the angels and blaring trumpets!"

Mission having been accomplished (and after meeting up with Wally too), we headed over to HMV. Not H-M-V, but HMV, like HMMMVUHH, where I picked up the Duke Special and Foy Vance CDs. They were a bit pricey, at 14 pounds a piece, but I knew that I wouldn't mind sacrificing some food days afterward for this splurge (you'll see that on day 8 I basically ate an entire box of cereal and that's it. And on day 9 I scrounged around for food on other people's plates. All for this thing called music.).

We drove back to Dromore, and there was BaseKids that night.

Yeah? Well I'm staring at you through my camera lens too.

Some days we all want to gaze off into outer space...

Other days we place ourselves in shadows and watch others dance in the light...

Uncanny thing: when I am watching something, I look like that little boy, with my head propped on my elbow and mouth wide open. No joke.

Look at that yellow-eyed dude on his fancy shirt ... WWF or UFC? I wouldn't know.

Life in technicolor

We move around too fast ... do we have a distorted sense of time?

He sang Phantom Planet's "California" everytime he saw me. Remember that one? The O.C. theme song. You know how it goes... "We've been on the run, driving in the sun, looking out for number 1, California here I come ... right back where I started from."

The Asian Connection

Lovely Hannah Clarke, half in a mellow yellow light, half in shadows...

Ginger & Amigo

Coady's already influencing the young'uns.

We dropped off Bob at his house.

And ate Yorkshire puddings, one of my new favorite foods. Yorkshire pudding with orange marmalade are unbeatable. I ate four.

We played hide-and-seek.

Wally hid outside of the house, sitting on the window sill... pretty clever.

Coady tried to join him, only to find that the window sill really only has space for one, unless broken bones and smashed faces are really desired.

Nev and Coady decided to try out the attic. Five minutes in there, Lorraine came home, and they got stuck. The rest of us ran into the living room, where Lorraine kept on popping her head in and asking, "What is that loud noise upstairs?" We shrugged.

The boys. So rowdy. I saw a few too many body parts that night.

Beauty on the inside and the outside.

I watched Lorraine make buns / traybakes. They are so yummy but the most fattening things you will ever ever see. Refer here and here for additional viewing.

Lorraine is one of the most wonderful people in the world.

My Norn Irish momma.

Aero Chocolate Bars used to make Aero buns - so good.

***And about that Viva La Vida CD ... I picked it up today...

PROS
- Delacroix on the front cover
- Brian Eno
- The Violet Hill music video is excellent. Watch it and be amazed.
- Progression of sound from previous albums. Unlike A Rush of Blood to the Head (where after awhile, all the songs seem to meld into one as a result of an almost homogeneous sound shared by many of the songs), each song seems to be a bit more distinguished and has its own character.
- Piano/Synth-drenched infusions (i.e. #5 Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love (especially the beginning, #8 Violet Hill)
- Heavy orchestral / string sounds (i.e. #6 Yes) - sometimes with a bit extra-ethnic influence
- Recorded in a bakery, nunnery, a magic shop, a church

CONS
- Overall feel seems to be a synthetic, maybe even a bit over-edited/produced; there no longer exists that purely raw, connecting, seeking sound that could be found on some earlier works
- Not in-your-face excellent, at least at face value (can be a bit boring, at times; i.e. #9. Strawberry Swing)
- Sometimes Chris Martin's falsetto kills me a little.

NEUTRAL COMMENTARY
- Doesn't have the same ethereal, atmospheric aura as previous Coldplay albums.
- Distorted guitar sound adds a pretty cool touch, once in awhile.
- Historically-aware lyrics - can be good, sometimes.

Best lyrical mistake: I heard "If you love me, why don't you let me go?" instead of "If you love me, why don't you let me know?" It's good either way.

I don't know what to think about it just yet. Give me a few more days. I'm not very good at voicing my critical thoughts about music.

And Happy 15th Birthday to my lovely sister, Naomi!

