Together Again, to Eat the Italian Way!

It was the trip of a lifetime! Lori and I met up with Ron Smith, my favorite missionary companion from my time in the Italy Catania Mission in the early 1980s, and his wife, April, for 16 wonderful days in Italy. That was in the spring of 2023. Ever since our return home, I missed Italy. I longed for it - the land, the food, the people and the culture. And it was oh so great to rekindle a friendship with Ron and April that skipped several decades. 

That is why it was just wonderful to hear the Smiths planned a family trip to Montana a mere five months after our time in Italy together. Lori and I were really happy to host Ron and April during the Memorial Day weekend. Yes, there was reminiscing, game playing and, of course, eating!

We had a two-pronged approach in the kitchen. April and Lori oversaw the creation of caccio e pepe (Italian translation: cheese & pepper), the provincial pasta of the Rome region, while Ron and I made panzarotti (recipe here), basically a deep-fried calzone from the Puglia region. 



We had other locally-procured goodies, too, like green salad, baguettes from a Missoula bakery that are as close to authentic Italian bread as I've found in western Montana, the same orange Fanta soda you can find in Italy (available at World Market) and a home-baked, Lori-made huckleberry pie from berries Lori and I picked in the mountains above our home earlier that summer.

Bread served on an olive wood cutting board Lori got in Italy
Panzarotti anyone?

Caccio e pepe with Pecorino Romano cheese

Such a great evening with great friends, great conversation and great food!

The best plate of Italian food in the western hemisphere

Lori's homemade huckleberry pie

Comments

  1. RonFebruary 6, 2025 at 11:51 PM

    Great post, and great memories. What a lovely evening with amazing food and even better company!

    ReplyDelete

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