Fainting June

Most people love fall in New York, but to me June may be the most pleasurable time. Winter boots are out of sight, and wool gets traded in return in a closet and are traded for billowy crisp cotton pique and everywhere you turn women are no longer in black but instead are garbed in brilliant blooms that you find in a garden.

holidays are on everyone's mind. And fifteen years ago, I met a beautiful lady with animals invited me to pet-sit home to take care of her animals while she went to Nantucket. The commute from Essex County to Manhattan was lengthy but possible. The idea of country living charmed me since my transportation would be a train. Her home was located in Glen Ridge, a small and charming affluent borough in Essex County, New Jersey, in a massive 18th century farm house.

I had my choice of four bedrooms to sleep in (five if you include the in-law apartment over the garage across the road), but choose the pretty and rustic guest room in the loft, because it was not anyone's private domainat least that's what I believed.

Molly, the dalmatian, was sweet, but not the sharpest of dogs. The cat on the other hand, let me know what she thought of me and of my arrival by parting her stool in the middle of the mattress where I was sleeping.

After that, I closed are clothed in cat from my bedroom then again she had managed to produce her desires known. being obvious, she would climb consuming surfaces, either the kitchen table or the kitchen counter-top. Even when I invited my friend Mary Ann over to join me for a Shakespearean festival, in the course of our meal, the cat jumped right onto the dining room table, swishing its tail gaily and ever so nonchalantly depositing its hair on our plates as she sashayed by.

The cat and I never liked each other tailored to being in the same living space for the remaining weeks.

Because the lady of the house was generous and trusting she handed me the keys to her van. So on the weekends off I went on side trips touring the tri-state area with Molly. The hissing cat, left behind.

My first stop was Princeton to tour the campus, after taking photos and a visit to the Library, for lunch I went to a Italian restaurant, nestled on a quaint street, where salamis hung in the display, and sat at a table for two, with Molly nestled at my feet and ordered the lemon penne.

One thing I do after I enjoy a restaurant meal is to emulate the recipe at home, like a test kitchen, to see how close I can get to replicating the dish. I startle myself with my knock-offs, both good and bad.

This past weekend heat wave banquet together with my lemony Princeton recipe and offer it to you as a light summer time starter.

1 cup Penne Pasta

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

3 cloves Minced Garlic

½ cup Green Onions (white & Green Parts)

3 Tablespoons Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

½ cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Salt To Taste

Extra Fresh Parmesan For Serving

The ingredients in this recipe can be adjusted to whatever you have on hand, such as the addition of tomatoes, artichokes or mushrooms. ensure you load up on the garlic in any other case your meal will sit there with no bark and no bite. And that would be a doggone shame.


Linda LaRoche is a multi-faceted freelance writer who has had lived numerous lives rolled into one. Find out the places where she has visited, found intrigue, humor and bargains and how you can do the same, click here now at Footsteps around the Globe; a snappy travelogue