Hobbies

(Originally posted, September 30)

When I was a child my hobbies were collecting baseball cards, climbing trees, and attempting to avoid my daily chores. Now my hobby is cooking assorted pastas and making lasagnas. Today's lasagna was particularly gooey and contained mascarpone cheese, Kyrgyz white cheese, mozzarella, sautéed red peppers, tomato sauce with roasted zucchini, garlic, onions, and best of all: a massive center layer of local morel mushrooms from Jalalabad. Strangely, I have morphed from being an eight-year-old boy into a grandmother from Napoli stranded in the Kyrgyz mountains, although at times I feel I am both.