I'd have loved to have Julia Child cook for me while she was alive. Sadly, she's been gone for many years, but she left us with a cookbook with the essentials of French Cooking. When I was young, I was a reverse snob, thinking that French Food was needlessly pretentious. But that's simply because of cultural influences defined by many of New York's (and America's) early restaurants - French food was a sign of high culture. I had yet to see French food as "Vittles" or "Grub" that the average French person might eat. Luckily, the more I got to know about the world, I learned that she was not as pretentious as my impressions of French Cuisine were.
Living in New York, I find it hard to see Italian food as anything but "Stick to your Ribs" food - there are way too many good inexpensive "Red Sauce" joints in the New York City area that allow me to think of Italian food (even its' American bastardization) as anything but everyday cooking. So, when I go on cruise ships, I tend to avoid the ships' Italian restaurants for good reason - I don't want to be disappointed by a specialty meal which is not so special In fact, the one time RQS and I ate at NCL's Italian restaurant, La Cucina, it was one of the worst meals I ever had on a cruise ship. Yet, Princess's Italian restaurant, Sabbatini's had some of the best Italian food I ever had on a cruise ship, well worth the premium it would cost to dine here. (I shouldn't leave out main dining room selections from MSC, where their Italian selections are always good.)
Tonight, I got dressed for only one reason - I placed an order for delivery from one of the Red Sauce joints near me. This place is predictable and good. But it has absolutely no atmosphere. It's a place where one can order a slice of pizza to stay, eating in a marginally comfortable booth, or have a pizza made for takeaway. This is my one indulgence for the day, as I don't want to cook anything tonight.
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I mentioned that my friend Maria had medical issues. Today, she had a CT scan, and will have the results next week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her.
