You see, before having a child, I “knew” certain things, which later turned out to be a lot different from what I had always believed. One of those things was that you should never sleep with your child. Then I did some research and let my instincts guide me and we started co-sleeping.

It was never my intention to do so, but started when Luigi had a cold. Then he was going through a period where he was waking often and it was just easier to have him sleep with us.

Reading about it supported my instinct that said that it was not a bad thing. Plus I enjoyed waking up in the morning to him snuggled up against me. Then we spent a little while playing before starting our day.

We bought him his own bed and bedroom set last year for his second birthday, but except for naps, he wasn’t interested in sleeping in there… Until last week that is. One night he informed me out of the blue that he wanted to sleep with Winnie the Pooh. So off we went to his bedroom where he snuggled up with his favorite bear, Eeyore, Piglet and Tigger.

I’ve been replaced by a bunch of animals.

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The other day O brought home a car magazine. You know the kind, it has pictures and descriptions of all the new cars and how much they cost, plus some articles comparing different cars and giving some advice about driving. I was idly leafing through it the other day as he was talking and I noticed a small article that looked like it might be interesting. As soon as I read it though I said to O that it was just a load of horsebunky (OK, maybe that’s not exactly what I said, but close enough) and I wondered aloud how someone could actually publish such a thing.

Basically the article said that you should avoid going outside in the cold weather after eating because it could block your digestion. What this has to do with cars, I don’t know, but supposedly this is a common thing that happens if someone goes out in the cold air or drinks something cold after eating. I’ve even heard people say that you shouldn’t eat cold watermelon in order to prevent the dreaded digestion block. I then usually ask why it’s ok to eat gelato out of the freezer and not watermelon out of the refrigerator but I’m told that it’s different somehow.

I, being the sensible person that I am, claim that it’s not true, but then O asked me how I could possibly deny its existence when Italian medical doctors were the ones giving the information. My response to that was to ask why it only happens to Italians. As I said to him, I have never, in my entire life, met anyone who suffered from blocked digestion until I came to Italy – no one in school, none of the numerous people I’ve ever worked with and none of my neighbors or friends in the various places I’ve lived ever complained of it. Does it just happen to Italians? But then again, it can’t be a genetic thing because I knew quite a few people of 100% Italian descent who lived in America and never suffered from it. Is it something in the air?….The water?….Inquiring minds want to know.

Obviously, I had to go online and research the problem and it is apparently taken quite seriously here even though I could find absolutely nothing about it in English. Apparently the belief is that if your body is busy digesting food and you go out in the cold, eat something cold (except for gelato, of course) or drink an ice-cold drink, it stops the blood flow to the stomach and causes major problems. I even know someone who said this happened to them and the doctor even pronounced “blocked digestion” to be the problem. I decided not to comment.

Of course there are other maladies that occur here such as the dreaded “colpo d’aria” and the “cervicale” that it can cause, among other things. But, that’s for another day.

So, what do you say? Is there anyone out there who has ever suffered from the dreaded “blocked digestion”?

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We ran across these “berries” when we were picking blackberries and I’ve been trying to determine what they are.  O is no help because he only knows the name in dialect. They’re not sweet berries and, for all I know may be poisonous although I tasted one after O did and I’m still here.

You can’t really see from the picture, but they have thorns. Consequently, I looked up every “-thorn” I could think of, but didn’t come up with anything similar.

Here’s another picture to get an idea of size.

I was wondering if it might be blackthorn (sloe), however that’s also known as prunus spinosa which leads me to belive that the fruit would be much bigger, but maybe I’m reading too much into the name.

Anybody know?

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Michelle at Bleeding Espresso has been hosting a virtual tour of Italy over on her blog and I was honored that she asked me to take part.  Today it’s my turn to introduce you to Abruzzo. So, hop on over and check it out. And if you haven’t done so already, read about some of the other areas of Italy.

