Category Archives: Eating

Spring has sprung

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Finally we have passed through that dark, damp, cold tunnel that is winter here. The forecasted temperatures are the upper 60s or lower 70s. No cold snaps that I can see. I will be working on the terrace soon to get the soil ready for new plants.

Saturday kilometer zero market was it’s usual self. Happy people in the warm sunshine. I went out and saw a number of friends. I was shopping for soup ingredients. We are nearing the end of the winter produce. I admit I’m tired of the same old things. The greens and winter veggies. I am ready for new spring things. I see the wild asparagus is being foraged. But you’ve got to go get that yourself. It’s not normally sold. It’s too early for strawberries or anything like that locally. The supermarket has a small section of local things and I bought fava beans for the first time although I don’t see them in the market on the piazza yet, which is my bellwether. I’m not sure where they come from. They are soft and super fresh in any event. They were in our pasta last night.

I went over to Piazza San Francesco to leave something for a friend. This is, in my opinion, the prettiest Piazza in Umbertide. There are three churches. All the buildings were built in the very early 1600s. I noticed today that the gates to the cloister were unlocked so I took a couple of pictures. Just look at these stones! Look at all the many colors. Are any of them original? Which ones? Wish I knew…

These next two are the pavement directly in front of the cloister. Look at these stones. They are smooth river rocks of similar proportion. Flat. Probably collected from the river nearby. They embedded them into the earth with the narrow side up. Much work went into these and I figure they’ve been here a long time. They are only in front of the cloister.

Italiano phrase — “In bocca al lupo “ this means good luck in Italy. But it literally means “in the mouth of the wolf” — the correct response is “Crepi il lupo” or “May the wolf die”. Pronounced as it looks.
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Stai al sicuro…🌈

Regional meal and…vaccine issues

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Last post we said the doctor would call. Seems that has changed. The doctors revolted and said they couldn’t possibly call all of their patients. Now it seems that plan is scrapped and no one knows what will happen next. This may be good news for friends who don’t have the health card here. They had effectively been shut out but now who knows how we will get appointments?! Will they return to the online registration? Will they want us to sign up at the farmacia?

They can’t even decide on a place to give the vaccines here. First, I had heard the empty old renovated tobacco barn would be used for giving shots. Now that is not happening due to ventilation issues. Then they said the soccer field…but that’s not under cover. Che casino… Stay tuned!
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Dinner last night courtesy of Calagrana Regional menus was very good.

And here is the meal….so yummy. The guinea hen (Faraona) leg was boned and stuffed. Wrapped in ham. Mmmm.

Today Italiano phrase. “Che casino” in English “what a mess” — One of my favorite sayings in Italian. Very useful. Pronounced kay casino. 

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Stay safe all 🌈

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! 🌈

Regional dinner – Emilia Romagna

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This week Calagrana’s special Regional dinner was from Emilia Romagna. The food capital of Italy. I’m sure some would dispute that, but it’s where many products you would recognize come from, like Parmagiana, Prosciutto and Balsamic vinegar, to name three. This week the entree was Rabbit alla Modanese. Since many people don’t eat rabbit Ely had a second choice of pork. We tried the wine this time.

Last Sunday I went up to the restaurant to pick up take-away items. They have lists of available things every couple of weeks which we order and then pickup at the agriturismo. Ely is really good at pastry. We got some of her chicken and leek pies. They make great lunches. Single serving size! And some English muffins. Two pizzas. And a marinated chicken. It’s like a holiday when I go there. It’s only 15 minutes away and in our Comune (and legal in the Orange Zone) but it feels like a real outing! I get out so seldom. I also run into other actual people there! Who are also picking up food. It’s kind of sad that this constitutes a high point in our week. Here’s the menu:

Below are pictures of our meal. The rabbit was rolled and stuffed. It was excellent. I loved the wine pairing. Eccellente as always!

Sentence for today “è tardi ed è ora di andare a letto.” — “it is late and time for bed”. Pronounced…eh tar-dee ed eh or-ah dee and-are-eh ah let-toe.

Stay safe y’all…andrà tutto benr 🌈

Cannara onions

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At the Wednesday market in town, one of my errands was to buy some more of the “famous Cannara onions”. I keep a string of these sweet onions available all the time in my kitchen. They work used any way, raw or cooked. A young man, maybe 20s or 30s comes in a van with braids of the onions, dried legumes and, in summer, fresh things they grow, like fava beans. I drop by to get these onions often. A little information about the “famous” onions follows.

The onion of Cannara is a protected product of Umbria, earning the title Traditional Product Agribusiness from the Minister of Agriculture. This commemorates not only the goodness and versatility of this onion in the kitchen, but also it’s historical roots in this area. Besides this prestigious award, the Onion of Cannara also won the coveted title of Slow Food.

