Leprechaun & the Stissis
Then to ortofrutta Fratelli Stissi to buy potatoes and the pale green zucchine so prevalent in Sicily. I remembered Giovanna telling me how to prepare a recipe last spring, zucchine with potatoes, and I loved it. They also had funghi di Ferla, and I couldn't resist. I got a small bag for a small fortune, and a recipe from a Stissi brother, which was basically a sauté barely held together with a couple of eggs. Next time, however, I'll prepare them as you would sea scallops, as that is their flavor. Reading about this particular mushroom is interesting. You almost don't need any other food. They're a good dose of protein, amongst other essentials.
Speaking of Giovanna, there she is on the sidewalk in front of Aqua & Sapone, calling to us as we walked by, her words tripping over each other. It often seems we enter her conversation well into the script. She offered to drive us home, but we had stops to make, and needed the exercise.
Waiting a while at Telesys, simply to buy one adapter, the couple ahead of us were such pains in the ass that we stepped next door to get pork chops. No change for €50, which surprised me, until I realized we got three good-sized chops for only €4 and some spicchi!
Back to Telesys, where the PITA couple still deliberated; the woman stepped out for a smoke break and returned. It kept seeming they were finished, so we patiently waited. Finally gone. The professional but exasperated lone associate exhaled loudly and threw up his hands upon their exit, as if to say, thank goodness they're outta here!
Of course, after all that. they didn't have the adapter we needed, but maybe it'll be available on Monday.
Leaving Telesys, we were about to cross the busy 3-way intersection, walking past an elderly couple standing there. We nodded, said a brief "'Giorno," and stepped onto the pavement. The elderly man let out a soft whoop, looking at Joe. It's the fireball magician leprechaun we met in front of round-the-corner Giuseppe's l'altro ieri!
Joe laughed in recognition, and the leprechaun spoke in animated fashion while his wife(?) stood 15 paces away, quiet and a bit sullen looking.
What is this guy saying? Next thing I knew, we were agreeing to meet him at 11:00 tomorrow, for a caffè. He said he knows where we live and will ring for us.
What just happened.
Based on some old-school rituals still in practice here, I'm thinking he was offering only to Joe. But who knows. We don't even know his name.
I enjoyed our veggie-forward lunch. I'm not a huge fan of potatoes, but they're good in this preparation. Joe found the Cristalli di Sale version of Birra Messina (soooo good), and had it with his lunch.
Joe's been working on some accreditation to keep his law license active, which involves logging in to watch law seminars. While he worked, I started pulling photos for my Xmas card in case I do one this year. I let Joe do his own. It's too complicated with a forest of family trees between us.
Around my usual evening stroll time, I headed to viale dei Fiori for peppers to accompany our pork chops, and some sweets from Forno delle Delizie to have wrapped and ready for the leprechaun. We don't meet a host empty handed here; that's almost illegal.
The pork chops, peppers, and fennel infused salad were filling and good. I had the Passaluna Etna white with supper; Joe had the red.
I'm looking at 2026 travel plans, which include meeting our friends Lynn and Daniel, who want to venture to Sicily in April. That's perfect, since we'll be here to greet the new baby.
And I'm on a hell-bent mission to book that trip to Thailand. I'll need to channel Nike and Just Do It!
Ending the post with a little Christmas around town:
There's no type of art
that the flowers can't teach.
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