Category Archives: cooking

I miss root vegetables

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I never thought I would type those words. Not that I’m a huge fan but when you can’t have something, well… anyway we just don’t have root vegetables here. No beets, no turnips, no parsnips, no rutabaga, no celery root, no kohlrabi. Once in a blue moon I’ve seen them, and if I do see them, I snatch them up. I like these vegetables in wintertime. They are filling and earthy and warming.

My friend Elizabeth told me yesterday, when I was whining about this, “they are not Mediterranean. Why would you expect them here”? But as you know, my friend Vera brought me some turnips from her mother-in-law’s garden. So they DO grow here just fine.

I guess it is a matter of taste. And a matter of tradition. Italians are very, very traditional. If it was good enough for their nonno, it is good enough for them! It is why we don’t have any Thai, Indian, or Mexican restaurants to speak of here. At least in rural Italy. Italians don’t tend to embrace new tastes and flavors. In the big cities you will find more diverse foods.

Anyway, as I leafed through my Six Seasons cookbook to look at the last season in it, winter, I realized there were very few recipes I could actually make here. Oh well. It doesn’t matter. There are many other things to make.

I was out at the local market this morning and made a concerted effort to see if I had just overlooked them in the past. Sadly, there’s were none. There is an abundance of winter veggies here in the winter, so I won’t complain. I came home with full bags.

A friend sent a recipe for lentil, leek and potato soup. I need leeks and potatoes to make it. Oddly, there was a big run on leeks. I was waiting at one stand and the guy in front of me bought them all! tutti! Grrr. And there were a bunch too. Then I went to the next two stands and they said “finito”. Finally at the last stand were about 8 left. So I waited my turn. A guy came up and told his wife he would get the leeks…over my dead body!! Success. (I’m nice, so I left him half…)

Tonight I have a nice fire. It is really cold and snow is predicted this weekend. The fire warms the kitchen…I hardly ever have a fire without using it to cook. So today, at the butcher, we got a Bistecca Fiorentina. Or Steak Florentine. It is huge!! But it will be good…

The things we do to amuse ourselves! Stay safe and well everyone.

Covid update

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We had 11,000 new cases in Italy yesterday. Our positivity rate was 8.8. This is excellent. I read in the London Times there was a record high yesterday of more than 53,000 Covid cases in the UK. I looked it up they have 6.7 million population. We have 6.0 million. The case numbers are significantly higher in the UK with nearly the same population. They are probably going into a hard lockdown for their own good. Their hospitals are near to having to decide who gets care…. and who does not. 😢
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The poor weather continues. We had a nice stretch of sunshine this morning so we took advantage to go out to the market, and do a few errands. We bought some wood pellets for our stove and some cat food and I did a small grocery run in town. We were astounded (🤣😂😅) by the “heavy” traffic in Umbertide. I’m joking because I’m from Northern Virginia and we had some of the worst traffic in the US. I’m no longer used to it! It is one of the things I love about living here – no traffic. Today is the last day of Zone Orange here. Tomorrow we go back into complete shut down – Zone Red – for 4 days. I guess everyone went out to get supplies for the holiday coming up.
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I had a lovely drop-by visit from Vera. I had lamented to her that I could not find turnips, called rape, here. Apparently they are considered animal food. As are parsnips, which the British around here love. If anyone finds any of these in any store or at the market, it goes on FaceBook instantly. Then they are all gone. So anyway, I was very pleased when Vera told me her mother-in-law had these in her garden! So I’ve got a nice bag of turnips which I will use happily. Also, share with Joseph who likes them too. Not only that, she brought me pickled turnips from Slovenia (popular there!) and turnip jam! Who knew?

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Stay safe everyone! Only one day of mean old 2020 left!! Andrà tutto bene 🌈

Birthday

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Yesterday was my birthday. I’m blessed (?) to be a Christmas baby…and my sister is too. Her birthday is today…happy birthday sis! We are both used to sharing with Christmas and New Year…and each other!

