Scandura, Tennis, Cookies

Today, a day of simple pleasures.

A sunny walk to Scandura, where one can reach Cornetto nirvana. Light as air, big as a toddler football; flaky, soft, and buttery on the inside, and the perfect croccante on the outside. I may have fainted for a sec. The cappucci are smooth caffeinated perfection. I marvel every day at the treasure we have here with Scandura.The only thing that could kill this place is if you moved it to the Midwest.

Scandura has extra-large cappuccini cups,
so you can imagine the actual size
of those cornetti.

We picked up a couple of Arancini to have later, if we're so inclined.

Joe logged in again to do some work, and I went through our road trip itinerary, sure to book the first and last stays. We invariably stay near the airport the night before heading back to the States.

I need to contact my friends Stacy and Ron in Molise, to see if they're up for a visit, and also my friends Steven and Silva in Portugal, as we will not be going there after all. And they are tangentially related. Steven's sister Tracy is good friends with Stacy and Ron.

Today, Saturday, is tennis day for Joe. As he did his stretches, I mopped the floor. He and Vincenzo headed to the vigne, and I pulled ingredients from the cabinet to see what I could bake. I was missing just a little of everything.

I walked to the grocery store, and after cycling through the aisles twice for what I needed, I gave up and left with poor facsimiles. 

However, the dry sausage/salume choices made me wish I could teleport my sister here.




On a whim, I diverted to The Chinese Store. Outside, there was a temporary greenhouse structure filled with large outdoor Christmas decor. Inside, a cacophony of various tinseled Christmas tunes playing all at once on the multitude of tchotchkes choking the front third of the store.

I found a cake/dough piping kit and a verifiable pie pan. Score!

The walk home was pleasant. I took in all the sights, sounds, and smells, noting to myself that I must try the ricotta-anchovy crispelle before we leave.

Although we're on an island in a sea full of fresh fish and seafood, everyone around here loves MEAT. I regularly see this cat looking in to the butcher shop, versus the pescheria just a few doors down!


Joe got home before I did. He said he had fun; a really good tennis day. So much so, the other guys were teasing him, floating the word 'Wimbledon' a few times.

We had talked earlier about going to BB King, but it felt more like a Happy-Hour-at-Home kind of night. I made a powerful batch of bucatini Amatriciana because that's all I had ingredients for. I'll need to plan better next week.

Too late for baking cookies. Another day, then.

We cleaned up the kitchen, I did a little laundry (accidentally wore Amatriciana sauce on a white shirt tonight), and are now listening to the joyful chatter of Agnese and friends. Agnese had a choir and orchestra concert tonight; I think we're hearing the after party.

And so the evening is also filled with simple pleasures — hearing the sounds of happy children.



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