You may also want to know if there was a final verdict on Marcella Hazan week.

Saturday I made her boiled rice with mozzarella. Genius, I tell you. Rice and cheese- why have I never thought of this before?

Sunday I made the tomato salad again, only I decided to do that AFTER I had hit the Farmer's Market. It was again a standout simple dinner- I used the really great mozzarella I had bought for the mozzarella rice, though (even though mozzarella is not a part of her actual recipe. Carry on.), and the vinegar livened up the not nearly as sublime tomatoes. (I suspect Whole Foods refrigerates their tomatoes- they were chilly when I picked them up, and looked like they had been refrigerated. I suspect a lot of things about Whole Foods sometimes.)

So to sum up, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking gets two thumbs up. I'm now back to working my way through Baking With Julia- tonight, that puff pastry it took me 8 grocery trips to make goes into the Alsation Onion Tart.