Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

If You Are What You Eat….

Pasta for lunch

 

Some people think carbs is a dirty word instead of an abbreviation for carbohydrate. Though are family thinks carbs in the form of pasta means delicious love affair.

Honestly, we must be Italian, how other could it be that Chelsea, Sacha, French Husband and I could be so taken in by it?

Just the other evening Sacha put aside some pasta for his breakfast. I tell you he has it bad. I must confess French Husband and I went for pasta at an Italian restaurant in China. Crazy but true considering the Chinese have plenty of noodle dishes. But it wasn't pasta.

If we are what we eat, then we must be Italian.

 

Pasta with artichokes and walnuts

 

Al Dente pasta or throw it out.

That's right throw it out, and throwing out food is something that makes me cringe. But eating soggy pasta is, well, garbage. 

Few things get my goat so to say, and when it comes to trivial things getting my goat ,soggy pasta is one of them, so is cracking knuckles… God I cannot stand that.

If you want to torture me just serve soggy pasta, crack your knuckles, play heavy metal music and ban brocante. I would confess to anything after that in record speed.

 

 

Pasta with artichokes

 

I bet you thought this post was going to about pasta, or Italy, or at least a recipe.

I thought so too, but got kinda sidetrack with my own carrying on about trivial torture.

What rubs you the wrong way? Trivial stuff only, because I am not in the mood for life serious torture today.

Or if you have a recipe for pasta and you don't mind sharing it, or linking it, then please serve it al dente please.

Comments

69 responses to “If You Are What You Eat….”

  1. kim

    Here’s what I was going to say: I don’t like it when people talk loud (but then I remembered that I’ve been known to do that) and I don’t like it when people sigh for no reason (but I’ve been known to do that, too… when I’m overwhelmed with life.) Now I’m afraid to say what annoys me because it might be me!!
    But soggy pasta… yes. I once embarrassed myself terribly by serving horrible soggy pasta to guests.

    Reply
  2. ella

    i think if i dished up pasta every night there would be hardly a murmur…… favorites include homemade pesto(all varieties), good olive oil and chili, a huge homemade lasagna (tonight’s offering), creamy mushroom and our constant standby breadcrumb pasta ….what gets my goat today… queuing behind ignorant people, broken eggs for breakfast….messy teenagers!

    Reply
  3. Carol

    My very mechanically talented husbands constant inability to “click” the roll of toilet paper into the holder so when the next person (moi) goes to use it, it jumps off and rolls across the bathroom floor……ahhh, that felt good to say out loud.

    Reply
  4. Paulita

    My daughter and I are eating gluten free right now, so no pasta. Horrors!
    What drives me crazy? Books that are predictable. I hate to be able to guess what happens next.

    Reply
  5. Monica

    The name ‘Amaro’ is not Italian???

    Reply
  6. Jeanette

    when you are telling a story and someone decides they can tell it better! but I find my self guilty of this when husband or children take to long to get to the point/funny part!! LOL! I do try to be quiet but sometime I just can’t help it!!!

    Reply
  7. Gracie

    It’ always bothered me that outside Italy they have the tendecy to overcook pasta, “al dente” seems a word they don’t know or understand. Glad to see you’re on the right side of it, if you want an honorary citizenship, let me know!

    Reply
  8. Gracie

    I eat gluten-free too but I eat rice and corn pasta or, better, buckwheat pasta.

    Reply
  9. Cheryl ~ Casual Cottage Chic

    According to Wiki “Amaro (meaning “bitter” in Italian, plural Amari) is a variety of Italian herbal liqueur, commonly drunk as an after-dinner digestif. It is usually bitter and sweet…” Ah, perhaps the Amaro in you drives you to your love of pasta 😉

    Reply
  10. herhimnbryn

    I love pasta too…..keep it simple is my motto..
    http://acceptallofferings.blogspot.com/2009/11/124_09.html

    Reply
  11. Patti

    I don’t like when, arriving at the station every morning, people are lined up on the platform waiting anxiously to board the train and before we disembark, push their way on before everyone has gotten off. This happens every morning! Wait for us to get off, people!

    Reply
  12. Tracey

    When people throw cigarette butts on the ground. eeeeewwwwwww They should be forced to carry them in their pockets…muahh ahhh ahhh We need a squad of butt police to enforce this rule. .

    Reply
  13. BabsM

    When people “pop” their chewing gum. It absolutely drives me up the wall. Don’t like to see anyone chewing gum, but that’s their business — but when they pop it, that’s intruding on me!

