Mambo Italiano - Redux!

Yesterday, my commute was hellacious. (Granted, mine and about 1 million other people.) So after spending a day in a city filled to the brim with water and cranky people, my sister made the plea to my mother: "Can we have pizza for dinner?!" The response: "Oh yes!" Granted, my mother didn't have to commute in the craziness that ensued yesterday, but she did have to sit in bumper to bumper traffic and get no where. And we all love pizza. And, it was way to hot to consider cooking. So, we pulled up a menu of a local place (that's super tasty) and ordered a lot of food (you know it's a lot when my dad can't even finish everything):

Pizza (which was really very tasty - better than we expected)
Eggplant Parmigiana (mmm...fried goodness, and we all know I love eggplant...)
Pasta Primevera (with huge chunks of garlic)
Pasta Something with Tomatoes, Olives, and Artichoke Hearts (my sister's fav)

For dessert: Ice Cream. Cause it was that kind of night.

This was a momentous event because: a) we infrequently order take out: because 1) we're kosher; 2) we don't want to seem like the rest of American; 3) it's unhealthy; and, b) we don't eat Italian food as much as we do other cuisines (as a family, not me!) because my dad thinks carbs are evil (they're not! Moderation my dear friend!). But it was a tasty evening. And made up for the bad, cranky day. Viva Italia!

Also, this event has reminded me to think about the changing demographics, or perhaps in an economist's POV (Thanks, Ty!), because where the local pizza place is, there used to be a Chinese restaurant. We all know Jews eat a lot of Chinese food (well, NY Jews do) and my small, suburban town is no longer as "Jewish." Therefore, a Chinese restaurant will not do as well in an area where no one wants to eat Chinese food (which is sad, because they had really tasty food!!), so in comes a different cuisine, catering to a different group of people. Interesting, eh?

In other eggplant news, Tuesday night for dinner, my mom made a really tasty eggplant mushroom soup. It's good hot and cold, and super tasty.