His daughter Michele and granddaughters, Molly and Annie;
Basketball;
Riding motorcycles;
Reading books on history and archaeology;
Studying and learning Italian; and...
FOOD!!
The scent of good, strong coffee in the morning, a bite of Irish soda bread warmed in the oven, peach pie; apple pie (with walnuts); spice cake; watermelon jello;bread pudding with rum sauce; sweet oranges;
Thai food (chicken stuffed with shrimp, roasted eggplant, fish cakes);
Szechuan prawns with broccoli; burritos with prawns;
Italian rice balls stuffed with cheese and meats; peaches soaked in vin santo;
Fresh olives made in Italy called "olive calce";
Aged beef, sauteed lightly with lots of pepper and fresh lemon juice;
Grilled or barbequed squid, quail or halibut, or almost anything barbequed;
Tender freshly made pasta, with greens, and fresh parmesan cheese, just grated;
Freshly ground pepper, on almost everything;
Fried olives stuffed with meat;
Caesar salad, made the old fashioned way with a fresh egg;
Crab, freshly boiled and cracked, with butter, garlic and lemons;
Yams, pricked, baked until tender, with a little butter, salt and pepper;
Rosemary potatoes baked until crispy, served with a vinaigrette of mustard, oil and chives;
A nice, common Italian table wine, just a little sweeter than the standard;
Homemade ice cream, lemon ice cream, espresso ice cream, spumoni ice cream,and the anticipation of making the ice cream and tasting the first spoonful;
A really good cantaloupe or watermelon from the farmer's market;
Garlic, cut, pressed, macerated, chopped, or baked whole, garlic in vinegar,garlic in salad, garlic in vegetables, garlic in pasta, garlic, more garlic;
Cartelatte, little wheels of dough, pinched to look like little flowers,which are fried (or baked), and dipped into vino cotto (a thick grape syrup) and allowed to dry. You could also use a syrup made of figs. This is a Southern Italian Christmas cookie. If you would like the recipe, let me know.