Looks like I'm going to be gone this weekend. Interesting, no?

Yeah, okay, so it's not so interesting. But it works for me. *chuckles*

Anyway, I'll be going up to Kirkland with the folks. We'll be spending the weekend with my Grandmother, Aunt and Uncle. It should be pleasant and all, but I'd love to be able to bow out and just not go. I like having the house to myself.

Family is more important at this time, tho... so I'll deal with it. *smirks*

I've just gotten through a nasty sneezing spell. I don't like sneezing. Or is that sneazing? Who cares. I don't like it.

I've heard some people say that sneezing was like an instant orgasm. *shakes her head* If THAT is what an orgasm feels like, I'm glad I've never had one. *chuckles*

Sneezing is inconvenient, messy and gives me headaches.

Oh, wait... maybe I have had one.

Annnnnnnyway...

Life is going swimmingly. At least I feel like it is. Went with Mom tonight to Luigi's. The absolute best Manicotti on the peninsula. Hell, in the entire state.

Sorry, Uncle Bob But there's tons of cheese in manicotti. *chuckles. It's cheese filled pasta, slathered in melted mozzarella. *grins*

Nummy, nummy, nummy.

Mom ordered strawberry shortcake for desert, but I'm not a strawberry shortcake fan... SO, I ordered a SMALL chocolate sundae.

If you like huge portions, you've gotta come up to Luigi's. They've got burgers and steaks and stuff too, not just cheesey food.

But, this SMALL chocolate sundae was so huge. I couldn't eat it all. No lie. I'm sure there was a whole pint of French Vanilla ice cream there. And that was a small.

*shakes her head*

It was huge.

I only had half my manicotti and half my sundae. I"m slackin.

*chuckles*

BUT, I had all of my salad.

I so love Italian food.

You know those cooking shows... I used to watch Molto Mario. He was on about an hour before Emril. (never liked Emril... he bothers me for some reason) Anyway, I was watching Mario and I realized that we Americans know jack shit about real Italian food. Sure, we think almost anything pasta is Italian. Uh uh.

In fact, though pasta IS a frequent side dish, it is actually that, a side dish. The most common Italian food, according to Molto Mario (who's pretty good looking, actually, though he's married) is sausage and vegitables. Seriously. fresh tomatoes, peppers... fresh, spicy sausage.

And the dishes Mario has prepared most often, rarely have a heavy portion of pasta. And, what's more, there isn't a heavy tomato sauce quotient.

Italian food IS heavy on the oil. Olive oil specifically, but it is not heavy on the tomato sauce. AND, if you used a tomato sauce similar to thhat which you'd find in a jar or can? You'd be laughed out of Italy so fast your head would spin.

Now, keep in mind, I get this information from a cable cooking show. I've never been to Italy, tho I'd love to go.

And, it seems that more often than not, that Bruscetta (not sure I'm spelling that anywhere near correctly) is the main side rather than pasta. Bruscetta, if I remember correctly, is a hard bread, grilled until it's almost crunchy. It's seasoned with spiced oil and used to dip in the sauce and such.

OH, and another staple of many different regions in Italy... Seafood.

One of the things I liked so much about Molto Mario is that he told a history of the area... ya know, he would pick a specific dish to make on the show and trace the history of the place it came from, what they were known for, etc. I loved that part.

Yeah, It got boring a few times there, but that's what the clicker is for, ya know?

*grins*

Anyway, two rambling, prattling entries in a single day. What is this world coming to?

*chuckles*

Peace unto thy hearts, friends.