“I never wear knickers on a Sunday.”
Today is cloudy and windy. The sky keeps getting darker, and the air feels damp and sticky so maybe we will get that rain though past predictions of rain have proved otherwise. Rain seems to bypass the cape in a wide swath of dry weather. We need the rain.
I have every intention of staying home today. I could do a few chores, but the top chores are the ones I put off the longest: the laundry and the dump. I’ll vacuum and maybe dust a bit just to stave off my conscience, this being day three of sloth-dom though I’m counting brushing my teeth as a task accomplished.
When I was a kid, I brushed my teeth at night, but I never did very well. The dentist always gave me a red liquid to swish in my mouth. After I split it out, the red color stayed on teeth poorly brushed. The brighter the color, the worse the tooth. I had a very bright mouth.
The renters next door sit on the deck at night. I can hear their chatter through my opened window. They are not very loud, but sounds at night other than critters is unusual after such a long time of no renters. Henry doesn’t mind them. He only barks at doors.
Nala is quite proficient at stealing food off the counter even when I hide the food, though obviously it seems not so very well hidden or she is quite good at finding the hidden despite her snub nose. Yesterday she stole a bag of dog treats destined for upstairs. When I feed and care for the cats, I give the dogs small treats. Now I have to figure out what to give them. I am leaning toward a few pieces of cheese. I hope they like provolone.
Only a block away from my elementary school, from St. Pat’s, was Santoro’s Sub Shop. It was small. Half of one side, in the refrigerated display case, was the meat and cheese. The giant menu hung on the wall. There were counters. On one counter they took your order and then wrapped the sub in white paper on a small counter. Another counter took up the whole other other long wall. There were stools there. We didn’t often stay. Getting a sub was a treat usually reserved for Friday’s after payday. Because it was a Friday, my choices were limited. I usually went with the small tuna adding only pickles and hot peppers. On a warmish day, we’d eat outside loving being away from school for only a little while.
Santoro’s is gone now. I loved the way it smelled of onions, tomato sauce and oregano. The front window was frosted in the winter. A lot of us skipped out of school for lunch. It was just about the only rebellion we dared, but it was a start. We were still young.
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July 25, 2021 at 2:54 pm
Hi Kat,
Today the sun is shining brightly and already the temperature is in the mid 90s heading for 100°. After lunch we are heading out back to the pool.
Dogs can smell one drop of urine in a large bucket of water. Do you really think you can hide food from Nala? 🙂
The best part of real Italian sub sandwiches is the crusty Italian bread. All the chain store sub joints can’t reproduce real Italian bread. The stuff they serve is similar to grocery store white bread. Ugh. Of course real home made mozzarella cheese and genuine Italian cold cuts are also important. Some how Jimmy Johns, or Subway, or Jersey Mike’s don’t even come close. 😦
When I was a teenager in NYC my friends and I hung out at Tony’s pizzeria in Jamaica Queens. His pizza was wonderful. It’s been so long since I had real New York style pizza, I wouldn’t recognize it today if it hit me in the face. 🙂
Before the pandemic, I took my daughter to a pizza place here that serves genuine Neoplitan pizza. The restaurant has the wood fired brick oven imported from Naples and they use home made mozzarella cheese from a local company. The owner travelled to Naples to work and learn how to make the ingredients. It was good but not spectacular and was a little pricy.
Everything tastes better in nostalgia. We humans suppress bad stuff and glorify the good stuff in our memories. Maybe it’s a survival technique.
July 25, 2021 at 4:40 pm
Hi Bob,
It is still dark here. It rained a little bit, but I think more is coming. The breeze from the window is chilly. It is only 70˚.
I try to put the stuff far back on the counter. I just didn’t realize her reach. Now I hide stuff in cabinets or the oven. The problem is I forget where I hide stuff as I’m putting the stuff in unfamiliar places.