    Reply
  14. Theresa

    People using cell phones during check out at the grocery store or any store. Can’t they wait until they are out of the store? Really people….. Cracking knuckles drives me crazy….my son and husband do this…it almost brings me to my knees! Pasta now that puts a smile on my face if only Ala Dente.

    Reply
  15. Sharon Penney-Morrison

    Things that torture me; people sucking food out of their teeth and making that awful noise, heavy metal music, flossing teeth in public, anyone scratching their privates in public.
    I am sure their are more…but this is what comes to mind right now.
    Sharon

    Reply
  16. georgie

    Bad manners, like interrupting, pushing, spitting on the sidewalk. Oh, and people who wear baggy pants so low you can see their underwear and butt cleavage. ish ish ish!
    Better subject-pasta It should be its’ own food group. I love it and would eat it every day if possible.

    Reply
  17. Kathie B

    While I’m not as fussy about pasta, the dish that you made with al dente noodles was deliciosa, Corey!
    I used to work with a knuckle-cracker, actually a rather nice guy but how his behavior got on our nerves. Agree with Tracey re cig butts — plus they’re toxic to birds and other critters (especially the filtered kind). Ditto with BabsM re people popping their gum. These are all things we “grin and bear,” but if only the offenders knew what we were really thinking!!!
    Perhaps a chorus of this Gilbert & Sullivan classic from “The Mikado” would be in order 🙂
    My object all sublime
    I shall achieve in time—
    To let the punishment fit the crime,
    The punishment fit the crime;
    And make each prisoner pent
    Unwillingly represent
    A source of innocent merriment,
    Of innocent merriment!

    Reply
  18. Wylie

    Saute thinly sliced zucchini in garlic-laced olive oil until lightly browned on both sides. Cook your linguine al dente, and serve the zucchini on top with a swirl of olive oil if dry.
    This is our family’s favorite pasta dish!

    Reply
  19. Marina

    …when someone says:
    -have a nice day
    -hi, how are you
    -touch base
    -reach out to
    -your call is important to us
    -someone passed (instead of died) I feel like saying – passed what?
    and too many more to list plus store Musak.

    Reply
  20. Kathie B

    And now for something completely different: the story of a woman from the Antipodes who fell in love with and married a Frenchman in part because he was such a wonderful tango dancer!!! He literally gave his life for her during WW II, at the hands of the Nazis.
    “Nancy Wake, ‘White Mouse’ of World War II, dies at 98”:
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/nancy-wake-white-mouse-of-world-war-ii-dies-at-98/2011/08/08/gIQABvPT5I_story.html
    “…[she] was one of the most effective and cunning British agents working in German-occupied France during World War II.
    “A sultry glamour girl before the war, she married a French playboy industrialist whose tastes, like hers, ran to caviar and champagne midmorning and love in the afternoon. They were living in southern France when the war ignited.
    “She hid downed Allied servicemen at her home and led them over the Pyrenees to the safety of neutral Spain. She later helped organize thousands of French resistance fighters known as the Maquis, by meeting Allied arms drops, distributing weapons and training 7,000 partisans in preparation for the Normandy invasion.
    “She earned decorations from the British, French and American governments; she was belatedly honored in Australia, where she had grown up. Exact figures are hard to establish, but she was reported to have helped save many hundreds of lives…”

    Reply
  21. RebeccaNYC

    Typographical errors. There is at least one in EVERY book I read. When someone says “where you at?”. I could go on and on….but I won’t.

    Reply
  22. emilia88@maltanet.net

    What irritates me intensely;
    people talking with their mouth full; jumping a queue; middle aged women wearing clothes two sizes too small and designed only for girls in their twenties; people who throughout the summer wear three quarter trousers only; yelling to each other as a form of greeting (across the street)!
    One sees a lot of this in Malta!

    Reply
  23. Kristin

    In the classroom: tapping of pencils and no named papers….
    At home: towels not hung up properly in order to dry and tea drips on the floor!

    Reply
  24. Amy Kortuem

    I saw a sign once that said:
    “If you are what you eat, then I’m fast, easy and cheap.”
    hahahahahahahahaha!
    What bugs me? Eating noises. Chewing, swallowing, crunching…there goes the gag reflex. Always been that way (tortured by a little brother who specialized in gross eating noises, as little brothers do).
    AND when people respond to everything I say with, “Well…” as a way of arguing about nothing. Yeah. Annoying.

