It's Sunday. This is  my usual day to walk down the hill to the Hollywood Farmers Market to do a Market Matters post. I love the market and rarely miss it.

But today is an exception because we are having a fundraiser for the people of Haiti at my house this afternoon. It's part of StirIt28 a nationwide, multi-city effort by members of the food bloggering community to help bring some relief to Haiti. One hundred percent of the money we raise today will go to Yéle & Share Our Strength.

 Well when I get to thinking about food and community, I get a little misty. I can't help it. That's because food sustains life. The people of Haiti desperately need this sustenence. The stories of what is going on there will tear you apart. Getting food, water, medicine and shelter are the first needs that need to be met. The charities we are benefiting today are ready and able to provide these needs. They just need financial resources. That is where the help you and I can provide is essential. That is the reason I opened my home to this event.

I got a load of lemons today.

It's citrus season is Southern California, and you know I am always up for a little urban foraging!

So that is just how I started my day, sack in hand rummaging through the branches of my neighbors fruit trees. Just so you know, I have rules about foraging. So don't accuse me of stealing. All my "victims" are either willing participants or silly people who stupidly planted their citrus so that the branches hang out onto public thoroughfares! So you see, these details make my harvest perfectly legal. Still, I never take more than 2 or 3 pieces of fruit from each tree... I do have some scrupples!

But once I was home, I was faced with the decision of what to do with my haul... A dessert popped in my brain. I do like lemon desserts, and considered a lemon sabayon tart. Besides, Sippity Sup has been abondonded by its readership and a pretty dessert always brings the strays in my flock back home. I may still do that dessert too, because I have a lot of lemons. But there is no time to bake today. I have other committments.

This is one of those recipes. You know the kind I mean. The “there’s nothing in the house and I must eat something” kind of recipes.

You see I have been traveling. I am just back from a great trip to Panama where I led a cooking demonstration for my new best friends at Boquete Gourmet. I am planning several posts about my trip so more details are coming. But if you want a sneak peek at my adventure CLICK here to read Boquete Gourmet’s post about our tremendous, fun filled evening of food from the classic restaurants of Hollywood. But then pop right back over here, ‘cuz I’ll never forgive you if you don’t.

Anyway, back to Los Angeles part of this story. Where was I? Oh yes.

Naturally I arrived home to an empty fridge. I am pretty good at emptying a refrigerator, especially right before a big trip. I hate to come home to a bunch of waste, so I had not done much shopping before we left. You see I have a mortal fear of those large, green and black hairy refrigerator monsters that always manage to sneak into my vegetable drawer when I am out of town.

My interest in Southern Italy continues.

Today I am concentrating on the so-called “heel of the boot”. It is generally known as Puglia. Though I have seen it called Apulia, Puglie and les Pouilles.

The area is perhaps the most contradictory region in Italy. Alternatively, desolate and picturesque. Compared to most of the country, tourists are still quite rare.

Many books I have read claim that the culture of food is less defined here than it is in many other regions in Italy, despite the plentitude of good fresh seafood from the Adriatic. Especially shellfish. I recall tremendous mussels battered and fried that make for a memory to last a lifetime. So I am not quite sure who decided that the region was somehow gastronomically challenged. I think perhaps Puglia's food gets a bad rap because it reflects the rustic ingenuity that its poverty-stricken roots requires. Because the dry soil can be difficult to work with and is not as prolific as other regions, Apulians have had to to make more with less.

I have not bored you to tears much lately with the saga of my broken jaw. Well it’s mended, mostly. I still have some soreness, my teeth are slightly out of alignment, and I get weird headaches. But those problems are small and getting smaller everyday. In fact I predict a full recovery by the time you see me at the FoodBuzz Bloggers Festival. Did you nominate your favorite bloggers yet? There is still time.

Even though I have been unwired for quite sometime I have not been in fully functioning mouth mode. Today marks the day I go back to eating whatever I like (except: nuts, ice, corn tortilla chips, beef jerky, and hard candy, especially– pardon the expression, jaw breakers).

In honor of this great event I am making ribs. I have never made ribs before. But I was skulking around at Dash of Stash a while back. He made some lip smackin’ good lookin’ ribs. I commented about my fear of cooking ribs and he offered a challenge. He would cook “something from the sea” if I made ribs on the grill.

Sup! is up for most any challenge; especially challenges that expand my experience regarding food. So I accepted the challenge with the caveat that it would have to wait until I was mandibularly mobile enough to eat ribs.

Road trips seem very American to me. So it seems like a great way to spend the Independence Day Holiday! A road trip seems especially luxe in a 35ft Georgie Boy Pursuit R.V. that sleeps 8, with  2 televions, wet bar and full kitchen!

I am on just such a road trip as we speak (err, I mean type).

But this road trip in an R.V. is making it way through the wine country of Sonoma and Napa. I think our road trip food needs to be geographically appropriate. Corn Dogs and cotton candy have their place, just not on my plate.

Still we are in a recreational vehicle. It has a kitchen (of sorts). I am expected to pitch in on the kitchen duties. In fact on this first day of travel I am in charge of hors d’oeuvres. R.V. hors d’oeuvres! I like the sound of that…

But not only am I in an unfamiliar kitchen. But I am in an unfamiliar kitchen moving along CA1 at 60 mph. So there is a lot of room for kitchen disaster.

Okay. This may be a bit daring, but I am going to show my true colors here. A lot of people will take issue with what I am about to say. But if I learned anything from MILK (the major motion picture not the dairy product) it is this: Every person must come out and declare who they really are.

Well I am a finicky bastard who likes things a certain way. I don’t believe in shortcuts, instant mashed potatoes or Segways. I like to take my time when I am cooking. I look for recipes that will challenge me. I enjoy the pre-planning, and the anticipation of my meal. When I read or hear other cooks go on and on about how “easy it is”. I think to myself maybe you just didn't try hard enough.

That (cheekily) said, I also realize that liking something a particular way or always wanting something you truly enjoy is occasionally not feasible. Like Patsy Cline (may have) said, “people in Hell want ice-water…that don’t mean they get it”.

I wish I had hours every day to plan and prepare scrumptious food. It would be nice if I could devote entire afternoons towards hunting down the perfect ingredients. Bought fresh everyday, with a specific purpose in mind. But if that were my reality then Oprah’s ratings would plummet. Dr. Phil would be canceled. Days of Our Lives would cease to exist, and Chris Matthews would miss me (terribly).