The work was amazing. The first person that sat was a woman with a stiff neck. As soon as she sat, I saw her with endless paperwork and an inability to let go of it even when she was supposed to be enjoying her weekends. She was wearing the stress in her neck. I invited her to close her eyes and see the work gently disappearing. As she did this her neck completely changed. She sent other people to me until a line of people stood waiting for me and my plastic garden chair. The work kept growing as did the healing.

It brought in a man who had walked past us, scraping a limp right side along with him. My mother invited him to sit in my chair. He shook his head no, telling her he couldn't feel anything in his right side as he had experienced a stroke more than two years ago. It was beginning to rain a little and with no cover, we were all getting quite wet. My mother smiled at this man called Tom and told him he should try my healing anyway. He obliged and walked back to sit in my chair. I closed my eyes and began touching his right arm where there had been no feeling in years. Tom could immediately feel a tingle going all the way up his arm. I knew something special was occurring. I closed my eyes and asked to allow whatever was supposed to happen to pour through me. Immediately I began to feel enormous grief burst through me. His grief. The tears were simply flooding my cheeks and I imagined Tom's arm lifting with him squeezing his hand. I opened my eyes and he was doing exactly what I had been witnessing in my mind. He was moving for the first time in more than two years. I stood there absolutely soaking wet; overcome with emotion.

The therapist next to me was so intrigued he hardly noticed that he was pushing his clients' head towards the concrete. Tom came to see me on two more occasions and each time became a little stronger. He returned to work and resumed driving. This healing inspired me to believe in miracles. It became the name of my previous company "Myracle" and it became the title of a book I wrote called "Miracles Happen, Even on a Bad Hair day."

The recipe I would place with this story is a healthy comfort food. Turkey meatball bolognese is a great way to receive comfort with health.

Recipe for turkey meatball bolognese:

Ingredients:
1 pack of minced turkey.
meat seasoning.
salt and pepper.
fresh parsley chopped.
3 tablespoons of sundried tomato paste.
5 cups beef stock plus more if needed.
3oz red wine.
2 shallots chopped.
olive oil for cooking.
1 beaten egg for mixing.
medium can of tomato sauce
pasta boiled in salted water.
grated cheese for pasta topping

Directions:
Saute shallots in a little olive oil until slightly brown. Add red wine and reduce. Add 2 cups of stock and reduce. Chill.

Mix the turkey with the seasoning, salt, pepper, parsley, with the one beaten egg, the sundried tomato and the chilled shallots.

Form into balls and chill.

Saute in olive oil, browning all over. Add 3 cups of beef stock. let the meatballs and juices cook. Make sure the meatballs are always covered with liquid.

Boil pasta in salted water and drain. Pour meatballs onto pasta and serve sprinkled with grated cheese.

auch wenn es sich unglaublich kitschig anhört, sowas mag ich einfach. es sitzen alle da unglaublich kultiviert, einer hat gefehlt und es gibt spaghetti bolognese, weil das einfach so "unser" essen ist. jeder isst es gerne. selbst am freitag bei meiner patentante gab's spaghetti bolognese, obwohl ich nicht sehr gut schlucken konnte, schmeckten sie mir ausgezeichnet.

auch heute gibt's daheim dieses wundervolle essn. vielleicht als eine art "willkommen zurück im halbwegs gesunden leben"? oder einfach nur das essen, welches jedes kind mag und meine schwester nimmt heute zwei freundinnen mit nach hause.

heute war ich bei meinem lieben hausarzt, seine tochter sah sich meinen hals genauer an und verordnete weiter antibiotika. sie gab mir ganz viele von dem zeugs mit. ich soll sie nehmen bis einen tag, nachdem der letzte eiter weg ist. finde ich wirklich nett, aber nachdem mir von dem klump wirklich schlecht wird und ich bauchschmerzen ende nie bekomme, muss ich vorher immer etwas essen. doof. dreimal täglich der schmarrn, aber er macht mich gesund.

ach ja, beim grünberwirt in gmunden hab ich etwas tolles entdeckt: auf der damentoilette gibts neben dem seifenspender auch einen spender für handcreme!!!

