Scout and I went to Piccolo Italia (Little Italy) today to pick up a few of my favorite things - pasta e gelato.

It is still very warm here in San Diego, California so our first stop was at Cafe Italia per gelato espresso. Scout waited patiently. If you are wondering whether I looked silly taking pictures of my dog while standing in line here, I did, but really, who cares. The Italians have a saying, "No te preoccupare" (which literally translates to "Don't preoccupy you" or non-literally, "No worries") and is always accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders and a tsk sound as though to say, well, "Who cares. Life is short. Enjoy ...".

Next, Assenti's Pasta where I bought fatto a mano (hand-made), gluten-free linguini. This pasta is made from CeCe (chickpeas) which is pronounced che-che in Italian - another fun word to say. Take a look at their website for recipes like portobello ravioli con salsa di noci (mushroom ravioli with walnut sauce). This shop was started by Adriana e Umberto Assenti and is now managed by their handsome sons, Roberto e Luigi. It is always a pleasure to be assisted by a handsome Italian man.


Ciparliamo presto
(We (informal) will speak to one another soon).