Lists...

I tend to make lists a lot about random things. I made several while in Italy --- here is the first of them. Feel free to add to it!

Things That Are The Same Worldwide

1. Old men, hanging out together, watching the world go by and talking story.
2. Old women chatting and gossiping together – often about the old men.
3. Dogs love belly rubs
4. Cats stalk prey – real or imaginary
5. Young girls flirt with young boys by pretending disdain.
6. Dorothy said it best “There’s no place like home”
7. Children are children – and it is wonderful to see their parents interact with them with love for their child written all over the parents’ faces.
8. “Mmmmmm” means the same everywhere.
9. A shrug too!
10. The curiosity of a toddler is boundless. They find wonderment wherever they happen to be.

Entry for November 11, 2006

I tend to make lists a lot about random things. I made several while in Italy --- here is the first of them. Feel free to add to it!

Things That Are The Same Worldwide

1. Old men, hanging out together, watching the world go by and talking story.
2. Old women chatting and gossiping together – often about the old men.
3. Dogs love belly rubs
4. Cats stalk prey – real or imaginary
5. Young girls flirt with young boys by pretending disdain.
6. Dorothy said it best “There’s no place like home”
7. Children are children – and it is wonderful to see their parents interact with them with love for their child written all over the parents’ faces.
8. “Mmmmmm” means the same everywhere.
9. A shrug too!
10. The curiosity of a toddler is boundless. They find wonderment wherever they happen to be.\

My favorite phrases... that I used to hear my parents say...

My sister mentioned on her blog that she is now using phrases that we used to hear our parents use. Things like:

...my ole stomping grounds...


That got me to thinking. What are my common phrases that I adopted from my parents? What are yours??

Some of mine:

...come to Jesus meeting... (not really one of my parents' phrases but I like it anyway)
... preaching to the choir...
...I tole you... (said by momma when she was right about something)
... because I said so...
...hmmph...
...this hurts me more than it hurts you...(said by daddy right before he was about to beat the tar out of me)
...beat the tar out of me or you or something...
...you can make it bettah for cheapah... (said by Popo)
...it ain't crooked - your head's crooked...
...down the road a piece...
...stomping grounds...
... turn grace... (it means to say the blessing before a meal)



Gary's phrases:
... don't make me stop this car...


So, are we the only ones becoming our parents??

Market Day! 11-10-2006

Saturday, October 21, 2006

We woke late this morning and rushed through breakfast in order to make it to the market. It seems that the entire town turns out for market day! Once we found parking, which took quite awhile, we eagerly joined the market throng.
Our idea was to pick up a little salami, cheese and bread so that we could have an al fresco lunch later. The first vendor that we saw realized right away that we were tourists! We asked for some cheese and olives. We wanted a small slab of cheese --- just enough for lunch. He kept saying “Bambino” really loud over and over…. And pulled out a cheese about the size of a baby! We ended up getting the entire thing! We also ended up with way too many olives. But that was okay --- more for us! It reminded me of the old I Love Lucy episode where she leaves Italy with a HUGE cheese, wrapped up in a blanket like a baby. She kept calling it “Bambino” on the flight….

Anyway, Gary went in search of salami and I went in search of fruit. I think that you can find just about anything that you might want at the market. They sold hardware, gardening implements, and large packages of seeds for planting. All of this in addition to fresh fruits, nuts, veggies, cheeses, meats, and fish…. It was very loud and confusing. I think that made it more fun!

We finally left the market and meandered off… with our bambino-sized cheese, salami, too many olives, fruit and chestnuts. We happened upon a yarn store that I had seen the evening before. The yarn selection in this little closet of a store was amazing! The owner had lots of wool and silk yarns. She (the owner) didn’t speak any English and I don’t speak Italian. But it was really cool to see how well we could communicate about a common hobby. I was able to communicate to her what I wanted to make with the yarn – and she suggested an amount to buy. I’m kind-of new to the crocheting scene but I know enough to determine that she didn’t try to cheat me by selling me too much. She showed me some of the beautiful shawls and ponchos that she had made --- and actually had for sale. It was really nice to share a common love with a stranger. It made us not quite strangers.

