Italy on my mind

Not a bad thing to wake me up at 4 am, that's for sure! Mind too busy checking off items on my to do list before we leave on Sunday. Today, getting Annabelle's palate expander put in, slogging through financial aid labyrinth, taxes, and stuff had my brain spinning. So I grabbed GJ and headed out into the rain for a visit to Dish, my favorite store here located in Warren, RI. (Go!!!!) Nothing like a 25% off sale when you're having some shopping therapy! An hour chatting with our favorite owners and trying on clothes (ok, and buying some too) lifted spirits and cleared my head. Dropped some homemade pesto at Gogo's, then home for some cooking therapy, which I admit works even better than shopping therapy. Laurie Colwin's tomato pie and, since our grill died, burgers on the grill pan. Have you made that recipe? I'm going to post it here. So easy and yummy. Don't be scared away by the mayo/lemon juice stuff. Somehow it works. If you don't know about Laurie Colwin, please read her. She was a columnist for Gourmet magazine and her books HOME COOKING and MORE HOME COOKING are delightful. She also wrote fiction, and when I was an aspiring writer living in Greenwich Village, I hoofed it over to Three Lives bookstore in a cold icy rain to hear her and Deborah Eisenberg read their short stories that were in The New Yorker that week. I arrived late, or just on time as they hadn't yet started but there were no seats, so I was directed to sit literally at their feet. The smell of steam heat and wet wool. Those two women writers. All of it added up to create magic, and somehow I left there knowing I could do it. I could be a writer. Sadly, Laurie Colwin died young. But I think of her every summer when the tomatoes are red and juicy and the basil hangs in abundance in our yard. 

http://oneforthetable.com/Vegetarian-Entrees/laurie-colwins-tomato-pie.html