Category Archives: Covid

V-day

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Today we had our first shot of the Corona Virus vaccine. AstraZenica. It was pretty anti-climactic. But it’s done. Next appointment July 13 for second shot.

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An article in The NY Times yesterday, and subsequent news broadcasts have said the EU is opening for tourism from the US and other non-EU countries. Thing is, this is by no means sure and it is misleading. The EU and US are “talking”. Everyone agrees there should be some way to prove you have had the vaccine or have had the disease, like a passport. Thing is no one has one of these yet. So it’s not like the EU is opening up immediately. Another thing is that Italy makes its own rules. It doesn’t have to follow the EU in opening up. And they reassess every couple of weeks. Right now no tourism allowed. In May they will reassess.

Since this is my blog, I get to say how I feel about all this. Italy has vaccinated just 14% of its population, mostly older than 70. Italy opened up its internal borders just YESTERDAY to Italians. There is still a curfew. We have just yesterday been allowed to leave our home town for the first time in FOUR MONTHS. No one who’s been through this wants it all to be for naught. Including me. The arguments I’ve seen mostly range around the vaccinated being not dangerous and should be allowed in. But if you extrapolate that into what goes into taking care of that influx you realize all the younger service workers who will be taking care of them will NOT have been vaccinated. And they will be working together in close quarters and they will inevitably spread the virus among our vulnerable, unvaccinated populace. Then we will have to go back into lockdown.

This, of course, assumes Italy will open up — and no one knows or can predict that. I think they should let us be zone yellow and let the people who live here travel, and let them open up the restaurants and bars and see how it goes…then, as Italy continues to vaccinate and can catch up they can open more fully.

So. That’s how I feel. I realize there is a lot of pent up demand to come. I just think it’s prudent to wait. I’m betting on late summer and fall. And that’s not long!
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Phrase of the day…”domani è il giorno di mercato” English “tomorrow is market day”. Pronounced doe-mah-nee ay gee-oar-no dee mer-cah-toe.
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Stay safe and well…🌈

Umbrian Pecorino Cheese

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So, I got that wrong. As of Monday, we can travel to any yellow region. Doesn’t have to abut. The only orange regions (off limits) are Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and Val d’Osta. And poor old Sardinia. What did they do wrong? They were the only region to be Bianca, just a few weeks ago. Now, they are the only Red Zone. It’s just hard to understand how this virus works.

I was out at the market this morning. Beautiful sunshine. Everyone is in a jubilant mood anticipating next week. I ran into many friends. Everyone is looking forward to aperitivo on the Piazza next week. Let’s hope for nice weather. 🤞 Also, we will be going out to lunch on Thursday and Sunday, next. Indescribably excited.
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Pecorino DOP
I was talking to an American friend who lives in the US recently. She talked about making something in which I had used Pecorino cheese. She said she would get a different type of cheese for her version.. This made me remember that Pecorino in the US is generally one type of cheese….Pecorino. That is definitely not the case in Umbria.

Today, I bought a few of the different types of pecorino cheese to showcase here in the blog. Umbria is known for Pecorino, and pretty much ONLY Pecorino. It is ewe’s milk cheese and is slightly sour. But this gives it a bit of depth in comparison to cows milk cheeses. It is also made in uncountable ways. What we lack in variety in the type of cheese, we gain in the many ways the cheeses are made, flavored and aged. I decided today to just concentrate on the non-flavored cheeses. But there are truffled varieties, varieties aged in hay, in ashes, with pepper, etc. Next time I’ll talk about those.

Pecorino is one of Italy’s oldest cheeses, and over the centuries there have been very few changes in the way it is made. Over the course of 2000 years, cheesemaking traditions and techniques have been handed down orally.

The methods used to curdle the milk, break the curd, press, drain, scald and salt the cheese vary, depending on the type of Pecorino being produced. The best Pecorino is made between May and June, using the milk from sheep grazing on spring pastures. Pecorino can be either mild or aged. The mild variety should be consumed shortly after it is made, while the second is aged in a cool, fresh cellar with low ventilation, so that it matures fully.

Pecorino fresco is good in salads, and is perfect with a toasted Umbrian bread topped with extra virgin olive oil. The aged and semi aged cheese also pair well with Umbrian cured meats, and they go well with honey, and of course, with Umbrian wines.