The traditional cultivation and harvesting of the onion of Cannara is carried out by small producers called “cipollari”, often handed down from father to son for generations. The word cipollo means onion so cipollari means something like ”onioner”. It has been cultivated since the 1600s in and around the small village of Cannara which is situated in a vast, fertile plain that, back in Roman times, was a shallow lake. The entire process of growing and harvesting is closely monitored to guarantee the quality standards and origins.

The onions cultivated around Cannara are of three distinct varieties: red, golden and borrettana (flat disc type), but all three are characterized as sweet, soft and easy to digest. To me, the red type, with its beautiful red-coppery skin is by far the most tasty, delicate and sweet. They are most often sold in the characteristic braids.

The town of Cannara, in normal, non-Covid times, has a famous festival which is held during the first two weeks of September and is called, the “Feast of the Onion.”

Too pretty to eat!

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I took this next snap of a pretty house painted in one of the traditional colors used around here. Almost orange. I was taken with the duvet airing on the balcony which went so well with the house color.

Sentence for today. “ho ricevuto il mio pacco da amazon oggi.” — “I received my package from Amazon today”. Pronounced — oh rey-chay-vu-toe eel me-oh pack-co dah amazon ohg-gee.
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Stay safe – andrà tutto bene!🌈

Unsolved mystery

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I have always wondered about the method of closing the packaging for butter here. The wrapping for the butter is paper, which in and of itself, is unusual by the standards I’m used to in the US. There, it’s in a box which is sealed and inside are the individual sticks wrapped in folded paper. Here, firstly, they don’t have sticks of butter. They have one piece of butter in varying sizes. This is wrapped in paper. They use a metal rivet on both ends of the folded paper to seal it. But my question was, why a metal rivet and why only on butter?

I posted my question on a Facebook page called Umbrialiens to which I belong. It is an excellent, friendly and helpful group. I got a number of replies. Most said it was tamper proofing. But I still wondered, why the metal rivet? Turns out they also use a rivet on some types of pasta wrapped in paper. It seems I had forgotten that but my friend Libby refreshed my memory.

So the end of the story is…tamper proofing. I am left unfulfilled. I still want to know why the rivet?
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Next subject! I mentioned I had seen a sign for Sushi at the Carrefour market. Today we investigated during our small shopping trip. Turns out you have to pre-order for pickup. And they offer it on Friday and Saturday. This is reassuring. Only offering it two days tells me the fish will be fresh. Friday is still “fish Friday” in Catholic Italy…especially during Lent. So this could be popular. And I, myself, would feel comfortable buying this.

I think I will have to try it. I am a sashimi fan, not especially sushi. I may try both. If/when I do, I’ll report back.
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Italiano sentence. “Oggi piove e fa freddo” — in English “It is raining and cold today”. Pronounced — Ohg-gee pee-oh-vey eh fah fred-doh. Be sure to pronounce the double consonants like the “gg” in oggi. And the “dd” in freddo.
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Stay safe everyone…andrà tutto bene 🌈💕

Regional meal — Umbria

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Tonight is Regional meal night from Calagrana. This time from our very own Umbria. We opted in for the wine since it is a new one to us. I am especially looking forward to the Torta al Testo. Fatta in casa….home-made.

Torta al testo is very old and it originated in the Umbrian area. It began as an unleavened alternative to traditional bread. There are two variants: the original one with wheat flour, and later came one with corn flour, after corn arrived from the Americas. Normal ingredients are only water, flour, salt and baking soda. In the upper Tiber valley, where we live, I read there’s is a similar cake called ciacca (probably dialect), the recipe involves the addition of an egg. This, I have not yet verified.

The cooking surface, a disc about 3 cm thick, is called “testo” from the Latin testum, or the brick tile on which, in ancient Rome, focaccias were baked. Originally it was made at home by making large stones into a smooth surface and placing it into the fire to heat. Now it is possible to buy a special Torta al Testo pan made of cast iron or concrete.

Traditionally the Torta al Testo was split and eaten with any meats or foraged greens. But it is most often seen eaten with the pork products for which Umbria is famous. Our friend Vera invited us to lunch in the Before Times and she asked her mother-in-law (suocera) to make some. She does make the best I’ve ever had. They have a huge outdoor wood oven to make it authentically. It smelled so floury and bready, and it was very soft. I could’ve munched it all day. But this day I learned the traditional way to eat it, with halved sausages and cooked spinach. It was incredible. I had to borrow a picture. Photo credit to Dreavel.com. This is the traditional way. I may have to try my hand at making some myself!

