Category Archives: Foods

Upcoming trip

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We have been madly getting ready to go for a whole month to an apartment we rented in Austria. When I made these reservations last fall it seemed like a good idea to plan a trip to the mountains to beat the heat. The memories of the summer heat wave were fresh. I reasoned we could close up the apartment here and bring the cats along. The drive is about 6.5 hours.

Now that the time has actually arrived I had second thoughts about bringing the cats on such a long trip. I would have been bringing them for me and not thinking about them and the stress it would bring them. So in the end I engaged a cat/house sitter. She is an American who lives in Rotterdam. She has three cats of her own. I know I will miss my boys terribly and I hope they will be healthy during our trip. They turn 16 in August so I know they won’t be with us all that much longer.

We will stay in Wörtersee. It is a pretty lake surrounded by mountains. We will do some short trips to other spots in Austria while there. Two nights in Graz and 3 nights in the Bergenland which is a big wine producing area. We will stay in one of the old buildings the winemakers used while working. They have been repurposed as rooms. We also will do a side overnight into Slovenia. Anyway, the time will pass and I am hoping I don’t get too homesick. I am always happiest in my home.

Our friend Vera came last week and brought me some globe zucchini and some cucumbers. She told me to stuff the zucchini with ground beef and rice. So I took her advice and did just that but I added some tomato paste, garlic, onion and thyme. Plus a good amount of grated pecorino. I parboiled the zucchini and sautéed the rest. Stuffed and baked them. Luckily we have had about a week of cooler, nicer weather which allows for some baking. Here is our dinner.

I also bought a new MacBook Air so I could bring it along and post about our trip while gone. I am doing my first post using the new Mac right now! Stay tuned for some posts from our Austrian retreat. Ciao!

Pizza night at casa Vera

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As I mentioned recently, we were invited to pizza night with Vera’s family. Our famiglia italiana. There was an interesting group. Of course there were Vera and Graziano and their two girls Maya and Desiree. Then there was Graziano’s mom and dad and his brother and his wife and their two children. A couple from Brazil who were unrelated friends with their two children, one, a 2 month old. Finally Vera’s nephew and his wife who was visiting from Slovenia. Many languages a tavola. 🙂

It was a hot evening after a hotter day but we dressed for it and it was shady with a light breeze so not too bad. During this past winter Graziano had build a new pizza oven with prep area under roof. It is a beauty. He said it was a lot of work. It replaced the old oven that was 40 plus years old and had done its duty. This was the very first use of this oven so Graziano and Vera were nervous to see how it went. One of the things I was surprised at was that they have no refrigerator downstairs. Everything cold is up one or more floors and has to be carried down. I mentioned to Vera they need a frig in the shelter. Make life so much easier. I’m pretty sure she will do it. 🙂
Photos have captions.

The new oven and place for making the pizza.
Graziano and Luther in the yard before the activities began.
Desiree and the new bambino
Dog that was abandoned which Graziano’s dad took in. He is very frightened. Obviously has been abused.

Now for the action. Pictures of the oven.

Moving wood and ashes.
Oven is ready for the pizzas.
Cooking it up. Margherita. It takes less than a minute to cook..

This is where Vera assembled each pizza, and her mis en place with all her ingredients.

All important tomato sauce.
Mis en place

Now for the pizzas.

First Margherita next to a pizza bianca. They started with three of the bianca sort of as a test run.
Salsiccia – sausage.
Gorgonzola with salumi piccante – spicy salami.
Zucchini with blossoms pizza. My favorite.
Salads. Melone e prosciutto is a standard for summer in Italy. The watermelon, melon and feta with mint was cool and sweet.

And finally…Vera sat down to eat the fruits of her labors.

I ate a ton. It’s impossible not to taste every single one. Their salads were delicious. Graziano’s mom, who is an excellent baker, made a delicious dessert, coconut cake. We stayed until well after dark, and headed home.

