Tuna over a bed of little gem and red cabbage, tomatoes, Kalamata and Castelvetrano olives, sorta jammy egg, red onion, sherry vinegar & oo dressing.
I made another batch of Bolognese sauce a few days ago, and defrosted some for another fettuccine Bolognese.
Looks great.
Beauty
Fast fry pork chops with fennel and rosemary
Carbone’s spicy vodka sauce from a jar, with sour cream added rather than cream, on macaroni
Salad with jade lettuce from the garden, basil, oregano, cress, dill, cilantro, oregano, green onion, grape tomatoes, evoo and white balsamic.
The pasta god strikes again
Bucatini and chopped (canned) clams.
I repurposed leftover garlic white wine sauce from a littleneck dish I had at a seafood joint (too good to not take it home). Tons of garlic, touch of butter, lotsa cheap white wine, crushed red pepper, 2 cans of clams, couple of spoonfuls of Genovese basil pesto. B, who is not the biggest pasta eater, had 2 huge servings. ‘Twas better than it looks.
Extreme close-up because no one wants to look at a half-eaten plate of food.
Yesterday was a better day We had a good night of sleep, thanks to a strong fan in the house (the a/c clicked off almost immediately after we turned it on & we still haven’t been able to make it work — despite our host coming by while we were gone, taking a video of what he does, and literally doing the same thing). He also supplied us with the beach towels and snorkel equipment listed in the description of his place, but that didn’t exist in reality.
We have booked a hotel in Ortigia, where we will be moving to on Saturday. Hopefully, the guy will refund us at least a day or two so we’re not bleeding moola for two places
We spent the early afternoon at the gorgeous beach near us, grabbed ourselves a gelato to share, then focused on dinner research.
A fairly new place right on the beach in Marina di Ragusa caught our attention for its fabulous reviews. To use the tired old phrase: it did not disappoint. The view was stunning,
the staff incredibly friendly*, and the prices more than reasonable… despite all the ingredients of a tourist trap.
We shared a ginormous ‘insalata alla nonna’ with local tomatoes, onion, basil & salted ricotta
— very simple but flavorful, and naturally had to get a side of caponata. Another version with carrots, this time with the addition of fennel (yay) and peppers, minus any raisins.
I’m beginning to think that the carrot thing is a SE Sicilian thing, bc we never encountered it in the NW last year, and also that it is considered a contorno here vs. an antipasto. It was good & plentiful.
My PIC chose the pacchero (again with the singular! what is upppp with that???
) con pistacchio e pesce di spada, which was incredible. Nutty, rich, and with a pronounced pistachio flavor. It was also a ginormous portion for an alleged primo & impossible to finish.
Much as I would’ve loved pasta, I’ve not had much of an appetite here (the heat gets to me, even though I love it), so I stuck to the grilled catch of the day (amberjack) with grilled vegetables.
The fish was a bit overcooked and dry, unfortunately, and would’ve benefitted from some lubrication in the form of olive oil & lemon. But since I’d already asked for salt, I didn’t want to ask for more ingredients
A lovely Etna Rosato to drink with.
The leftover veg, caponata, and pasta came home with us & will likely be our dinner tonight at piccola, piccola casa lingua.
*When we weren’t able to add a tip to the card machine, the waiter said it was fine, that “there is no obligation to tip in Sicily.” (WHAT A CONCEPT, EH?) For that comment alone he deserved one , but we had no cash on us. He said he wasn’t going to get to keep it anyway, the owners would take it
I imagine all Crabs have a Soft Shell Stage other wise they couldn’t grow. But have only heard of the Blue Crabs being eaten/fished in that Stage
wow, that’s very reasonable! it costs my sister and I at least double that for 2-3 nigiri, a small sashimi, and one specialty maki, all of which we share!
Not the highest quality I’ve ever had, but very tasty.
It’s a sushi/Korean restaurant so I’ll try some of their other offerings next time. Glad to support them
On @BeefeaterRocks’ recommendation I made a big salad with honey-peanut dressing, grilled marinated chicken, chopped broccoli, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, scallion, and a little bit of quinoa-brown rice blend, garnished with crispy shallots and chopped roasted peanuts. It was good! I liked it best with a drizzle of olive oil and grinding of salt.
Dragged out the old cast iron grill pan for bok choy, giant shiitakes and squid. Plus a little Israeli salad.
Another lovely beach day, more gelato, then dinner al fresco at la casa piccolina. Made a lovely burrata caprese to accompany last night’s grilled vegetables & caponata,
then reheated the pistachio swordfish paccherI in a pan over low heat on the outdoor gas burner.
Saved the leftover pizza from our first night for a possible lunch tomorrow.
Bonus pics of the critters that joined us tonight.

Wow! Your Burger looks so much like mine?! Except mine also has bacon.
Which part of the world did your creation reside in?!
I’m glad you liked it.
My burger had bacon mixed in the ground beef, and it lives on the southern Oregon coast.
Love the Oregon coast!!!..moving from Beef to seafood soon? Shrimp and crab season coming up!