I didn’t actually know Pollo all’arrabbiata (arrabbiata means angry and says it will be spicy) was an Umbrian dish. I must look it up. We finished our meal and it was scrumptious. Here are pictures.

plated and ready to eat
Eating!
Torta al testo
Vino

Italiano phrase…”fare la scarpetta”. This needs some explanation. Literally it means “make the little shoe” but it is a saying. If you have sauce left on your plate you use the bread to sop up the sauce. Or you “make the little shoe”. Pronounced fah-ray lah scar-pet-ta.
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Stay safe everyone, andrà tutto bene 🌈

Moonset – times two…

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I was up at 6am Saturday and from the window I saw the full moon setting with a reflection in the Tiber. I went out in the cold in my nightgown to snap a picture. Brrrrr. Mornings are still very cold here.

But, Saturday was sunny and warm in the Piazza. We headed out to do some errands and visit our local market to see what was to be seen. I bought a few things at the market. Broccoli/broccole and Cauliflower/cavolfiore are always around this time of year. Some fresh eggs. And I got the ever present Cavolo Nero or black kale. Luther bought six bottles of vino bianco from our local winery. The nice lady there is always so excited when we come. I don’t think she sells much 😞 So we are happy to support them and the wine is good!

We also drove to a store and bought some pellets for our stufa, and visited the grocery for some supplies. I bought carciofi romana…artichokes …because I saw a picture of someone cooking them and it made me drool…🤤
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Carciofi Romana Why have I never made this before! It is so good. And really not so hard. I had four artichokes and I cleaned them and prepped them for the pot. Then I rubbed them in garlic, mint, salt and pepper.

I put them into a pot and poured the olive oil over them, then added the water and brought to a simmer. I put a lid on the pot to let it cook.

After thirty minutes they were done. Very yummy and garlicky. I served them as a first course before our hamburgers 🤣😂

The ingredients are few. I did four artichokes but you can do as many as you want. You can look on the internet to see how to trim them if you haven’t done it before. You’ve got to be pretty ruthless. Most of it goes in the trash. If you’re not cooking right away put them in a bowl of lemon water so they won’t discolor. Chop about a tablespoon of mint and garlic fine, add a teaspoon of salt and some pepper. Rub the artichoke cut parts in it. Put them face down with stems up in the pot. Put the heat on medium. Pour about half a cup of olive oil over them. Add about a cup of water. Lower heat and simmer 30 minutes. Serve warm.
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Moderately good news. Umbria has gone back the Orange Zone. This does very little for us except people can sit outside a cafe for coffee, and the dress shops will be open again. I think that’s about it. We still can’t leave our Comune. I don’t mind telling you, we are all bored out of our gourds here. If they’d let us go into a Zone Yellow we could at least travel in the region of Umbria and the restaurants could open for lunch. Maybe soon 🤞🤞
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Italiano for today. “Ho incontrato un amico in piazza e abbiamo fatto due chiacchiere” In English, “I met a friend in the square and we had a chat.” Pronounced — oh in-con-trah-toe un ah-me-ko in pee-ahtz-zo A ahb-bee-ahmo faht-toe dew-ay key-AH-key-err-ray. The word Chiacchiere is a really hard one for me to pronounce. They really accent the second syllable. And they roll all their Rs. Really roll them which I cannot put in my pronunciation. Many English speakers have difficulty rolling their Rs. When I was little I used to do a lot of sound affects with my toys. So rolling my Rs is natural! 😁
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Stay safe everyone, buona domenica! 🌈

La cena regionale

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The weather has been so perfect lately, I took the opportunity to walk around town and take some pictures. I got a lot of doors but I am going to save them for the next post. Pigeons have plenty of places to perch and nest. This is one of the defensive towers in the town walls.

Laundry day and sunny walls.

One thing I noticed that is different here in Italy than in the US is that there are no advertisements in our mail. No catalogs. Nor are there requests for financial support by charities or foundations like the ubiquitous Alzheimer’s Association. We ONLY get real mail. The occasional card or letter from a friend or utility bills. That’s all we get. BUT people do get Pubblicità — junk from stores stuffed in all the mailboxes advertising sale items or weekly specials…these are not through the Poste. They are carried by people hired to distribute them. And there are a LOT. They are messy. They get rained on or they end up on the ground, tossed there by someone too lazy to take them to the trash. You can put a sign on your mailbox that says “No Pubblicità“ and in theory, you will stop getting these. We have a sign. And for the most part we don’t get the ads. Once or twice a week we get something stuffed in, even with our sign. Here is a typical group of mailboxes stuffed with Pubblicità.

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Tonight is the next stop on the Calagrana Regional Culinary Tour. This time it is from Toscana. Our next door neighbor. We are only a few miles from the border.

And….here’s dinner!

Italiano phrase – “ci sono troppe pubblicità” In Englese – “there are too many advertisements” Pronounced…chee so-no trohp-pay poob-blee-chee-TA.
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Buon fine settimana! Stay safe….Andrà tutto bene!🌈