This year, being 2020 and one heck of a year I think we all agree, I was not expecting any celebrations. But our good friends, Susan and Gary invited us for lunch. So, we broke our social distancing rules…although it was perfectly allowable to have two people into your home…none of us had been with people for many months. It was a surreal experience 😳 for us all! And quite moving for me, to be honest. I really miss people.

We walked from our house to theirs, all of 2 blocks and normally a nice stroll. But we were enduring some of the worst weather I’ve seen. Strong winds and heavy rain made for sideways wetness. No matter the coat, the hood, the umbrella (inside out for the most part) it was horrible. We arrived and shed our coats and wet shoes and went into their cozy family room where they had built a lovely fire, which I was allowed to tend the whole time I was there!! In German it would be called gemütlichkeit. 💕

They prepared a beautiful lunch with soup to start, and then pork roast and trimmings… at the end a pretty cake, just the right size. We had some nice Spumante to start. And then a white (Vermentino) and a red (Rosso Piceno). All lovely wines.

Afterwards I was asked to choose a movie and I picked one of my favorites… Moonstruck. I thought it was perfect because we had all seen it but we could enjoy the Italo-American culture in New York. It is similar to here, but very different as well. Fun to watch from this perspective.

My cake!

Stay safe everyone!

Family 💕 friends 💕

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Our Christmas was special in so many ways. Although we were alone, physically, we had several wonderful FaceTime or Facebook calls with friends and family.

First call was from good friends in Florida. It was really nice to see their smiling faces and catch up.

Then my sister called. The ability to chat with her happily and without constraints is liberating. Like we are actually together. Not as good as being there, but pretty good.

Then a call from Luther’s family. Oh my! This made my day. This family is special to us. We don’t have children so seeing the nieces and nephew and Luther’s brother and his wife, Anne made us happy. We love those kids! So much happening with them. We miss out on all that. Rachel and her husband Alex. Rachel is a nurse at Johns Hopkins on the Covid wards. Dave and his wife, Shira who is “roundly pregnant”. I love that descriptor! She is due to give birth to our grand nephew, Daniel, in late January. And Sarah, the youngest and a free spirit. 🙂 It was happy-making for us to see them all and catch up. They were all coming last year to see us but Covid nixed that. Maybe this coming year they can come…but even if they all cannot, I hope Rachel can come for some much needed RnR from the sadnesses she must have seen. If anything can help her heal…Italy can 🥰. The good news is, she is changing jobs in the hospital and will no longer be working on the front lines. And she will have regular hours. She is also getting her Covid vaccination next week..yay!
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Christmas dinner. Peking duck. Spectacular fail! I cooked it using a recipe I’ve used before. But this time the meat was pretty desiccated. I was able to salvage enough from the underside of the duck for our dinner. The pancakes I made were pretty good. I made the hoisin sauce which was nice and spicy. Here is one of our pancakes. So, although the duck was mostly a loss, our Christmas dinner was good enough. Win some, lose some!

Stay safe everyone…andrà tutto bene….🌈

Christmas day

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I’m making a soup for our lunches. And a duck is slow roasting in the oven. The duck comes from an old lady who raises them nearby. They are from her yard so biologically raised on corn and scraps. But I laugh to think of that. People back home in the US are so conscious of these “labels”. “Is it biologically raised?” They ask. But this is just the way it’s always been done here, and still is. It is “bio” but it is also “normal”. She speaks to her ducks as well, as she tends them. Then she dispatches them herself. The cycle of life and death I guess.

The duck came with its feet, neck and innards. I’m thinking a delicious stock will be in our future. I’m happy it didn’t have the head…I’ve gotten chickens here with heads…🙄. Once, in a fancy restaurant Luther got the rooster head right there on his plate!
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I am a basket maker. Have been for many years. This week I felt the urge to make one. I have a supply of reed I bring from the US. How odd they don’t have this here. Anyway. I finished this on Christmas Eve.

Our small, auxiliary cat, Simba, took a liking to the circle of cane I put on the sofa before making this. He thought it was just right for a nap.

