Tonight for dinner, I went to the Tambu Lounge at Disney’s
Polynesian Resort. It’s a bar right outside of O’Hana, a Hawaiian flavored
Brazilian BBQ type restaurant. I had a pineapple upside down martini, and a key
lime coconut martini with a graham cracker rim. For my entrée, I had O’Hana
style chicken wings that were seasoned with honey and coriander, and kona
coffee pulled pork sliders. The sliders were ok, but the wings were some of the
best I’ve ever eaten. 
Today I woke up in Bonita Springs after a night out in
Naples. After a tasty breakfast at Waffle House, I headed up to Orlando to
handle the business that brought me down here. I checked into Disney’s All-Star
Movies Resort and then went over to Disney’s Polynesian Resort for a few drinks
and dinner. Before heading back to the Magic Kingdom for a bus back to my
hotel, I went to the Polynesian Resort beach to watch the Magic Kingdom
fireworks show called Wishes.
Seeing that Mom fell at the airport on Thursday and strained some muscles, she really hasn't been to the store yet. Today I managed to pick up some groceries and also make her some meals to keep in the freezer for days when she doesn't have time to cook. I made string beans with tomatoes, perogies, pasta with tomato sauce, zucchini and yellow squash, baked chicken with potatoes, and chicken cordon blue with white wine sauce. I was a busy beaver this afternoon.
For pranzo (lunch), Mom and I were in Rome at Macondo, just
up the street from Piazza Navona. Mom ordered the menu touristico (tourist
menu), which consisted of bruschetta, a side salad, lasagna, and an iced tea.
We shared a Caprese salad and a bottle of water. I ordered a mixed brushetta
plate, which included a piece with melted mozzarella and anchovies. It was
interesting, but salty. For my pasta plate, I ordered gnocchi al’amatriciana,
which has pancetta in tomato sauce with a little spice to it. It was delicious.
When we got to the Hilton Rome Airport hotel, the biggest
question was whether Mom was going to join me in Rome or just stay back at the
hotel and relax. The next biggest question was how long we would have to wait
for our room to be ready. First, Mom decided that she would head into Rome, as
her scooter could be stored in the baggage hold of the bus for the shuttle ride
into town. Second, after we arrived at the hotel at 11:30, we had to wait until
1:30 to check -in. This wasn’t all bad. When we arrived, the lady offered us a
chance to check-in right away to an upgraded room for 70 Euros. We declined and
told her we’d wait a bit, as the next shuttle into Rome wasn’t until 2 p.m.
Around 1 p.m., I started to hover by the front desk waiting for the opportunity
to check-in. Finally the lady called me over as she had received permission to
upgrade to an executive room free of charge, with access to a lounge with
complimentary food and drinks. Not too bad.
In Rome today, we saw the memorial of Vittorio Emanuelle
where my father once served as one of the soldiers who guarded this Italian
version of the tomb of the unknown soldier. Then we pushed onward to the
Pantheon, and Piazza Navona. We had pranzo (lunch) at Macondo, a little
restaurant just off of Piazza Navona. The food was great. For dessert, I took
mom to Bar Tre Scalini, a famous Piazza Navona haunt renowned for its tartufo
(a death by chocolate creation allegedly started there). Mom, a lover of
chocolate, thoroughly enjoyed it. We then went back toward the bus, stopping
for a drink on the way.
We awoke this morning with little energy. Last night, we went
out for pizza at Ristorante Netti with my cousin Renato and his moglie (wife)
Dorrette. It was a very enjoyable evening, and it made saying goodbye to
Campomarino even tougher. We moved a few things inside last night, but we saved
the bulk of the work for this morning. 
After showering, I went outside with the ladder and covered
the ceiling fan and the air conditioner motor. Both of those combined didn’t
take a fraction of the time it used to take to put the car up on bricks, which
we no longer need to do. I got Mom stirring and I went and loaded the car. 
The ride here was great. We left about an hour behind
schedule, but it helped us avoid Rome morning commute traffic. So we got here
in about 3 hours. The car we had was pretty good, a Peugot, and I was able to
do upwards of 150-160 KPH (90-100 MPH) and it felt fairly safe. It must be a
month or so in Italy that made me this aggressive. We passed many small
mountainside towns and even some fires, which Italy has a lot of these days.
