2014-10-26

【Aiden in English】

        A dinner at a fancy restaurant with friends is always great, unless the friends are your mom's friends. But it was fun, since I had my trusty iPad by my side during this time. It saved me from the long wait at Bacco Italian Restaurant. All fancy and in tonight's case, Italian restaurants seem to have a long period of time between dishes, so this sounded good for mom and her friend Kristine, my preschool pal Crystal's mom who came back to PA from China. This give them an abundant amount of time to blab on about life, economy, jobs, money, kids including Crystal, Jesse, Wendy, Adele, me, and so on. They must've been long time no see and kept talking with no break. As a matter of fact, we just met in Kristine's mansion this summer. As soon as a subject was closed, another question popped into their brains like a cartoon. It looked as if one character got an idea and a light bulb popped up. Mom and Kristine did the same way around. They just kept having light bulb moments.

        When the appetizer, or should I say Antipasto, arrived at the table, Mom and Kristine were still chirping away like blue jays. Kristine had gotten a plate of deliciously looking Calamari Fritti and a plate of healthy Salad Garden House. Mom on the other side of the table, ordered a spectacular appearing platter of Antipasto Caldi with clams, mussels, stuffed mushrooms, and eggplant pomodoro in a light marinara sauce. I had the plain, old, traditional, gigantic, amazing, probably the-best-in-the-world Polpette di Nonna, house-made meatballs with fresh pomodoro and ricotta. Boy, they seemed as big as my fist, and I only could eat one, considering it was my antipasto (yes, there were 2 meatballs). Mom ate fairly quickly, and then began to chat once again. Kristine, barely eating a few bites, took her time, talked, and dined simultaneously. While they continued to wear their mouths out, I was on my iPad, not having a care in the world.

        Finally, the Entrees came. It would've been horrible if I had completed a whole game in one night. The Linguini Fra Diavlo I ordered was a seafood mix of scallops, clams, shrimp, and mussels with garlic in tangy marinara. The pasta was amazing and probably the best Italian dish ever except for pizza. The sauce provided a sourness for the seafood and combined with a little salt. It tasted absolutely dazzling.

        On the other hand, Mom had picked Pasta di Pesto, house-made capellini pasta with shrimps, yellow squash, and carrots tossed in a pesto cream sauce. It looked green and just tasted... mushy. Yes, the pasta was too mushy for my liking. To be honest, I don't think Mom cared about the pasta. All she did was to eat two bites, and you know, began talking once again. I enjoyed my meal while Mom and Kristine went on talking. They chatted long into the night, way after I was all done my food. I guess good friends are easy to talk with, especially with my mom.

【紅霞譯文】

        與朋友在雅致的餐廳共進晚餐一向特別來勁，除非同去的朋友是媽媽的朋友。但今晚還算不錯，因為有愛不釋手的“蘋果”智能電腦全程陪伴，我才不會斤斤計較“酒神飯莊”用餐前無聊的等待。說實在的，所有像今晚這樣豪華的意大利餐廳都大同小異，每道菜之間需要耗費很多功夫，但這正是媽媽和曉紅阿姨求之不得的。曉紅阿姨是我幼兒園小班童友家純的母親，最近剛從國內返回賓州辦事。兩位朋友藉機狂侃海聊時事經緯工商大業子女成長，從同伴家純、哥哥家傑、姐姐家齊、妹妹湉湉到我本人，沒完沒了，如同久別重逢，有念不完的舊情說不完的故事。其實今年夏天，我們曾登門拜訪過正在賓州度假的曉紅阿姨一家。席間，但凡一項內容結束，另一個話題立刻像卡通似地從腦袋瓜子冒了出來，正如動畫片裡若有人突發奇想，電燈泡就會變亮，兩位大人簡直就是其翻版，你一言我一語，從未給燈光創造熄滅的機會。

         當頭台(我應該用意大利語發音)供奉桌上，媽媽與曉紅阿姨宛若兩隻藍喜雀還在嘰嘰喳喳縱情歡唱。曉紅阿姨要來一盤美味可口的“炸魷魚”和一盤健康食品“生菜沙拉”；坐在對面的媽媽點了色香味全的“熱菜開胃拼盤”──蛤蜊、貽貝、茸釀香菇、清淡海鮮醬燒茄子西紅柿片；我則熱衷簡單、老式、傳統、碩大、迷人、世界上可能屈指可數的“高貴丸子”──“酒神飯莊”用新鮮西紅柿和奶酪獨家特製的牛肉丸子。哇塞，它們每個看上去跟我的拳頭差不多大，可我撐死了也只能幹掉其中一個(沒錯，一共有兩個)，這僅僅是頭台而已。媽媽匆匆吃上幾口，趕忙又打開話匣子；此時，曉紅阿姨偶爾動下刀叉，慢慢吃好好聊，物質食糧和精神補給兩不誤。看來瓊漿玉液山珍海味根本無法堵住她倆的嘴，而我則把精力全部放在“蘋果”智能電腦上，天大的事情都與自己無關。

        主菜好不容易才到，否則我非得搭上整個通宵玩完全套遊戲不可，等飯的時間長得可怕。我的“惡魔兄弟扁麵條”有清蒸的扇貝、蛤蜊、大蝦、貽貝，再與大蒜海鮮汤滷混合而成，汁濃味美。意式打滷面十分好吃，也許應歸為意大利菜系中僅次於比薩餅的最佳食譜。滷子酸溜溜的，正好去除水產品的腥氣，稍加些許鹹味又提升海鮮的美食口感，真是沁人心脾。

        再說媽媽的“香蒜滷麵”，號稱該店看家菜拿手好戲，麵條很細，經大蝦、西葫蘆、胡蘿蔔和香蒜奶油醬一起翻炒，看上去綠油油，但吃起來…黏乎乎的，我可不喜歡這種做法的滷麵。坦率地說，媽媽也不在乎好吃與否，只不過隨便應付兩口罷了。毋需贅述下面要幹的事情，她繼續和曉紅阿姨攀談聊天。我獨自大塊朵頤美味佳餚，任憑媽媽們沉浸在久久暢談之中。看來好朋友之間言談話語容易投機，尤其碰上我媽媽這種人。