    Reply
  25. Brother Mathew

    Seat saving. Go to some event and someone informs you that you can’t sit somewhere because a seat is “saved” or a blanket has been placed hours before thus saving the spot. Unless you are physically there, have a ticket or using the restroom and the like…..you are not entitled to that seat! If you want a certain seat get there early enough to stake your claim damn it!

    Reply
  26. Erin Perry

    Don’t know if I should tell a vegetarian this, but my pet peeve food-wise is overdone steak. Even when you tell them rare, emphasis that, yes, you mean rare, yes red center – so often they feel the need to overcook it and spoil a beautiful cut of beef. I guess one just needs to order steak tartare!
    Erin in Morro Bay

    Reply
  27. Cathy

    Interesting, I thought I was the only person sensitive to the word “passing”. I say died or dead too. Funny, I always think I’m alone in my thought process.

    Reply
  28. Cathy

    I have confess to being a knuckle cracker, it makes my knuckles and me feel better. I suspect it relives tension too. What would the world be like without us knuckle crackers, we’d probably be forced to act out in some way. Imagine the assault on humanity without us knuckle crackers.
    I hate spitters! Now that is one disgusting and foul habit. Now that’s a crime on humanity!

    Reply
  29. Franca Bollo

    Add me to the list. People die and then they’re dead. Call it like it is.

    Reply
  30. Franca Bollo

    The word is and it means “bitter”. It’s not used as a surname in Italy.

    Reply
  31. Laura McHugh

    A dirty sink. I wash my every day before I leave the house.

    Reply
  32. Paula S In New Mexico

    I too cringe when someone says passed or I lost my ….
    You lost them? Really? Have you called to report them missing?
    “Ain’t” and “he come down” or “those ones” simply drive me to insanity.
    Jeez !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply
  33. joanne nixon

    a chirping smoke alarm becausee the battery is low…need to change all five smoke alarm batteries…..

    Reply
  34. Kathie B

    Re “people talking with their mouth full,” may I add a corollary? Folks who ask a question while a person’s mouth is full, then get annoyed when the person doesn’t answer until finished chewing and swallowing the mouthful!

    Reply
  35. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    Funny, cause just the other day I was thinking of some small thing that annoys me… and now I can’t remember it to mention here. How annoying!

    Reply
  36. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    Well your dislike of the euphemism “passed” has four of us in your corner now. I’m very direct to use the word dead and died, have to remind myself sometimes that other people aren’t as comfortable with the word, or the concept. Glad to know there are other direct folks out there.

    Reply
  37. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    I may have to do this tonight!

    Reply
  38. momof5

    Add me to the list also….

    Reply
  39. Sam

    LOL, a woman after my own heart, I love pasta. I don’t believe all that low carb nonsense, look at your children, they’re healthy and glowing. My favorite pasta recipe comes from a friend, it has asparagus and shrimp, with a garlicky cream sauce. She uses those noodles that look like little radiators. Add a salad and some chopped fruit and it’s an elastic pants meal.
    Little things usually don’t get to me at all.

    Reply
  40. momof5

    My family’s favorite pasta this time of year when the tomatoes and basil are in season.
    Add garlic ( as much as you like) to olive oil and cook on stove top until soft. Add chopped fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and capers and saute until cooked through. Add to cooked pasta and serve with freshly grated parm cheese. Yum
    Just as good but with Brie- combine tomatoes (4 ripe)1lb of Brie torn into pieces, 1 cup fresh basil, and 1 cup of olive oil, add salt and pepper to taste and let set for at least 2 hours at room temp. Cook linguini and add above to warm pasta.

    Reply
  41. Franca Bollo

    People who eat pasta with a fork and spoon.
    😉

    Reply
  42. Jody

    Paulita,
    Try Tinkyada brand pasta, it’s gluten free and the best I’ve tried.
    I agree with Mathew about seat saving and laughed out loud at Marina’s comment “passed what?”

    Reply
  43. Betty

    People who “smack their gum!” It is called chewing gum not smacking gum and no one wants to hear it!

    Reply
  44. everton terrace

    I had almost as much fun reading the comments as I did the post 🙂
    My daughter has loved pasta all her life (she’s 25) and loves to eat it for breakfast. Would possibly eat it for every meal if she could.
    I don’t like when people send me thank-you’s from their toddler children (or babies) as though the children wrote it. Worse though is getting no thank you at all so it’s at least a lesser evil. I also don’t like when people don’t R.S.V.P., oh and “e-vites” to formal functions, and texting at the table. I better stop.

