in to the kitchen

So, I promised that I would post some of my recipes here and by public demand (Gretchen) here is the pizza sauce recipe, I hope y'all enjoy.

                                                                                                             Love 

                                                                                                            Ricardo

Papa Riccardo's (looks more italian) Pizza Sauce (you hava to talka with youra  hands!)

Ingredients
6 whole tomatoes, cut in to halves
3 Tbsp of tomato paste
1 small white onion minced
2 clove garlic minced
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cups of Merlot
salt and pepper to taste
Pinch sugar, optional
2 tablespoons olive oil, to saute

Directions
In a saucepan add the olive oil, over a medium high flame and heat a little. Add the onions and saute until slightly translucent. Add the garlic and saute about a minute until golden. Quickly crushed the tomatoes to the mix (yes that means crush them with your hands, kill the bastards until they are mushed to pieces) this will release the juice of the tomatoes and will allow it to form a puree. Add the Merlot, bay leaves, tomato paste, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and add the oregano. Stir well and bring to a simmer. You can add a touch of sugar if you want if tomatoes are tart. Simmer on a low flame, stirring often for at least 35 minutes or until  reduced (half of the liquid is evaporated). Once reduced, remove the bay leaves  Presto! you hava the pizza sauce!

Enjoy!


A few Italian phrases to go with your meal

prego - please
pronto! vieni a mangiare -  Ready, come and eat 
Riccardo, che ragazzo straordinario - I am going to use  Ricardo's secret sauce
Ragazzo straordinario, ho certo voglia che mi avrebbe sposato- I've never tasted anything like this before!
se questa salsa era una persona, io la sposare! - This sauce is delicious!
grazie - thank you

in to the jaws of the parental units

As I left Arizona with mixed emotions, my heart breaking for the ones that I left behind and happiness for the ones that i was about to see, i realized that I was closing a big chapter in my life and about to embark in to the unknown.  While I was driving I kept praising the creator of smartphones, may god bless him and all his children! I had a way to still be linked to all my friends, even while driving (don't tell Oprah)! I thought to my self "I still have them with me!" All their good wishes and jokes accompanied by my favorite music (no artist are mentioned here on account that y'all think I'm a geek) were great road entertainment, keeping me awake during the 5.5 hr drive that was supposed to start at 3:30 but really didn't start until 5:00 and no, I wasn't speeding.

It was just the dull road, me, my blackberry and Kermit, oh, and a box of Cliff bars. I approached the border with California and I felt my heart jump! One thought came to my mind "so long Sheriff Joe, I will miss you the most." It's funny how even the smell of the air changes and how you noticed the smallest details about your surroundings, like trying to make a mental picture. It is the last time I will drive this road, it is the last time I will go through Yuma (i don't know if that's a bad thing) and as I told Kermit, a la Wilson in the castaway, it will be the last time some people will remember me, HOW PATHETIC AM I?! so melodramatic, at this time I should have started to sing "Adio il pasato" or some sort of aria where the main character in a Grand Opera is about to die. and give end to the play.

"San Diego   69" I was in Mariposa, as I chuckled reading this sign, remembering Gretchen paging me so many times using her special code. Then the ocean came to view, "Holy crap! I'm here with all my schiesse on top of my car. I'm really here and no turning back, I'm really doing this"  I'm here, and I should start acting again like a local, not like some tourist from Arizona, so first things first. I had to do what I was told by Diana "Give a kiss to the beach" she posted, and so I did. So not tourist like of course, I went in fully clothed in to the freezing cold water, like baptizing my self and saving my self from the dust of the desert, washing it all away and substituting it for sand. As I lay in the sand i remembered that I still had my phone in my pocket... OH NO! Black Berry! Say it ain't so! Not YOU! My last link was gone, I was incommunicado.

As I got home, to the my family awaiting for me impatiently, i enter the door and i hear "why haven't you called,?Why are you covered in sand? look at you, you have a beard... you need to get cleaned... I was worried sick, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" my mother said with a cracked voice, trying to contain her self from crying. i just said "I love you too ma'" My father with his droopy eyelids and that beautiful smirk, that only he could have, just gave me a hug and said "welcome home... now listen to your mother...we all have to" More like a sigh and warning mixed together. We just laughed and came in.

I woke up around dinner time and it was a  whole production where my mother was trying to feed me as though I had just come from war or had spent a whole year fasting... I needed to eat more. At this point all my stuff is still in my car and I don't even want to look at it, not even to get my overnight bag.  i went to my room to have some alone time, or so I thought.

"Are you Ricky?" a little voice said storming in to my room, it was my nephew Niko. "Yup" I replied. "So, what's your name? Where do you live? Who are you? What are you doing? Wanna wrestle?" How could I say no to that. Niko and I played for about 30 minutes until my sister came in  to the living room holding in her arms a little Medusa.  Kamila had grown so much since the last time i saw her and her unruly hair and big piercing eyes just grab me by surprise, I was done for...she had me at the first loud  "AHHHH!"

A week has gone by and I went through my lows, very lows and not so low days... passing every step of mourning. I finally decided to start unloading my car.  Today was the last bag and it's finally done.  I'm done unloading, not unpacking, because the journey has just begun...