Category Archives: cooking

Catch up

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Sorry it’s been a while since I posted. We have been doing a few things. Mostly mundane. We had a Calagrana lunch last week with two couples. Then we had a lovely invitation from Vera and family to their mountain house. It is three kilometers up a winding mostly gravel and dirt road. They are at the very end. So beautiful up there. It was just us and the family. A simple barbecue but so nice. Le regazze!

Some of the food.

The week was full of chores. We have to replace some of our zanzariere. Zanzara is the word for mosquito. Say it out loud. Doesn’t it make you think of the zzzzzzz noise a mosquito makes beside your ear? Two of the screens are ripped and several no longer hook down as they should. They said they’d come next week. And yet again we are trying to get our Tessere Sanitaria renewed. But we needed an appointment so we go next week.

Finally today we had a little fun. We met up with a friend who is buying a house here. He has been stuck in the US because of the travel restrictions but he finally got here this week to see his house. And we had lunch at Nonna Gelsa, a nearby restaurant. Ravioli with pistachio pesto.

Tomorrow I start packing for our little getaway. Leaving on Sunday. First trip since our lockdown from last fall. We are going to Sestri Levante on the Mediterranean. North of the Cinque Terre and south of Genoa. It is to celebrate our anniversary. I will do a trip report, of course!

Ciao! 🌈

Information of little import…

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I say “information of little import..” but actually, if anyone comes to Italy to live, or even to rent an apartment and stay awhile, it could be useful. Just another quirk of Italian packaging.

As in most places, you can buy already made hamburger patties in the store here. I don’t usually because I prefer to make my own. But our favorite butcher, Etrusco, has the best beef and the burgers are juicy not dry, so I do buy some when I’m there. Luther is a real burger hound! They come individually wrapped in a packaged like this…

Looks good right? (Sorry to my vegetarian friends!) comes out of the package ready to slap on the grill. Not so fast. When we first moved here I learned this lesson. Watch and learn.

As you can see, there’s an invisible plastic sheet. Now, I can understand when you buy four patties in a stack you don’t want them to stick together so you’d do this. But this one is in an INDIVIDUAL plastic pack. There is NO NEED for plastic, and on BOTH sides! I learned my lesson by melting the plastic into the patty the first time. Live and learn! 😅😅
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Enjoy your week, and be sure to — “rimuovere la plastica prima della cottura!“ 😁

What a haul!

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Today we finally made our trip to the Asian market in Perugia. There are a couple of markets there. One we had known of, but the one we went to today was new to us.

It is near the train station which tends to have a lot of immigrants and ethnic places to serve them. As you can see…it has a very catchy name — “ASIA MARKET”. I have to say, I hate the traffic in Perugia… a maniac designed their roads.

So, anyway, we found it fairly easily. It is, as advertised, cleaner than the other market, and the people are friendlier. I was disappointed in the selection, however. In the fresh produce there was no okra or sugar snap peas, nor was there any cilantro. I did get bok choy. I guess that’s something. I found most of the other stuff I wanted, even though the selection was smaller. I got fish sauce, oyster sauce, wide rice noodles, Korean BBQ sauce (trying for the first time), sesame oil, rice vinegar, sweet piquante sauce for sticky chicken. Lots of coconut milk and evaporated milk. Even some kimchi, which I love! Here is a picture!

I see Thai and Korean in my future.
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Its funny. I read the Facebook groups for people who live in Italy (from other countries). There also tend to be a lot of wannabes as well who still live in their native country. Someone posted a question about where to find Jalapeños in Italy. Fresh in the store, canned, or even plants. There were plenty of helpful answers as usual. But also there were the idiots who insist they know best and if you come to Italy to live you should “embrace the culture 🎶“ and only eat Italian food. Well, that’s fine and all, I love Italian food and I generally let the Italians cook it for me when I go out. But there is the inevitable pull of “Home”. The foods you grew up with. Comfort foods. If that happens to be spaghetti and meatballs, so be it. It’s not an Italian dish, it’s an Italian-American dish but if you miss it, you miss it. Same for ethnic foods, plentiful and embraced in the US, but seldom seen here. So – we cook the spicy stuff…and the different flavors. It surely doesn’t mean we don’t love Italian food!
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Along our drive to the store we passed a Vaccination center…it was teeming with people waiting for shots. What a great thing to see! Italy is finally making real progress.
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Italiano phrase for today, “loro erano molto amici” — in English “they were very close friends”. Pronounced, lore-oh err-ah-noh mole-toe am-ee-chi.
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Ciao, i miei amici! 🌈

BBQ

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As unlikely as it seems, we got take-out BBQ last night. Yes we did. And it was good.