Mitica scena tratta dal film "La liceale nella classe dei ripetenti"

Lino Banfi sclera di brutto

O

And, as ever, Dickens rolled out name after wondrous character name. Dickensian names are half the fun of reading Dickens. Where did he GET these names? Only Dickens knows, and he's not telling. Here follows a sampling of the surnames used in "Bleak House":

Krook
Smallweed
Chadband
Snagsby
Bucket
Turveydrop

And my personal favorite:

Mrs. Jellyby

I advise you to read it, if you've a mind to. I truly, truly do. Dickens has completely wound himself in my heart-strings unto the ending of my days. I read "Great Expectations" when I was 13ish, and I believe I read "Hard Times" in college, but it wasn't until I read "David Copperfield" last summer that I was plunged into the fervor of the true convert. I mean, "David Copperfield" REALLY broke me into six pieces. My dilapidated, hilariously ugly copy of "David Copperfield" scorched my soul like a marshmallow, and I don't even LIKE roasted marshmallows. O Dickens! Betwixt yourself and George Eliot, I have spent many a sleepless night. They knew something about people's hearts, those two; and reading them now, over a century after their books were published, is always wonderful in a deep-down way. There is nothing wrong with contemporary authors. But I have a secret preference for the writers who had it all figured out a long time ago.

***

I started reading some of the work of the poet Anthony Hecht last week. I was looking around for some of his work in a happenstance way, and came upon his poem "A Letter". It is staggering to begin the act of reading such a thing with an essentially neutral level of interest, and to end it by gasping for your life's air. Read it here, if you like. Read, too, "Third Avenue in Sunlight." There is so much to know, in the world; I know .000000000000000000 of it, and I certainly did not know Anthony Hecht. I am sorry, Anthony Hecht.  I am sorry.

***

Finally: last week, I was a hair model for an in-house show at a salon. It was an experience that spanned several weeks of my life. I had intended upon writing about hair-modeling today; how I felt about it, what happened, how I wore false eyelashes which made my eyeballs appear large enough to land aircraft upon. But I decided that I couldn't. I thought: a blog about hair modeling would not only turn my own brains into bolognese sauce, but the brains of others as well. So I will simplify matters thusly.

This is what my hair looks like now [I'm making that face ON PURPOSE--GOD]:

This is what it looks like when I wake up in the morning:

Seriously, it's all over the place, mornings.

A Boundless Moment

He halted in the wind, and--what was that
Far in the maples, pale, but not a ghost?
He stood there bringing March against his thought,
And yet too ready to believe the most.

"Oh, that's the Paradise-in-bloom," I said;
And truly it was fair enough for flowers
had we but in us to assume in march
Such white luxuriance of May for ours.

We stood a moment so in a strange world,
Myself as one his own pretense deceives;
And then I said the truth (and we moved on).
A young beech clinging to its last year's leaves.

Robert Frost

1. What alerted us to the fact that something was amiss was a thump from the vicinity of the kitchen. A noise that sounded remarkably similar to a cat jumping from the kitchen counter to the floor.
2. The spoon dish, which should have had traces of Bolognese sauce, seemed cleaner than it should have done.
3. It seemed to me there was substantially less Bolognese sauce in the pan than when I’d last looked (I don’t even like to think about that one).
4. When ejected from the house (reluctantly), he sat outside licking his chops the way a cat does when it’s just eaten something particularly scrumptious.

It seemed clear cut, but for two things: When caught doing something he shouldn’t have been, Whiskas takes it on the chin. He’ll leg it out the house pronto before I get the chance to eject him. This time he didn’t want to go and resisted defiantly. He was also visibly annoyed at his verbal telling off…as though he’d been wrongly accused. This is a cat which has a strong sense of right and wrong. May not be one that quite matches ours, but I can generally see where he’s coming from.

