Category Archives: Umbria

The Raccolto – harvest

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OK guys, I’m officially old. Luther and I went and helped our friends with the harvest. I am proud to say we did five trees ourselves. But it did take it out of us. Still we really enjoy participating. I think of the millennia of people who went before us doing the exact same thing. Tradition.

To top it off it was one of the most spectacular days EVER. And I thank my friends Joanne and Mark for letting us enjoy the sun and perfect temperature at their beautiful home. They live in the mountains.

To understand our area is to understand that we are in the Tiber valley. The chains of mountains run up on either side. So for us to go just about anywhere we have to cross over mountains. Our friends live in the mountains but also across quite a long small road with a ton of switchbacks and hairpin turns. In the morning, in our valley in the fall and winter, it is always socked in with fog. A bit dreary. It burns off at different times but usually by eleven. So this morning we left in the fog. At 9am. As we drove up into the heights, we crossed through the clouds and then…the fog disappeared. 💚

It really is a beautiful drive. We could look down on the valleys and the clouds filling them. The road eventually runs along the spine of the mountains and you get views for kilometers in both directions.

So, back to the harvest. When we got there it was quite chilly but sunny, because they are up fairly high. They live in a former monastery from around 1300. It was a ruin when they bought it and brought it back to life over time. Here is a picture of the view. You can see the white cloud in the lower areas in the distance.

This is the olive grove. I think they have maybe a hundred trees. Perhaps a little less. There were eight of us doing the picking. Plus a two man crew who do this for a fee. They bring the equipment used to shake the olives from the tops of the trees. We rake the olives from the lower branches. We picked from 9:30 to 1:15 and then we had a fortifying lunch of hamburgers and grilled wursts, along with hummus, salad, and fruit salad for dessert. Thanks Joanne and Mark!

The helpers, who know olives, said they would probably get about 650 kilos of olives. I know from a few years of harvesting that the trees were heavily laden. It remains to be seen how much oil will come from this haul.

This was a good distraction for us today. I don’t talk politics here, but I’m sure you know how I roll. And needless to say, I’m disappointed today. But, it is what it is.

Election day

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I don’t know about you, but I’ll be glad with this thing is over. I am sure it is a LOT worse for those of you who are living in the U.S. what with all the robocalls and political ads. I am sure it is relentless. At least that part will be over after today! Here I watch the news, in the evening only, on Sky which has most of the U.S. non-network channels. It is scary. And stressful!

I am happy I will be distracted Wednesday because we are going to help friends with the raccolto — olive harvest. It is a huge deal in Umbria. Just about everyone has an olive grove of their own if they have any land. And they are happy to let their friends help them. The region is known for having some of the highest rated oil anywhere. It is bright green and grassy with a distinct peppery taste in the throat. The new oil is just incredible. Unlike anything I had ever had before moving here. Here is a picture from the mill where I watched the pressing process in 2018.

So today we harvested our tree! We too have an olive tree on the terrace! I think you all know this. And is loaded with olives this year. I don’t want them to go to waste so we harvested them today and will donate them to our friends tomorrow and their harvest. It will kind of be cool to know that a wee bit of our own olives are in the oil we will get. 🙂

Last night we had a delicious cannellini bean soup with cavolo nero (black kale). It was delicious.

Hang in there everyone. Try to distract yourselves. Meditate. Do yoga. Take a Xanax 😉

🩵💙🩵

Tartufi bianchi!

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Final thoughts on the kitchen. Then I’ll shut up. The only thing I cannot do on the present cooktop is sear food. I am afraid to get it that hot. They said I shouldn’t use my cast iron skillets either. They were my mom’s pans. As a work around I am thinking of buying a one burner portable induction unit for the counter. I can store it in the cabinet. I can get it very hot and use the cast iron on it. This will give me back the capacity to sear and brown food. I will also continue to use my own nice pots and pans. They still work on this cooktop and I see no need to replace them. I just need to start with a lower temperature and then raise it. These adaptations will make this cooktop work.

