“Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.”
Spring is opening gloriously. The sky is a cerulean blue, an old Crayola color. The sun is bright but not as warm as I’d like. It is only 44°. The wind is strong enough to toss from side to side the highest branches of the tallest pines. The dogs stay out longer. Nala finds the warmest part of the yard and lies in the sun. Henry wanders around then comes back inside to nap. He likes my bed better than the couch.
I remember the unfolding of spring when I was a kid. The trees shading the sidewalk on my walk to school had small buds. The air had a sweetness. The sunlight was brighter and warmer. I could finally shed my outer coat. The afternoons were longer. The streetlights came on later. Only the nights were still cold, winter cold. The blankets stayed on the beds.
I am not a fan of spaghetti. I prefer any other shape. The sauce, or as my aunt used to call it, the gravy, is best with sausage and even pork. I’m okay with clam sauce. Meatballs are my least favorite. Pasta always tastes better on the second day. Italian bread is a must, especially crispy garlic bread. A chunk of romano or parmesan is best for grating on top of the pasta. I learned that at my grandmother’s house where she always had a huge pot of spaghetti warming on the stove on Sundays when the family descended upon her, my aunts and uncles and the cast of thousands of cousins. The chunk of cheese and the big grater were on the table. It was easy to grate so much cheese the spaghetti was hidden.
This is a quieter week than last week. I have my usual uke events, practice and a lesson, and we do have one concert, but nothing else is on my dance card. I can be a sloth the rest of the time. I am good at sloth!
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March 20, 2023 at 9:38 pm
Hi Kat.
Although the sun was directly overhead the equator today marking the equatorial equinox, then why was sunrise at 7:30 this morning and sunset at 7:40 tonight? My yard man came by today and will do my biennial spring cleanup. A couple of bush type trees didn’t make it this winter and he will remove them. He will cleanup all of the beds, trim the other trees and replace the mulch in the beds. The cost wasn’t double the amount from two years ago but a substantial increase. Inflation gets the blame. 🙁
I love pasta of almost any kind. Yesterday we ate at a local Italian restaurant where we have been patronizing for nearly 35 years. I had eggplant parmigiana with spaghetti. Tonight, my better half made Italian sausage with tube pasta baked with cheese on top. My mother used to say that she found me in a spaghetti barrel.
When I traveled to northern Italy, I was most disappointed by the Italian food. It was very bland by comparison to the Italian food here. I personally think the best Italian food I ever had was in northern New Jersey. I believe it’s because the government broke up the five mafia families in NYC. Then, their children moved across the Hudson River to New Jersey and opened Italian restaurants. 🙂
March 20, 2023 at 10:16 pm
Hi Bob,
The sun set here at 6:53. The spring equinox actually didn’t begin until 5:24 pm eastern standard time so we all began celebrating just a bit early. My landscaper won’t be around for a while yet. He’ll wait until it’s warmer. He’ll rake then mulch the front gardens. I won’t buy my plants this early but will wait until the beginning of May. He’ll plant those also. Everything survived the winter, the mild winter we had.
I like sausage more than hamburger in my pasta sauce. I also make a great sausage cacciatore. It is often requested. It is my uncle’s recipe.
When we were kids, the restaurant we went to was called Kitty’s which is an Italian restaurant. The portions were huge and delicious. It is still there and still serves great Italian food.
The best Italian restaurant here on the cape closed down, Rose’s. It had been opened through several generations, but the younger generation didn’t want to work there. It was where my friends took me out to eat a few days before I left for Ghana. I miss it.
I really enjoyed the lighter food in Northern Italy. Italian food here can be really heavy.
Now, I’m thinking I might want to make something Italian as I have sausages and sausage meat.