Pasta Pomodorini (Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes)

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1/4 Pound Spaghetti
20-30 Cherry Tomatoes
1/4 Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
2 Garlic Cloves
Red Pepper Flakes (according to taste)
Salt
Fresh Parmesan

Cut tomatoes in half, add a pinch of salt and toss together in a bowl. Let sit. Meanwhile, smash the garlic cloves with the flat side of a knife and sauté in heated olive oil. Add pepper flakes. Sauté until garlic is lightly browned. Add chopped tomatoes and any liquid from the tomatoes. Add ½ teaspoon of salt. Cover and cook on very low heat until the tomato halves begin to fall apart, usually about 45 minutes. I open the lid frequently to check that the liquid hasn’t all evaporated and give the toms a smash to squeeze out the juices once they’ve started softening. Once they’ve started softening, start your pasta. When the pasta is al dente, drain and add to the tomatoes in the sauté pan. Toss lightly to mix. Top individual servings with fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Serves 2

Note: If the tomato mixture gets too dry I sometimes add a little white wine while it's cooking or you can also add some of the cooked pasta water afterwards.

Poppy Field

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Now that's RED! Isn't it beautiful? These poppies are everywhere this time of year!
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Learning Italian

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I’m sorry to report that there’s no quick fix for learning to speak another language. I wish there were because I’d be at the front of that line! In my experience, the only way to get there is by hard work -- and opening your mouth. I took a course at L'Universita per Stranieri, the University for Foreigners, in Perugia (pictured above) in 2000, but for a long time I was too terrified to open my mouth for fear of making a mistake. Then, I read somewhere that you don’t become a concert pianist the moment you sit down at the bench and it clicked. It takes practice and, oh yes my friends, mistakes to get there. Let's see, I’ve ordered a snack (spuntino) at the hairdresser’s instead of a trim (spuntatina) and fish (pesche) ice cream instead of peach (pesca) and in the early years when someone was trying to explain that their homemade wine was pure grapes, I told him I understood there were no preservativi inside, condoms. Those are only a few and I’m sure there are many more to come, but it's certainly amusing along the way.

May Snow

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Snow in May!!!
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... and here's the culprit!

It's difficult to capture a good picture of this fluff in flight, but it literally fills the air on even a slightly windy day. I'm not exaggerating. Driving in your car, you instinctively want to turn on your windshield wipers. And if you open your windows or doors for more than a moment, it's everywhere inside your car or house. It makes me want to sneeze just looking at the photo!

Good Morning

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I had raisin bran this morning! It might not sound exciting to you, but I've been having a craving for it. I went grocery shopping at one of the largest grocery stores we have here hoping I could find it. The closest I found was bran flakes with chocolate bits, hmm. So, I bought plain bran flakes and put raisins in myself and although it wasn't officially Post Raisin Bran, my craving was satisfied! Now, how do I make Lucky Charms cereal....

Isola dei Famosi

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Isola dei Famosi, Celebrity Island, is a reality show inspired from the format "Celebrity Survivors" which I guess you could call a spin-off of the original "Survivor" show. Out of curiosity I did watch almost the entire 2003 season. At the start of the challenge, the contestants were dropped offshore and they swam to the beach where their bags have already been dropped. The first thing the women did when they reached their bags, was to pull out their hairbrushes and begin primping. Do they do that on Survivor?

Stumbling Around

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I love just driving around and stumbling upon places like this! This is Il Porto in Umbria. I chose to take an unpaved, pot-holed backroad, not really knowing where I would end up, and arrived at this beautiful backside view. Actually, Il Porto is better viewed from the backside I discovered.