I remember the bread at Santoro’s. It had its own display case parallel with the meat and cheese case. It was crusty, great adjective for this bread. You’re right about the soft bread the chains use. I get my subs mostly from restaurants, not chain stores. My favorite are crispy from the oven.
Santarpio’s in East Boston has the best pizza. I also ordered their combination plate with different meats like sausages and meatballs. We used to eat there whenever my dad picked me up from Logan, 5 minutes down the road.
I would still get a Santoro’s sub. It tasted great every time especially when I could order the Italian. I’m not suppressing any bad memories. Most places we went had great food so we kept going back to them.
July 25, 2021 at 5:54 pm
Unfortunately, out here in the hinterlands even the Italian restaurants can’t make the bread that has the wonderful crusty outside and soft inside. 😦 I think you need special ovens that mist the exterior of the loafs to make them crunchy.
Fortunately, you live where folks know good bread and demand it. When we first moved to Texas in 1953 there were two Chinese restaurants in town and they served sliced white bread with the main course. Otherwise, real Texans ate barbecue or fried country cooking. If they were going out for a nice meal they ate steaks. Italian food meant spaghetti and meatballs.
We’ve come a long way since then. But not innthe Italian or French bread department. 🙂
July 25, 2021 at 8:03 pm
We had the North End, far and away the most Italian part of Boston. It still is but far less than it was as other than Italians have bought houses or apartments.
The bread was always crispy and the menus were several pages. It was our go to spot before seeing shows in the city. There is a wonderful store where I still like to shop for hard to find Italian cooking spices, utensils, pasta and cheese.
There is an amazing French bakery down cape. It is a long way but once in a while I make the trek.
July 25, 2021 at 4:11 pm
Hi Kat,
I loved Santoro’s subs. A large Italian with oil and vinegar, hold the hots. Nobody made them better. There was a Santoro’s on Main St. Probably it was one of the originals, if not THE original. He lived in town. The old sign was still up there until a few years ago and there was much speculation over what was going to happen to it when the building was sold. Eventually, the sign was sold at auction to someone local and that’s the last I’ve heard of it. Locals wanted it to stay there as an historical marker like the Citgo sign. 😀
My dogs like baby cut carrots or green beans as treats. Pieces of hot dog are even better. But I don’t always have hot dogs that I’m willing to share. 🙂
Sloth days are allowed. Today’s weather is particularly sloth-making.
Enjoy the evening.
July 25, 2021 at 5:00 pm
Hi Lori,
I remember that sub shop on Main Street and the big S on the sign. He also worked in Stoneham. I remember him with, I think, his two sons. That sign would have been a great piece of memorabilia, but it would have looked even better as the historical marker. We are too quick to get rid of what is old.
My pests love fruit more than veggies, but they also eat veggies. None of my other dogs liked fruit. These two love bananas the best.
I am proud to be a sloth.
Have a great rest of the day!
July 25, 2021 at 7:06 pm
We’ve had a small Greek diner and an old-fashioned pub with a billiard table near school. We weren’t allowed to leave school too but nobody cared. The Greek diner is still there but not the pub. My school will be gone soon too, an ugly cheap 70’s building that no one will miss. It’s just sad to see that they cut down all the trees that were newly planted back then and quite big by now. We’ve had many pubs when I was young, mostly typical working class pubs where everyone met (no age restriction, you can get beer when you’re 16), but times change and most of them are gone now.
It was a nice sunny day and for the first time this year the flea market took place so I went to get some needed bike parts and new tires. Let it snow, my bike is ready for winter 🙂
July 25, 2021 at 8:38 pm
Hi Birgit,
Only kids who were going home for lunch could leave school. I think going to a sub shop counted. A year later, my friend and I started hiding our lunches and leaving for lunch just to get outside. My crimes were enlarging!
My elementary school is over 100 years old. It is still going. Over the years, the school has been maintained so it still looks great. The newer school was built in 1957. It is still called the new school.
No rain came despite the day staying dark.