ALLEGRA’S WINDOW
Non mi tocchi.
I am snuggling and drinking and my belly is full and when I open my eyes, I see mia mamma with her white fur with gray stripes and loving face. I am one of four kitties and I don’t know if I was born first or last, but I am the one who looks most like mia mamma. One is all black and another has orange stripes and the other black and white.
We live in una casa with big four-legged creatures that are called dogs and two-legged creatures that are called people. I spend time drinking and sleeping and playing with my siblings and being kissed and cuddled by the people. We get to explore all sorts of nooks and crannies and mia mamma plays with us and says we should play together. We like playing and then sleeping together on a big bed.
One day the people bought us a bowl with cibo that is dry and hard. My brother eats it first and he says it tastes good, so we all try it. It’s okay, but milk is still my favorite. There is cibo in our room and we can eat it whenever we want.
One sunny day, we got to leave la casa. My brother goes first because he always does everything first, and the rest of us are scared, but when mia mamma goes, we all follow her. There are some smooth stones that are hard and flat, and moist grass that smells good, and I see bugs and insects flying around. We are all curious and interested, and I am glad mia mamma is watching us. The light is bright and there is so much to see, I don’t know where to go first. The people say it’s time to go back into la casa, and we follow mia mamma. We drink some milk and fall asleep. The next day we got to go outside again.
And then new people came to la casa. La donna had a quiet voice and l’uomo was tall and big and strong. Mia mamma meowed when she saw them and I realized that she knew them. They called her Tigger, and she meowed again. Il uomo picked me up and I felt secure and contenta even though I don’t really like when people hold me too much. They both kissed me and then put me into a soft bag. We went into a machine and after awhile, we arrived at a new building, and they said it was mia casa. We went inside and into a room with a bed that I had all to myself. The door was closed and I was curious and contenta at the same time. That night, I went into the big bed with l’uomo e la donna, and I got to sleep between them. I purred and they cuddled with me. They are my mom and dad.
I spent the days in my room, but I smelled other gattine at the door. Then a few days later, my dad carried me to meet the other gattine. He put me on the floor in front of a bowl of dry food and milk. I had never had dry food and milk together, and I tasted it and I liked it a lot. My mom said it is crunchies and milk, and when I looked up, I saw three gattine all eating crunchies and milk from separate bowls.
They introduced me to Duchessa, a grey tabby with white on her face and belly, and she reminded me most of mia mamma so I liked her right away. Bailame has long beautiful fur that is black and orange and white, and they said she is mia nonna and that mia mamma was born right here in this room. The other kitty is named Annie, and she is a petite tortoiseshell who is fast and energetic, and they told me that she is Bailame’s daughter and mia mamma’s sister, so she is my zia.
I learned that I can sleep with Duchessa because she is gentilissima and that I have to eat rapido or Annie will use her paw to pull my food bowl closer to her and that Bailame will bop me if I walk too close to her or bother her in some way. But that was in the beginning and adesso I know that I can sleep with Bailame or put my face in Annie’s bowl when she wants to eat my food or that Duchessa likes when I lick her head. I love my mom and dad, too, but I don’t let them pick me up and hold me all the time, just once in awhile. I like it more when they caress me and kiss me and do a face-snuggle with me.
I get to go outside into the big yard with trees and grass and an area full of vegetables and a hillside covered with lavanda where we can play and hide and hunt lizards. Annie and I love to run and chase each other and sometimes we practice the lessons that her mamma and mia mamma taught us and that’s so much fun. Sometimes I explore the woods nearby and then I run home.
I like vegetables. The other gattine laugh at me and my mom takes photos. Zucchini and tomato and even cantaloupe, but my favorite is green beans even when they are not cooked with anchovies. They’re also fun to play with when they are raw and I can hide them in small places so I can play with them later. My best meat is fish and then chicken.
I remember the day that I began feeling frisky. I was very talkative and used my big voce, even though I didn’t know I had such a big voce. Bigger than usual. I thought there might be boys outside, but I couldn’t see any from the upstairs window or at the front door. One afternoon, my mom and dad put me into the soft bag, and we walked to another building. They opened the bag and I saw a molto bello all black cat, and he saw me. They called him Romeo. But I was in a new giardino and I was too scared. I ran around and Romeo ran around, but then my dad caught me. I was glad that we went home and that I could stay inside. The next day Romeo came to mia casa, and I was contenta he liked me and that he knew where I lived. But there was also another cat. He had dark gray and light gray stripes, but was more scruffy than handsome. He didn’t like Romeo and Romeo didn’t like him, and they fought and hissed. It was nice that they both liked me, but I was contenta to stay inside. I was glad that he didn’t come back the next day. I got to go outside and talk with Romeo. We talked a couple of times and I went back into mia casa and rolled around on the floor.
My mom and dad sometimes call me by different names like Leggie and Allegie and Piglet Due and C4P2 and, when I was talkative, VaJayJay. I think of myself as a Snow Leopard.
My mom and dad rub my tummy and talk to my belly and say that they love my bambini. I am really hungry and want to eat everyone’s food. My mom won’t let me, but she gives me an extra handful of crunchies and I eat it before Annie sees it.
It began suddenly and slowly. Piano, piano. My mom stayed with me as I wandered around la casa, looked for a comfortable place. She brought down the special scatola she had made for me, but it seemed to early. I still needed to pace. She carried me upstairs to the room where I stayed when I arrived, and the special scatola was there, too. I dug through the papers and tried to settle in the corner, then the other corner.
My mom kept talking to me, saying ti amo and brava. About three hours later, my first bambina arrived. It was difficult, and my mom wanted to help me, but she arrived, and I began to lick her. She is bellissima, mostly black with some orange and white. A short time later, a bambino, grey stripes with white on his face. He reminded me of mia mamma. It took some time before the next. Twins. Bambini, an orange tabby and a champagne tabby. And the last, una piccola bambina. She looks like me.
Look at my babies, five of them. They snuggle and drink and meow and sleep, and I am contentissima. I stay close to i miei piccolini. Their bellies get full and round, and whenever my mom and dad come in with food for me, they pick one or another up ever so gently and kiss the sweet head or soft belly. They put the bambino, bambina back next to me before I need to meow. And I purr. They call me Mammasita and Baby Mamma.
La vita e’ bella. Life is good.
SBRICIOLATA … RICOTTA CAKE
A good variation would be to substitute chocolate chips and candied orange peel and orange peel/zest for the raisins and pine nuts and lemon zest … and orange zest for cinnamon in the crust.
DOUGH:
6 oz. butter, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
1 egg
2–½ cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
Pinch salt
FILLING:
16 oz. ricotta
¼ cup sugar
1 egg
Grated peel/zest from 1 lemon
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup pine nuts
- Preheat oven to 350° F (170° C). Butter and flour a 9 to 10 inch round springform pan.
- DOUGH … In large bowl, cream butter and sugar, then mix in egg until well blended. Stir in dry ingredients. Press ¾ of the dough into the prepared pan. Reserve remainder.
- FILLING … In medium size bowl, mix ricotta, sugar, egg, and peel/zest until well blended. Stir in raisins and pine nuts. Pour onto the dough in the pan.
- Crumble the remaining dough on top of the ricotta mixture.
- Bake for 40–45 minutes. Be sure to bake the cake thoroughly … the ricotta is wet, so you need to make sure the dough is cooked/firm (so it doesn’t become soggy later).
- Cool.
- Serve at room temperature or cold.
Enjoy!
