Before I left the company, I got a lovely present from one of my supervisors- Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. She’s basically the Julia Child of Italian food instruction (except she yells at you a little more). I’d actually been looking for her books at my local used book stores. So bravo to Tracy! Excellent choice.

Yesterday, I made “A Single Fish Cooked Fish-Soup Style.” I described it to my brother as a fish soup, then outlined the ingredients, and he said, “Sounds like cioppino.” I described it to my mom as cioppino, and she said, “Without shellfish or fennel or stock?” So it’s kind of halfway between the two. Seriously, one of the easiest things I’ve ever made. I used about a pound each of swordfish steaks and red snapper fillets. When I make it again, I’m just going to stick to one fish- probably the red snapper. I had moments of panic thinking about doneness, because the swordfish steaks were quite a bit thicker than the red snapper. Also, I had too much fish and not enough soup. So, one pound of fish next time. And I’m not quite sure how to reheat it without overcooking the fish. I should have known better and had people over to eat it all up.

Why am I the best sister ever? When Jon and Ryan came back from Hawaii, they had several containers of stock, a loaf of bread, and a batch of cookies waiting for them. Why are Jon and Ryan the best family members ever? They brought me salt. Beautiful red salt.

I think today is going to be spent moving stuff around on my shelves so I have enough space for all my lovely cookbooks.