Comfort Food…
We celebrated our anniversary this past Sunday at Next. The theme was Sicily and the menu could not have been more perfect. Comfort food at its best. Rich caponata atop crispy panelle, simmering bucatini and gemelli pastas perfected with sardines and bottarga, succulent pork shoulder served with flash fried green and yellow zucchini and the most amazing pesce spada (or swordfish) with a hefty mint and garlic pesto (the flavors cancel each other out - genius!). And the cassata! This ricotta-filled cake with a pastel blue icing…I’m not Italian/Sicilian, so I’ve never experienced this dessert, but I married into some Italian heritage and we may need to make this a new tradition for special holidays! Yes, it’s that good (gluten be damned).
Comfort food was fitting because our little guy was very sick…for the first time. I’m sure you parents reading this know how heart-breaking it is to have a sick child. You feel so helpless, especially not knowing how to fix the problem (besides regular doses of Motrin). We debated even going to dinner, but surprisingly, could not sell our tickets until it was too late. My in-laws saved the day and were knocking on our door before I could put on my heels. Thank goodness for close family! Little was was in good hands and we were able to enjoy dinner knowing that our little patient was at home with some much needed TLC. We even brought home the majority of our pork shoulder so that they could experience a little Sicily, too…