Induction is a great cooking method. My experience is out of the normal because of the thickness of the counter between the pan and the heat source. This is an unusual design. I still love the look and easy cleanup 🙂
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We went to Calagrana for a rare dinner out. We usually like to eat lunch out, not dinner. But this was a special dinner. White truffles. They are in season now. Umbria is known for it’s truffles. They are abundant. All year round there are truffles, in summer, black truffles, in winter, white truffles. They are expensive but not as expensive as the famous ones from the Piedmonte region up north. Ours are less famous, and slightly less expensive, but taste the same. You’ll notice cooks almost always pair the truffles with a mild flavored food. Favorites are risotto, tagliatelle or eggs.

I forgot to photograph the first course. It was incredible. A poached egg in a Parmesan “cappuccino” with pancetta, croutons and white truffles.

Next was the risotto. Creamy and generously topped with tartufi bianchi shaved right at our table. The aroma of the truffles was intoxicating.

Finally, the secondo was a mouth-wateringly tender veal filet sliced and served with button mushrooms, chestnuts and roasted winter squash (zucca in Italian). Topped, of course, with truffles. I loved this dish but the truffles on it were a waste. The dish had strong flavors which overpowered the truffles. Delizioso, how could it not be?!

Finally, a rare photo of mio marito! Luther, aka Luigi.

Enjoy your week. Our weather is perfetto right now!

We voted!

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I want to encourage everyone to vote in this significant and important election. We mailed our ballots in this week using DHL because we wanted to be sure they got there safely and on time.

We had a beautiful Sunday today. Upper 60s and sunny. So lovely. And the sunset was spectacular! October has not been normal. Wetter and cooler than normal.

Finally tonight for dinner I made an Italian recipe, ragù di coniglio. Rabbit ragu. Rabbit is not a meat much used in the U.S., but it is very common here. I used to source it before we moved here at a specialty market. Now it is available right near the chicken in the regular supermarket. It’s not the cute bunny you think of. These are farmed just like chicken. The ragu.

Final dish.

It was good. But fussy to make. I hope your Sunday was nice! Buona domenica!

Friends visiting!

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October arrived with some kind-of crappy weather. A lot of rain, cooler temperatures and gray skies. But sometimes, the beautiful, washed clean world after the storm is worth the wait. Such clarity!

Unfortunately for our friends Eunice and Mark, the change in the weather coincided with their visit here. I see it will improve going forward. They like Montone, our nearby hill town. They are staying in the hotel in town this time and it is getting mixed reviews from them. They liked the restaurant but the hotel, not so much. They also tried some other places to eat in town and loved L’Antica Osteria in the main square in Montone. It is one of our favorites too.

They came to our house for Sunday Pranzo. We had a simple lunch of a big antipasto plate with cheeses, meats, roasted veggies, and caprese salad. Last of the summer tomatoes, alas! Then we had pasta with my own version of bolognese ragu. There is no accepted “quintessential “ recipe for bolognese. It is hotly argued all over Italy. So that’s why I call it my own. I use meats (veal, pork, sausage, or beef or a combination) this time, beef and sausage, diced carrots, an onion, some garlic and one 15oz can of tomatoes (this would be the controversial bit). I sautéed the meats and then added the carrots, onion and garlic and last, the tomatoes. At this time I begin adding milk. A half-cup at a time. Quite a lot over time. I would say 2+ cups. Simmer and let it cook down and thicken. The longer it is cooked the better. And letting it sit overnight is good too. Anyway, everyone liked it. It is a standby for me.

We encouraged them to do a day on their own on Monday and we met up for a wonderful wine tasting and lunch at Vineria delle Carmine on Tuesday. This is one of the closer vineyards to us. Being in northern Umbria we are away from the big wine areas. Nonetheless this winery has nice wines.

It was a horrible day weather wise. Pouring rain and windy. But we persevered. Once there, and inside it was cozy. We had the Classic lunch which had several courses, but all small portions. We tasted six wines along with the meal. Two whites, a rosé and a light Merlot, and last, two robust reds. They all went well with the courses with which they were paired. Here are some pictures of our lunch.

A rose and a Merlot
After the bread sticks and focaccia this polenta course was beautiful to look at and delicious.
After the polenta an unusual dish, slightly crunchy cooked greens and also had pumpkin seeds. Two sauces.
Two reds. Blends of Merlot , Cabernet Sauvignon and Sagrantino in differing percentages.
Pasta with a delicious Cinghiale Ragu.

