Oh to be Italian...

As my increasing waste line will testify, I have been trying for some time to eat my way into being Italian. I love Italian culture and have always been fond of the flair, artistry, and identity of Italians. And, of course, I love Italian food. If I was the POTUS, I'd have some really important person in the Italian government over to the White House every week, just because of the food I'd get to eat. My wife and I went to an Italian restaurant years ago, and our server was a true-blue Italian, and I loved him. At the end of the meal, as we were walking out, this server shook my hand firmly and thanked me for coming. I've never felt so important in my life! Since then, my wife and I have had the privilege of going to NYC a few times and have eaten in Manhattan's Little Italy each time. Each experience has been wonderful, with outstanding food, great service, and authentic atmosphere. All this to say that I despite my Scot-English heritage, I have wanted to be considered an honorary Italian.

Well, last night I took a stab at cooking some Fettucine Alfredo. Now I know that those of you who have refined tastes and superior culinary skills will scoff at such a meager attempt to cook Italian. But my culinary skills are basically zero. I cook a few things pretty well, but my repertoire is quite limited. So for someone with my skill set, Fettucine Alfredo is a big deal. Besides, it's the effort and desire that counts, right? Well not exactly, but anyway, the meal turned out to be pretty daggum good. My Fettucine can't really compete with authentic Fettucine that's made from scratch at your better Italian joints. But I bought some of the ingredients from an authentic Italian bakery/grocer, and I think it made a difference. I liked it, my wife liked it, and our guests said they liked it. Considering that Domino's was Plan B, my Fettucine can be chalked up as a mild success. Hopefully, I can tweak the recipe and make it even better (or more probably worse) in the future. In my world of limited successes and frequent failures, my adventure in the kitchen yesterday goes down as a W.