Below are links to three video I took of the action for the first pizzas. They are short. You may notice she and Graziano are a good team. He holds the pizza peel on the table so she can place the dough right on it then add the ingredients. She says “vai!” Each time and he takes it and slides it into the oven. A minute later the pizza is done and they repeat the process. Boom boom boom! Pizza’s on!

Summer, here we come!

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The weather is picture perfect right now. Quite warm, 31C or 88F today and getting hotter. Our terrace is the perfect extended living space. Last night we inaugurated eating dinner outside, and then watching a movie. 🙂 It was lovely. Luther smoked a cigar but I really think he has decided that cigars are no longer a big part of his life. It is hard for him to transition. But it’s a good thing. Maybe now it will be an every-now-and-then thing rather than an every night thing.

Today is a holiday here. Republic day. The day, in 1946 when they voted that Italy would become a republic. Nothing is open. I had a basket of the kumquats that I harvested from my tree sitting on the counter for a week mocking me to use them. I found a recipe for kumquats and apricot chutney. So today I amused myself making a batch. It’s quite tart and a bit piquant. I think it will go as a relish with many things.

Last Saturday night we had rather an unexpected experience. Goes to show we can still mess thing up after all these years 😁 We used to have a restaurant in town called Locanda Appennino. It had a lovely outside summer terrace which sat right on the city walls. Sadly it closed several years ago. Recently friends told me it was open again under new management.

We had friends visiting in town who own apartments in the countryside and we always try to have a meal together when they come. I made a reservation at this new place for us all. Or at least I thought did. I first called the number on the Internet and ended up with the old owner who said they were closed. But I “knew” they weren’t! So I found another number and called it. I made the reservation and let our friends know.

Saturday we went into the restaurant and looking back on it now, they didn’t seem to have a reservation for us but said if we came back they would open up the terrace for us. So we did that and returned.

The place was a little basic (understatement!). I think it must be a work in progress. The owner and cook were your basic, rather “rough” Umbertidese. But sweet, as all Umbertidese are. They told us what they had. Basically an antipasto assortment, a primi which was tagliatelle with ragu, and a secondi of pork. We had one vegetarian so we asked for a non-meat pasta which they made for us. The wine was red…or white in re-used bottles.

The antipasto was good and varied. We had cheeses, meats, roasted baby onions and radishes on platters to begin. Then a plate of the thinnest sliced eggplant ever (super good), and a plate of bruschetta fegato, (liver). Oddly, no bread. In the end, we all got fed and had a laugh. 😆

At nine o’clock I got a call from the other Locanda Appennino. Yes, there are two. I was so embarrassed that I had reserved a table for six on a Saturday night and then was a no show. I never would do that. I even told him when he asked where we were that we were there now, eating. Until we figured out the confusion.

We are finally enjoying summertime in Umbria ! 💚

Busy Saturday

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Lots going on in Umbertide today! I headed into the center of town to visit the market and also to do a short shift at Books for Dogs. I had forgotten that Sunday was the big, exciting day when the Giro d’Italia goes through town. See the banner below. It is a very famous bicycle race. Almost as famous as the Tour de France. Of course, ours is more important HERE. The cleaner up people were out mowing grass all along the route. Including the park next to the river.

It was a pretty day. The market was busy. Slow Food had a booth open. I bought some asparagus, spring onions, baby zucchini and some itty bitty new potatoes. But there was lots I didn’t buy, like new peas and fava beans. And the brand new local artichokes! It is so nice to see all these new spring veggies after a long winter of the same old winter veg. Inspiring.

I did my stint at Books for Dogs. A busy day. Now that the weather is nicer more folks come out. A couple of pictures of the goods. The winter things are gone and we are ready for the summer.

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In my own garden I took a couple pictures. The first is our Christmas tree. He is spending his summer on the terrazzo and seems quite happy, judging from all the new growth. The next photo is the lemon tree with all its flowers. it also is very happy. And last is a teensy, tiny lemon just forming from the flower. There are probably a hundred flowers so it is not possible for them all to become mature lemons, as time goes by, some fall off.

