Things That Catch My Eye

 

Recipe Pasta Alla Norma

 I learned to make Pasta alla Norma from my brother in law Vicente. His parents are from the region of southern Italy called Calabria. 

The following recipe is based loosely on his version. The difference is that he makes and bottles his own tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes.  When he makes the sauce he adds his own seasonings salt, pepper and oregano.  When I make it I use canned (store bought) crushed tomatoes and I add the seasonings. There are many recipes on line which you can google to see the various amounts of seasonings and you can adjust to your tastes.   This recipe below that I found on line is close to what Vicente taught me. I noted what we did differently. 

 

 

Servings:

4 servings

Yield:

serves 4

 

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed

• 3/4 pound small Italian or Japanese eggplants (2 to 3 small eggplants), trimmed, split in half lengthwise, and cut into 3/8-inch half moons (see notes). Note we cut our eggplant in one inch cubes. It makes no difference and you can use regular eggplants. Use 1 large one for this recipe.

• Kosher salt

• 3 medium cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon) (Note we like lots of garlic so 5-6 large ones for us and I slivered them) 

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano (again use the amounts you like)

• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste (we don't use this but it's up to you) 

• 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand into 1/2-inch chunks (I used one large can crushed tomatoes and Vicente uses his own home made sauce)

• 1 pound dry ridged, tubular pasta such as rigatoni or penne rigate

• Handful fresh small basil leaves, or roughly torn large leaves

• 2 ounces aged ricotta salata, finely grated (this may be hard to find so pecorino romano is what we used. If you can find the ricotta salata all the better)

   

  Directions:  Fry the eggplant in olive oil slowly til tender. (You can also oven bake if you prefer).  You can choose to peel or not peel the eggplant as you like. Also some presalt the eggplant for 30 minutes then rinse and dry before frying. Up to you.  I remove fried eggplant and then saute garlic in the oil then add the eggplant back in after garlic is fragrant. You can do the opposite and fry garlic first so the oil is infused with garlic flavor. Then add all the ingredients except pasta , basil and cheese.  I cooked the sauce for awhile. Vicente doesn't have to cook his long because his sauce has been precooked.  I want my flavors to blend so I cooked for a long while. Up to you.   After the sauce is cooked to your liking make the pasta and serve with fresh basil and cheese on top.  

Hot Days In Florence

 The kids went swimming at a local pool to cool off. 

 

Swimming caps are required in Italy.

 

When I was a kid those caps were required too. First they were just white with a chin strap. Then they offered patterns and colors and later they added flowers.  We were very excited with the options.  Even more excited when they stopped requiring those very tight, hair pulling caps.

 

 

 

Jude and Julian Model

 The boys are modeling for a local Australian clothing  company.

 

Happy Birthday Zio Vicente

 Today is my brother in laws birthday.    He is a wonderful guy and a great husband and uncle to all his nieces and nephews. 

 

                     Happy Birthday Vicente!

 

Dreaming of Italy

 

That Senior Moment

Summertime in Firenze Aria and Her Children

 

I Voted for Luisa and Steve

 Luisa is my Italian language teacher.  She and her husband Steve have a fun international love story. 

How did your love story begin?

Was living in Japan. Stuffed my life into a backpack, headed to Europe to visit a dozen penfriends in 1/2 dozen countries. Budget died in Sardinia, so got an ESL gig at a private school. At semester's end, the school had a big party. There I met gorgeous Luisa. Oh wow, she blew me away! At end of the evening, she shyly gave her number. "C U later," she said. "When?" I shot back? "How 'bout tomorrow for gelato?" That 1st date was hilariously insane, a cultural train wreck. But we both knew...

What is your favorite memory you've shared as a couple?

Taking our daughter (who by 8 yrs old was fluent in both our languages) to bounce around Europe (Ireland, Germany, etc.) We laughed so hard as she tried (with Italian body language) to talk to kids from Czech Republic. To this day, my wife's laugh turns me to Jell-O inside. I watch her when she isn't looking and wonder, "How did a bad boy get sooo lucky?"

What would you do with $20,000?

For several years, we've been struggling to raise $ for Christmas Apollo (yes, that's his real name), who runs a tiny orphanage in Uganda. His story and pictures always push me to tears. This money would buy a real floor for his 1-room classroom, tables and chairs, and possibly a boat so their kids could safely cross the 2nd biggest lake in Africa to get to his school. We believe empathy is the key to most of the world's issues.

In The Blink of An Eye

 

Happy 4th of July

 We spent a wonderful day with our friends Mary and David.

 

 Mike made bbq ribs and lemon garlic grilled chicken. Mary made potato salad.

 

Apple pie and pumpkin squares for dessert.  Yummy and fun day with dear friends.

 

 

The Best Hamburger in Long Beach

 This is just an FYI for local Long Beach folks. The smash burger at Luna Bistro Cafe on PCH and Bellflower (Not to be confused with Luna Grill at same intersection) is amazing. They have a very interesting menu but I can’t get past the burger it’s so good!