This is the first Foodtopia Moment that features colazione
(breakfast). Sometimes Mom and I eat cereal, but usually we have popular local
breakfast fare. Today, Mom had pizza con cipolla (onions), and I had a piece of
pane rustica (rustic bread stuffed with meats and olives). The pane rustica was
somewhat tough to find in past years as it sells pretty quickly. But it is
slower in town this year, so I have lucked out several times. Pane rustica
features prosciutto cotto (cooked ham), salsicce piccante (spicy sausage), mozzarella,
pancetta, and olive neri (black olives). All of the ingredients are mixed into
the dough, and baked together and the taste is rich and flavorful.
For pranzo (lunch) today, I made one of my favorite Italian
dishes, called spaghetti carbonara. I researched some recipes, and kind of made
a variation using the ingredients I had on hand. It was a total success and hit
the spot. I first cooked up the pancetta, while the water for pasta boiled. A
trick that most recipes mentioned was salting the pasta water well, because the
dish does not call for any added salt. When that was done, I made the sauce using a
little heavy cream, two eggs, a little olive oil, black pepper, and pecorino
Romano cheese. I whisked that mixture around until it was well mixed together.
Once the pasta cooked, I drained it and immediately added it to the egg, cream,
and cheese mixture. As I tossed it all together, I added the cooked pancetta
and fresh chopped parsley. It sounds intricate, but it was easy to make and
tasted delicious.
As I passed the beach, I managed to snap a couple of quick
photos of the campgrounds. Campomarino Lido, though now overflowing with
condos, is at its core still a campground beach town. In the lido (beach
section) area we have at least five campgrounds all with their own beaches. It
was the earliest incarnation of beach clubs to be created here, and they have
survived the onslaught on the big beach clubs along the lungomare (beach strand).
Sunday gravy. Those two words evoke a mouth watering image
in most Italian-American minds, including mine. I started prepping last night,
doing the bulk of cooking before heading out late for fireworks. More than 4
pounds of pomodorini (small tomatoes) were halved and mixed with a cipolla (onion),
aglio (garlic), basilico (basil), olio di olive (olive oil) and sale marino (sea
salt). Once it was good and cooked, I passed it through a muller, which
separated out the seeds and skins. I made brasciola with prezzemolo (parsley),
sale marino (sea salt), aglio (garlic) and grana padano formaggio (grana padano
cheese). The meatballs were a mix of 20% maielle (pork) and 80% vitellone
(beef), along with pane gratuatto (bread crumbs), grana padano formaggio (grana
padano cheese), prezzemolo (parsley), sale marino (sea salt) and one uova
(egg). I also used a Pugliese sausage that only one butcher counter nearby
sells. It is a type of sausage that is not spicy, and not overloaded with
garlic or fat, and it is always tender. Once the sauce and meat were mixed
together and cooked for about an hour, the flavor was amazing. We heated it up
today and served it over trivella pasta, which was perfect for the gravy.
Waking up was hard to do today. Last night, Mom and I rode
down to the end of town (me on my bike and mom on her scooter) to watch the
fireworks over Termoli, the next town north. On all of the flyers and signs in
town (only two of them) it stated that the fireworks would start at mezzanotte
(midnight). Mom and I overestimated the time it would take her to ride down
there, so we got there way too early, at like 11:20 p.m. We waited there at the
farthest point Mom’s scooter could travel and midnight came and went. More and
more people showed up, well into the hundreds between those on the free beach
and those at the beach clubs at the northernmost end of town, all with a clear
view of Termoli. Then, just after 12:30 there was a loud boom and a flash over
Termoli. About 5 minutes later the sky erupted. I know this country claims to
be in crisi (crisis mode), and everyone is hoarding pennies, but they spare no
expense when honoring their saints. Last night was the second of three nights
honoring San Basso, the patron saint of Termoli. The days include concerts,
processionals, a boat regatta, and the fireworks, along with a street fair and
carnival. Termoli truly comes alive and the fireworks display they put on was
tremendous. 