    Reply
  45. Karen C

    OMG Franca Bollo, How should I eat it?? I love pasta and hate to think I have been eating like a philistine. My Mum and Dad taught me to use a fork and spoon and I thought they were right ‘coz they’re English, you know!
    Please tell me the truth!

    Reply
  46. Karen C

    Now I’m not one to complain, but . . . . you just had to ask:
    1. channel surfing when I don’t have the remote.
    2. using the cushions on the sofa for ANYTHING other than decorative purposes.
    3. Aussies who talk with an upward voice at the end of the sentence. WE DON’T TALK LIKE THAT. I DON’T TALK LIKE THAT.
    4. people who make ‘thinking’ noises. (tongue clicking, teeth sucking etc)
    5. Tattoos
    6. Celebrity gossip
    7. Women’s magazines
    8. Reality TV shows. They are SO NOT REAL LIFE.
    9. Bad grammar and bad spelling.
    10. The person who leaves a sink full of tepid water in the office tea room in order to ‘inspire’ others to wash their dishes.
    11. Summery cotton skirts worn with black tights and jumpers. Don’t know why, just don’t like it.
    12. Friends who keep emailing me endless junk mail messages but never bother to pick up the phone.
    (some of the jokes are worth it, though.)
    13. Christian friends who send me “christian” junk emails full of schmaltzy, emotionalised and un-scriptural “Me and God wuv u ” messages but never bother to pick up the phone.
    14. Lazy governments who don’t care about carers and the work they do.
    15. Reading instructions
    16. People who don’t read the instructions I GIVE THEM.
    17. Hanging out the washing.
    18. People who don’t hang out the washing the way I like it to be hung out.
    19. Bra straps
    20. Political over-correctness that actually causes more grief than it addresses.
    So, do you you want my top 50?

    Reply
  47. Merisi in Vienna

    Your Percelli pasta makes me want to scratch if off the screen!
    What rubs me the wrong way? Lately, I try to simply ignore the trivial stuff. Life’s too short.

    Reply
  48. Beverly

    Getting slammed by birkenstock wearing people’s huge backpacks when trying to walk on the pavement or any form of traveling. Looking at gorgeous art and some fool in a baseball hat sticks his head in your line of vision without an apology.
    Tattoos.. why on earth do people want to do this? Especially women, do they realise when they get to be like 80 or so how ridiculous they will look? It is not self expression when dozens of others have the same exact tattoo! And it is NOT a form of ART!
    And women with very bad facelifts who dress like they are in their 20’s never mind they have benched the 40 mark…
    Why can’t women just age gracefully? Like my late Mom and the beloved Annie..I guess it is the youth obsessed society we live in.
    Grrrrr..you can tell I am in a temper today..lol. 🙂

    Reply
  49. Jude Jackson

    If we are what we eat, then thank God I’ll never be a cantalope. It’s the only food in the universe I have a problem getting down my throat. Other than that, everything else is fair game. I hate that it’s a mainstay in fruit plates sold at restaurants.

    Reply
  50. Carol

    People who put pictures of themselves in their lingerie on blogs…especially if they really do look that good.

    Reply
  51. Maura

    Mmm that pasta looks delicious Corey! I’m with you on the al dente. Not too many things bother me but I guess something that get’s under my skin is store clerks who don’t smile and aren’t friendly. I was raised to believe that you treat customers with respect and go out of your way to make them happy and the biggest most important thing was to SMILE!!! Back in the 80’s where I lived had something called a ‘Good Host’ program and it taught people working in the retail and service industries to go out of their way for customers. You were to know as much about your town and area as possible..promote it! But ALWAYS SMILE! Customers remember big friendly smiles. Oh and one more thing that gets under my skin….people who when you say ‘THANK YOU’ they say ‘uh huh’ instead of ‘your welcome’…with a smile of course 😉 Hope your day is a good one.

    Reply
  52. Rita

    Hi Corey,
    I have no complaints TODAY (check with me tomorrow! ) because I got the wonderful items I ordered from your brocante yesterday in the mail! Thank you, thank you!!! I LOVE them.

