For my last night in town, where else would I go but
Ristorante Netti. Zia and I headed downtown tonight, and for the first time
this summer, I ordered my favorite pizza, the Scorpion. It has salsiccia
piccante (similar to pepperoni), mozzarella, caciacavallo (sharp provolone),
and pepperoncino (hot pepper infused olive oil). It was delicious as usual. I
started off with an insalata di polpo (octopus salad), and had a portion of
their homemade tiramisu, which was out of this world.
Every year, the final day in town is filled with highs and
lows. The lows are saying goodbye to friends and family, as well as getting the
last of things, like the last pizza, the last cornetti (croissant), or the last
souvenir. It was also my last time to hit the beach. After three days of rain,
seeing the sun today was like welcoming back an old friend. The people who were
sitting near me for the past month were all gone, my guess is they had a half
month that ended on the big, rained-out holiday Ferragosto on Wednesday. Many
people left last night after the earthquakes, which is still what everyone is
talking about today. Leaving the beach was sad as usual. It’s been nice and
relaxing the past month, reading, swimming, catching up on YouTube videos
during the middle of the day when everyone leaves. During part of my morning
walk I went to do my weekly weigh in and lost four pounds this week. In total I’ve
lost 10 pounds since I got here, and I’ve eaten well. Not as many desserts as
normal, gelato only four times so far this summer, but bread and pizza and
pasta was on tap almost every day.
After writing my post earlier tonight, the rains stopped and
life began to return to normal around here. People went out on their bikes,
others went for walks, and people lit up their barbecues. I was happily
surprised with a visit from my cousin Vincenzo, his wife Mariella (yes, the
third Mariella that I’ve referenced this week), and his youngest daughter Mila.
It was a great visit, and I got to see photos of their new dogs. Along with Zia
we talked for more than an hour. 
Shortly after we said our goodbyes, Zia and I were talking
while out on the patio. Suddenly the ground started wavering like it was rolling.
I took Zia to the doorway, which was tough to get to with all of the wavering,
and we stood there through the rumbles for a solid minute. It was our second
earthquake in three days. The first was overnight on Tuesday. That night my bed
was shaking really hard, but in my sleep state I thought it was the wind. I
found out in the morning it was an earthquake or as the Italians call it,
terremoto. Tonight, the people here are spooked. Many are still out in the
streets almost two hours later. I walked downtown shortly after, and the
streets were filled with people, but the stores were empty. Everyone was
talking about the earthquake. It must’ve really scared some people because for
the first hour and a half after the quake the ambulance sirens were wailing
non-stop. UPDATE: Just as I was about to post this we had another tremor that
lasted about 10 seconds.
For Ferragosto, the big Italian holiday on August 15, I made
a gran sugo (gravy). I started with pomodorini (little tomatoes), cipolla
(onion), carote (carrot), basilico (basil), brood classico (bullion), sale
marino (sea salt), and olio di olive (olive oil). After cooking for about an
hour, I turned it off and strained the mixture, removing seeds and skins. After
returning the passed tomatoes to the pot, I added brasciole di pollo (chicken
brasciole), and polpette di pollo (chicken meatballs). The results were
outstanding. Full of flavor, meat was tender, and the baked chicken and veggies
on the side were also delicious. Plus, spending time with Zia, Mariella and Nik
was great too. For pranzo (lunch) today, I had the leftover pasta and meat. I
added them to a fry pan with a little olive oil and reheated. To fill it out a
little, I added a piece of sliced bread that I chopped apart. The pieces of
bread soaked up lots of flavor.
The past few days have been filled with clouds, rain, and
thunderstorms. It’s actually thundering outside as I write this. On Tuesday, I
went out to get the food that I was cooking for yesterday’s Ferragosto feast.
When I got back to the house, I heated up some leftovers, and got ready to head
to the beach. I walked outside and saw my neighbors putting away things that
can’t get wet and within minutes it was pouring. 
Because the rain limits what I can really do around here, I
have started my closing ceremonies for the condo this year. I leave on Saturday
morning, so I took down the fan blades for the outdoor ceiling fan, and secured
one of the windows for the offseason and brought in trash cans and a table. I’ve
packed my bags, and researched the IEPs of my students for this coming school
year. If the weather was better, I’d have hit the beach for three days.
Instead, I’ve been steadily completing things on my to-do list. I’ve completed
two feature length scripts this summer, and I’m halfway done my third novel in
less than a month.
Before the rains came and washed away my plans for the day, including a night out on the town, I managed to put together a "kitchen sink" plate of pasta (As in I used everything but the kitchen sink). I had a pork chop leftover, as well as some potatoes and a mix of roasted veggies. So I made some pasta and combined everything together. I topped it with a mix of grana padana and pecorino romano cheeses. The meat was tender and the veggies fresh. Everything I had as leftovers on one plate, and it was delicious.
Since my June gallbladder removal, I really haven’t had much
if any red meat. I was craving steak the other day so I went to the butcher and
had him cut me a nice steak. It was beautiful. I seared it in a fry pan for a
minute on each side, then placed on a bed of onions, garlic, and zucchini and
roasted in a hot oven. I flipped the steak once and when I plated it, I put the
zucchini and onions, which basically steamed in the steak juices, on top of the
steak. It was delicious.