After leaving the yarn shop, we headed for San Gimignano. San G is a lovely old Tuscan city. 14 of its 62 original towers are still standing. In the Middle Ages, it was an important stop along a trading and pilgrimage route. We made it to San G. without any mishap – Gary is definitely getting the hang of driving in Italy. It was raining, though, and as we were walking up to the old part of town, I slipped, fell and was covered in mud. That sort-of set me into a grumpy mood…. (Which is probably why I ended up not liking San G very much.) This was the first place where we encountered some snotty shopkeepers. I had been looking for a pair of boots for myself since we got to Italy – and after slipping I really wanted different footwear. I poked my head into a couple of shops and was treated a bit rudely. Oh well, I just kept my Euros in my pocket and found somewhere else to spend them! Even though I had a couple of irritable experiences with shopkeepers, we did meet a couple of really enjoyable folks --- First, we met a shopkeeper in a purse shop. She was just a tiny little thing – a spitfire! We talked up a storm, laughed and I walked out with a new purse for Maegan! Then there was the guy in the wine shop. Up until this point we hadn’t done much wine tasting in Italy. We had planned to but I think we were both nervous about being tipsy and trying to drive afterwards. But today, we decided to taste some wines. We found a little out of the way place and sampled some of the Chianti. The wine guy (I forgot his name…) was very knowledgeable. Once he found out that we were from the SF Bay area (= Napa) we really got to talking about wines! We also taught him a new English word to describe a taste --- sharp. One of the Chiantis that we tried was a little young and had a decidedly sharp bite. We told him this and he looked puzzled. We tried to explain it as he grabbed his English/Italian dictionary. He tasted it with us and rooted around in the dictionary. We laughed a lot and may or may not have agreed on ‘sharp’ as a description of that wine. But no matter, we walked out with a couple of bottles, his business card and his website address!

It rained hard while we were there. So we finally headed into a crowded restaurant that was situated in the center of town. It was full of tourists (I guess we fit into that category!). We squeezed in, told the waiter “due” (for two) and found ourselves seated to an older couple. As soon as we sat, we ordered ‘un cappuccino’ and ‘un cioccolato caldo con latte’ (hot chocolate with milk). The older couple wasn’t very friendly at first. But once Gary and I started talking to each other in English, the couple brightened up! And they were absolutely delightful – Bud and Jackie from Pennsylvania. Their daughter lived in Wilkes-Barre, which is an area that I am familiar with due to drum corps! What a small world! They were retired and had been in Europe for quite awhile. They started out on a 19-day tour, and then had spent some time at their daughter’s place (I think she lives in France) where they were able to do laundry! And now they were touring by themselves. I think that they were also ready to go home. It is nice to be on vacation, but like Dorothy says…. There’s no place like home.

More on Italy - 11-4-2006

Friday October 20, 2006

So, I think today has been our best day in Italy. It rained all night and this morning promised to be dreary as well. So, we decided to spend the day in Vinci. Susanna suggested that we also spend time in Montelupo. At Vinci, we lingered in the Leonardo museum, which showed off his many inventions. Gary really enjoyed that museum. We spend about two times as much time there as Susanna thought we would! We had lunch in Vinci before heading out to Montelupo. Lunch wasn’t very good, though. It consisted of sad penne pasta arrabiatta. The pasta was overcooked and the sauce was uninspiring. We began lunch with Bruschettoni (big bruschetta) with liver --- similar to a pate (this was actually pretty good). My lunch was a salad with tuna, mozzarella, tomatoes, olives and lettuce. Nothing amazing – but okay nonetheless.

After lunch, we set out for Montelupo. Either Gary’s driving or my navigational skill has improved --- or both! We made it to Montelupo without any problems. We arrived around 3 pm – unfortunately the shops there are closed between 1 and 4! Sooo… hello gelato! Gary got hazelnut/chocolate and I got coffee. Together they were amazing.

We came across an old church and ducked in to light a candle. It is hard to believe how beautiful renaissance art can be found in tiny village churches! This church was no exception --- it had several wonderful paintings.

Montelupo is the home of a thriving Tuscan ceramics industry. We visited several shops – some were open and some we simply pressed our noses to the window. We tried to kill more time by having a cappuccino… and succeeded in warming our insides while sitting in the drizzle outside.

