Memory of a Scent

The other day I picked up my friend Cathy and when she got into the car I said, wow, you smell like high school. She was wearing “Charlie” a perfume that we all wore in high school in the 70’s. For the next ½ hour we talked about the clothes we wore, the music we listened to and the boys we went out with.

Aromas. Fragrances. Good smells. Gross smells. So many are attached to a memory. Sometimes even a bad odor reminds us of a good time. So many people will tell you apple pie or freshly baked choco chip cookies bring back so many memories of childhood. My list is eclectic. Even kind of weird. But whatever. Here we go:

A few days ago I was waiting for the T (Boston’s subway system). I don’t ride the T very often, I mostly drive everywhere as long as I can find a parking space. Sitting and waiting for the train I breathed in the smells of the station. Oily and musty. Not terrible. But it brought back memories of my college days. We used to take the T always. No cars.

Hot french fries with ketchup. Reminds me of summer. Not the taste. Just the smell.

Fresh cut lemons. Always reminds me of being in Israel. I love lemon.

Fresh brewed coffee. Reminds me that coffee is the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel.

Campfire or fireplace smells remind me of late autumn, camping with my parents and of course Thanksgiving which has its own set of fabulous scents.

Grilled meats, country fair foods (peppers and sausages, fried dough) are also high on my list. Not necessarily to eat-just to breathe!

Cigarette smoke reminds me of sitting at an outdoor café in Italy. I hate cigarette smoke but it’s the culture of cafés and coffee.

Cold winter air reminds me of being in the city (New York of course, duh) with my Gram and going to the ballet.

Of course the food smells are constant. Each holiday has a special fragrance. Thanksgiving is sage. Passover is tzimmes (a big mess of yams, carrots, brisket-totally delish). Chanukah is fried latkes (potato pancakes) and hot homemade apple sauce.

Perfumes also bring memories. I don’t wear perfume anymore (my husband is allergic) but when I smell a certain fragrance it reminds me of a certain person or even me, when I used to wear perfume.

Our sense of smell is a wonderful thing. It can trigger an old memory or create a new one.

I probably won’t be posting every week. More like twice a month. Or maybe three times. We’ll see.

It’s turkey time! Wishing all of you a very, very happy Thanksgiving.

Stranded?

 Yes, I am back from the land of pizza, pasta and pane. To tell the truth, I wasn’t quite sure when I would arrive home. A little storm called “Sandy” kind of interfered in my flight itinerary.

I was all set to fly from Venice to Munich to Boston. I had taken the train the evening before from Trieste to Mestre (suburb of Venice). I was staying with friends in Favarro approx. 15 minutes or so from beautiful Venice. The next morning I was to fly fairly early. And then, the dreaded words appeared in my email: YOUR FLIGHT HAS BEEN CANCELLED. I had a feeling something like that would happen. I had been following the Sandy news via Facebook and it wasn’t looking good.

Went to the airport to figure out what to do next. Me and 100’s of other people. We were told all flights to the USA were cancelled. Being that this was Italy, nothing was happening. No surprise there. So, while the line of American tourists slowly freaked out about where to stay, what to do and what to eat, the Italians in line made a fast exit and I went back to Favarro. Called the airline and secured the next flight out. Of course this flight was 5 days later. Oh my. What to do? Five more days in Italy. Such a shame.

Rainy Venice

I always say that when life hands you lemons, forget the lemonade stand and open a franchise instead. I had four more full days to plan and it was lovely. Spent a nice evening in Venice visiting with a friend. The downside to that was acqua alta. It was messy. Raining and rising waters. Even with high rubber boots I ended up soaked to the skin. But hey. Venice is beautiful even in the rain.

Padova

 I spent a wonderful day in Padova. In fact I fell in love with the old city. I could see myself hanging out there for a while. I made new acquaintances. It was a fine four days. I also ate much more than I should have. But it was OH SO GOOD!

 I was concerned with the events happening at home. Fortunately my house was spared with the exception of a few falling branches and a little water in the basement. Others were not so fortunate. Some are still without power and it’s been a week.

Pizza in Mestre

And so, on this election day, I am proud to be an American and very sad to leave Italy behind. I know I’ll be back soon. But not soon enough.

Have a good week all. And for those of you without power, hang in there. If you feel like coming to Boston, there’s a spare room and a hot shower and great coffee. Any time.

Can You Say Food???

Here I am in Trieste. My home away from home. I love it here but not because it’s Italy. My band mates and dear friends live here. If they lived in a remote wilderness I would love that too. It’s not the place. It’s the people. 

caprese

And now let’s discuss food. I mean come on. I AM in Italy after all. I have taken so many food photos that one would think I did nothing all day but eat! I only wish it were true. Mostly, I’ve eaten salads which at this point I can truly say I am tired of grazing. I do love rucola but it’s getting old. Watching my friends chow down on pizza and steaming plates of pasta makes my mouth water. But I’m strong and I will survive and the next time I’m in Trieste I will be at my goal weight. THEN I will have some pizza. But just some. I need to save room for dessert! 

tiramisu

Enjoy the weekend.

What's the Buzz?

Last January I posted a bit about my love affair with coffee. That hasn’t changed a bit. I still go for my morning/afternoon/evening buzz.

The thing is this: I really LIKE coffee. Some people just slug it down for that fast caffeine buzz. But I really like the taste of coffee. I like it strong, thick and sweet. This is why I drink espresso. Black. Yes, yes, I do like the occasional cappuccino or latte and I’m all for iced coffee as long as the temp outside is reasonably warm.

As always, when I have a passion for something, I do a little research. I have a dear friend who works in the coffee business. No, no. He’s not a barista. He is involved with importing beans from South America to Italy and testing the beans for quality. Did I say test? Oh my, my. I do mean TASTE. This is my kind of job.