    Reply
  53. Sugar

    I love pasta too – a plate of any kind are a great mood lifter! I can’t think of any one particular thing that irks me except maybe seeing someone chatting away on their
    cellphones while driving. Scares me! I really liked Tracie’s lament of those who throw ciggie. butts to the ground. If dog owners must pick up after their pets, then smokers should bag their butts!

    Reply
  54. Merisi in Vienna

    May I point out that it also means “digestif” – if the waiter offers you un’amaro after dinner, he means a post-dinner bitter (let mine be Amaro Averna, please!).

    Reply
  55. Amy

    I can’t stand loud chewing. Fine, you’re eating carrots and they crunch — that’s not the issue. It’s the people who smack their mouth so loudly that they can be heard, not just across the table, but ACROSS THE ROOM! I love food but nothing ruins a meal like having to hear someone chew with their mouth open.

    Reply
  56. Franca Bollo

    I know they are the WORST! Fortunately, the lovely Monica Bellucci allowed me to use her image as my avatar.

    Reply
  57. Franca Bollo

    Sorry to contradict your parents but it’ true. You’re allowed a special dispensation because you’re British. I’ll show you how to twirl a perfect mouthful of linguine sans spoon if you’ll teach me how to brew a proper pot of tea. True to my Italian roots, I’m an espresso-only girl. The tea tutelage will come in handy for tea-drinking guests.

    Reply
  58. Franca Bollo

    Will they be showing up on the backs of our milk cartons? Will this comment be relevant to Americans only?

    Reply
  59. Gina

    The best part of your blog is reading a great post, laughing, and then realizing the comments are the icing on the cake!
    I hate knuckle cracking. As a newly wed I learnt my husband did it as he was deep in thought. I was told you shouldn’t try to change people. I witheld newly wed nightly enjoyment, one extra night per knuckle crack, within a week he had stopped!!!

    Reply
  60. Rania Kioussis

    Curious about point 3..( things that rub you up the wrong way ) Please explain??

    Reply
  61. Karen C

    I am looking forward to tea-for-two with pasta on the side. Franca.
    I’m actually an Aussie, so I have quite a few philistine habits 🙂 but my parents all have English/Irish lineage so knowing how to make a good pot of tea is my saving grace.

    Reply
  62. Karen C

    Gosh. How can I explain something you can only hear? There is a strange phenomenom that has crept into the Aussie way of speaking, particulary with the younger generation, but is not necessarily age exclusive. Every time they finish a sentence their voice rises on last 2-3 words to make it sound like a question when in fact they are making a statement. This does not just happen on one sentence but every sentence they use so a whole conversation can leave you wondering if they are telling you something or asking you to check the facts for them.
    Try saying “I live in the red house.” as if it is question, with the upward inflection on ‘red house’ rather than a downward one as you would if you made it a statement.
    I don’t think I can really explain this to someone whose first language may not be English. It is just an extremely annoying affectation that has crept into the modern language here and to my ear it makes people sound quite stupid or uneducated.
    Anyway, I hope you NEVER have to hear it. We get enough mocking for our flat, clipped ‘Strine vowels as it is, we don’t need another problem.
    I dream that one day I might wake up with a beautiful French/Italian lilt as I don’t particularly like my own ‘Strine voice either.

    Reply
  63. Gail Gallagher

    Ok, this is a NYC 20 th century, aren’t we lucky sort of grouse… And trivial… But must I watch the Yankees in the dugout eating sunflower seeds and chewing tobacco in all their HD big screen glory? Gross!

    Reply
  64. Kathie B

    Perhaps you can achieve world peace (as opposed to Whirled Peas?) next:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysistrata

    Reply
  65. Brenda, Walker, LA, USA

    OOps, I think my recipe was too long and did not post~
    After reading and seeing delicious pasta, here’s mine!
    http://blog.kindredheartsantiques.com/

    Reply
  66. Tongue in Cheek

    Gina,
    lol!
    Now that was a clever brib… I wonder what other things we have claimed ours with this trick of the trade?
    😉

    Reply
  67. Monica

    Check it out on “what does my name mean” on Google…I found a few family names including Amaro.

    Reply
  68. Franca Bollo

    So, I don’t know everything? Such a blow to my fragile self esteem. At least I still look hot in lingerie.
    And those Italian Amaros? Probably use a spoon to eat pasta.
    Signed, Tongue firmly planted in cheek

    Reply
  69. Franca Bollo

    I’ve heard of the digestif “Amaro” but have never tried it. If I do, I’ll look for Averna.

    Reply

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