We finally ducked inside a shop with the intention of purchasing some items. We found a wonderful Madonna, a small tile with “Beware of dog” in Italian (and a picture of a Dalmatian) and a couple of other small items.
The shopkeeper, Dario, enjoyed practicing his English with us. He told us the story of the Black Rooster seal that is on the Chianti bottles:

Florence and Siena were constantly warring over the land between the two cities. They finally reached an agreement about the land in question – on a specified day, the men of each city would walk toward the other city. The boundary would be established at the meeting point. They all agreed to set out at dawn. The men of Florence decided to use the crowing of the black rooster to signify dawn – as this type of rooster typically begins crowing one how before dawn. Thus the men of Florence met the men of Siena closer to the city of Siena than was originally surmised. To honor the black rooster, for the land in question is used to grow Chianti grapes, the rooster’s image is used on official Chianti wine from that region.

--- heh ---

Well the rain continued to pour throughout our visit with Dario so Gary and I hurried back to the car and got drenched in the process. We quickly made our way back to the villa with only one or two wrong turns under our belt!

At dinnertime, we ventured out into the village of Castelfiorntino. An American couple gave us a restaurant suggestion. We ended up at another pizzeria as we couldn’t find the one that they suggested! We parked in the plaza (named after our president – JFK) and walked to the restaurant. Funny thing --- we walked into the restaurant and saw another American couple who were also staying at our villa! We chatted with them (Sherene and Christopher) and compared notes on our day.

Okay, when it says “lardo” in Italy, they mean “lardo”!!! I decided to branch out a little at dinner and try something new – the bruchetta with lardo and anchovies. What was served to us was thin slices of PORK FAT on toasted bruchetta topped off with an anchovy fillet! UGH! I couldn’t eat that… neither could Gary. Okay – Italy – 1; Americans – 0. The pizza there was amazing, though. Instead of bread, they served a pizza crust (it was very thin --- like a cracker crust) with olive oil drizzled on it and kosher salt. OMG – it was delicious. Then we got a pizza with spicy salami, mushrooms and black olives. Then after dinner, we walked around the town center – and got lots of ideas of where we might want to shop on Saturday!

Cooking Class! 11-3-2006

The villa offered a cooking class with their award-winning chef, Bartolo. The chef met his wife Swan in a cooking class that he was teaching. Swan is Susanna’s daughter… it is a family-run villa! The three of them taught the class. Susanna translated into English, Bartolo cooked and Swan prepped and cleaned up. Susanna has done a lot of research in the history of Tuscan cooking. She designed a class that she and Bartolo taught on Tuscan cooking in medieval times. They were surprised to learn that cinnamon was used extensively in savory dishes. The students in that class consisted of chefs from around the world. Susanna said that it was hard – an entire week of listening to the chefs bicker over minute issues… she calls chefs “artists” and says, “You know how artists are…” and then makes a gesture indicating crazy.

We began the class by making traditional Tuscan bread salad. According to Susanna, they don’t waste bread in Tuscany. It is used in salads, pastas and soups. The salad was simply leftover bread, soaked in salt water and wrung out. It was mixed with chopped onions, tomatoes and cucumber. Salt, pepper, olive oil and red wine vinegar finish the dish. The olive oil used for the dressing on this dish should be from the first press. That isn’t usually a problem in Tuscany as olive oil is so abundant there. As a matter of fact, much of the cooking in Tuscany is done with the better grade first press olive oil. It really does taste better – but for those of us who don’t live in a major olive oil producing region, it can be a little expensive. Nonetheless, I made a note of it for home – and I now have two types of olive oil – very good quality first press for salads and pasta finishes, and regular EVOO – for general cooking.

The second course was risotto with wild mushrooms served in Parmesan bowls. Bartolo showed us a fail-proof way to make risotto – Cook whatever veggies, etc. you want to add to the risotto until it is about two minutes shy of being completely cooked. Take that off the heat. Then make the risotto by frying the rice (no oil) for a few minutes until it smells like popcorn. Once it gets to that stage, add warm broth – one ladleful at a time – making sure you stir the mix and the broth is absorbed before adding more. Add the broth to the rice over the course of about 12 minutes or so. The risotto is about 6 minutes away from being complete. At this point, pull the risotto off the stove and cool it quickly on a cookie sheet. Prop the sheet up at an angle so that the heat is not trapped between the counter and the cookie sheet. Once the risotto is cool, refrigerate it until you are almost ready to serve it. It can be made the morning of your dinner party and kept this way to save time. When you are ready to serve the risotto, heat the rice mixture on the stove, adding additional warm broth by the tablespoon. Mix and make sure it is completely absorbed before adding more. In the final two minutes of cooking, add the mushrooms, veggies, whatever you are adding to your risotto mix. Continue cooking for the final two minutes. Then, pull the risotto off the stove; add your olive oil and Parmesan cheese and you are done!

