la festa italiana

Sometimes the best things in life are the basics. Water, shelter - and food.
I could blog for days about food and how wonderful it is, but I only have this short time. Anyways, today after school I had this pasta party for swim team. And even though my friend was going to a concert tonight and was going to miss it, leaving me alone at the party with only mere acquaintances to mingle with, I went.
Because (a) I love pasta and (b) I love free pasta. If you knew me, even the basics, you'd know that me and pasta are best friends. If I ever decide to marry, which I doubt, it will be to an Italian chef. My uncle calls my cousin, who also loves pasta, a pastatarian. This is my scientific food preference name as well.
So I went to the party carrying my mom's stuffed shells - moist pasta shells enveloping rich ricotta cheese and covered with a sweet tomato sauce. Classic Italian beauty.
there were other dishes too - Chinese noodles with shrimp (I don't eat fish or Asian food), some baked zitis, a lasagna, and one of my favorites, a baked ziti with meat sauce.
Euphonious sounds of violins and cellos playing a passionate love song went through my head as I ate, especially the stuffed shells. I had so much food I almost fell on the floor. And what I loved is that my friends joined me. One girl said that the word "diet" did not apply to tonight. And I loved it. We all just feasted on the absolutely wonderful Italian delicacies fed to us, forcing morsels of pasta and cheese down our throats even though our stomachs had reached their maximum capacities. It was an Italian [food] love affair.
The message is not to go out and gorge yourself and gain 50 pounds. It's important to be healthy. But sometimes, one must indulge - remember my indulgence blog earlier in the month - to appreciate the beauties in life.
It's "in" now to diet and be thin, but that doesn't mean snatching a warm chocolate chip cookie - or 2, or 3, or maybe 4 . . - is bad for you (unless of course you are fatally allergic to peanut oil or other cookie ingredients. Perhaps you can try a soy cookie, if those even exist). Give yourself an amazing meal and savor it - without going on your Calorie Counter app on your iPhone to check how many calories you're consuming.
Grazie a Dio per il cibo italiano!
ps - I'll have to learn Italian so I can express my love for Italy's food when I go there.