Caputo's! Everything else . . .

The most important thing to remember at Caputo's . . . stay away from the cooking magazines! That place is dangerous enough as it is . . .

The antipasto bar doesn't disappoint . . . This so reminds me of Italy!

Some buy olive oil in small quantities . . .

And some of us . . . well, we need a little more . . .

And then there's vinegar . . . Inexpensive distilled vinegars, good only for washing windows and coloring Easter eggs, can be found next to the most sublime balsamic vinegars infused with anything imaginable . . .

The Silver Palate Cookbook, given to us as a wedding present by my sister-in-law Angela, is still one of my favorite cookbooks. I was pleasantly surprised to find this balsamic vinegar with the Silver Palate label among the selection. Of course I had to buy a bottle . . .

I went looking for pancetta (Italian bacon) and found . . . Danish bacon! Danish bacon? Huh. Caputo's always surprises me with a new treasure. I'm going to try out the Danish bacon instead of ham next time I make split pea soup. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I left Caputo's feeling like an alchemist who now has the ingredients for turning base metal into gold. I can't wait to take my cauldron out.