The question is always what to cook. I had a nice eggplant and some really good Lucio Garofalo paste called schiaffoni, a very funny name because it means huge slaps in the face. Go figure. At any rate this is one of the better Italian pastas. I highly fried the diced eggplants with two cloves of garlic and a little fresh peperoncino and then added real San Marzano tomatoes. Naturally I added the al dente pasta and lots of fresh basil. After a minute off the flame I sprinkled some reggiano. The result was magical. 

 Sea boulders in the Golf of Castellammare. The colors are real. No Photoshop.

 Eating in Sicily. Fresh fettuccine prepared with pomodorini from Pachino in southern Sicily and very hard to get because they are mostly shipped outside of Sicily, Needless to say, the taste was a revelation.

 The South Street Seaport area -1975- before it became one of New York's top tourist venue.

 Swiss chard with chickpeas a great if unusual combination. Great comfort food.

 Late summer woods, north eastern Pennsylvania

 Italian organic fall colored pasta prepared with cauliflower and red kidney beans. Wonderful and very comforting.