Friday was the peak of our FIFTH summer heat wave. 100F and to top it off we were the recipient of enormous clouds of Saharan sand. Great huh? Can it get any grosser?

Today, Saturday, it is not as hazy but more humid than I have ever felt here. Oppressive. Also still going to the upper 90s. I managed to get out to the market this morning. We are in the middle of our big town festival. It is the four day fest called La Fratta Otto Cento. Unlike most towns in Umbria who do medieval festivals, our town does one celebrating the creation of Italy as a country in the 1860s. It reenacts the events. People dress in costumes from the 1800s. The town was dressed to the nines for the festival. I used to live right in the middle of it so I have gone many times. I’m not going now, but here are a couple pictures with the bunting. The Rocca with the Italian flag, which the Briganti will take down and replace with theirs tonight. Also the market which was moved to the foot of La Rocca.

I’m such a summer tomato freak. You all know that. So here is what I bought. 😁 we are almost at the end of the season. 😞 These ones look great though. Also, everyone had habaneros! Millions of them. What the Italians do with them I don’t know. I bought some for my Haitian stew and also what I think is a cayenne. I will use that in my penne arrabbiata tonight, angry pasta!

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What I have been cooking

Spanish omelette. I had never made one of these before. I saw a recipe for one online and saved it. It was super simple with just three ingredients. It called for parboiling potato and onion slices. I decided to do a little research on the internet. I found a Spanish recipe which sounded more authentic to me. It called for cooking the potato slices in 1/2” of good olive oil. And then caramelizing the onion slices. You let them cool. Then whisk five or six eggs well and add the onions and mix them in. Then add the potato slices and mix gently. This should sit for no less than 15 minutes. Then fry this mixture in a frying pan. The recipe said, “put a large plate over the pan and confidently flip it so the omelette can be returned to the pan” and the other side gets cooked. I am proud to say that I confidently did this and the omelette turned out perfect. It tasted sublime. The sweet flavor of the caramelized onion really came through. I served it with a green salad.

Tomato Avocado chickpea salad with Feta dressing. This was a perfect summer salad for when the tomatoes are at peak ripeness and flavor. Recipe modified from NYT recipe.

This weekend is the “grande rientro” the grand reentry. The highways will be jammed. Best to avoid travel on this weekend. All the Italians are returning home to prepare for real life again. Everyone goes back to work. It will be possible to get things done again. The kids get ready for school. Life returns to normal. It’s a bit sad. Ciao!