Flours and Diamonds

... Starts at 7:30pm. (Said in the voice of Sophia Petrillo from the Golden Girls) Picture this: San Jose, 1938. A group of guys decide to meet in a basement on Mondays at 7:30pm. What those guys would do, I can only imagine. As it turns out, one of those guys (also the resident of the house where that basement was located...), was Jimmy (Cheech) Lacitignola - my Grandpa (Gramps/Papa Jim). He met with 6 of his closest friends in that basement on 6th Street in downtown San Jose every Monday, with out fail, at 7:30pm. Except when they didn't.... The United States entered WWII in 1941 and most of the 7 joined up and got shipped out. Those that stayed state-side would send over care packages. They all returned safely, and resumed their meetings. More guys were invited to join, and the club grew. Soon it was official - they were members of the 7:30 Club. They organized dinner-dances where they'd take their wives/girlfriends out for a night on the town, they had BBQs in the s...

It's a case of the Mondays... Welp, In this little posty, you'll get a few things: a recap of the weekend (which is why I've been absent for over a week), a few photos, and a recipe! Wow, you lucky dog! But first, my favorite: HALLOWEEN! This will be short and sweet: I was inspired to dress as a devil this Halloween. It was a first for me. I remember almost every costume - 50's girl, hobo, witch, prairie girl, hippie, water polo player, Poison Ivy, Medusa, female pimp, Jem, peacock, Bride of Frankenstein, white-trash mom, Ursula, etc. In short, I was listening to Fiona Apple back in March and  hear "So what would an angel say? The devil wants to know...." And so, Friday night I donned horns, a make-shift red tutu, face paint, and a devilish grin. Success? I think so... You be the judge! Next: Frank's Birthday! My lovely husband turned 30 on October 16th. He was marginally freaked out about it. So I schemed with Momma Lynn & Janet to t...

When I was a kid, I loved eating microwave dinners. Mostly because they were kind of like a treat. Let me be clear: Momma Lynn was pretty much anti any prepared/ready-made/preservative-packed foods. So we ate good, quality foods. On rare occasions, mostly when we had a babysitter that wasn't our grandparents, we'd go to the store and pick out a microwave dinner. Of course I usually picked something like chicken nuggets with macaroni and cheese. Most often, the "kids" meals had a dessert, too. It was so awesome! As an adult, I had a roommate that loved microwave dinners more than anyone should ever love anything. All too often my house smelled like microwaved meats. It was pretty gross. Eventually, we parted ways, but not before I swore I'd never eat Salisbury Steak, ever, in my whole life. Well, that didn't happen. Lately I've been struggling with cooking dinners. I'm tired of eating the same 10 meals over and over. I had picked up some ground bee...

As I've said in the past, I get very nostalgic. One of my favorite places to get lost in thought is while driving late(ish) at night. Last night, after Zumba*, I called Momma Lynn, as per usual. When we hung up, I turned the radio off, and got lost in thought. By the time I pulled into my driveway, I'd had one of the best streams-of-consciousness in recent memory. It started with me thinking about a field trip to Emma Prusch Park in elementary school, where I tasted fresh butter for the first time. It ended with me thinking about all the awesome things I did while I lived in Los Angeles, and how I'm pretty fortunate to have a good, loving family. Most importantly, during my stream last night, I thought about my husband. Today, he turns 30. He has his moments, moments of: annoyance, greatness, love, caring, loyalty, awesomeness, ridiculousness, grace, strength, irritability, weakness, fascination, and hope. But most of all, his greatest moments are the ones where all t...

Oh Reno... Reno, Reno, Reno. When I was a child, my grandpa would always announce: "Here comes trouble!" when my sister and I would walk into a room. Things didn't change as I grew up... But nevertheless, one of my favorite memories from childhood is from a trip to Reno with Gramps, Uncle Jim, Aunt Julie, my cousins, Josh & Joel, Uncle John, Momma Lynn, Papa Leonard, and Colleen. I spent a lot of time with my cousins in the arcade, and there was even a joke with a whoopie cushion I'm sure none of us will ever forget. Frank and I find ourselves amongst the filthy wealth of Reno at least twice a year. This past weekend marked our third visit of 2014. We ventured north for the Great Italian Festival . Because we're obviously not Italian enough, we had to make it a family affair, with Momma Lynn, Papa Leonard, Frank's parents - Janet & Steve, Auntie Donna, Regina, Uncle John, and Liz. We gambled, and drank, and ate, and drank, and gambled, and ate, a...

Good morning! Here's something you might not know about me: I work for a local radio station in San Jose. Here's something else you might not know: On Thursday mornings at 7:30 you can hear me talk about a recipe. We call it "Foodapedia". It started about 18 months ago, because I would always have an answer to any food/restaurant related question. So I was given the opportunity to share my knowledge with our listeners, and it's really begun to flourish. Incidentally, I also post the recipe to KRTY.com , and to my Foodapedia Facebook page . And now, with the creation of Flours & Diamonds, I'll be posting here, too! But rest assured, there will be plenty of other recipes on other days of the week, too, not just Thursdays. Spaghetti Cacio E Pepe (Spaghetti with Cheese and Pepper) 1 lb good  spaghetti - we only use De Cecco in my house, it's a long story... 4 tbsp butter 2-4 tbsp fresh cracked pepper 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese or peco...

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Second only to Christmas, and the 4th of July. But beyond everything else, it's Halloween. All October long, I get myself ready. Usually, I start scheming next year's costume around November 3. This year, though, I waited quite a while and didn't fully decide on my costume until the first part of September (though I had first considered it around March). Apart from dressing up, I love decorating. Spider webs, black rose wreaths, tomb stones, hanging skeletons, giant spiders, purple lights. Ah! Here in California Halloween typically opens the door for colder weather, hearty soups, and my favorite grandma sweater. Hint: I love Autumn almost as much as I love summer. Frank and I live in a small apartment, so I don't really get to decorate as much as I'd like, especially inside. Fortunately, my sister has a good-size house, so I get to offer her ideas and decorations for her annual party. I wanted to take a minute to share with yo...

First, let me thank you for visiting. I mean, really, truly, Thank you. I can't even tell you how many times I've attempted to write a blog. Whether it started as a weight loss, recipe, or general ridiculousness blog, I've started them all. And now, well, now, I'm hoping, like really hoping, like, fingers and toes crossed, pinkie promise, cross my heart and hope to die, promising that this one is going to stick. Honestly, I even like the description of this blog the best out of all the others I've ever created. I like it because it's real . I can't tell you how often I wake up to song lyrics in my head, or wrack my brain for a recipe, or think of a witty comeback right. on. time. Ah! Success! I describe my brain as a filing cabinet, because, well, it is. Except that unlike a real filing cabinet, I have several drawers open at once. And by several, I mean, like, 89 separate drawers. And no, they don't all close when I try to fall asleep, or focus on...