I'm feeling much better now, thank you.

Sooooooooo...we've been a little dormant from the west side of things for a couple of weeks, bloggily. See, I lost a fight with a wine glass. Well, maybe it was more of a draw, given that I didn't end up in the garbage, shattered into bloody pieces. But it left me at somewhat of a typing disadvantage, given the...stitches. I'll go light on details, for the sake of the squeamish. And I DEFINITELY won't post the picture I took in the ER. But! Tally ho.

And things are warming up! Like, for real now! Know how I know? NO, it's not because the Champagne Mango sorbetto is back! (Hey, did you know the Champagne Mango sorbetto is back?) It's because my mom got us Phillies tickets for the first home series. Go Mom!

See, this is a tradition for us, given that both of our birthdays always fall around the start of the baseball season. And we've been going to games together for years--it was really my mom who instilled in me my love of the Phillies and baseball. She's an old Philadelphia girl who grew up in East Landsdowne, and it was her desire to get back closer to her hometown that brought the two of us to Delaware when I was a kid. So that first spring that we were here, she knew I was miserable, having left all of my friends in West Virginia and struggling (as was to be expected) to make new ones. And Phillies Phranks (back when they used to be around and you could buy packs at Acme) carried coupons for cheap tickets. This was a couple of years before the World Series run in '93 and the Phillies were still firmly ensconced in the Vet, so there were always plenty of good seats available. I'd only ever seen pro ball on television, so when we got to the stadium I was blown away by how BIG and REAL everything was. I mean, the Vet was HUGE from the outside--and obviously on the inside as well. (We never did sit in the 700 level, though our first visit to the 600 level did inspire us to bring binoculars to the next game...not a glove.) And that infamous AstroTurf was so GREEN in person! And you could see Lenny Dykstra's chaw-spit stains on the turf around him in center field!

That squad of Phillies--Dykstra, Daulton, Terry Mulholland, et al.--they weren't maybe the best role models. Shoot, most of them weren't really even particularly good ball players. (Pete Incaviligia, anyone?) The picture of Mulholland on the computer desktop at Penn...totally ironic. And I'm not going to pick at our collective Mitch Williams scab. That would be cruel.

But time passes. I moved to Vermont and then Seattle, so what had been two or three games a year for my mom and I became two or three in eight years. We did see a couple of great Mariners games, believe it or not, the couple of times she could make it out during the season. (Quick aside: Jamie Moyer is a Seattle institution, even as popular he is in Philadelphia. So watching him finally win a World Series after being the best all-around guy the Mariners had for so long...it was really sweet. Seattle was collectively really happy for him.) But ultimately it wasn't the Phillies, so it wasn't the same. But now I'm here! And she's close by in Cape May, so it's easier than ever for us to go to games together. And of course Citizens Bank Park is a great stadium. But it's hard not to be a little nostalgic for the old days when the team sucked, the stadium sucked A LOT, and we could get face value tickets for a random Tuesday night game and have a section to ourselves. The hot dogs are a whole lot better these days, though...

Phillies!!!

It has been an exhausting few weeks with the Phillies being in the World Series. As a fan, you get all nervous, stay up late watching the game, and if they win you are too hyped up to go to sleep! So, now we are going back to the Bronx to deal with their fans, who leave during the 8th inning and are pretty quiet (my brother is a Yankees fan, so I won't get too mean). Philly has heart! We love our players and we love our team!
GO PHILS!

My fellow Phillies fan friend sent me these pictures this morning, not sure where they are from, but... let us know if you know where they are from so we can give you props.

Update! The cupcake in question DOES belong to the Phabulous folks at The Flying Monkey Patisserie.

Thanks for letting us use the pic*

We've Got High Hopes...

So I'm sure all of you know about Philadelphia. If you're not from here, once you've spent a few consecutive days in town you start to realize that life here is a little...left of center. There's that crazy Mummers cult you keep hearing about, what the hell is up with the Phanatic?? People are obsessed with cheese steaks, and most of all...their sports teams. As you may have heard, we've landed in the World Series for the THIRD time in thirty years!! Philly, despite all of her wonderful - albeit quirky - perks, isn't exactly known for winning (our public transportation crew did after all go on strike in the midst of one of the worst recessions this country has known...but that for a later discussion). The one thing you simply do not do is insult a Philly team to a Philly townie. I'm from Delaware and have grown up listening to the dulcet tones of Harry Kalas and I swear near cried when they showed his jersey in the dugout. We've never won much, but we do it with soul, and we always go down fighting.

So what does this have to do with Capogiro?? Aside from the fact that yes, we too are a little left of center (have you met any of our managers...?!), we also wear our Philadelphia pride on our sleeve. To that end, come hang out with us tomorrow night and cheer on the Phils!! We'll be listening to the game and doling out our usual charm and gelato to those of you who want to support the team as they were always meant to be heard: if not at the game, then listening to the crowds and announcers pull for them on AM radio.

We're in it til the end, kids and we haven't lost yet.

PS - did I mention that Brad Lidge came in for a visit a few weeks back?? No? WHAT a cutie.

Crazy Weather, Crazy Kids and the PhilLEEs.

Can you believe this? All this rain is the worst! I love the Fall and it seems that we are not allowed to have one. We live in this old house (built when Abe Lincoln walked the earth) and it is like swiss cheese. Always cold, noisy and enjoyable when it is not too cold, not too hot. Fall! It is wonderful in the Fall!

This past week was a busy one. When the rain started, soccer was cancelled and I was forced inside all weekend. I decided to cook and cook. My youngest son turned 9 and my daughter fractured her arm at school on Friday while playing keep-away with a lime. Yup, definitely my daughter.

Being colder than usual, I am punching up the soups and this weekend was the perfect time to try some new soups. I made some delicious mushroom soup, a black bean and the classic onion soup, which took over 8 hours. I am about to head to the burners at CapoKitchen and start. Our cafes need more soup. I have heard you! It's cold, it's damp and we were cheated out of Fall! Let's make it worthwhile! We make our soups, like our gelato. By hand and with local ingredients. Local carrots, onions, potatoes, herbs..... Peasant hearty soups that warm your bones.

On a happier note, the PhilLEEs stomped on L.A. last night. The cold weather seems to affect some more than others. My newly 9 year old was only concerned with the hot dog blaster. They have this contraption that shoots hot dogs into the crowd. It is a complete mystery to him. "Do you get them hot? Does the speed crush them? Where do they put the mustard?"

Ahh...to be 9.