Fusilli, anchovies, garlic

Eastside Road, February 22, 2010—

THE GREAT THING ABOUT being young is that you're young; the great thing about age is that you don't have to be young. Today a niece writes (on FaceBook) about "the most amazing dinner last night!!! Nice and spicy but not too hot… Too bad it's not healthy. Looking forward to having left-overs tonight!" And stings to a website with the recipe, a macaroni and cheese involving chicken breasts, celery, carrots, onion, garlic, butter, flour, mustard, milk, nutmeg, cayenne, oregano (!), dried basil, cheddar cheese, Pecorino, hot sauce, bread crumbs, and macaroni. There's a slew of photos showing you how to make this, and lots of comments from folks who've followed the instructions, and are happy. I bet it was good.

We old people, on the other hand, had Fusilli with anchovies and garlic:

It's been here before: exactly a month ago tomorrow; a month before that, and last summer, when it was awarded the Hundred Plates designation. It showed up five times last year. I could eat it every week. Lindsey crumbles anchovies into the little enamel Descoware skillet and heats them with a little olive oil and some crushed garlic; then tosses them with the cooked pasta. That's all there is to it.

Tonight she emptied the anchovy jar that had been lurking in the back of the refrigerator. When I washed the jar I noted the date on its label: 1998. Guess we'd better get another jar.

Cheap Pinot grigio