It was enough to plant a seed of doubt; we didn’t actually see him licking anything he shouldn’t have been. And that I feel might be the problem. The frantic licking of his face after he’d been shown the door is just too much to ignore; he had eaten something, but I reckon that, in his warped little head, the fact that he wasn’t actually caught in the act was paramount to being innocent of the deed.

That’s my theory anyway. He can sulk all he likes, but in the end he can’t work a can opener and I can.

(NOTE: I always thought of Spaghetti Bolognese as a sort of magnolia type of food until we recently tried what’s supposed to be an authentic Italian recipe: finely chopped carrot, celery, onion, bacon, sausage meat, ground beef, bay leaves, red wine, stock, salt, pepper, olive oil and butter cooked gently for an hour – delicioso)

I started with some poitrine fumée from the butcher, cut it into small pieces, and put it in a Dutch oven over low heat along with a little olive oil and butter.  While it rendered, I harnessed my knife skills to cut onion, carrot, and celery into a small dice.  By this point the bacon was starting to crisp, so I added the mirepoix, salt, pepper, a pinch of red pepper flakes, and fresh thyme.  I stirred it around and let the vegetables cook down until they were very soft and about half their original volume.

Then I added ground beef (freshly ground to order by the butcher) and stirred constantly in order to break up the lumps of meat for an even-textured final result.

When the beef was nicely crumbled and browned, I added some minced garlic, and then the long, slow simmering process began...

First I added a cup of milk and let it reduce to just a hint of moisture.  Then I did the same thing with a cup of red wine.  Next came tomato purée, which I let reduce as well to get that nice roasted tomato flavor.  After that I added a can of tomatoes, diced, with their juices.  I stuck in a couple of bay leaves, seasoned again with salt, pepper, and a pinch of brown sugar.  (The tomatoes were not of the highest quality and smelled pretty acidic, so I wanted to compensate for that.  Also, that's the way my mom did it when she made spaghetti sauce from scratch.)  I let this mixture simmer for an hour or so, uncovered.

When the sauce was getting nice and thick (Nick referred to it as "sloppy joe consistency," which was an apt description) I put a pot of water on for the pasta.  I tasted the sauce and adjusted the seasoning, fished out the bay leaves, and turned off the heat so that it would be just the right temperature when the pasta was ready.  Which it was, a few minutes later.  (I love the abundance of cheap fresh pasta here!)  I dished it up and sprinkled a little Grana Padano over the top.

Just right for the gray, rainy evening.  Ah, Paris in the Spring!

ABOVE PHOTO Left to Right: My Papa (Joseph Pusateri), Great Grandpa Pusateri, Great Grandma Pusateri, Uncle Lea, and Uncle Frank.  Uncle Tony and Uncle Mike are not shown in this photo, but they are just as loved.

Making pasta is fun and easy!  Don't waste your time on the electric pasta machines--they're junk and the cleanup and product are not worth it.  The Atlas Italian Pasta maker is the way to go, and you can find them most kitchen stores or a thrift shop (just make sure they are in excellent shape and have all their parts).

One of my favorite cookbooks is "Cooking With Grace"by Grace Pilato.  She doesn't get as much publicity as chefs you see on the "Food Network", but the lady knows Italian cooking.  If you're shopping for an Italian cookbook, I highly recommend this one.

The other day I pulled out my Atlas Pasta Machine, which is made in Italy and very affordable.  I made the Egg Pasta from Grace's recipe:

2 1/2 c flour (unbleached all purpose only)

5 lg eggs, beaten

1/2 tsp salt

Tbsp. ex virgin olive oil

And it follows the basic egg pasta recipes.  Grace's recipe is different in that she uses more eggs and she adds the EV Olivie Oil.

Final product looks like this:

Angelninas Bolognese Sauce

¼ yellow onion, finely chopped

rib celery- diced in ¼ in pieces

sm. Carrot- 1/4 in diced

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp olive oil

clove garlic, minced

1/3 cup chopped mushrooms

¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Heavy-bottomed sauce pot over medium high heat. Saute, stirring occasionally till veggies lightly browned about 10 minutes. Add garlic, crushed pepper flakes,  and mushroom till starts to sizzle.