I am feeling better from my cough. So happy. I even have energy to do some gardening. I planted another tomato, this one Sardinian with a darker skin colour. I also planted a tabasco pepper because I couldn’t get a Jalapeño. They had scotch bonnets and habaneros but I didn’t want those. I also got two basil plants. Next week flowers, chives, sage will come.

Buona domenica to all.

Hi folks!

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I decided to put out a quick post. Luther and I both are battling a mean cold. Called a raffraddore in Italian in case you’re interested. We went to the Books for Dogs charity Quiz Night. Fifty people packed into a small room. Superspreader event for sure. I’m glad it wasn’t COVID. We had a lot of fun but I’m not sure that makes up for battling this cough. We did come in second however…😉

Anyway last weekend was Pasqua, Easter. A Big Deal in Italy, and we kind of missed the whole thing this year. We had reservations with friends to go to Pasquetta lunch, little Easter, Easter Monday. But we had to cancel.

Sadly, we lost our beloved Papa Francesco on Monday. We will all miss him. The funeral and then the conclave to elect the next Pope will come next. I will be interested to watch it all.

The weekend before Easter, Palm Sunday we did go out for pranzo. All around Umbria they hand out olive branches rather than palm fronds on this day. You could see places everywhere to pick some up. Pranzo was at Ristorante UNE where we had been a number of times in the past…before they were famous… Last year they received a Michelin star. It wasn’t much changed, except for the prices doubled. It used to be €45 per person for a five course fixed price lunch, which was a steal. Now it is €90. But I get it. Thing is, there were only five tables for two for a Sunday lunch. I wonder if it’s because of the prices. Anyway, it was good, I took pictures of course. This first one was on our way up the little road to the village. So green.

Here are some of the courses. I enjoyed the meal but I was full-to-uncomfortable. The next three are just some of the ten different small appetizers we had. Captions under the photo if I recall what it is 🙂

Snails on a skewer with cauliflower
This was my favorite of the appetizers. Filled with porchetta with a cheesy dip,
Primi. A carrot flan with black miso, underneath the raw, thinly shaved mushrooms.
I just remember the top thing is rabbit. Those yolks are quail and barely soft boiled so they burst in the mouth.
Dessert. Ice cream stuffed with fruits and chocolate underneath the meringue
Assorted extra desserts…which I couldn’t eat! Too full.

Next week we have planned a trip to Spain. I sure hope we are both better by then! We will fly to Valencia then train to Alicante and then to Madrid. All new places for us. We have a house/cat sitter who arrives from London at the Perugia airport Sunday. That gives us a day to show her the ropes. Of course there will be a trip report! ☺️. Ciao for now.

Almost done

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These will be the last pictures until the bathroom is completely finished. We had the idraulico (plumber) put it all the appliances and fixtures yesterday. Then the elettricista came today and put in the above the shower lights. There will be another row above the sink so he will come back. The muratore came to install the bars and seat in the shower. I insisted I have the seat. I like to be able to clean my feet well and shave my legs and it is so much easier when I am seated. The last thing is the shower glass and the mirrors, which I think will be next week. Here are pictures.

On another note, I ordered a bunch of Mexican food from Mexabores. Seems it is based in the Netherlands. They have a lot of good stuff. It arrived today. I see some good Mexican in our future. They gifted us the Corona and the chips. The chips looks yum!

Ciao for now!

Happy Women’s day!

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Today is International Women’s day. Here in Italy, women are gifted a sprig of mimosa to celebrate. I worked at Books for Dogs this morning and the town was festooned with mimosas. There were big buckets of it on traffic islands, and in front of stores. Women were walking everywhere carrying their mimosa. It is said the mimosa was chosen because it manages to flourish even in difficult conditions and is associated with women’s own resilience and ability to win their rights. Here’s mine. Gifted to me when I went into the Farmacia to fill a prescription 🙂

I normally park on the other side of the river when I drive to town on market days. The river was pretty and I saw my first fisherman!

