Under the Tuscan Sun: Day 8

Pizza Police Pull Over…
By Christine Squicciarini

While our parents explored local cathedrals and quaint pottery shops, we spent the day preparing for an all-out, all-Italian PIZZA PARTY! While the guests would probably say that they did most of the work, there was still a lot of prep to do before they got here: the acquisition of various vegetables and pizza toppings; decorating the house; and most importantly, making the dough. 

Our guests arrived at all hours of the night, adding to the sponteneity of the evening! Because of the gas shortage, a few of our guests were not able to make it (we missed you!), but we ended it up with a nice healthy crowd, only slightly hesitant about diving into the abundant mounds of dough.

Having lived by the saying, “Better safe than sorry” all our lives, we discovered halfway through the evening that we had made enough pizza to feed a small army! So, just as leftovers are so abundant around Thanksgiving, I have no doubt we will be dining on pizza dough cuisine for the next weeks.

Everyone’s pizza looked… inventive, although several smacked of Southern BBQ, rather than traditional Italian seasonings! Thank you all for coming… ciao!

Home Alone 4: The Squicciarini House

After a long half day at work (Wednesday), I was left to cover the phones while Dad left for lunch. After a few casual yells around the house, I called Morgan to make certain I was alone. Being alone is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion when there’s seven people living in one house…

With a pretty large caffeine dose earlier this morning (refer to my earlier post on Chai Tea), I began dancing on the table with my guitar. I know, it’s a little juvenile, but it did build up an appetite. When I was through with my solo, I started getting out the items needed for large lunch. Today was a red-letter day in which I would be expanding the horizons of my palate. Instead of having turkey and cheese, I added pickles, jalepenos, and mustard. I sided it with two deviled eggs, Doritos, white cheddar puffs, and a SMALL glass of Coca-Cola (which has been with me the rest of the day – wow). All the while, Jack Johnson was blaring from our iPod, singing about being together, banana pancakes, etc. With my legendary “clean-as-you-go” cleaning methods, I was back to my daily routine before anyone was back.

I would strongly recommend to anyone looking for an energy boost to try my new sandwich. Although it doesn’t contain bananas, it definitely tastes good.

The Challah Canoe

As many of you know, I have been studying under Julianna for some time now, learning the art of making the weekly (spelt) Challah loaves for our Sabbath dinner. This past Friday night, I made bread while Julianna supervised. It looked scrumptious as it emerged from the oven, golden and salted. As we broke bread at sundown, my father murmered something about it being “low like a canoe” – but everyone said it was tasty, and the perfect texture! So – this week I go it alone – hopefully there will be no more talk of canoes until I apprentice Mary…

A serving of spelt will tighten the belt…

For those uninformed, our family is going off wheat. That means no delivered pizza, no Chick-fil-A sandwiches, no fish and chips, and, of course, no Anthony’s bread. On a more hopeful note, we just discovered some tasty spelt cookies, perhaps they will “brighten our mood.”

Christine