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On one of his last trips out to the garden O brought back a crate of tomatoes (San Marzano) and peppers. So, I decided to make a two part dish out of it. One part I’ll talk about today and the other we’ll discuss later. Obviously, I made a larger amount than we could eat so that I would have some left overs.

The flavor of this risotto reminds me a lot of Spanish rice and it was a nice change from the usual pasta.

Ingredients

5 or 6 San Marzano or Roma tomatoes, chopped
2 small green peppers, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic
2 cups rice
6 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup grated parmigiano cheese
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil

Set your vegetable broth to simmer in a saucepan.

In a large pot, melt the butter along with the olive oil, add the onion and garlic and simmer until the onion is translucent. Now add the pepper and tomato and continue to simmer until the tomato has softened. Add the rice and stir to coat with oil. Now, using the typical method of cooking risotto, add a ladle full of broth at a time and cook, stirring occasionally until the broth has been absorbed, then add more broth, and so on until the rice is cooked. This process will take about a half hour.

Once the rice has cooked, stir in the parmigiano cheese and serve.

Put the remainder of this recipe in a container and refrigerate for the next dish.

Enjoy!

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The thing is, I’m usually pretty good at resisting colds. Usually, that is. This one has really kicked my butt and I’ve been down for the count since Sunday morning.

So, I’m going to sit here drinking hot water with honey and lemon and try to keep from coughing since it’s given me a wicked headache to go along with my general feeling of malaise and stuffiness. Meanwhile I’ll keep Luigi occupied watching Wiggles dvds.

If the average duration of the common cold is any indication, I should be past mid-point and on my way back to normal.

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So, just picture me rubbing my hands together with glee as a survey my stash.

Actually, I really don’t crave American food that much (with the possible exceptions of peanut butter and cranberry juice), but it’s fun to take advantage of the special and get some while it lasts.

Of course, I didn’t buy everything they had for sale. Frozen hamburgers and hotdogs and American-style pizza just didn’t interest me in the slightest. Normally I make my own pancakes from scratch too, but I thought I’d try the pancake mix too. Just for the fun of it.

So, tomorrow for breakfast we’re having bagels and over the next week or so we’ll be tasting the other “delicacies”.

Now, if they had only had sweet potatoes….

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Now I wonder if my son hasn’t inherited this idiosyncrasy of mine.

You see, even though I’ve heard that some toddlers get attached to certain items, he’s never before shown any preference for any one particular piece of clothing. Basically, he couldn’t care less what I dress him in and sometimes he doesn’t even want to be dressed.

At least, that was before we went shopping Saturday and bought these

(This picture was taken while he was napping, otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten them off his feet).

Ever since we bought them, if I try to put another pair on him he says “no, no” and points at these emphatically. And, when he sees someone new he has to show them to them by holding his foot in the air. The funky shoe kid…

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The awards are made each year on June 5 for beaches in Europe and they can be withdrawn if conditions change.

This year, Abruzzo was awarded 13 blue flags at the beaches of:

Martinsicuro
Alba Adriatica
Tortoreto Lido
Giulianova
Roseto degli Abruzzi
Pineto
Silvi Marina
Ortona
San Vito Chietino
Rocca San Giovanni
Fossacesia

and nearby

Vasto
San Salvo

I’ve never been one to sit around on the beach, but this year I’ll probably spend more time there so that Luigi can play in the sand and splash in the water – a sacrifice, I know. So, when the weather gets warmer you can imagine me soaking in the sun and watching the blue flag wave while I try to keep Luigi from eating sand.

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My mamma imagination would go crazy though thinking of all of the horrible things that could happen.  It doesn’t help matters that the little monkey is such a climber. Chairs are free game and if his Papà happens to be doing anything with the ladder, look out. So, we banned all objects from the balcony that could possibly be used for climbing, removing the chairs and flower pots, but we still weren’t comfortable. Plus, he loves being out on the balcony and when the windows are open he’s outside in a flash.

Hence the modification. Our balcony may look like Alcatraz now, but at least it’s safe.

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