Magic, Ovenless, Waterless, Lentils, “Thanksgiving” Dinner, and Firewood. And Pizza.
This morning, I awoke before 7:00; it was raining, so I made coffee and promised myself some reading time to finish my book. This has nothing to do with Italy, other than I read the book here, but whether you’re an Ishiguro fan or have never heard of him, ‘Klara and the Sun’ is a poignant and stunning read. What a creator of art, mystery, and magic; Kazuo Ishiguro.
Speaking of magic, Vincenzo and a handyman arrived while we were still in our bathrobes. Our oven has been temperamental, and though it hasn’t been a real problem for us, they want to fix it. Vincenzo brought his “magician,” whom he called his personal Harry Potter. The man spoke Italian, but is fluent in French, and originally is from Nigeria (don’t know if I correctly caught that?). Next I knew, Harry Potter was carrying our oven away. Evidently he’s going to try to match up some parts from his shop.
I took a quick cat bath. And soon I realized the water pressure was super low. I checked around the oven cabinet, which is next to the sink, to see if a valve got knocked partially shut during the oven quandary, but couldn’t figure it out. We both got dressed and Elena saw me in the hallway and asked if I wanted a coffee.
I walked in, and Christmas tree parts were everywhere! Ettore looks adorable in his reindeer sweater and socks; the nieces in their Christmas sweaters, Elena in her fuzzy sweater with snowflake leggings and cute boots. It reminds me of doing the same costuming with my kids on tree-decorating day! I sat with Elena, Mariella, Maria Teresa and the girls, while Andrea (in high heeled booties) made us all an espresso, and Ettore played. We ate Elena’s version of pumpkin pie. It was more of a mousse type texture and included chocolate chips. Good stuff! As I left, she invited us both for lunch.
We decided against going to Etnapolis on a weekend, and walked to check out some good shoe stores in Biancavilla. Besides, the sun was out! I also wanted to pick up a nice dessert to bring to lunch, and look for a few Christmas ideas for our hosts. Shoe shopping didn’t pan out, but we went into Stissi, where we’ve had a caffe, and checked out their desserts while having more caffe. I figured we may be serving 12-14 people at lunch. I saw a custardy-gelato rectangular torta, a bit longer than a loaf of Wonder Bread, and a little narrower. It was half pistachio and half strawberry, decorated with cream. They sell by the chilo, so I had no idea how much it’d come to. A torta this size at Cossettas would run $45-60, and even more at Kowalskis, but after all the meals and tours and extras we’re given, it seemed fair. It came to about €22, which I thought to be an incredible price! And it was so prettily boxed! But Joe’s teeth almost fell out. This is a person who doesn’t price desserts very often.
We learned from Giuseppe and Vincenzo that the water wasn’t working. I recalled the scene from Il Postino, where the island occasionally suffers from a lack of water. Mariella made a call. Supposedly it’ll be back on at 6 pm.
Lunch started with Mariella’s pasta and lentils, which could’ve sustained me for the rest of the day. But then came the stuffed turkey… and I couldn’t taste the turkey; hooray! Stuffed with spinach, cheese, non-sweet raisins, and thin-sliced potatoes, this representation ate more like a lasagna than a turkey. No funky turkey smell (or taste); no mushy insides. And the potatoes were roasted wedges. We followed with mixed green salad, caponata, bread, and a wedge of Gorgonzola dolce. It’s really quite customary for Italians to enjoy *A* glass of wine with their meal. Except for special midday meals, I’ll pass that up until I can enjoy an evening pour; hopefully I’ll shed a few pounds or at least break even after all this eating! Then dessert. Vincenzo wanted fresh fruit, and plated it with our gelato torta, along with a Sicilian cassata. There were many sounds of enjoyment with the dessert we brought (I could tell from certain expressions that it was the proper gesture to make), the best being Ettore’s “It’s GOOD,” served with a great big smile!
After lunch, Vincenzo suggested Joe follow him in the car to the vineyard property, where he plays tennis every week, and Joe can haul back firewood for our fireplace in the loft. I used the time to catch up on a few things, until places re-opened at 4:00. Joe’s brother’s girlfriend just lost her mom, and I’ve found every kind of card but a sympathy card. I planned to head opposite of our usual direction, and go for an evening walk. The darkness and the beginning of holiday decorating made the night air feel magical.
The water is still off, and we had an enormous lunch, so I suggested we grab food and a drink at a bar (believe me, the choices are a far cry from beer and Tombstone pizza or onion rings), since I can cook without water, but sure can’t clean up without it! Joe likes a proper sit-down, but we had a 3-course + dessert midday meal. He’s going out now to get wine and we’ll see where we land after that!
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We did have pizza, after all. Rachi knocked on the door when Joe was out, sweetly asking if we’d like to come to their house for pizza. I said yes in a hurry; problem solved tonight!
We stuffed ourselves on
Sausage, spring onion, olive;
Eggplant, red pepper, black olive;
Pistachio and prosciutto crisp;
Prosciutto, mushroom, hard-boiled egg;
And marinara pizzas.
Gelato and liqueurs for dessert.
Then, a round table discussion on the history of the world, naval forces, politics—we got to practice the Italian listening and speaking to the extreme degree! Lots of questions about America. At one point, 88yo Nonno said Italy is a small country with big men; US is a big country with little men. He gets yelled at a lot.
At one point I put my hands on the table and said “Ok, classe!” to finish up our lesson.
We had a good night.
And supposedly the water will be fixed at 2 a.m.
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