There might not be any news on the citizenship, however I have done plenty of cooking in the Italian arena.

Last Thanksgiving, I took my first try at making rice balls (aka arancini).  My entire life, I’ve sat in awe of my Uncle Sam’s rice balls at the dining room table.  So delicious. So perfect.  The smell of fried cheesy rice heaven filling the house.  My mom eventually learned to make them by studying her brother make them step by step.  And her first attempt was a small failure to those of us knowing what they should taste like (note: she has since had no problems and also makes delicious rice balls).  So of course, when I decided I would attempt them for a large group Thanksgiving extravaganza, I was more than a tad anxious.

*photo by Dara Weinberg

It may or may not be surprising that they were hands down delicious.  Though always much nicer to have someone else prepare. They are a bit labor intensive.  But look how pretty:

I’m gonna keep this recipe to family, but basically it’s a really cheesy rice mixture stuffed with a spicy meat mixture rolled in breadcrumbs and fried. Hard not to be delicious.

I’ll most likely make them again this year, since they were such a big hit last year.  Plus, I really love them. Though, I think I’ll try making a few vegetarian ones this year so that those few sad meatless folks can enjoy them too.

Two days ago, I celebrated my lack of Irish heritage with a little St. Patrick’s Day fun.  I will celebrate anything. Apparently, March 23 is National Puppy Day. Perhaps that means I should go get a puppy?? Hmmm, I wish.

Well, today is St. Joseph’s Day.  And in honor of my Sicilian heritage, I will celebrate!  The festivities aren’t quite as fun as St. Patrick’s day, but whatevs.  Tonight I will make sfinge.  (Recipe posted here last year.)  I have also been wanting to check out the Italian church in downtown LA.  They apparently have Mass in Italian every Sunday and I’ve never made it down there.  They have a huge St. Joseph’s Table every year and it lasts all weekend.  So, if my plan works out, I will wake up on Sunday morning and venture downtown for some Italian church and food.

And here’s a random Italian phrase to use this weekend… adding this to the pick-up line bank.

Il mio bicchiere si sente solo. Vorresti tenergli compagnia con il tuo?
• My drink is getting lonely. Would you like to join me with yours?

Use it well, my friends.  And Buon la Festa di San Giuseppe!

Well, this morning I called up the lovely people in New Orleans.  The woman who helped me was also named Kathleen, so I was hoping for good things.  And while she extremely nice and really wanted to help me, she couldn’t do anything for me.  Since the death certificates are over 50 years old, they are stored in archives. And once a record goes to archives, the Department of Health Vital Records Division cannot do a thing.  I would have to contact the people in archives.

So I picked up the phone and called Louisiana State Archives.  They were not helpful. They weren’t even nice.  According to the unnamed woman (she wouldn’t even tell me her name!), once a document is in archives, it is officially an historical document and she cannot make changes. There is no loophole.  It is official… even if the data is wrong!

Here I am trying to correct their error.  I’m trying to fix their account of ‘history.’ She would have nothing of it. I tried explaining that the Italians are very picky about their facts. They need everything to match–names, dates, the whole lot. The unnamed woman says to me, ‘I see it all the time.  Documents don’t always match up. But it’s okay. You just gotta roll with it. Dates are quite commonly off by a couple of days or years.’ What?! That’s crazy talk.

So I said to her, ‘But if these dates are off, couldn’t it be seen as two different people?  I mean, how many people do you know name Jim Landry or Chris Billeaud or John Smith, for that matter? They could all be born in and around the same time and you’d be willing to mix up their identities because the documents are there and you’re just gonna roll with it.  How can you accept these inaccuracies when I want to help you fix them?’

She apologized for offering me no help and wished me luck on my journey to nowhere, as my problem cannot be fixed.

So, I now ask you,

Are you personal friends with anyone at the Italian Consulate? LA, Houston, New Orleans?? Do you have a friend who has a friend with a connection at the Italian Consulate?  I need a connection.  Preferably one that can convince the Italians to accept me and my flawed records.