Here are the few types I bought. They go from Pecorino Fresca (fresh), to semi stagionato (semi soft), semi-dura (aged and hard), and dura (aged longer and it is very hard). I think the cheese monger thought I was nuts although I did explain to her I was writing a blog about Pecorino. She was happy to sell it to me. And now we have tons of cheese to eat! 😐

Fresca. You can see the liquid it releases. It’s good in salads and with toasted bruschetta.
Semistagionato. Good eating cheese, firm and soft.
Semi-dura. Semi hard. Aged 8 months
Dura and aged 18 months.
Aged 2 years. Good for eating and grating.

Italiano phrase, “Dopo pranzo è tempo di fare un pisolino” In English, “After lunch it’s time for a nap”. Dope-oh prahn-zo A tem-po dee fah-ray un piss-oh-lean-oh. I like the word pisolino 🙂
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Stay safe all! 🌈

Vaccine appointments

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Yesterday we got the call from our medico di base. She has vaccines and we have an appointment on Tuesday to get our shots. We are happy. It is good news. If we get AstraZenica, as we assume we will, we will get the second shot in July sometime. They say the efficacy is a lot higher if you wait.

On Monday we go to Zona Gialla. Zone Yellow. This is the BEST news. We will be able to travel to places in our region and even to adjacent regions that are Yellow. So we could go to Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, Le Marche, Abruzzo, and Lazio. 😁 💕 What freedom. The ristorante and the Bars are also opening for sit down outside drinks and meals. How exciting for them. It’s been very hard on these businesses. I was out yesterday, and the chef at San Giorgio, the restaurant across the Piazza from us, was outside cleaning his tables in anticipation. I was excited for them and asked if they’d be open next week. And yes! They will be, for Pranzo. It is the best place in town. It warms my heart to see Cafe Centrale out spiffing up the outside space, and Bar Mary too. It will feel like the old Umbertide again 💕. Spritzes on the Piazza…wow.

Beautiful weather today. Just perfect. Pastel blue sky, bright green wheat, the trees with varying blushes of tiny spring leaves. The birds flitting about. I saw our resident Hoopoe or Upupa on our terrace today. Big beautiful bird.

Dinner last night was from the little group who do “takeaway Thursday”. They offer two menus. One, more traditional Italian or continental. The other, more exotic. This week we got one of each. Luther got the French one. I got the Thai one. Very yummy. I walk across the bridge over the Tiber to pick-up at 6pm. Half of Umbertide seems to be over there getting dinner! Here is a picture of my dolce. Peanut butter cups with spicy bits on top…to be honest, I ordered my meal just to get these. 😁 There were three…

Next chore is to put together our packet for the Permesso di soggiorno UE per soggiornanti di lungo periodo (ex carta di soggiorno) – elective residence. We finally have gotten everything we need to apply. And it is quite the list, let me tell you. I will be working on this today and tomorrow and I hope to have it all ready to submit on Monday.
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Italiano phrase for today. “ho pranzato, ora è tempo di fare un pisolino” In English “I had lunch, now it is time for a nap”. Pronounced….oh pranz-ahto, or-ah aa tem-po dee fah-ray une peese-oh-lean-oh. Pisolino is a favorite word…a nap!
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Stay safe everyone. Un buon fine settimana! 🌈

Sunday lunch

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Yesterday we picked up our lunch at Calagrana. It was Five Spice Slow Roasted Pork Belly and Bau Buns. Tasty! Picture follows.

It was a decent enough Sunday weather wise. Quite cool but a nice little drive. A tiny change of scenery. The pretty driveway to Calagrana.

Otherwise it was same ole, same ole. Today, Monday, I called our doctor. She said we would get our shots this week or next. She seems to be a little behind the other doctor in town that most of us go to. She said last week she did 78, 79 year olds. This week she will do 76, 77 year olds. Depending on the number of shots she may get a little lower. We may have a bit of a wait. I volunteered that we would be happy to come and take any left over shots if someone doesn’t show. She said her practice has never had anyone not show for their shot. Ok then.
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Yesterday, I noticed the exciting sight of our little House Martins visiting their nests after the long migration back from Africa. They return every year to the same nest. So today, in honor of our returning friends I chose as our Italiano phrase…”i balestrucci sono tornati a nidificare” In English “the House Martins have returned to nest”. Pronounced Ee bah-lay-struch-chi so-no torn-ah-tea ah nee-dee-fee-car-ay.
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Stay safe everyone! 🌈

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!

Code Yellow!!

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I cannot believe we have not left this Comune since before Christmas. This Comune is not big. It encompasses Umbertide city and three of four other smaller towns. And that’s it! We did go to Citta di Castello to pick up our Permessi, but that was a legitimate reason. We had the official appointment. The fines can be upwards of €500 if caught without a reason.