There is a restaurant in Perugia called Pinturicchio Cafe+Kitchen. It does American breakfasts and Brunches and Lunches. It is closed for dinner due to the restrictions right now. They make really great ribs, pulled pork, wings, biscuits, sides, like coleslaw and cowboy beans, and finally delicious pies! Oh my! Yesterday they had Pecan Bourbon pie and Strawberry Rhubarb pie.

I had seen them advertise that they delivered to a town called Spello. I thought well, if they deliver there…what about here? So, I contacted them and they were willing. I contacted some friends and we got enough orders for them to come. Maybe, if they come back, the word will have gotten out and we will get more orders next time.

We ordered a rack of ribs, two pulled pork sandwiches, an order of wings, biscuits, coleslaw and a piece of Rhubarb pie (for me!). We had the pulled pork last night. Biscuits and pie today. It was great. Ribs for tomorrow….a taste of home.

Maybe many of my readers don’t understand the craving for foods from home. It is a strong pull. The comfort foods of my childhood make me remember, and make me happy. The ethnic foods I can’t get here I miss a lot. The meals we ordered last night were a great taste of home. I wish to say strongly, I adore Italian food. When I used to come as a tourist I loved the food more than anything and I still do. But, as with anything, after time you yearn for different tastes and memories of home… 💕

Buon appetito!

Only in Italy

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A town here in Umbria, called Città della Pieve is hosting a protest. It so happens that Prime Minster Draghi has a home there. So the Italiani decided we need to do a PROTEST for all the lockdowns and loss of business… To my amusement, they are doing a protest LUNCH or PRANZO here. Only in Italy would they have all these beautiful foods and delicacies of Umbria and call it a protest…I love Italy. 💕 Here is the translated article from our Corriere dell’Umbria newspaper.

“A crunchy pheasant egg, with Pietralunga potato cream, Cervia salt and white truffle. A puff pastry candy filled with Norcia caciottina, baked in a black truffle fondue. These are some of the dishes that Umbrian restaurateurs and producers will bring tomorrow, Sunday 18 April, to Prime Minister Mario Draghi in the good retreat of Città della Pieve. A demonstration duly authorized by the Perugia police headquarters to ask the government to reopen safely but to reopen immediately. After 14 months of closures and stop and go, restaurateurs are now exhausted by insufficient compensation and bills to pay.

With the risk of never reopening. And therefore for Prime Minister Mario Draghi, chef Simone Ciccotti is preparing a “sustainable menu dedicated to my Umbria entitled: an hour a day, culinary cocktail”. Ciccotti explains: “In the first course I revisited the egg in two moments for a never-ending tasting. Like us who want to move forward. I thought of Luisa Spagnoli’s Rossana instead when I made the candy for the 3 seasons of truffles, that is, the ones we lost. ”But these are just two of the dishes that will be brought to Villa Draghi: many other surprises are announced from the kitchen.

The details of the event will be defined this morning. There is a certain emotion among the promoters, a sense of responsibility and privilege to represent a land and its excellences that lockdowns and closures risk canceling: tomorrow in Città della Pieve there will be in addition to the owner of the ancient trattoria San Lorenzo, Lina Angelucci chef of Balestruccio, Alberto Massarini of Pentagramma, Petronilla Angelucci of the homonymous farm, Giuliano Martinelli of the Giuliano Tartufi company and the winemaker Marco Caprai. But support for the spontaneous initiative is coming from many operators in the sector. Like Gianfranco Vissani: “It seems to me the Sahara desert – he says – and after 13 months they have to give us real answers and help. There is only one life and the government must rekindle a flame that is now dying out. Life goes away, not only in catering, but more generally in human relationships. Trust and security must return ”.

