If you leave the house in the morning in Mercatale and you happen to be caught by any number of old ladies that are sweeping their steps or just keeping a general watch on who is doing what when and how and with whom, you will hear it whether you have time or not about the danger looming like doom in not wearing the appropriate clothes for the weather. They would have been proud of my menu for tonight, since a blanket of cold air is sure to settle with the fog as soon as the sun sets. I am making sausages with white beans and tomato with rosemary and for the salad, left over slices of roasted eggplant that we made last night, tossed with sauted onion, red pepper, balsamic and parsley that hits the oil for the onions before the onions do, so that it turns a brilliant green and gives up everything it has to offer. Add a mix of olives and even some capers if you have them. I also threw in the bread crumbs that were from our pasta with fresh ricotta, lemon, raw arugula leaves, golden slivers of garlic, and the (bread crumbs.)

I am serving it with a big green salad, and for dessert, just to keep up with the cold weather, because the lemons looked like they were fit for a god, I made shortbread with lemon curd. Lemon desserts don’t really go with tomato, but with the eggplant and pepper in between and the salad after that, who will remember.