My little kumquat tree is loaded with fruit. Most isn’t quite ripe yet. You can tell when they are ready because they get extra orange and soften. I have a great recipe for Chicken and Kumquats which I made tonight. My tree.

We have a plethora of pizzerie in our town 😁. They have all different types of pizza. From the super thin, almost cracker crust that is called Roman style to the thicker crust of the Neapolitan style. Last Thursday we went to Degusto which is very near us and Neapolitan in style. Delicioso. This is Luther’s. Mine was prettier but I didn’t take a picture before I destroyed it, by cutting it. Did you know they don’t cut pizza into slices here? You get the whole pie, uncut. I use scissors to cut it if I get it “to go”.

No bathroom updates to speak of. They finally got the wooden form that they needed to use to cut the tiles around the shower stone. But that’s as far as they got. I hope next week we have more progress. This has been a major roadblock. I realize things happen on “Italian Time” here but this is getting tiresome. Oh well. Piano, piano.

It’s Marzo!

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A gray Sunday but it’s my normal laundry day, because the electricity is cheapest on a Sunday, so I’m just enjoying a quiet day. Starting Tuesday the temperatures are really warming up. Daytime from 15 to 18 or about 60 to 65. Not too bad.
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This past week I made progress on the inscrutable Italian health system. It can be hard to get appointments here, especially if you want a location or a doctor specifically. But my doctor wants me to see a Hematologist because she has some concerns about my blood tests. She specified the appointment was urgent and was to be within ten days. Mainly this was to speed it up, not because it was really urgent. I went to the CUP in the Farmacia (they make appointments) who said I would get an SMS with the appointment. Which I did, the next day! So I’ve got an appointment next week. I’m not concerned at this time but it needs to be checked I guess. And I really am only writing about the process, which involves a steep learning curve. I am on the wait list for two other appointments. If it’s not an emergency it can take some time.
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Meanwhile I worked at Books for Dogs/Libri per i Cani yesterday. I’ve written before but this time I took a few pictures so you could get an idea of the shop. The charity supports two canile which are kennels for rescued dogs plus one other which rescues anything that needs help. I love that she, and she does this all alone, does this.

We get a constant stream of people either donating things for us to sell or those who love to browse for a bargain. We keep busy checking people out and also pricing and displaying the goods. There are a lot of regulars too. Some I like. Some are a bit of a pain. Yesterday a woman came in just at closing and spent a lot of time browsing. She had several things but wanted me to throw in a set of measuring cups that were priced at €2.00. Well, I wasn’t in the mood at that time so I looked at her and said “it’s for the animals”. She put them back. 🙄 Here is the shop. You may notice the Italians are dressed like for the Arctic? Stocking caps and puffer coats. Yeah. They wear these until June. They dress for the calendar, not the weather. To each their own, right?! 🤣

You can get some bargains there for sure. People sometimes bring in Armani designer items and other designer things. The goods do tend to turn over pretty quickly. They also sell furniture. They rent a garage for the bigger things and there is a catalog with pictures. This three piece set of antique inlaid dresser and bedside tables is in the shop. They are asking only €240 for the three.

They also sponsor fun things like quiz nights and bingo at a local restaurant. The quizzes are in English but the bingo is very popular with the Italians too.
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Bathroom. Slow but steady progress. It is amazing how much work goes into a small bathroom. Floor with spacers.

Grouted floor.

Grouted wall.

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Italians have something similar to our chicken soup. Not literally but the food that you eat when you’re not feeling great. Called pasta in bianca, pastina in brodo, riso in bianco or maybe straciatella (egg drop soup). All light and comforting. I made my version this week. It is a soup of pasta in a nice home made chicken broth with a bit of greens. Very much a classic and light comfort food. This is mine 😋

Buona domenica a tutti!