Bartolo also showed us how to make easy Parmesan bowls: heat up a nonstick skillet. Once hot, add shredded Parmesan cheese so that it covers the bottom of the pan. Allow the cheese to melt and bubble. Once it is set, remove the pan from the heat, carefully loosen the edges, and flip the cheese pancake over to the other side. Continue to cook this side for a few minutes. When it is done, (judge by the smell and color) take the skillet off the heat, loosen the edges and flip the cheese pancake over an inverted ramekin. Then let it cool and harden. Don’t refrigerate these bowls – you’ll end up with a chewy mess…

We made a simple side dish of sweet & sour peppers – big chunks of red and green peppers, slowly cooked in vinegar and sugar. This went with the main course – pepper stew. Okay, if you don’t try anything else, you must try this stew. All you do is take a big pot, add lots of red wine (good wine that you would drink), garlic, sage, about a cup of tomato paste and salt and pepper. Then dump in stew beef (chunks). Bring to a boil – then simmer for three hours. That is it. I think that Bartolo did a reduction of some of the wine to make a sauce to go with the beef, but it isn’t needed. It is simply wonderful. And very, very easy to cook.

Dessert was an apple cake. The cake was less like a cake and more like a torte – lots of chunks of apple and not a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg or mace in sight! Bartolo made a light apple sorbet to serve with slices of the cake. Mmmm…..

After class, we went back to our room, showered and dressed and waited on dinner. We didn’t eat until about 9PM – the beef stew takes three hours. But wow… what a dinner it was! Everything was amazing. I think the key to good cooking is using good food… fresh, tasty food. I know that all of the cooking shows say that over and over – and they are right. There is nothing more delicious than a ripe peach – picked right off the tree and eaten while still warm from the sunshine. Eating food that is in season is similar – the colors and flavors are especially vibrant. This was certainly true for the wild mushrooms that we had with the risotto --- and the apples used in the cake and sorbet.

Oh and just a couple of notes on the restaurant itself – it is definitely a labour of love. Susanna includes poetry in the menus. Swan is the knowledgeable wine steward and their wine cellar is extensive. Susanna makes the table decorations and napkin rings herself. Tonight she used various gourds and ivy on the table. It is very fresh – much picked from the villa’s garden. The ambiance here is one of peace and tranquility. The view in the dining room is simply the Tuscan hills… it can’t get any better than this!

Entry for November 02, 2006

Today was supposed to be an ‘easy’ day. We don’t want to do too much sight-seeing as our cooking class is scheduled for tonight at 5:30 pm. So, we planned to spend the day in Castelfiorentino – enjoying cappuccino and watching the world walk by. Before setting out, we asked Susanna for her recommendation of a place in the village that would meet the good coffee/ good people watching vantage point requirement. She suggested that instead of staying in town, we go to Certaldo (pronounced Cher-tal-do). She gave us great directions to the Certaldo with additional instructions regarding where to park and take the train to the old town. We thanked her for her maps and directions, pulled out of le Boscarecce, and within one mile of the villa’s gates, were lost.

The good thing about getting lost in Tuscany is that there is always beautiful scenery. The other good thing about getting lost in Tuscany is that there are almost always several ways to get to each town. And regardless of being lost initially, we made it to Certaldo and eventually (and I do mean eventually) found the parking lot of the train (funicalare) station. We discovered that the train was closed for repairs – but they were running a bus service to Certaldo Alto. So, we hopped the bus and hoped for the best.

The best way to describe the bus ride is using one word: hurtling. The driver had no compunction about throwing the bus into the street, in the middle of traffic, around the curvy and steep .75-lane road leading up to the old city. I glanced at my hands during the ride… they were holding onto the seat in front of me…and yes, knuckles were white. We eventually made it to the drop off point. It took awhile to figure out where we were, though. The drop off point on the map did not match the drop off point in reality… So we set off – in search of lunch.

