Pasta Grannies goes Pasta Papa

 One of my favorite YouTube channels is Pasta Grannies. I've learned so much about making homemade (from scratch) pasta and I'm amazed at the infinite varieties of shapes, dough bases and sauces.

But Pasta Grannies surprised me (and apparently several others) this past week with a video of a sexy fisherman, Guido and his son Pietro making Spaghetti ai' Frutti di Mar'.*(Spaghetti with seafood). 

This was the meal I had hoped to eat while we were in California. Alas, it did not come to pass. Yes we ate some seafood but nothing like this spectacular meal.

We cannot get anything like fresh seafood in New Mexico. Yes,  the markets will call it fresh, but really even it it were jetted in from the nearest coast on ice, it is no longer fresh when it gets here. The seafood menu in most restaurants here has basically five options: shrimp, shrimp, shrimp, salmon, and tilapia (which is technically not seafood).

So here are Guido and Pietro. Even if you don't cook, do enjoy the video:

 

*an interesting aside: Guido uses a colloquial "un spaghetto ai frutti di mare" - the singular "spaghetto" is unusual, but really cool. There is another colloquial phrase, "ci facciamo due spaghetti" - let's make two spaghetti - meaning just two strands of spaghetti - but really, "spaghetti for two".

Consumerism

 Just a short note on the “in your face” displays of wealth and unbridled consumerism I’ve been aware of on our travels in California. 

I really want to do an in depth survey of people and where they get their money. In contrast to the farm workers, so many others appear to have no limits on their appetite for high end consumer goods. 

Especially here in the land of multi-million dollar homes, some of which are mere cottages. I really want to know what these folks do for a living. Are they so far in debt that it no longer matters?

(I can not recall ever having a clue about or any

aspirations for wealth. I was totally in the dark and considered myself lucky to have a job.)

Some of the “campers” here cost well over $100,000 and this RV park is NOT “top of the line” as RV parks go around here. Where DO people get their money?

Food for Thought

 I just want to say a few words about where our food comes from and to express my gratitude for those who work tirelessly, (no, probably not tirelessly), to keep food in our stores and on our tables. 

I think working in my garden, my tiny little vegetable garden, in the heat of the morning is difficult. Fighting bugs, squirrels, scorching sun and drought is not easy. Picking a short row of green beans is a big pain in my back. 

These folks do it on a scale that is mind-boggling. And these photos are just a few of the smaller farms that we’ve seen in our travels. These are farms in the central coastal area of California. 

It amazes me how much food must be produced uninterrupted to feed us all. Here there are rows and rows of the field in various stages of planting, growing, harvesting and prepping. 

Farm workers earn (from what I can gather on Google) between $11 and $20 per hour; maybe $17,900 per year. This is the equivalent of slavery in today’s economy. 

Scenes of Sand

 

But Clouds Go Away

 Eating seafood like no tomorrow. 

Well dear Benni, you were here having romp on the dunes back when…two years ago… before the “no dog” sign went up!

A Cloudy Day at the Beach is Better Than a Sunny Day at Work (or Just About Anything Else)