This may be amusing for us who would never think of a protest with food like this, but that last sentiment really sounds a chord. A chord of despair among these restaurants and even the smaller Bars. It has been a very hard 13 months for them all. For us all…I wish I could go!!! Borrowed picture of the town.

It is a lovely town. I could easily live there. 🙂 Stay safe everyone and enjoy your weekend!

Everyday food

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Someone wanted my bolognese recipe. So here you go.

Ingredients
1 carrot diced small
2 garlic cloves minced
about a pound of ground beef
1 can (15 ounces) tomatoes chopped
About 3 to 4 cups whole milk
Pasta (about 8 oz)
parmesan to serve

Sauté carrot in oil. Add garlic for one minute. Then add the ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Add the tomatoes with juice and mix and cook a bit. Add around a cup of milk. Cook slowly until milk is incorporated. Add some milk every so often and let simmer into sauce. I try to cook the sauce for two or three hours. Or until it’s creamy and all the milk is incorporated. The amount of milk can be more if needed. It will become creamy. Once it is finished you can feeeze some of it. I usually get two or three meals for two from it. Boil pasta in salted water until nearly done. Drain. Saving some water. Return pasta to pot. Add sauce and some water and cook over heat letting the pasta finish cooking and absorb some sauce. Salt and pepper. Serve with Parmesan. Mmmm.
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For our weekday lunches we often have egg “McMuffins”. Silly huh? We’ve been getting English muffins from Ely at Calagrana. They are not to be found elsewhere here. So we enjoy them. I have a cute little contraption I brought over here from the US that cooks my eggs to just the right size. I put it in a non stick pan, and add a pat of butter, salt and pepper. Heat it up and crack an egg in. Cover and cook 2 minutes. Remove that little ring and flip egg for 10 seconds. This “should” finish up with a not completely hard yolk. Depends on the size of your egg. Eggs are smaller here. It makes a good lunch. Here’s the ring. We have a set of four.

And here is the finished egg “McMuffin”. I toast the muffin and add cheese.

What else is there to do around here except eat? Well, that’s not completely true. We ran errands this morning. We picked up some cat supplies and went to the Coop supermarket. Brought it all back, to include emptying the trunk of four bags of pellets. We figure these are the last we will use this spring. All of this had to be carried up to our house. Huff puff.
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Italian phrase for the day…”ogni giorno leggo molti giornali” — English “everyday I read many newspapers”. Own-knee gee-or-no leg-go mol-tea gee-or-nahl-ee.
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Four of my friends here in Umbertide got vaccinated yesterday. Stupendous news! Soon it will be our turn, we hope. Stay safe everyone! 🌈

Buona Pasqua!

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Umbrian beauty from my friend Jill’s garden. This picture is from our first lockdown a year ago when Jill sent pictures everyday of her spectacular garden. She kept me cheered up!
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Today is Pasqua. Easter. I’m not religious but I enjoy the rituals of the season. I did not buy a Colomba, which is the traditional cake of the season. It is shaped like a dove. Here is a borrowed picture.

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

Pasqua Pranzo is the big meal. Normally huge groups of friends and family gather for the multi-course, Lent-ending meal. Heavy on meat after six weeks of fish! Sadly, because of the Zona Rossa lockdown no big gatherings are allowed. We decided to buy the Calagrana Pasqua lunch. Here’s the menu. Mmm mmm good.

I will post pictures of the food in tomorrow’s post.
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Phrase for today — “cielo azzurro ma freddo per Pasqua” — “blue sky but cold for Easter” — pronunciation…chay-low ahz-zur-row ma frayed-doh pear pahs-quaw. Don’t forget to roll those Rs!
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Stay safe everyone and buona domenica a tutti!

Travel?

