food shopping craziness and a glorious rainy sunset
After work today, I decided to brave the craziness of the supermarket on my way home. Holiday shopping is always a special treat here in Hawaii. I headed to Safeway, hoping that I would find the perfect little turkey for Thanksgiving. Once a cart was located in the parking lot, I took the plunge without a list or even a solid plan. It was quite an adventure wheeling my cart up and down the aisles, looking for just the right ingredients and trying my best to remember what I needed to get to make my mom's ricotta and egg based Italian turkey stuffing.
Once my cart was full I found the line that looked like it would move the quickest and picked up a magazine to browse through while I waited. The People's Sexiest Men issue was out. There sure were lots of yummy guys inside this year's edition. If I was really thinking, I would have found the longest line.
As I reached the check out stand, I had this flash of grocery shopping in Italy. I must say that one of the things I am very thankful for here in the US is that we have baggers, especially on busy days.
There are only two events that have really intimidated me when experiencing life in Italy, the check out stand at the grocery store and the post office. In the grocery store, I always felt pressure having the correct change ready as big bills were not popular, letting the girl know that I needed bags and locating those bags, and of course bagging everything quick enough so that I did not hold up the line. I always failed when bagging and usually was on the receiving end of a few dirty looks. Even though shopping is not one of my favorite memories of Italy, it is always fun reminiscing, even about more stressful experiences.
When I left the grocery store, the rain began. This was one thing I was prepared for as rain was predicted and the skies were pretty gray when I arrived at the store and so at least I had my raincoat on as I loaded my cart and two cars fought for my spot.
I usually am not too thrilled about driving in the rain, but today, I experienced the most glorious sunset in my rear view mirror with a rainbow in front of me. This was my second "thankful” experience after leaving work.
I usually take the back roads when heading home from Safeway. The final stretch before turning into my townhouse complex is a long straight 2-lane road. The sun reminded me of a blazing ball of yellow fire. It slowly set behind me into the road. The sky was a deep pink and the rainbow was in front of me to my left. I was so mad that I did not have my camera with me. I thought about running in to get it when I got home, but just as I pulled into my parking space, it started to downpour. I was not as fond of the weather at this point as I had to lug my groceries all up to my place. By this time, the sky was getting dark and the sun had set. I guess you will just have to picture this glorious sunset instead.
Before my mom passed away, she typed up all of her recipes. This is something my family is very thankful for. On Thanksgiving and Christmas, my mom's stuffing was always the first thing to disappear and it was one of my favorite things she made. Some have tried to make this on the side, but it only comes out right when stuffed inside a turkey. I would guess that another type of bird would also work. Here is my mom's "famous" Italian Stuffing recipe just as she typed it, which was passed down from my grandfather's family:
TURKEY STUFFING, ITALIAN STYLE
INGREDIENTS:
1 loaf of Italian bread, left out in pieces to get hard overnight.
1 cup of freshly grated Romano cheese.
1/2 cup of lean ham chopped into small pieces. You can use a little more if desired.
2 teaspoons of very fine chopped fresh parsely.
1 pound of ricotta cheese.
9 eggs.
DIRECTIONS:
In a food processor grind the bread to very fine pieces.
In a large bowl mix the nine eggs and then add the ricotta cheese, just mix together leaving the cheese in chunks.
Add to this the ham, romano cheese, parsely, and bread to make it a consistency to hold together well.
This should be enough to fill a turkey from 15- 25 pounds. If the turkey is smaller you can fill the neck too.