The red wines, which were quite big and robust, paired perfectly with the wild boar pasta dish. Very delicious. We all had fun. While we sat there, we watched from our cozy seats, the wild rain and wind storms outside. Thankfully they let up for our walk to the car.

Sabato in Umbertide

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It is an August Saturday in Umbertide. As I always do on Saturday, I went in to the market. It is brimming with summer produce. I bought a bunch of tomatoes, zucchini, a big beet, lettuce, and half a sugar baby watermelon from one vendor, oh, and ten eggs from the nice Sardinian cheese lady. Eggs are sold in different amounts in the stores here. They sell them in a four pack, and in a ten pack. In the market you can just say how many you want. Like six, or three. I bring a box for them to use. Eggs are not refrigerated here because they are not washed. They leave the film that coats them when they are laid which keeps the bacteria out. Although sometimes, when it is very hot, I will pop them in the refrigerator to extend their life.

Here are some pictures of my town and of the market starting with my entering the centro. The Rocca, our fortress, there since the 800s, dominates the town.

Entering Piazza Matteotti the market tents take up the square.

The vegetables and fruits are beautiful! All the summer fruits. The peaches are in now, the pears just beginning, and the plums! Roma tomatoes dominate but some stands still have salad tomatoes.

There are vendors selling other things as well. All must be produced/made by the vendor. This first is the dried legumes for which Umbria is famous. The next one is the black summer truffles for which Umbria is ALSO very famous. Then jams and honeys.

This ceramics guy is always here. I have one or two of his pieces. They are made here in town.

Back home with my treasures I finished the tomato tart I had begun early this morning. I made the pastry and refrigerated it. When I got home I finished it and popped it into the oven. It heated up the house somewhat but not too bad. Since I had the oven on and heated I popped the big beet I had bought in to roast. It will make a nice salad with feta and toasted nuts. Here is the finished tart. A David Leibovitz recipe.

We will have the tart with a small salad and a bowl of the cold tomato soup that I made earlier in the week. Vegetarian to make up for the steak extravaganza last night! 😁

Back from Ospidale

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This past week we were invited to a birthday party for a young woman turning 18. Her parents threw a big party with a full five course dinner for seventy of her friends. They are our adopted Italian family. Vera and Graziano. I really enjoyed watching the young people. Beautiful in the flush of youth. Wearing all kinds of things… much flesh exposed! The meal was good, a lot of food but fortunately you could turn down a course if you wanted, and I did! Pictures with captions next.

Birthday girl. She has the most amazing red hair. Really sets her apart. She is pretty, AND super smart.
Vera and Graziano, mom and dad.
The adult table
The kids
Kids

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Then the dread intervento happened on Thursday. I went to the hospital early, around eight. They immediately rushed me in and I changed into the hospital clothes. They covered me with a shiny blanket and I was wheeled to the surgery floor.

I gotta say, all the people (nurses, anesthesiologist, medics) were so nice and friendly. Happy to talk about where I was from, to tell me about their families who lived in the U.S. One, a nurse with raccoon eyes she had on so much makeup, told me, upon learning I was from near Washington DC, that her daughter lived in Walla Walla and did I know it. The explanation that it was Washington State and not DC which were on different coasts was hilarious. So I was well entertained while I waited. I will add, no one spoke any English. The norm for hospitals here.

All went well and when I woke I had a real scare because my throat closed up and I couldn’t breath. Probably because of the removal of the tubes. It subsided with oxygen. Whew. Back in my room I slept. The doctor came later to explain the findings. I had two different infections. One fungal in my cheek area and one bacterial behind my eye. The issue in my lower sinus in the cheek was a “fungal ball”. Like it has colonized and rearranged the furniture in there to make itself at home… but this also enabled a bacterial infection to get in the cavity which is right behind my left eye. He said that was more dangerous because it could have affected my eye or gone into my brain. So I am glad I got it done.

I have some pictures of my room. It was for two but it was all mine. It also had another whole room with a sofa. The nurse who brought me in said it was my “suite”. After procedures which was painless I wasn’t allowed to eat or drink anything hot. Nor was I allowed a hot shower on my head. So dinner came and it was puréed vegetable soup. They told me I couldn’t eat anything hot but this soup was piping hot. I asked if it was a mistake. No. I just needed to let it get cold. 🙄 OK then. It wasn’t very good cold. But I was famished so I ate it. Next morning breakfast. I had a choice of tea or milk. I decided on tea. But of course it was very hot. Another wait for it to cool. Sigh.