A few weeks ago he and his lovely wife were in the Boston area and we met for lunch. We had a delightful lunch and they presented me with a big Ziploc bag of fresh roasted beans. Fresh as in roasted yesterday. The fragrance emanating from the bag was heaven on earth.

Anyway, I was curious to know about the coffee business and I asked a million questions. I learned that coffee has overtones, much the way wine does. Fruity, chocolaty etc. It was fascinating. A few days later Xavi asked me what I thought about the blend. I said there was a fruity overtone. He said I was right on the mark. OK…I’m intrigued. I want to know more about this business. 

For some people, coffee is a way to wake up. For me, it’s all about the taste. Yes, I’ll admit to needing my morning caffeine wake up call but I won’t settle for an inferior brew. I don’t mind paying more for a better coffee. I used to swear by Starbucks, but now I’m not so sure I like it. Compared to what I grind, Starbucks tastes bitter and dirty and leaves an unpleasant after taste. Dunks is fine for iced black. My preference when I’m at work is the bar across the hallway which serves up a great Illy espresso. And in the mornings I go for a triple. I’m totally hardcore!!

In a few days I’ll be in Italy again. Trieste. The land of Illy café. You can bet one of the first things I plan on doing is having a coffee.

Have a great week. Next post from Trieste!

And It's Only A Buck!

I have recently discovered something marvelous. The dollar store. OK, so it’s not a new concept I know, but I am thoroughly addicted.

There is a dollar store on my way to work. I stop in there about once a month. This is a REAL dollar store. EVERYTHING is $1.00. It’s amazing. I can walk in there with a twenty-dollar bill and come out with a bag full of wonderful things. 

For example:

When our son moved into his first apartment he needed some drinking glasses. I bought him 6 glasses at a buck a piece. Really nice glasses. I liked them so much that I went back and bought some for our kitchen. I also bought a new set of plates. One dollar each. REALLY nice plates.

Last week I stopped on my way to work. I needed toilet paper. 4 rolls for a buck. The soft kind. How wonderful is that? I also went down an aisle that had the cutest socks. So I bought 5 pairs. Actually, that’s wrong. Several were packaged with 2 pairs. I mean come on. You always need socks. Let’s face it. The washer and dryer have eaten their fair share.

This particular dollar store is extremely organized. I am most impressed when I go there. Not everything  is the greatest quality, but I have to say that I’ve found some really good stuff. The party supplies are outstanding.

Obviously I’m not shopping for clothes (socks don’t count), food or major appliances at a dollar store. But hey…for a few bucks I can cross a few things off my shopping list!

Have a great week everyone. The weather has changed and I’m loving AUTUMN!

The Falling Leaves

Ah, autumn. My absolute favorite time of year. How can you not love it? The crisp air, the beautiful colors, the smells of fireplaces and hot cider.

My favorite month is October. That’s autumn. By November the leaves have all dropped and the color starts to fade. But I also love November.  So many people love summer. I like it too. But it starts to get old. By the middle of September I’m craving soups and sweaters.

Here in the New England/Boston area, we basically have summer and winter, with a month of spring and a month of autumn thrown in for good measure. Maybe. But stick around. The weather will change in 10 minutes!

Here’s my top 10 list of autumn:

1)      Wearing big sweaters and leggings. Now that I can wear leggings I am obsessed with them!

2)      FOLIAGE!!!!

3)      Soups, stews, cider

4)      Fireplaces

5)      Crunching through piles of leaves. As long as there’s no dog poop it’s all good.

6)      Big books. Reading Follett’s Winter of the World.

7)      Down comforters at night and leaving the window open just a crack

8)      Ghosts, goblins and gobblers

9)      Turning the heat on in the car

10)   SCARVES!

There are more, but hey, it’s autumn and so I’m not writing it. I’m going to live it!

Happy October everyone. Have a great week!

Long Live Rock: The Good, The Bad and The Lyrical

Have you ever listened to rock lyrics? I mean REALLY listened to them. Yeah. Most are pretty bad. Don’t get me wrong. The music is awesome. It’s almost as if the lyrics are a second thought. Of course this is a generalization. Not ALL rock lyrics are horrendous. Just a lot of them are pointless. My opinion. And don’t get me started on some of the intensely heavy metal songs. If you can call them songs. Again, I love metal (not the growling songs) and I adore hard rock.

For years I’ve been writing and rewriting lyrics for several hard rock musicians in Italy. It’s a triple process. One musician has finally relented and lets me “create” the lyrics. Some of the others just want their “grammar” corrected.

Triple process= Italian dictionary + American rhyming dictionary + thesaurus. The difficulty lies in the translation. Italian DOES not translate the way we want it to. For that matter neither do most languages. So it comes down to reworking and re translating.

The lyrics I correct are fairly simple and not terribly sophisticated. I tweak them to make them work. Songs about love, heartache, passion blah, blah, blah. It’s rock. It’s blues. Great stuff.

The lyrics I write are not simple and very sophisticated. After finishing a song, my favorite rock musician said…ok Ellen…now you have to explain it to me! I love that. To the American ear, the song makes all the sense in the world. To the Italian ear, it needs a serious translation and analysis. It means I’ve done my job well!

Two of my favorite songwriters are Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. Yes, they both have vocals that sound like sandpaper on gravel. But to me, their lyrics are pure magic. And their music is wonderful. Another amazing band is Pink Floyd. The lyrics are so weird and wonderful. But of course I love them. After all, I sing in a prog rock band!

So turn on the radio. Listen to lyrics. But don’t think too hard. Just enjoy!

Happy Monday all! ROCK ON!!!