It’s been a couple of weeks not riding my bike. I injured something in my back on a ride (GPS #36 – link here). I had tightness in my back in the past but never to this extent. I was fearful of needing surgery, but our son (the doctor…I love saying that!) says it’s muscular. So, after a bunch of stretching, I got on my bike for a short ride the other day.
In the meantime, another story from the 70s and Great Pasta Search (GPA) #5, Past e’ Fazoo Part 3!
Words of the Day
Usually, this section focuses on Neapolitan words, but today is different for reasons that you will see later!
— Coon Jaw [Coon Jawed – past tense] – to get staggeringly drunk
——- I’m not quite sure how this one came about. Urban Dictionary has a plausible definition, but we used this 35 years before Urban Dictionary existed (see link here)
— Ralph – the sound made by those who are sick from being Coon Jawed
— Praying to the Porcelain God/Goddess – hanging on to a porcelain white orifice while making the RALLLPHPHPH sound
Both “Ralph” and “Praying” are likely known by most. These were used AND EXPERIENCED, by myself and some select HS friends.
Praying to the Wooden Dorm Closet!
College is tough; especially 1st term of freshman year. In my case, playing football, getting a serious knee injury, the onset of a Northeast/Midwest winter, being a pre-med major (it took a couple of years to figure out that wasn’t for me…couldn’t touch the frogs in biology!), and it was my first time away from home.
Luckily, there were a couple of HS classmates (Lori G. and Betsy M.) also at Allegheny which helped, but if I remember, they were a little homesick too even though it was only an hour from home!
By spring, I was ready for a getaway. Carm and I had traded correspondence throughout the 1st term, and at Christmas break, I made plans to visit him at the University of Akron.
It took a couple of hours to drive from Allegheny to Akron. Once there, I met Carm’s roommate, Brad.
I distinctly remember Carm’s dorm room because Lil’ Spicy’s freshman dorm room was identical! Once through the door, immediately on the left were twin, wooden closets without doors; one for each roommate. In front of the closets Carm and Brad had put a love seat sofa which would be my bed for the weekend.
Another thing that I remember about that weekend was the “Baby Come Back” by Player was famous, and I can recall Carm and I (and likely others) singing it at the top of our lungs.
Well as things go (then and now) when you visit friends at other colleges, there is much imbibing, and we were pretty COON JAWED! I remember getting back to that love seat sofa and all hell broke loose! And, as it goes when visiting friends at other colleges, the room started to spin!
I got up off of the sofa bed, walked around the side of the love seat sofa, and past Carm’s closet. And, as it goes when visiting friends at other colleges, I was looking for the bathroom.
I guess that’s when I made it to the opening to Brad’s closet, thinking that I’d made it to the bathroom, and proceeded to CALL FOR RALPH while PRAYING TO THE WOODEN DORM CLOSET; all over Brad’s clothing and shoes…OOPS!!!!
According to Carm, he typically sees Brad at Christmas each year…and PRAYING TO THE WOODEN DORM CLOSET is usually part of the conversation…OOPS!!!!
Past e’ Fazoo – Part 3 and a Special Treat!
All summer, I talked about trying to make my own past for Past e’ Fazoo. Although I’ve made homemade past about 10 times this summer, I’d not been able to master how to make ditalini by hand.
But, as the cooler days of fall have arrived, making Past e’ Fazoo on a Friday afternoon like Granpa Tony became a priority. Granpa Tony had Past e’ Fazoo ready for us each Friday when we pulled into his house on the way to Cleveland for T’s football games at Case.
So, I broke down and used boxed ditalini for Great Pasta Search (GPa) #5 – Past e’ Fazoo, Part 3!
THE PAST E’ FAZOO WAS GREAT!
And a Special Treat…Taralli!
As a special treat, I decided to also make Taralli for the first time!
The first time I had taralli was on a trip to Campania in 2017. We’ve made sure to get taralli as a walk-around snack each time we visit, and we pick up a package at Napoli’s airport for the return home.
Taralli originated in Southern Italy, likely Puglia. Each southern province has its own version. Puglia and Calabria have small, roundish, crunchy “biscuits” of olive oil with fennel or pepper. Whereas taralli in Napoli and Campania are typically round and braided dough with nuts and are very crumbly.
Last May (2019) while biking from Monopoli in Puglia, across southern Italy, and up the Amalfi Coast to Sorrento, I kept a bag of taralli in my jersey pocket during the entire 250 + mile ride!
Taralli were simple but labor-intensive; making the dough, rolling, cutting, and shaping the dough, boiling the “biscuit”, then baking. It was the rolling and cutting that is the most painstaking.
BUT, THEY WERE INCREDIBLE! Even more incredible with an espresso! So, with Santa Catharina’s help, we made a double batch this week!
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