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I read the following in the newspaper a couple days ago. About vaccine “passports”. They are also going to create a similar thing in the EU. I remember there always have been requirements for people to get certain vaccinations for travel in some countries in Africa and South America. Exotic places with exotic diseases. I guess this is the same. I hope it doesn’t get politicized. That would be unfortunate. I guess if a person decided not to get vaccinated s/he wouldn’t be able to travel as freely, at least not on ships and airplanes. And also into countries that require proof of vaccine.

This from the Washington Post…
”Expect to show some sort of proof — either of a negative test or of vaccination — when traveling. “You should be planning on showing your negative test or staying home if you don’t have one,” Tariro says.

The European Union, for example, has announced plans for the Digital Green Certificate, a so-called vaccine passport that countries can use to verify a person’s health status and allow free travel across the bloc.

The concept of a vaccine passport isn’t new: To travel to certain countries, for example, you already need inoculations against yellow fever and other diseases.

The travel industry and tech companies have been working on ways to streamline digital credentials for years, and during the pandemic some have started to repurpose that technology to show proof of vaccination. “It isn’t far off in the future,” Tariro says.”

Of course, to travel here, you’d still need have the borders of Italy open to travelers…and that’s not looking positive unless we can get vaccines here. All the expected vaccines in Umbria have dried up…never been delivered…it is disgusting and enraging…but I don’t know who to be enraged at! I just know — no vaccines are being administered in Umbria now. 😔
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This Pasqua eve I decided to do a composed salad. I saw a picture of one in a newspaper and it looked pretty and good so I decided to make my own. I used my own ideas for what should go in it. It has a lettuce base. I bought lettuce a few days ago at the Carrefour. My own creamy dressing. Two small fresh goat cheeses, a sliced avocado, sliced hard-boiled eggs, steamed green beans, and a sliced pork tenderloin tonnato. I made the pork sous vide yesterday and had left over. It could easily go without the meat for non carnivores.

Stay safe everyone 🌈

Sunday

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It’s Sunny. But cold. And very windy. I am reading of high-wind warnings for today and tomorrow. We will have cold weather Monday and Tuesday. From Wednesday it is Katy bar the door…springtime is come! Temps in the 60s for the foreseeable future and that is good news. Time to think about spring planting. 🙂

Bought these for myself last week… lifts my mood!

We have had some good news here in Umbria on the vaccine front. It looks like most appointments will be schedule-able in April. Not sure how far out the actual appointments will be. Our year of birth appointment date is April 8. So you can bet your bippy we will be there!
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I made my weekly trip to Calagrana for provisions this morning. This trip I picked up two pizzas for our dinner tonight, a lamb chop dinner kit (meaning, I have to cook it), a pulled pork meal with house made buns, and English muffins…. I do love my little getaway trips up to Calagrana. Like a visit with friends. And I will eat for a week! Sweet. Yummy English muffins…I see egg McMuffins in my future.

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Italiano sentence. “Dove posso trovare una buona pizza nelle vicinanze?” In English…”Where can I find a good pizza nearby?” Pronounced …dough-vey pos-so trove-are-eh une-ah boo-owe-nah pizza nel-lay vich-een-ahn-zay?
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State al sicuro amici miei. 🌈

Regional dinner and a recommendation

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I just finished doing a virtual tour. Someone told me about the site virtualtrips.io. It has tours worldwide that you can sign up for — for free! It is a way for the poor out-of-work tour guides to make a little money through tips you leave. I decided to try one of Umbria of a town I’ve never visited, Corciano. The guide was Patrizia and she was quite good. I even see in the list of tours there will be two tours in — wait for it — UMBERTIDE!! I’m shocked! Dates not announced but I’ll post when I hear. There are also other cool looking tours all over the world. This could be a fun way to see some of the world while stuck at home.
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Today is Friday. And you know what that means!? Yes it’s Regional food day from Calagrana. Today we will be in Lombardia. The dish is the perennial crowd pleaser, Ossobuco.

And here it is! It was one of the best things we’ve had on the Regional tour.

Italian sentence.”Domani sto facendo commissioni”. English. “Tomorrow I am doing errands” pronounced… doh-mah-nee stow fah-chee-end-oh com-miss-ee-owe-nee.

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Stay safe! 🌈