Pasta, tomato sauce

Eastside Road, January 17, 2012—

WHAT SHALL WE HAVE for dinner, she asked as we drove into town, and I gave it a considerable amount of thought, but not coming up with any ideas I kept silent.

A few minutes later: Why don't we have pasta and red sauce, she said; fine, I agreed, it's been a long time.

So we fell back tonight on familiar if neglected provisions: penne, in a sauce involving oil, onion, garlic, bay, salt, pepper, and of course a can of tomatoes. Every winter I tell myself next summer I'll can a couple of dozen quarts of tomatoes; every summer I somehow forget about it.

Green salad, and have I mentioned Mendocino Sea Salt? We bought a little jar of it at the Marin Farmers Market months ago, and finally have got around to using it; I think I like it even better than the salt from the Ile de Ré. (Well, actually, it's apples and oranges, as Mr. Cain used to say.)

Bardolino, Corte Gardone "Le Fontane," 2010