Saturday brought a renewed sense of urgency to packing. The spare bedroom that had become a disaster area of suitcases, clothes, and assorted piles of “definitely taking,” “maybe,” and “to send” began to regain some semblance of order as my assorted belongings seemed to march themselves into their proper pieces of luggage – a la the brooms in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. I think the urgency came from knowing that my extended family would be arriving at 5pm for my going away party and a feast of bagna cauda. “Bagna-what?” you ask? Bagna cauda (pronounced bon-ya cow-da, and literally means “hot caldron”) is a northern Italian dish that my family has been making for years. It’s basically a fondue in which one cooks cubes of steak, onions, cabbage, mushrooms, peppers, etc. The fondue is made of oil, butter, LOTS of garlic, and a secret ingredient that I cannot blab to such a large online audience. Suffice to say, it’s pure ambrosia. Of course, the food was only the icing on the cake, which was getting to see my family one last time. It was also the first time I saw my 6-week old cousin, Jett, (yes, that’s right, his name is Jett). He is, of course, adorable. I can’t imagine how he and my 3-year old nephew will look and act 2 years from now. Saying goodbye was hard.
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