The Italian Invasion

It seems kind of funny to me that something I used to do at least once a day has become something that I completely forgot I ever did for the last 4 months. !

I blame Facebook !

It is all to easy to determine you will spend "only a couple of minutes" checking on your friend's and family, and suddenly realizing that it has been four hours and two leisurely cups of coffee since you sat down and the house elves have not done the laundry or vacuuming or dishes or... So you get up feeling full of guilt, start doing chores and somehow forget that you were going to write about that fantastic meal you made last night , or the belly dancing moves you tried or.....you get the picture ! I must confess to stumbling upon an episode of The Pioneer Woman on the On Demand offerings, watching her, remembering that she has a great blog, suddenly remembering I also have a blog, and discovering it has been 4 months since I posted anything.

So what has been happening ?

The journey has been much more about cooking  nourishing, authentic food than anything else. I have fallen in love with authentic Italian cooking, hanging on every word of people like David Rocco,

 and dreaming of a million ways to use grape tomatoes.

I am beginning to think that anything in the world would taste beyond wonderful with the addition of grape tomatoes, fresh basil and garlic. I have to say I liked garlic a lot, but  this woman

Nadia G, showed something on her show that taught me a way to elevate garlic to an almost God-like quality . You must de-germ your garlic ! What is the germ  you ask?

It is the part of a garlic clove that is the beginning of a new shoot. Most garlic is grown in places like China , and has sat on the shelf for quite some time. As it sits, the germ within begins to sprout, and it form an incredibly bitter , evil taste. If you peel your clove, split it down the middle and remove the germ from the clove before slicing, it removes everything evil and allows you to add a wonderful flavor to your food. Fiddly, yes, but worth every second of effort !  Armed with this secret weapon, life in my kitchen has become a font of all things wonderful . Really.

As far as weight loss goes- I have no idea. We no longer own a scale, but I do know I have needed to buy underwear 2 sizes smaller since our move, and my clothes are looser. Bob and Nick are also wearing smaller clothes, so that would indicate weight loss all around. It is no longer even a consideration in this household, but some have asked. If we want sweets, we eat them. If we want pasta, we eat it. We follow our appetites and eat real food- things with whole eggs, full fat milk, cream, fried in peanut oil or with butter and olive oil if pan fried. Life is good