1 lb. ground beef

½ lb. ground veal

4 links Italian sausage (removed casings) approx. 1 lb

Add meats, breaking up with wooden spoon.  Continue stirring until meat has no pink.

2 cups dry white wine

Add wine and cook and stir till almost evaporated. 

1 cup whole milk

1/8 tsp grated nutmeg

Add milk and nutmeg, stirring occasionally, until milk is mostly evaporated

 28 oz can whole tomatoes

14 oz can crushed tomatoes

Coarsely chop tomatoes and add to pot.  When it starts to boil, turn heat very low till barely simmering.  Cook uncovered for 3 hours stirring occasionally.  If all liquid evaporates add ½ cup water as needed.  Make sure all liquid is evaporated before you remove sauce from heat.

Ladle of rigatoni pasta, and sprinkle with fresh grated or shredded parmesan and serve.

Don't forget Italian Bread and Dry Red Wine!  Now,  "Mangia Mangia!"

The two takeaways from Carluccio were that a Bolognese should involve just a few good ingredients and be cooked for at least 2-3 hours. I also got enthusiastic about how before he plated the dish, he put the bolognese in a hot frying pan to toss it with the taglietele. Simple things.

Everyone can do bolognese; its the easiest thing in the world. But, this is the recipe I'll be using from now on. (Serves 4).

ecco la mia bibbia personale:

http://web.dsc.unibo.it/~punginel/ig/slang.htm

in questo modo potrò capire pure io tutto quel che dite (e fidatevi che ogni tanto ancora tirate fuori parole senza senso, ma siete grandi per questo)...

uno special thank to "il buffer", cane da tart...ehm cazzate secondo solo a boh...

ciao delirioooooooooooooooooooooooo

SALUTI

bella vecchio/a!= ciao!
come butta?= come stai?
raga – regi – rega – regiz= ragazzi
ci si becca!= ci vediamo!

COMMENTI

smoscio= troppo tranquillo,silenzioso
polleggiato= tranquillo, simpatico, “alla mano”
giando= rozzo
rimasto= stupidotto
cinno= bambino, in senso un po’ dispregiativo
maraglio – sborone – che si tira il viaggio= qualcuno che si sente superiore, si vanta troppo delle sue qualità
ingaggiato= trendy, “al passo coi tempi”
avere la cartola= essere particolarmente estroso e simpatico
bresco = ubriaco

AMORE

intortare– impezzare = rimorchiare un/una ragazzo/a
fioccare – limonare= baciare “alla francese”
instoriarsi= avere un flirt
imbarcarsi= innamorarsi

MODI DI DIRE

dare il tiro= aprire il portone di casa
fare balotta= essere estroversi, espansivi, amichevoli
andare a manetta= andare veloce
fare una tonda= girovagare senza meta
connettere = capire, comprendere
saperne a tronchi= essere colti
essere in botta – in fattanza = essere molto stanchi o sotto l’effetto di sostanze stupefacenti
fare un cuccio = fare un tiro alla sigaretta
stabaccare= fumare
bussare= picchiare
fare fuga= marinare la scuola
avere la cassa= avere sonno
scesa di catena= annoiarsi
attaccare– tirare la pezza = annoiare con discorsi lunghi e futili
non starci dentro – non saltarci fuori= non poterne più

PSEUDO-DIALETTALI

bòna= basta, stop
tipo – cioè [pronunciato cè]=usati in ogni frase, più o meno tra una parola e l’altra
roba – robe – roboso= varie coniugazioni usate come intercalare…
a busso – di brutto= molto
bazza= con significato molteplice, generalmente occasione, cosa facile e conveniente
rusco= immondizia
zagno – polo= freddo
bordello= confusione
bagaglio – zavaglio= oggetto inutile
stès quel= stessa cosa
‘sa dit?! – ma va là!= ma cosa dici?!
‘sa fet?= cosa stai facendo?