We heard today we will go Yellow Zone on April 26. I can’t wait. The biggest changes from Orange to Yellow are the restaurants can open of lunch and you can sit down and have a coffee or a drink. We will still have everything closing at 6pm though. And the 10pm to 5am curfew stays. The other change is we will be able to leave Umbertide. And travel within Umbria. Not outside, just inside Umbria…but that will be wonderful! Wow! What freedom!
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Dinner tonight was from Calagrana. It was not one of the regional dinners like normally on Friday. It was a veal chop with the vegetables that go with it. It was delicious.

The weekend weather will be pretty chilly but no rain to speak of. Not that we have anything planned! How could we? There is the local market tomorrow. I will probably go out for that and a few errands I need to do. Sigh. Zona Giallo can’t come soon enough!
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Have a great weeknd! Stay safe. 🌈

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! 🌈

What’s next

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We continue to struggle here in many ways. But we also are doing well in other ways.

In the newspaper it is intimated that Umbria was doing so well with the new case numbers and hospitalizations that at the end of April, when the re-assessment takes place for May, we may go….drum roll…Bianca!! This means, everything opens up to us. BUT, I will believe this when I see it…I, for one, will be happy with a Yellow zone. Then I can sit in the piazza and have a spritz or a caffe. Or go to an actual lunch in an actual restaurant! Wow. Or we can drive to another part of Umbria to do a wine tasting. Or just to tour around. It is so amazingly freeing and it is also amazing how little it takes, after being locked down for so long, to thrill me.

On the vaccine front, good news. Three of my friends were called by their doctor today to come tomorrow for shots. AstraZenica. They are going by birthday and these are all around 75. Also, our friend and Italian teacher Marilena told us that her Mom got called by her doctor to come in. Her Mom is 79. She got AstraZenica. Her Dad, a bit younger but with asthma, will get Pfizer. But he has to go to the hospital whereas her Mom went to the doctor. Another small piece of information for us. I guess the info we got that our doctor would call us is correct. So we wait.
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I am not bragging when I say I am the queen of bolognese sauce. They say there isn’t really a bolognese sauce as such. It is true, there is no one recipe. And there are many arguments. Even in Bologna, where it is said to have originated. Over the years I’ve chosen my favorite and I make it often. I make a big batch and freeze portions for quick dinners. The recipe is simple. Only a diced carrot, a couple cloves of garlic, ground beef, a 15 ounce can of tomatoes and milk.

Italiano phrase — “inizia una nuova settimana”. In English — “a new week begins”. Pronounced — in-eat-zee-ah une-ah new-oh-va set-tee-mah-nah.
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Stay safe everyone. 🌈

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 🌈

Holy week

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This is Holy Week. They have a special Mass every day of the week. The bells toll more often. I wonder if they will have the venerdì santo or Good Friday procession this year. Last year we were in total lockdown so they didn’t do it. I hope they can do it this year.

On Saturday, the sounds of a crowd drifted up to our windows. I looked out and the piazza was full of people! A little disconcerting after so long with nothing. We went on a errand and I was overwhelmed by the crowds around the Centro. I guess the weather got everyone out of the house. They were all masked and most were distancing. The two Bars are not open now after 6, and then, only for take-away due to us still being in an Orange zone. The days have gotten beautiful. I do miss my spritzes at Bar Mary on a warm evening. The weather will be great for Easter week!

For the three days of the Pasqua weekend, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, all of Italy is a Red Zone. Then after that, Umbria returns to Orange Zone for the rest of April. All will be reassessed on May 1. Maybe we will go Yellow Zone. I fervently hope so!

We hope April will bring much vaccine into Italy, to include the J&J vaccine. We still don’t know how it will work. Latest news is our GP will contact us and administer it. But we are going to try to register starting tomorrow on the website. We will try anything! Wish us luck.
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Here are some pictures of springtime in Umbria near Umbertide. First one is the copse of trees behind our house and near the river.

Along the walk I got pictures of the old and the new… first the old. Last of the winter garden. A sad few cabbages…

New garden. First the freshly tilled ground. Then the new peas. And last the artichokes.

Last we have a picture of a pretty lawn and a fruit grove. None of the pictures are that exciting but they all tell me the winter is past and it’s on to new things and, we hope, a new life after Covid…

Phrase – “domani è la mia lezione di italiano” — “tomorrow is my Italian class” doe-mah-nee eh lah mee-ah let-zee-owe-nee dee ee-tal-ee-ah-no.
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Stay safe everyone. Wear your masks, the virus is trying to make a comeback 🌈