In the mean time, I’m going to try and get an appointment with the Consulate General in Houston during my trip back in December. Last year, they were on holiday while I was in town and couldn’t meet with me.  Hopefully this year, they decide to leave for vacation a bit later.

Current mood: Frustrated. Disappointed. Meh.

Alright fine…

A year has passed since news came out about a town in Sicily offering property for 1 euro. That’s right, ONE EURO.  And the town council is still accepting applications.  Now do you see where I’m going here??

They are still accepting applications, people.  If that’s not an offer you can’t refuse, I don’t know what is.  Seriously, 1 euro.

Salemi is about 96km southwest of Palermo,the capital of Sicily.  And it’s about 70km west of Corleone.  Wine vineyards, easy access to the Mediterranean, wonderful Italians everywhere.

So, here’s the deal: a large part of Salemi was destroyed in an earthquake and has never been rebuilt.  The town council owns all the property and in an effort to invigorate the city, they are selling each house for one euro with the requirement being that you have to refurbish and restructure the house within three years. There’s a whole application process, and they are weeding through applications, but they have 3,700 pieces of property! Thirty-seven-hundred!  One of those could be us.

Needless to say, I’ve spent a fair amount of time looking into this.  And while it won’t end up being 1 euro in the end, it’s totally worth it.  Think of the bonding time we’d have while trying to rebuild a house. Think of the dinners we’ll cook together.  Think of vacations or simply living day to day in the Sicilian countryside.

This could be the chance of a lifetime.  All I’m saying is how can you say no to this? Seriously.  Think it over and let’s come up with a plan.  A year from now we could be in Salemi rebuilding an old house on a hillside.  It’s your very own Under the Tuscan Sun… but not in Tuscany. And there won’t be a Polish work crew.

This is where we could be.  Let it marinate.  It won’t take long for you to realize you have no choice. You cannot refuse this offer.

Now, all we have to do is find money to fix it up.

1. Delicious coffee and cake at Italian bakery
2. Looked into Italian language schools
3. Thoroughly researched buying land in Sicily
4. Came up with brilliant reality show idea allowing me to move to Italy
5. Wished a couple of people Happy Birthday in Italian
6. Found a few delicious recipes for classic Sicilian dishes
7. And finally purchased The Godfather Restoration Set

That Bugs seriously gets me every time.

Well, I just recently watch Fellini’s 8 ½ for the first time.  I know, I know, where have I been?  La Dolce Vita, which Fellini made three years prior to 8 ½, is on the list of my top five favorite films.  I love, love, love La Dolce Vita.  I’ve just always been so enamored with La Dolce Vita, that I never got around to seeing 8 ½. And now… 8 ½ is vying for a spot on the list. Seriously, amazing. 

Anyways, 8 ½ … on the very basic level, is about a director trying to make a movie.  He’s flooded with producers, actors, writers and women stifling his creativity.  Guido (Marcello Mastroianni) is experiencing a creative block that keeps bringing him in and out of reality, back and forth between flashbacks and the present.  It’s smart and funny and the whole time it’s making me realize I need to get off my arse and do something.

It’s been exactly three months since I’ve written anything here.  No new developments.  I don’t have Italian citizenship yet. I’m still not fluent in Italian.  And no planned trips abroad.

There’s a flashback scene in 8 ½ when Guido was a small child.  Just before bed his brother and him whisper the words, ‘Asa Nisi Masa.’  They say it’s a spell meant to bring the pictures to life after dark.  It’s sort of like Pig Latin or Gibberish.  Little Italian kids would take words, separate by syllables and add the letters ‘sa,’ ‘si’ and ‘sa’ after alternating syllables.  Thus breaking down the spell, it comes down to ‘anima’ which literally means spirit or life force and has references to the female spirit.

