Yesterday I had a “Duck Dynasty” marathon and watched all of series 1 and 2. I am addicted to this show. I wanna be a Robertson. But one of the guys, not the wives. The wives just seem to mill about looking pretty while the men have all the fun. And I’d never have to wax again. Any part of me. Ever.

The one thing repulsive on that show is when they eat squirrels. Apparently rednecks do this. I have to say maybe it is just Georgian rednecks who abstained but I never ate a squirrel. I wonder if my Grandma ate them? When I told Caitlin I have eaten frogs legs she was a bit repulsed. But they are nice! It may help in this balance of views that I hate frogs and love squirrels (as animals not to eat).

One of the pieces of advice the Grandfather in Duck Dynasty gave his Grandson was to try and find a woman who could cook better than his mother as Mama’s cooking is always the best to a man. What do I remember my Grandma cooking? Big pots of pinto beans with fatback, served with chopped onions and cornbread. Big platters of fried chicken, crispy outside and soft inside. Fried potatoes with onions, fried green tomatoes…and there lies why I seldom make these things is the health risk. But they still remind me of growing up in Georgia.

When Norm and I were out for the dinner at Pure we reminisced about one of the best meals we had ever eaten. We were living in the UK and had flown to Pisa for a long weekend over Valentines Day. We had been sight seeing all day and wanted something nice to eat so we decided to just follow some local Italians who looked like they had good taste. We picked a stylish couple and just started following them, just far enough back so that we didn’t look like pickpockets. They ducked down a side street you wouldn’t know existed if you were not a local. They entered a tiny little stone building with a small sign all in Italian and joined a big party of people celebrating. We went in and the maitre de asked if we had reservations and we said no. He said the kitchen was closing as there was a private party on but if we were happy with whatever the chef had in the kitchen we could eat. Thank goodness I had lived out of the US long enough I had been weaned of my ‘sauce on the side and this instead of that’ mentality and just accepted what life presented to me.

1st we were served a light salad with Parmesan shavings and Parma ham with some gorgeous bread and butter. We were then given a huge steaming bowl of seafood risotto. It was so creamy and the tastes of the sea were just light enough to not overpower you. It was just the most divine meal.

Sometimes when you let the universe be in charge what you are given can surmount even your highest expectations.