The Italian Garden Project with Cookies Too

Playing semi-tourist at home this weekend, we saw the Pirates beat the Red Sox from great seats with a spectacular view of downtown Pittsburgh on Friday night.  We walked the North Shore pathway along the river past the casino to get to the game, since the tailgate party we attended was about a mile away from PNC Park, but on a very walkable route.  Lots of boats, people walking, dining al fresco to the sounds of a band just off the patios of the casino and even gaggles of ducks, so we had to be careful where we walked.   And on Saturday, we wandered the Strip District and the Public Market, in search of some local produce.  I had forgotten that the Italian Garden Project was sponsoring the Italian Wedding Cookie recipe exchange there on Saturday.  What a treat.  There was an accordion player, and the first song I heard was, 'Lady of Spain', one of my father's favorites.  My dad made me take accordion lessons as a young girl and I was not fond of it.  I wished I could have played the piano like my cousin.  Playing the piano seemed more American and more feminine, although I do not know where we could ever have fit a piano in our small bungalow.  JB tasted from the cookie sampling.  I am not sure where the concept of the cookie table came from; it seems more of an Italian-American than a truly Italian thing.  The photo above includes part of the cookie table from our wedding, with my dad in the background.  Most Italian sweets seem not that sweet to me and kind of dry, except for gelato which has been a highlight of all of my trips to Italy.  Somehow any version I have tasted here in the States never quite measures up to the memories.  
I love the idea of the Public Market and I hope that it survives.  The gathering space for entertainment is small, but it contributes to a piazza-type setting that just doesn't exist much in the States.  It was one of the things that my father often spoke of, the 'town square'.  It is a fixture of Italian life and he truly missed it.  The gathering in a common place, the sharing of daily life, taking the 'passegiata'.  
I had the pleasure of meeting Mary Menniti, the driving force behind the event and the Italian Garden Project.  She gave me her card which reads, "The Italian Garden Project, Nostalgia for Yesterday, Lessons for Today".   I like that -- nostalgia, but with lessons attached.  The Project has been holding monthly events, and there is another one upcoming on July 30 on tomatoes, basil and garlic.  A lesson from Saturday?  Less cookies, more greens. 
See www.TheItalianGardenProject.com and join in.