Just as Guido in both his flashback and in the present is trying to bring pictures to life, I feel a sort of push to get moving. Nino Rota’s incorporation of the classic “Barber of Seville” into the score has infected me.  Ba ba ba ba-da… Ba ba ba ba-da… I seriously cannot stop.

I’m hoping this musical infection of sorts, this Fellini spell, will kick me into gear to make things happen.  Finish up the paperwork for the application, study Italian on a regular basis, watch more Italian films, experiment more with cooking and finally sit down and write.

This is my plan. We’ll see how it goes.

But to bring the celebration to full strength, I had most of my family in town visiting and we ate far too much and had way too much fun.  Caleb and Lea and I went to the Dodgers game on Friday and saw an exceptional game plus a nice little fireworks show.  Saturday we embraced il vino at the LA Wine Fest, and yet again, had a good time.

Sunday the parents and Michael arrived and we all enjoyed an Italian picnic (including riceballs, paninis, and wine) while seeing Andrea Bocelli at the Hollywood Bowl.

That’s the view from our seats.  Not the greatest quality photo, but trust me the view up there is spectacular.  It was an absolutely phenomenal show. Not that I’ve ever had a bad time at the Hollywood Bowl, it’s just this was exceptional.

Monday night we ate more Italian food.  Followed by fried chicken and waffles on Tuesday… not exactly on theme with the rest of the meals, but dangerously delicious.  And Wednesday being my birthday we of course ate more Italian.

Okay, here’s the place. Michelangelo’s Ristorante. Absolutely fabulous.  We started with several delicious appetizers and ended with several delicious desserts.  But in between, I had the most glorious entree.  Can you hear my mouth watering? And I haven’t even told you what I ate yet.  I ordered one of their specials for the night… Eggplant Parmesan.  But it was prepared like a lasagna.  The eggplant was thinly sliced, breaded and fried. Then layered in a baking dish with tomato sauce and mozzarella and then baked.  It was out of this world delicious.  It’s seems like it would be fun to experiment with in the kitchen. Not sure if I could match their flavors, but oh to dream.

Anyways, I had an absolutely wonderful visit with the family. Thanks mom and dad for a great birthday celebration.  Glad ya’ll were able to make it out here!

In other news, I met up again with one of my Italian groups out here and played Bocce on the beach.  I think I must just be a natural.  My team won with flying colors! Well, it’s either an innate skill or the winds were in our favor.  But I like to think I’m just naturally inclined to win.

Also, my language skills are dwindling, so I bring you a completely random phrase:

Perche lei ha mangiato il mio asino? – Why did you eat my donkey?

I first received an email asking if I’d yet received the certified copies of the Certificate of Naturalization for Liborio Marcello.  Answer is no, but at least they are working on it and diligent in making sure I do in fact get this certified copy.

About an hour after that, the mail arrived at the office with, lo and behold, a letter from USCIS telling me they’ve come up empty on my request for Anna Liggio Marcello.

While yes it’s true I’ve gotten close to squat in actual documents today, I do know that (1) the Certificate of Naturalization for Liborio is most likely almost in my hands and (2) since there is no record on Anna, I just need to write the lovely people in DC and get my official letter stating there is in fact no record.

Getting closer… kind of.

Here’s the recipe:

1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 pinch cinnamon or nutmeg
2 tsp white sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 qts vegetable oil for frying
confectioners sugar for dusting

Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Stir in the eggs, ricotta cheese and vanilla. Mix gently over low heat until combined. Batter will be sticky. Drop by tablespoons into the hot oil a few at a time. Zeppole will turn over by themselves. Fry until golden brown, about 3 or 4 minutes. Drop on paper towel to soak up the excess oil and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Best when warm of course.

I’ve read alot of variations on the recipe and some people even add in raisins or dried fruit, or dust with cinnamon and sugar instead of powdered sugar.  I kept it fairly simple but added the cinnamon to the batter for a little pizazz.