Small Change

I know it looks like it could be fixins for lunch.
And it was, but you might be surprised as much as I was as to what it was.
Give up?

Change. Small change.
My small change back from my purchase of the Grana Padana cheese in the left hand side of the photo.
That's right.
The other day when I bought some Grana Padana cheese in the market from from someone different than my normal GP stall just to mix it up a bit sometimes, and I gave the man my money, he asked if instead of my .50 centesimi that I was owed back, if I would like this package of mortadella, or bolgna as we call it in the States.
Obviously I said yes, Perche no?, why not.
This is not the first time this has happened. Once before I received a small sampler package of mini wurstel, or hot dogs as we, Americani, are so fond of calling them.
At first I thought how odd and then it dawned on me how clever it actually was.
More than likely he didn't lose any money on the deal, he had more small change to use for the others who said, no grazie, and on top of it all he got his customers to try a new product in hopes of upping the amount of euro out my pocket and into his again next time if I liked it. It's not always easy to increase your sales in the market stalls, so any clever marketing technique is worth a try.
I know it is a small thing, but I found it kind of fun. Instead of handing out all those little samples like they do at the grocery store where most folks sample it and then walk away and never buy the product, that includes me, he covered a few bases at once and helped the small change crunch while he was at it.
You never know I just might buy some next time. Just wish there wasn't so much plastic packaging, but then that's another topic for another day.

Now that's one big Baloney!

Now when I saw this gigante Mortadella in the Grocery store the other day I just couldn't resist taking a close up of it. I was then promptly followed down the aisle and told by the management that it isn't possible to take pictures in the store. Sigh..mi scusi....no, no I won't do it again....sigh...They were very protective of that big dog! Mortadella which hails from the city of Bologna gets it due respect here in Italy. It's considered a delicacy, thinly sliced for paninos or slightly fried and piled high on bread rounds, or big chunks of it pasta sauces and salads or grilled on coals like any other respectable grill item. According to the article from "Living in Italy", the fat content isn't as bad as we all have thought it to be.
" For health conscious individuals that are trying to avoid saturated fats and cholesterol there is good news. Mortadella, with its characteristic white pieces of fat is not as bad as you may think. The presence of this fat has scared some into avoiding mortadella but the sausage is actually very good for you. Unsaturated fats, such as those found in olive oil comprises most of the fat content in Mortadella and cholesterol levels are equal to a similar serving of chicken. The sausage is also high in protein, not to mention that Mortadella di Bologna is protected by its PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) designation, ensuring that authentic mortadella is free from fillers, artificial colors, flavors and preservatives"

For me childhood baloney memories came rushing in from a long time ago when I beheld that big baby sitting proudly by the big wheels of Parmigiana cheese. Many a fried baloney sandwich on white with mayonnaise for grade school sack lunches were loving prepared by my Mom, to spare me from from some of the more unpopular menus, like liver and onions day. Our family use to take vacations with another family, the Carltons, who lived in the next state and had children close in age to the four of us. When we all got together there was always chaos, pranks and late night tales of the things our parents had done together before we children came along. Whenever our families started planning the next family get together, Sam Carlton was always ready with the baloney. He went on and on about baloney like it was the grandest thing that had ever been invented and we were lucky to be able to bring along a whole sausage of of it, cause there just wasn't anything finer than "Blue Bell" baloney. That joke went on for years and I can't think of baloney with out thinking about Sam waxing on poetically about the virtues of baloney. We use to spend weekends, camp meeting or summer holidays together which usually meant fishing, camping, swimming, and cook outs finished off with roasted marshmallows, juicy water melon slices and hand cranked ice cream topped off with late nights chasing fireflies or hide and seek and always a lot of laughter, so much sometimes, you almost ended up crying or peeing your pants. It was just plain ole fun when we all got together. I can't ever think about baloney (and I can't say that I do very often as I grew out of eating that as soon as I hit the teenage years) without hearing Sam going on about the baloney, and that just meant one thing was coming, and that was, of course...fun! They would have loved that baloney in the picture that's for sure, even if it is Mortadella. I think Sam would have felt validated.
Thanks Mom and Dad, Sam and Louise, for all those laughs and that's no baloney.