First Post/Day of the Rest of My Life.

I've been meaning to start blogging on a regular basis for a couple of years now, and what better occasion than my first full day of unemployment?  I intend for this blog to be an ongoing record of my thoughts; thus, it will be predominantly about food, financial markets, design, and the challenges which I foresee the future presenting us with.  

Today, we start with food - specifically, my lunch.

Pasta with olive oil and good cheese has long been my staple comfort food - tasty, cheap and satisfying, and a great base for further experimentation.  About a year ago, I split a pepperoncini and salami pizza in the Mission with my friend Steven Hazel.  The flavor combination was excellent, but while I usually keep a jar of pepperoncini in the house for the quick capacaisin hit, I almost never have salami.  I picked up some at random at the store the other day, so I decided to give salami and pepperoncini pasta a shot.   The verdict: Excellent.

Recipie:

3/4 inch diameter stack of fettuccine ($0.40-0.50)

.5 cubic inch nub of asiago that needed to be used up (domestic, maybe $0.25)

slightly more than that of parmesan (Reggiano, maybe $0.35)

1 inch length of 1.5 inches diameter salami, diced (no real idea, let's say $0.50)

two large pepperoncini, julienned ($0.10, tops)

splash of extra-virgin olive oil ($0.05)

The result was a delicious lunch that set me back $1.75, at the outside.  The price calculation is important to me, both because I enjoy the challenge of living well on very little money, and because I'll be living on the largesse of the State of California for the foreseeable future.