When the day is bright and sunny, but you can’t join it because you can’t stop coughing and sneezing and running a slight fever, what do you do?

Well, I cook a pot roast. Perche no?  The fragrance alone lifts my spirits.

You have to operate like a girl scout, and always be prepared.  When you are at the supermarket and you see the following brilliant item of a prepackaged mix of 4 celery stalks, 2 carrots, 1 onion, parsley springs and cilantro springs  (why didn’t grocers in the US think of this??) you toss it in your cart just in case.

And you locate some beef for roasting or a chicken for stewing.

Already you feel better even if you are still coughing and sneezing.

Then, when you walk by the frozen food section and see this:

And you think to yourself, “Flowers of milk” umm, that sounds like a delicious flavor of gelato, so you bring it home.  And not only is it delicious, but you find all sorts of inventive ways to use it.  For one, you put a hunk in a glass of coca cola (another treat for the season) and enjoy a float like the good old days.  And, you discover that a slice of frozen gelato on the top of a crisp, Italian cookie makes a fabulous sandwich.

Scanning the aisles of the supermercato is a fun way for me to spend an hour of any day of the week.  I couldn’t resist this seasonal butter, make from a holiday recipe, according to the packaging, which is complete with an image of holly.  I haven’t used the butter yet, but I’ll let you know how it is.

And, alas, the panettoni and pandori are now priced at a steep discount.  Before Xmas, pandoro was a little over 5 Euro.  Now, 1.5 Euro.  Sigh. Christmas is over :-((

But you’ll have to excuse me now, because I have to cough and sneeze and wrap myself up in my electric blanket and possibly slice some gelato to fit this cookie I’m holding.

Happy New Year!!

Open my heart and you will see, graved inside it, Italy.

Robert Browning

And mine too, Bobbie!