Kitchen Complications/My Obsession with Rupie, The Pup Nextdoor.

Our kitchen is a hellhole. Besides the walls crackling at our touch and the rare presence of hot water, there are countless annoyances in the culinary department of Via Deliziosa 12.

To begin with, our fridge doesn't seem to comprehend the concept of keeping food cool. Instead it insists on melting whatever brand of Gorgonzola or Mozzarella that sits on the shelf. A true spawn of Satan, this refrigerator.

Mysteriously we also have no knives to speak of (nor obviously to cut with). It’s a bemusing subject to consider. Were there once knives that inhabited the drawers of this cataclysmic kitchen of ours? Was the last tenant a knife thief? I guess if I knew that Americans were coming to inhabit my Italian apartment, I would take all the knives with me, just to throw them a curveball. So to whoever stole all the knives from our apartment, thank you—slicing onions and mushrooms with forks has never been this stimulating.

But there is one redeeming characteristic to this malevolent kitchen: a large window that overlooks one of the many large Italian apartments in our neighborhood. The window spans quite far and allows the chef of the moment to take a peek into the world of una famiglia italiana. All of the issues that were once so frustrating seem to vanish and fall wayside to my obsession with our neighbors and their sweet pooch Rupie.

On one of the warmer evenings, Chase and I were chopping diligently and noticed a pair of brown eyes, peeking from below the windowsill of the apartment across the way. An older gentleman came through the library and into the room announcing that we were staring straight into the eyes of Rupie, the most adorable of Italian pooches. After this little occurrence, I take my stance at the stove every evening, blatantly staring into the library window hoping for another glance at Rupie and his kindhearted old owner.

Despite the faults of this hellish kitchen, we seem to be producing edible and yummy food—so at least we have that to look forward to. So far I’ve managed to turn out a Mushroom Risotto, Caramelized Onion, Gorgonzola and Prosciutto Pasta, Bruschetta, Sun Dried Tomato Pasta with Caper and Sun Dried Tomato Sauce, and Crab Cakes. I guess as my Mainers would say, “We done good.”