Enjoy

I'm reading a lovely book by Anthony Doer called Four Seasons in Rome. It's a memior of his time living in Italy in 2004 with his wife and twin baby boys. Reading it makes me miss Italy so much.

I read this passage on the train this morning, and thought it did such a good job describing what makes Italians so magical:

"Italians," our friend George Stoll says, "will stop at anything for pleasure." And the longer we're here, the more we feel he's right. Espresso, silk pajamas, a five-minute kiss, the sleekest, thinnest cell phone, extremely smooth leather. Truffles. Yachts. Four-hour dinners.

The following recipe for a Nuttella Dog, submitted by twelve-year Martina Bartolozzi, appeared in the newspaper the other day. Nutella is a hazelnut-flavored chocolate spread that Italians spread on everything: toast, crepes, breadsticks, cookies, even pizza bianca.

1. Spread the cut sides of a hot dog bun with Nutella.
2. Fill bun with peeled banana "dog."
3. Enjoy.

The third step is the important one, the piacere, the "enjoy."

I think we could all use more espresso, more five-minute kisses, more four-hour dinners. More enjoy.