July 25

A dear friend wrote in and said that she does not know how I pack so much stuff in. People have been asking me this important question all my life so I thought I should let everyone in on my secrets to getting a lot done. 

First, and foremost, do not have a day job. (now we are dreaming, right ? ) 

2. Have no internet at your house. Have internet only available if you sit outside where it is hard to see the screen and bugs are biting you or you are unbearably hot. 

3. Do not have a TV. It is not called the opiate of the masses for nothing. 
4. Feel guilty at all times that you are not doing more. (this might actually be number one for me)

5. Be convinced that you could never in your life do enough to make you worthy of consideration. (also number one)

6. Eat dinner late. 

7. Get up late. No wait, get up early.

8. Do nothing the rest of the year so it looks like you are super busy in Italy.

9. Go to Italy where it doesn’t matter if you do anything or not because it is all so new and amazing.

10. Go specifically to Castelvecchio Subequo because there are amazing people and everyday is more beautiful than the next. 

So there you have it. Ten steps to getting more done. 

Questions have arisen on the specifics of breakfast cookies. In this picture the traditional breakfast cookies are on the left. On the right, are the new and improved (and I am serious about this) breakfast cookie. By definition any cookie that you eat at breakfast is a breakfast cookie. I know this is true because once Jim told me about breakfast brownies at LaBrioche and I had one for breakfast. Both of these types of breakfast cookies are also good at other times of the day. At those times they might be called a snack cookie or possibly dessert. 

This next picture is a delicious snack, but used to be a staple, from the region of Puglio. After the harvest was in the landowners would burn the fields and starving peasants could glean what they could find. The original Tarallini were a dark, burned brown and were what people had to live on instead of a chic snack to have with wine. Don’t you love how the wealthy have considered the needs of the workers? They thought they were starving, but no, they were trend setters and now you can buy Tarallini in a multitude of flavours or the original burned toast. 

One more food fact: this is granita. It is from Scilly and its name refers to its resemblance to aggregate. Different areas of Scilly make granita with different textures from big to small aggregate or ice crystals. It all depends on how often you stir it while it is freezing. I prefer a small aggregate (this is a good word to know, because the large aggregate used on some Vermont roads has caused them to fail because moisture gets in there between the pieces and expands and cracks) Just to be clear I did no fact checking on anything in this paragraph. On the right is peach/apricot and on the left is blood orange. Amazingly Italian guests ask us how to make this. And here, right now is the recipe: get some fruit juice at the store, or if you are an obsessive person, mash up your own fruit. Pour it in a bowl. Leave it in the freezer for two hours. Use a fork to break up the ice crystals. Repeat every 30 minutes to an hour. If you keep breaking it up it will never freeze solid again. Serve to friends, but do not disclose the secret recipe.  

I really have done nothing today, because I came back from painting not feeling so well. Possibly it was the smell of years of cat piss heating up as the day got warmer. Whatever I changed my pants and considered the wisdom of sitting on steps where no protective water bottles had been placed. I have to finish the painting tomorrow no matter what. Cat piss or bad drawing. I sprayed with fixative a lot, because it smelled so much better than old and new piss. After that I watched most of “The Two Towers”, worked on a water-colour which may be destined for the trash pile…yes it is growing and did some serious cloud watching. 

I also spent timer rearranging my rocks to make a perfectly random pattern. 

I was super glad that my brother, his wife, sister and her husband could come visit us for a day in Sulmona. Sorry Michael couldn’t come, but there wasn’t room in the car. Or maybe we took a bus? Whatever. I wonder where they will turn up next.