Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Screeching into Tuesday, Like...

Tuesday is not my good news day.

Why is Tuesday, even?  Let's examine.

Tuesday's only real value is to remind us that it is no longer Monday.  It does not posess the inherent virtue of Wednesday, whose claim to fame is marking the midpoint of the week, allowing you an opportunity to placate yourself with a reassuring "its halfway over" or have your coworkers wish you a happy "humpday", which I am pretty sure is an HR violation, but it keeps skating the law, somehow.  Wednesday is not a spectacular day, but it serves a purpose and therefore can remain on the payroll.

Tuesday is also not the villian of the week.  That job falls squarely on the shoulders of Monday.  Monday is the day that breaks up with your weekend, probably by text.  It pops up uninvited and all too soon, to spoil that split second at the end of the week when you caught up on laundry and allowed yourself to exhale.  Monday careens into that relaxing breath like an out of control bread truck. And yes, I chose a bread truck for that analogy because I love carbs and they clearly hate me.

Tuesday is also not Thursday.  Thursday is like a mini-Friday. Not because you go out for drinks at the end of it, but because Friday is so close, you can almost touch it.  Thursday pulls you through the quicksand and deposits you squarely into Friday's waiting arms.

Friday is a fickle mistress though.  She is seductive, with an unmatched allure.  But if you are ever going to get stuck at work on a heinous, unforgiving and thankless task, it's going to be on a Friday.  Friday giveth and she taketh away. She must be a Gemini.

Saturday and Sunday. What can I say about them that hasn't already been said in a thousand sonnets or at least a couple of teen rom-coms? They are superstars and I have no interest in further puffing up their inflated egos.  You don't tell the captain of the football team how handsome he is.  You don't need to help feed his already bloated sense of self. If you don't watch closely, Saturday and Sunday will cheat on you with a trip to the emergency room for appendicitis faster than you can say "the copay is how much?!?".

So, allow me to posit yet again...why is Tuesday, even?  I think Tuesday is only here to remind us of how bereft of value he is (yes, Tuesday is male because, duh). Tuesday is the day you need to live through, to endure, so that you can get to all the other days.

So I am crashing into Tuesday, reluctantly.  With my guard up and ready to fight, because Tuesday is no gentleman and he will hit a lady.  Luckily, I have a mean left hook and Tuesday doesn't stand a chance. I'm talking to you Tuesday, when I say (does best Clubber Lang imitation) "No, I don't hate Tuesday.  But I pity the fool".

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Like a Bad Penny

It has been a long time since I posted.  It has actually been close to two years since I made my last entry to this blog. It isn't because I have lost my interest in writing or cooking.   Quite the opposite, actually.   I have been writing like crazy, trying to catalogue all of our family's recipes for a family cookbook. Our family has been through some significant losses over the past few years and the need to chronicle and preserve the family legacy seems more pressing to me these days.

My goal for the cookbook is to have it ready to distribute to family and friends by Christmas of this year.  I don't know if I will look to distribute it beyond the immediate family, but if not, I think that a good deal of the content will end up here.  And for that reason, I think it's time to come back to this forum and catch up.

When I put up my last post "Channeling my Inner Nonna", in December 2016, I was fresh off a trip to Sicily, Italy and London.  We have since gone back to all three, as the pull of Sicily is strong, due to our family heritage and we can't be in the region and not go to Rome. London, a relatively new discovery for us is just great fun.  I have to say, it is the most spectacularly drunk town that I have ever been to and it has THE WORST traffic.  I would say that the traffic problem in London is far worse than New York City, which is pretty rotten in its own right.

Our most recent trip to Sicily centered around Palermo, a city that was surprising to me on many levels.  I think I was expecting it to be gritty and dirty and tough, like Naples, but moreso.  I could not have been more incorrect.  Palermo is beautiful and elegant and full of history.  With side trips to Erice, Trapani and Mondello, the beauty of north eastern Sicily unfolded like a flower, revealing layer after beautiful layer.

So without much fanfare, I return to the place where I began the journey of chronicling my adventures in cooking and travel. I have new things to share and many reflections on the past that are currently bubbling under the surface. I never considered myself a writer, more of a kibitzer. Someone who makes snarky comments from the sidelines, but is never really in the game.  My goal is to change that and to jump in with both feet. Let's see where this goes...



Alcamo Beach Sicily


Teatro Massimo

Theater Horse

Dramatic Theater Horse

Horses that are probably jealous of the Theater Horse

Palermo Marina

Cannoli

The breakfast of champions