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Friday, August 22, 2008

Ciambotta - questo anno

Today it finally happened : the annual Ciambotta ritual was accomplished. I posted the recipe for my Italian family's summer vegetable stew last year here.

No salt pork here, and for class (class?) I added a few shitake mushrooms (my dad would be rolling over in his grave)** and Yukon Gold instead of Idaho potatoes to this parte seconda versione. The basil I added was from a phenomenal plant I've been growing this year. Usually by August it is leggy and anemic but not this gorgeous, green, aromatic guy! deliziosi

** after my dad passed away 15 years ago the end of July, my mom went a little wacko, bought even more cats (25 tops), and started dating a guy with questionable intentions and a rap sheet, (sigh). . .So my sister and I were discussing this one day and she said, "Well, Daddy is already turning over in his grave like he's on a rotisserie, one more cat isn't going to make much difference."

The family. We were a strange little band of characters
trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.
~Erma Bombeck

7 comments:

Sue Seibert said...

I am saving the recipe to cook this fall. Sounds wonnnnnderful!

Love the Erma Bombeck quote...I saved it, too. Thanks!

anno said...

This looks a summer dish to savor! I loved the Erma Bombeck quote, too -- she's always a favorite!

Queen-Size funny bone said...

Our family does a version of this recipe. Italians have the best food.

Marianne said...

Mmmmm, Yummy! This is the second pot I've seen this week!
"like he's on a rotisserie"... mercy, I spewed my coffee.
It's a good thing Erma wrote all those books, they saved my sanity more than a couple of times. I miss her.

bobbie said...

Love the Erma Bombeck quote. And the stew looks wonderful.

chrome3d said...

That looks like good stuff! I bet your own basil would fit there more than nicely. I gotta go eat something...

Anonymous said...

I love that quote and the stew looks wonderful. I'm going to print that recipe.