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Soup is ready. It was made with vegetable stock, the normal sofrito, plus lots of greens and grains. Some tomatoes and also a rind from some Parmesan cheese, a rosemary sprig, bay leaves, some dried pepperincino, and a roasted zucca (squash). Drizzled with some of the brilliantly green new olive oil – it can’t be beat!

Tomorrow I will show what I did with the duck. I will say…I’m missing my sister a lot. And I miss Luther’s family – brothers, nieces and nephews…maybe next year we will be together… I’m hoping for visitors next year! 🤞😌 Meanwhile this year there will be FaceTime.🙂
Stay safe everyone. Andrà tutto bene 🌈.

Buon Natale!

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The end to a very stressful year is in sight. We will spend Christmas and New Year at home of course. And we will eat alone. But we will still have yummy things….just not Italian. Italy it is all about the feast of the seven fishes on Christmas Eve, and then lasagna with ragu on Christmas Day. These are the traditional festive meals. I love these traditions but this year I decided to go against the norm. I think, in honor of the fishes I will have fish tacos on Christmas Eve! 😁 And I was gifted a duck for a Christmas present from my friend Vera, so that will be our Christmas dinner.

I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I have hopes that 2021 will be a much better year. It can’t be a lot worse, that’s for sure!

Slowly, slowly…our supplies dwindle

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I’m sure you’ve all read here in the blog if you’ve read for a while, that there are some things we love to get in the US and bring home to Italy. Things like spices and ethnic ingredients not available here. Although many things ARE available here and I’ve learned over the years how to find stuff, there are still a few things that MUST come from home.

Last week I used the last bit of my “Fish Fry” coating for fish. I looked it up, as I always do, on the internet and are there are many recipes for “do it yourself” fish fry. So OK maybe I can make it. We will try it and see. But I’d rather just have a new supply from the US 🙂.

Today, I opened my penultimate bag of Carolina Gold Rice, also called Charleston Gold. I keep it in the freezer until I need it. And there is one bag left. Italy, of course, has many very good rice varieties. Most notable are Carnaroli and Aborio rice. A short grain rice used in risotto. I also use it for regular rice. There are also readily available, basmati, brown and multi-grain rice. All good. But none are Carolina Gold.

I learned, years ago, about Carolina Gold rice from a Low Country cook book. Of course I ordered some to try. It was probably the original rice brought from Africa by the enslaved to America. These people also brought the knowledge to grow it. The labor it took to grow, was intense, and were it not for the enslaved, it would never have been possible to cultivate it. A hard life. So it wasn’t surprising when the rice died out after the Civil War. Until the 1960s, when a couple of people bought old plantations and slowly revived the rice. It is now cultivated and sold by these plantations.

What? you may ask, is so special about this rice? Rice is rice, right? But not this rice. It is nutty, and buttery, and has a distinctive aroma when cooking and when on the plate. It doesn’t need any gravy or enhancement to be enjoyed. Both Luther and I adore it and I never have to say “this is Carolina Gold” Luther always knows. It is the aroma.

Anyway. We really love it and bring back pounds of it in our suitcase (much to the amusement of the TSA). Just another casualty of the Corona virus. Unable to go home, and having no guests to bring some we will carefully nurse this rice and hope it can be replenished in 2021. Believe me, there are many other things that are going on my shopping list for when we can go home. 🙂

We rejoice there is now a vaccine, and it will protect our health care workers. And then, later, the rest of us. A light at the end of the long tunnel we’ve all been traveling this year. I have very high hopes for next year. I am itching to have some guests! My guest room has lain fallow for more than a year. It wants friends to come. And we are excited to also begin to plan travel. All in good time. First a quiet and lonely Christmas for most of us. It has to be. We will live to see NEXT Christmas…Stay COVID safe…live to see another year! 🌈

Bits and pieces

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The weather has been vile. Very cold and rainy. But some things needed doing. I took a trip, out of Comune which is not allowed except for necessity. My thinking was, I need to mail packages to the US and the only place is in Citta di Castello. There is a Mailboxes etc there. So I chanced it and breathed a sigh of relief when I crossed my Comune line on my return!