Today, though, we were playing international host to family
from both Italy and Hollanda (The Netherlands). Zia came down, along with my
Aunt Dini, my cousin Mariella, her husband Nik, and their sons Fabio and Elio. Mom
and I had prepped the meal last night before we went out to see fireworks,
knowing how long it would take to cook tomatoes, prepare meats, cook meats, pass
the sauce, combine, and cook until a delicious Sunday gravy was born. All of
the meats were butcher fresh, and the meal was an incredible success. All but
one piece of meat was eaten, as there were eight people at the table speaking
three languages (Dutch, Italian, and English). Needless to say, I didn’t get
out of the house this morning. But watching the look on people’s faces as they
ate made all of the work worth it.
Weekends, much like in the US, are the busiest time here at
the beach, but this year Campomarino is lacking. Yes it is busier than a normal
day, but despite the fact that it is August, the beach was pretty open today.
Perhaps tomorrow will be busier. The recession is hitting the town pretty hard
as most rental properties sit empty. Many businesses of the past few years have
shuttered, and the annual parade of circuses is non-existent. Just yesterday,
the announcement was made that downgraded a bunch of their banks and almost
insures that the recession here will grow deeper and last longer. 
Saturdays are also a great night for shopping as sometimes
more vendors than normal come out to hawk their goods. I would be on the hunt
for more watches, but I’m thinking I’m good with the three I’ve bought, two of
which were automatic watches. I got the watches for 13 Euros each, 2 Euros less
than I spent last year.
For pranzo (lunch) today, we had a lunch with no pasta (I
had pasta the neighbor gave me which was cooked with mussels, literally boiled
in the same pot together). We had fetini di tachino (turkey filets) cooked with
lemon and white wine. For sides we had potate al forno (potatoes baked in the
oven with grana padano cheese, onions and garlic), and fagiolini con olio e
aceto (string beans with olive oil and vinegar, also with garlic and mint). It
was a delicious lunch topped off with a piece of homemade tiramisu left over from
the other day.
For pranzo (lunch) today I took eggplant and tomatoes that I
had done in the forno (oven) a few days ago, and I mixed a little bit of
pomodori pasata (passed tomatoes) in with it. Then I cooked and drained some
pasta and mixed the two together. I used a type of pasta for the first time. They were called elidicoli, and they held sauce perfectly. It was a great way to use up what we have in
the house.
Sometimes one must take it easy for a little bit. Today I
awoke with plans to play basketball and cook at the house. On the way to the basketball
court, I stopped to pay our condominium association fee for the year (81 Euros)
and was off to the beach and my basketball court. Figuring I would just be
shooting baskets and not playing all out hard basketball, I left my knee and
ankle braces at home. That was a mistake. About 20 minutes into shooting, I
faked right and twisted my ankle. It’s been hurting since, but I still managed
to ride my bike to a couple of stores and walk tonight.
Tonight we went to Termoli, where we had delicious Gelato at
Yo-Go, probably the most popular place in town. The gelato there is the best I’ve
ever eaten. We strolled around, I took care of paying for the internet to
continue, and I bought a pain-relieving gel I saw on TV at the pharmacy. I’m
going to use the gel on my ankle tonight. We also saw a sign of just how
fertile the terra (ground) is here. Popping up out of the ground along a wall
in what looks like an alley but is actually a street is a grape vine that spans
two balconies and has fruit on it. The vine was not decoration, but I sign of a
different, simpler time here.
While debating what to cook today, Mom suggested going out
for pranzo (lunch). So far this trip, the only time I’ve eaten out for lunch is
when I was in Rome, so the idea was different than the norm. We decided to stay
local, and go to, where else, but Ristorante Netti. This time we vowed not to
get pizza. We each started with bruschetta. Mom ordered tagliatelle alla
Bolognese and a chicken cutlet. I went the seafood route with a plate of cozze
(mussels) in white wine sauce, which followed an order of tielle Barese. The
tielle Barese was a mix of risotto, potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes and mussels
all baked together in the forno (oven) until it was a perfect blend of flavors.