Casa Al Dente

I'm probably mixing two languages there, with that headline.

When I was in college - the first time - at Michigan State University, I moved a lot. But the place I lived the longest was an old house I shared with several friends. It started with four of us and then grew to seven at one point, I think.

Anyway, it is this place where my family remembers visiting me.

I had read that a good way to tell if pasta is done was to stick it on the wall or the ceiling. If it sticks, it's al dente. The perfect tooth-fulness of done-ness.

College students practically live on pasta. It's cheap. Beyond the culinary implications, my housemates thought plastering kitchen surfaces with pasta was a perfect decorating technique. So we had all shapes and sizes of pasta hanging from the ceiling and stuck to the wall near the stove. The entire time I lived there.

The last time I was in East Lansing I drove down our old street to see if the house was still there. I was sort of amazed to see the ramshackle dwelling still standing and wondered if the post-1987 tenants continued the tradition we'd begun.

I apologize for the absence of an image on this post. I know I have photos of that old house ... but WHERE did I put them? I'll look again later ... gotta get ready for work now.