The city is very old – built before God! Well, maybe just B.C.! The roads are narrow with hidden courtyards. Everything is brick, terracotta and cobblestone. Only a few shops were there and open --- maybe 25 in all. We had lunch at a small pizzeria – La Tenaia is the name. It was in an off-street (alleyway). To enter, we had to go slightly below street level. Once inside we noticed the distinctly Latin music. Not Roman Latin… it was salsa music!

Our waiter spoke no English but we managed to order lunch without any problem. I got up to search for the bathroom and asked our waiter (in English) for the bathroom. He didn’t understand. Then, in a moment of brilliance (or desperation) I switched to Spanish… and he answered! Whoo-hoo! This was so cool – we started conversing in Spanish. His name is Simon and he spoke Castilian Spanish --- while we speak Norte Americano Espanol. He thought that we were from Mexico - we explained that we are from the US but have many amigos who habla espanol.

Lunch was good. I had pizza… nice thin, cracker-like crust with ham, mushrooms, artichokes and olives. Gary had spaghetti bolognaise – interestingly, it had very heavy basil overtones in the pasta… and it was very good.

After lunch and saying adios to our new friend Simon, we meandered to the ceramic workshop suggested by Susanna. The artist was at work painting pieces prior to firing them. Her stuff was beautiful. We did notice a distinct theme – there were lots of figs and pomegranates that were ripe and bursting open – very female looking….Anyway, we bought a bowl and a olive oil and vinegar decanters. We decided to forgo the figs and pomegranates and stick with sunflowers…

After returning to the villa, we decided to rest before our cooking classes. And I slept soooo well – 3 PM Italy time = 6 AM (ish) California time.

Okay - more later on the cooking class.

Entry for November 01, 2006

Volterra

These are my notes from my journal – hope you enjoy!

It is our first day touring Italy. Right now, we are relaxing in a little café in Volterra. The barista is singing “We Are Family” along with Sister Sledge on the radio! We ordered coffee when we came in and received espresso. (We knew to expect this --- and the barista confirmed ‘espresso’ when we ordered as well). Gary and I are sharing a pastry filled with chocolate. Nice…

We spent a little time in the Etruscan museum. But mostly we walked around the town. Volterra is old. And the Etruscan civilization is older than any other I’ve studied. It is amazing the technology that they developed before so called “modern” times.

An aside – there are lots and lots of dog owners here. It seems like Italians love their furry friends as much as we do at home!

**************************later that evening…

The villa that we are staying at is absolutely beautiful. Each guest room is named after a female writer. Susanna, the owner, obviously loves her home and her work. She is here 24/7 – always ready to chat with her guests, discuss their days, give advice and/or directions and make a pot of coffee – American style!

Getting to the villa takes a little patience. The road twists and turns and is a one-lane deal. After the one-lane paved road ends, a gravel and dirt road continues. Finally, further down than you could imagine is Locanda le Boscarecce. We managed to drive here yesterday after flying for over 19 hours. Gary is doing a great job driving here. Italian drives are much more, ummm…. confident in their driving abilities. I suspect Gary will have a hard time adjusting to non-Italian type of driving when we return to California.

Lets see – we walked today. A lot! I now understand why Italians can eat so much pasta and remain slim. It is the walking! We walked up hills, up stairs, climbing, climbing, huffing and puffing (me). I don’t recall the relief of going back down stairs – only the exertion of going up, up, up!

Oh and we took a lot of photos of doors today. The doorways in Tuscany are interesting. I wonder where they led to in the past… who goes through them now…

One of the places that I wished we had skipped was the Museum of Tortures. That was a real downer. The museum featured implements used to torture people during the Inquisition and other wonderful times like that! It was so bad that Gary and I left within a few minutes of entry. Ugh. And why we went in you might ask? I don’t have a good answer – seemed like a funny, spur of the moment kind of thing to do. Bad idea. Very bad idea.

Dinner tonight was at the villa’s restaurant. We had foie gras with duck breast stuffed with fig and a pistachio cloud for appetizers. The salad was cracked wheat that had carrots, celery, onions and small cubes of mozzarella cheese in it. This was followed by pasta with a tomato cream sauce and fresh buffalo mozzarella. The sauce was very rich – maybe it was bisque. Then we had grilled skirt steak on a bed of wild mushrooms. October is the beginning of mushroom season in Tuscany. Lucky for me! Then for dessert we had a nice light raspberry sorbet with fresh raspberries. Dinner was very good – a little expensive… but very tasty.