THE CANNOLO THAT FELL TO EARTH

Look out, NASA! You've got competition from Sicily, no less, in the form of the "Sicilian Space Program"! This was the brainchild of three young people from Enna - Antonella Barbera, Fabio Leone and Paolo Capasso - who one evening had the idea of sending a cannolo into space.

Our determined space pioneers paid for the mission from their own funds and equipped themselves with two video cameras, an empty ice cream carton, a GPS system, a helium-filled balloon, a small parachute and, of course, the "cannolo", made from modelling paste.

Next, they had to get permission from Enac [the Italian Civil Aviation Authority], Enav [the company which provides civilian air traffic control to the Italian state] and the military at Sigonella - all of which took 45 days, during which time the three friends finalised the details of their project.

At last, the launch date of 2nd February arrived and the cannolo took off from Rocca di Cirere in the Enna Geopark. It reached a height of almost 30,000 metres before the balloon disintegrated two hours later and the parachute brought the adventurous cannolo back to earth as planned. It was retrieved by the "Sicilian Space Program" team at Bompietro in the Madonie [Palermo Province], 25 km from the launch site. 

Antonella, Fabio and Paolo say they see the cannolo flight as a gift to Sicilians and hope it has made them smile. I think it is safe to say they have achieved this, as the video has now gone viral. They also say they celebrated with a cannoli party - let's hope that this time they were well-deserved real ones!

A HIGH-FLYING DISH

I've always loved caponata and now this dish is set to become a real high-flyer when Luca Parmitano from Catania, who is to become the first Sicilian to journey into space, takes some with him on his International Space Station mission in May next year, reports the Palermo edition of La Repubblica.  

The recipe to be used is the brainchild of chef Filippo La Mantia and, as he uses neither garlic nor onions in his version, it was found to be very light when tested at Cape Canaveral three years ago. Thus this dish has been chosen to represent Sicilian cuisine on the mission.

Major Parmitano, who is currently training in Russia, will spend six months on the ISS after taking off from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.  The mission logo, designed by Ilaria Sardella from San Giorgio Ionico near Taranto [Puglia], features an image of the earth in the colours of the Italian flag, reports La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno. Norberto Cioffi, an engineer from Pantigliate near Milan, came up with the mission's name which is, in homage to the Domenico Modugno song, Volare.

What other music could I post tonight?

Domenico Modugno - Nel blu dipinto di blu  [Volare]

A KITCHEN SINK DRAMA

I have never understood why, in Britain, most kitchens are planned so that the sink is under the window. I can only imagine that it is an idea dreamed up by a man somewhere who imagined the little woman, up to the elbows in soapsuds, gazing out happily and acquiring homely thoughts. But few of us have windows from which we can watch lambs frolicking, roses growing or other pleasant idylls. From my Cardiff kitchen window I could see my garden, but that only depressed me because of work needed in it which I had neither the inclination nor the ability to do.

Italian kitchens are planned rather differently: the windows are usually too long for any unit to be placed under them and there tends to be a block of units along one wall rather than the triangular arrangement you so often see in Britain. The wall space over the sink is often occupied by a draining cupboard such as this, and I used to covet one during my visits here. You will see that I also use mine as a dumping ground for utensils that I use too often to put right away and that the top shelf is falling down due, no doubt, to my having overloaded it with colanders and sieves. Now I realise that I don't have enough food storage space in my kitchen so I am wondering whether to have this space converted into a conventional cupboard after all. What do you think? - I'd still have to find a home for the things that are in there, wouldn't I? Part of the problem is that the wall along which I could put another cupboard is full of bookshelves and I've no intention of altering that arrangement!