Italian Sausage and Sewing

Two completely unrelated items today. Just have to "welcome you to my world."

A frustration since we moved here: you can't get good, spicy Italian sausage OR Pepperoni in Switzerland.

OK - you can get Peperoni pizza but you'll be shocked when your pizza arrives covered in a variety of bell peppers. Because that's what Peppers/Chillies are in German - Peperoni. You can find a pizza with spicy salami but it is not a pepperoni pizza. For that, you must go to Dominoes in Zurich and fork over 50chf (= $49 right now :( ) for a medium sized Pepperoni pizza. No thanks, we'll wait.

Re: Italian Sausage. I had this conversation with our Italian friends as I have a hard time finding sausage meat for sauce that I like. It's so bland - not the flavor I'm used to. One conclusion we had already made was - many Italian immigrants to the United States worked with what they had available and "invented" new Italian foods/products.

I described the sausage I want and all of a sudden a light bulb went off for M - she said it sounds like the sausage from the Southern part of Italy and maybe Sicily. It is not made in Switzerland nor even in No. Italy - or is hard to find. There are some substitutes but it's not the same.

So Des Moines - you have a little piece of So. Italy that can't be found in Switzerland - Graziano's Italian Sausage - in the convenient ground pack without the casing even. You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.

MEDIEVAL TIMES: I'm finishing the girls costumes and just needed two items - some poly black lining and elastic as my stash from the States is depleted.

I bought the material/fabric at the "fabric store" and then had to walk down the street to the "notions" store to buy the elastic. The fabric store has only patterns and fabrics with a small selection of thread. The notions store has everything else you might need to do something with the fabric/pattern.

Hello - it would make sense to have all the supplies one needs for sewing under one roof! Yes, I got a little more exercise BUT puleeeeese. It makes no sense, none at all, in a country that prides itself on its efficiency and planning.

Where is a JoAnns Fabrics when you need it?