I also picked up a meal kit from Calagrana and a couple of pasties. It felt very christmassy up there. They are making Christmas baskets for gifts.

Tonight I made the meal. Very yummy Indian spiced lamb chops with a ginger infused rice and a salad of cucumber and sweet red onion. Excellent meal.

I put up our own Christmas tree today. It is pretty but I find I get sad when decorating it because all of my old ornaments are back in the US in storage. I miss them. They were collected from all over and have great meaning to me. One day I will get them over here. Here are my boys next to the tree.

Stay safe everyone. Andrà tutto bene 🌈

Thanksgiving

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I made our turkey and shared it with friends. They shared things with us. No one saw each other. We all stayed in our pods. I was just watching a doctor on TV pleading with those who ignored all the cautions against traveling or seeing family for the holiday to please return home and stay there for 10-14 days. Just because you test negative when you go home doesn’t mean the virus is not inside you, growing until you will test positive. Christmas will be a disaster this year. 😔

It fits!
Finished product.

Enjoy your dinner. 🍁🍁🍁 Stay safe 🌈

Thanksgiving – let’s give thanks 💕

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Thanksgiving is tomorrow. In Italy, the holiday doesn’t exist except sometimes in the American and foreign community. In any event, there can be no big celebrations here this year with friends, because gatherings aren’t allowed. Having a non-pod member into your home is also taboo. I say pod — all people in your normal household are your “pod”.

As you know, we are celebrating on our own. A normal Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey and all the trimmings. I’ve even got a small container of frozen cranberry sauce left.

We ordered our turkey last week. From our local EuroSpin supermercato. These are the bargain basements of food stores. They all have the same pattern. The center of the store is canned, boxed, and bottled goods. Cheap, and I don’t buy any because they have off brands and the quality can be iffy. BUT around the middle, along the walls are individual stands owned by independent contractors. They provide produce, cheeses, prepared foods, bakery goods, meat and fish. These people have great stuff. Here, we get our turkey from the butcher. Italians like turkey but never, ever whole! We carefully explain we want — tacchino femmina intera. Turkey female whole. Here they have two sizes…male and female. Male is 15 kilos and up (~35 lbs+) and females 6 kilos and up (~15 lbs+). My oven can barely fit a smaller one. So we asked for it to be as small as possible. We picked it up today and it weighs 7.1 kilos or 15.6 lbs. This should be enough for us and the friends we are sharing with.

We are celebrating it on the Thursday, not that I have to do it on the exact day… yet… I want to. I’m needing that right now. Things in their proper place and time. The normality of the Before Times. I’m going to miss my sister this year. We try to celebrate at least one holiday together. We usually fly to the US. But this particular year we had planned a Windstar cruise from Barcelona to Lisbon. It would have encompassed Thanksgiving and since it’s an American line I assume they would have had a “turkey with all the trimmings” dinner. Sigh. Maybe in a future, unseeable now, it will happen. But meanwhile we celebrate how we can. And we stay safe, and we keep our families safe. We’ll always have Paris…ooops wrong movie! 😁

The fact that we can’t celebrate Thanksgiving like normal, doesn’t mean we still shouldn’t stop and think of what we ourselves have got to be thankful for. And we have a lot. Think on it. We’ve got food. A bed to sleep in at night. Running water. Toilets.  Plus first world extras like WiFi and computer… and wine or booze (probably). There are hundreds of millions of people in this world who do not have the basic things. They are hungry most of the time, they sleep on the ground or floor. They don’t have plumbing or clean water. We are the winners in the lottery of life. So, let’s stop our kvetching and remember WE are some of the lucky ones. Let’s not forget. And let’s be thankful. And hopeful.
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I’m heartened to see more State Governors are mandating masks in the face of enormous numbers of cases. Keep Covid-safe everyone…Andrà tutto bene 🌈 and Happy Thanksgiving. 💕