Just had to share these images of dishes that Tracie P made for us over the weekend, my first back at home from a trip too long…
That’s her pastitsio… unlike the Italians, the Greeks use egg in their béchamel, giving the crust of Tracie P’s pastitsio a custard-like texture… unbelievably good…
And last night, speckled butter beans that she had bought fresh and then froze, cooked with bacon and served with her homemade cornbread, made in her grandmother’s cast-iron skillet.
Watching our friend Edoardo Ballerini on Boardwalk Empire last night, munching on cornbread and sipping some 2008 Laurent Tribut Chablis, I felt criminally good…
Maybe its the way she grates her cheese,
Or just the freckles on her knees.
Maybe its the scallions. Maybe she’s Italian.
—Michael Franks, “Eggplant,” The Art of Tea, 1975
Do Bianchi 
You’d have to be the first wine blogger in the world to get Michael Franks’ lyrics into a post.
And, it’s the second time he’s done it! Thank you for the fascinating blog. My KT and I love the scholarship that you bring to your amore di italia.
love that song, 2B :x the year i was born…i just had to be, no?