A foggy day....

 When we first arrived and for the next four years, there was very little humidity.  It was wonderful.  The winters were crisp.  Although I hate the cold, the low humidity was very good for my joints, since I have both kinds of arthritis.  So I bundled up and put up with it.  And, after all, winter really didn't last all that long, not compared to where we lived in the US.

And the summers were glorious.  The heat was welcome and the low humidity just wonderful.  There might be a super hot, slightly humid day or two, but most were just warm and dry.

That all changed this past summer.  One day in June the temperature shot up to 90 degrees and got stuck there for three entire months.  To go along with the blistering heat, there was plenty of humidity.  I was miserable.  Well, I was also very sick this past summer and in and out of hospitals that had piddly air conditioning, but it WAS air conditioning.  We even bought a portable air conditioner for the house to help with the heat and the humidity.  By August, generally...usually the hottest month....I was already praying for summer to end. 

I was thrilled when the temperature finally broke and Fall set in.  Out came the socks, and long pants and eventually the sweatshirts.  Yay!!  Well, not yay.  Thanks to an invasion of a sovereign country and a drawn out war as a consequence, there is a heating oil shortage in Europe.  My husband takes this VERY seriously and refused to set the thermostat higher than 20 C. (68 Fahrenheit.)  Personally, I wanted the thermostat at 72 F.  NO!!  

Not only is the cold hard on my body, the house itself feels even more chilly because the floors are tile and the walls are thick plaster.  I doubled up on socks AND sweatshirts.  To make matters worse, the entire winter has been wet.  If it isn't raining, it's humid outside.  

Even on a bright sunny day, I look outside and think there is something wrong with my eyes.  Everything looks fuzzy and out of focus.  But it isn't my eyes, it's the fog.  Low lying clouds touching the ground.  Sixty degrees outside and......hazy.  There are towns on the horizon, there is the Adriatic Sea and they are not visible. 

This is climate change.  Natives here are telling us that this NEVER happens.  Well, I know it didn't happen for four years in a row, but the reality is, this is a first.  And it is miserable.  And now, while I am bemoaning the winter I once looked forward to, I am worried that Spring and Summer might be miserable again. 

It is increasingly difficult to maintain a positive attitude. 

I'm all ears......

Orrechietti.  "Little ears."

I first saw them in NYC when I was still working at the hospital.  There was a "luncheon" of some sort and we secretaries were invited....there was also a massage therapist.  I remember that because I was determined not to let that opportunity go by.  I had my massage.....about a year before I had major surgery on my cervical spine (neck).

Anyway...they had a buffet.  Little sandwiches.  Cold cuts.  Cheese.  And salads.  And one of the salads happened to be orrechietti, but no one knew what it was, so they were cute little pastas.

It tasted like any other macaroni salad anyone ever had. Period.

Fast forward to Italy some years later.  There is no orrecchiette in the supermarket.  I don't know where it is.  I cannot find it.  Meh......

Well....it seems that is because orrecchiette in Italy is fresh.  Handmade.  Not manufactured by a company just producing different shapes of the same old same old.  No!  It is .....artisanal.

And....it is at our salumeria.  So...we got some. 

It was awesome.  At total and completely not at all like regular what you would think you were buying pasta in the US.  It is....sublime.

It has....texture.  It's HEAVY!!!  A little goes a long way.  We had a bag....we got four meals for two out of it.  

First time I used broccoli and chick peas ( ceci) with parmesan and oil.  Second time I shredded some chicken sausage, added my spaghetti sauce and the pasta.  Parmesan on top.  Both were two meals, both were filling and stupendous.

I have discovered a secret.  I'm sharing......but I'm so sorry those who aren't here can't share the texture and taste of real, hand made orrecchiette.  They are....stupendous.

I plan to use them in summer salads....to be used sparingly, of course.