La Cena e Pronta

Or in English, "Dinner is served." But how much more elegant, how much more promising than “Pigs to the trough!” which is how we herd people to the table in Maine. I begin to salivate at the mere sound of those words when spoken by Marcella or Giovanna. Never more so on my birthday when the table was set formally with a linen cloth and candles and flowers. I, of course as the birthday girl and a pesco-vegetarian, had selected the menu with Marcella’s invaluable assistance—-a first course of melt-in-your-mouth ravioli stuffed with stracchino cheese and arugula followed by a secondo of a gorgeous whole fish baked in the oven with potatoes and accompanied by spinach sautéed with oil and garlic. The final course or dolci was a beautiful surprise--a fresh fruit tart constructed like a work of art by Marcella and carried to the table with a Roman candle on the top sending sparklers to the ceiling.

Thank god I didn’t have to blow out 63 (yes, I can’t believe it either!) candles.