Feels like springtime

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We are heading into a slight warming trend. The earliest fruit trees are blooming pale pink. The almonds are white. It’s uplifting. We decided to go to Calagrana for lunch. They have begun to open for Sunday lunch again. It was fun. There were three tables of English speakers and two tables of Italians, one of which was 14 people. So I think we English speakers were overpowered today. This is a change from the past when it was primarily English speakers. I’m actually very happy about this. We saw some friends from North Carolina who have a home here. And the other table were all Books for Dogs people. The big Italian table were having fun and VERY loud. As always, the women sat at one end of the table, the men, at the other. 🙄

The food was delicious. I chose the Crostone topped with roasted peppers, anchovies, capers and tomatoes. So good. The combination of sweet peppers and tomatoes, tart capers and salty anchovies really worked. Picture by Ely of the ingredients.

Luther had the house smoked Umbrian trout with pickles and toast. No picture. Our second course choices were lamb chops for Luther and Guancia (beef cheeks) on puréed potatoes both really good.

Calagrana had a tough week this week with the loss of Archie, everyone’s favorite terrier. He worked the front of the house and had his own bench, which if you sat there, you shared with him. He had been at Calagrana for all the years I had been going and I really missed his sweet little self today. 😔 RIP Archie. 🌈

Bathroom. Last week they began the process of waterproofing the floor and walls. This is the future shower space. We are getting closer to the “pretty stuff” 🙂. Here are the latest pictures.

Buona Domenica a tutti!

Checking in

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Hi all. I thought I would check in with the few interesting things we have been doing. Being winter, and pretty darn cold, we haven’t been doing too much. I have been volunteering at the Books for Dogs/Libri per i Cani shop. It’s pretty fun. I work on Saturdays, either early or late shift.

Today the bathroom renovation began. The plumber came to disconnect all the appliances. So all the sinks and shower, bidet and toilet have been unhooked. Monday the true demolition will begin. I am not sure how long this job will take. I do know Irma has received all the materials for it, so once demolished I would think they would begin installing the tiles, sinks, toilet etc. The electrician must also come. Then the plumber comes back. Maybe a couple weeks? I’ll post pictures in my next post.
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On the cooking front I have made some wintery dishes. Chili, always a favorite, with borlotti beans. My favorite roast chicken from Thomas Keller of the French Laundry. So simple but so delicious. Then over the weekend I made a Kimchi Soup. Yeah, I know it’s not Italian, but I love those exotic tastes on occasion and this one pushes all the buttons. Luther thinks he doesn’t like kimchi, but when it’s used as an ingredient it is more acceptable. (He liked the soup 🙂) There are lots of discussions on the Facebook Expat groups about foreign foods. Many people are adamant that when you come to live in Italy you embrace the food. Others say they miss flavors of home and it’s perfectly ok to use them. And the third group also misses all the diverse cuisines of the world that are available in the U.S. For myself, I love Italian food, I also love comfort foods from home, and I love exotic tastes. So here is my kimchi soup in pictures 🙂

The recipe called for bok choy but that’s not found here. So I used bietole which is like chard, and very close to bok choy. This soup came together very quickly. It was bright and spicy tart and sour. Very yummy
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I met with a friend, Elizabeth Wholly this morning, for a caffè. My favorite bar is Bar Mary as my long time readers know. It is in the piazza. And in summertime, it is great to sit outside with a spritz or a coffee and watch the world go by. But in the winter, they only have one pretty barren back room and mostly the tables are filled with the old men playing cards. My go-to wintertime bar is Antico bar Giardino. It is just outside the piazza on one of the main roads through town. It, too, has a lovely garden, hence the name, but it also is cozy with deep upholstered sofas and chairs, quirky tables, many different rooms, vaulted ceilings nice barriste. Coffee is good, pastries tasty, nice wines for aperitivo. They have apericena, (drinks with snacks) in the evening. They also have a warm stufa 😁.

Stay tuned for the bathroom renovation!