My room
The “suite”
Cold, but meant to be hot, soup. Horrible.

Back home on Friday and return Sunday then again next Thursday to find out the lab results and future treatments if any. Following instructions. Still not eating anything warm. I miss my coffee.
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Saturday we went to a celebration of life for a friend here in Umbertide. John Littlewood. An artist and illustrator with a rich and full life. He was British and his wife is American. They started their own businesses and lived all over the world. In the end Umbertide welcomed him. He was an old world gentleman. Friends with all. My memory of him in the piazza always walking to Bar Mary for his caffè will endure. The celebration was in his small gallery in town. It was packed. He was well loved and will be missed. I plan to buy some of his art as I never have and I do like it a lot.

Next big thing is the kitchen comes on Monday and will be installed Monday and Tuesday, All the players will be here, electrician, plumber, carpenters, work crew. It should be finished and usable this week. Exciting.

The weather is summery. Highs about 80. Really nice. There is a street food fest in town on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Looks good. And here is a picture of a park near the Rocca.

Stay tuned for the KITCHEN!!

Old fashioned town

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When I was growing up, Thursday afternoon was the time the banks didn’t open. And shops didn’t stay open late, ever. And never on a Sunday, would anything be open except restaurants. Even in my 20s in a small town called Jackson Ohio it was the same.

Umbertide is like the towns from my youth, only more so. I am sure I have mentioned the “pausa” here in this journal before. For those not familiar, it is similar to the Spanish Siesta. All stores and offices close at 12:30 or 1:00 and stay closed until 4:00 or 4:30. This happens all over Italy except for the biggest cities (still small shops will close there too) and also tourist towns whose shops stay open all day. On Sunday, only the four grocery stores in town open, and only in the morning. All this takes quite a bit of getting used to for us immigrants. Italians also don’t like to rush into the week too quickly. Many places open on Monday afternoon but not Monday morning. This means one never plans anything on Monday morning. It is the way!

I was reminded of all of this this morning when walking back from the market. There are two little shops along Via Roma, one of the shopping streets. One is a housewares shop (Brescia Casalinghi). Lots of pretty nice stuff, plus stuff outside on sale for cheap.

The other shop is named Idee di Nuove di Volpi. It sells everything it seems. Casalinghi (housewares), articoli di regali (gifts), cornici (frames) and ferramenta (hardware). Yep a diverse offering! I love to browse in there. All sorts of stuff. I think in the US we called it a Sundries Shop, an old fashioned word. This picture is at Christmas with cute stuffed elves.

Florist – fioraia – next door.

Every town also has its “Chinese store”. They are always owned and run by Chinese. They are full of cheap stuff. Pretty much whatever you need, you’ll find it there, and cheap, but don’t expect it to last.

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As an aside, this building is a fixture. It has been for sale forever, from way before we moved here. We could see it from our last apartment. It is a palazzo of great age. It is built into the city walls. It had fallen into disrepair. But the new super bonus incentive here and the fact it was bought by the city has allowed it to be restored. The scaffolding is gone and it looks terrific. I love that top floor loggia. I am not sure but I think it will be apartments.

It has gotten cold for Italy anyway. It is never terribly cold. Otherwise we wouldn’t have olives. But it sure feels cold. Stai caldo – stay warm! Un abbraccio a tutti e buona domenica!

New soup recipe

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I made a new soup which I adapted somewhat from a Washington Post recipe called Caccio e Pepe soup with chickpeas and kale. It was delicious. It was modeled after the pasta dish Caccio e Pepe which is one of the easiest pastas to make, just pasta, parmesan or pecorino cheese and black pepper. Comfort food. This soup was quite rich and very warming.

We also had a really fun, and filling(!) pizza night with Jane and Christie at Degusto. They have two types of crust. One is integrale or whole grain. Pictures of two.

Yesterday was a big day. Since we had managed to open our recalcitrant second garage we could order pellets and wood. In this new house I guess these are the benefits. No way we could store this much in the old apartment and we have this basement garage storage area which has easy access to the elevator. Much easier for us to shift these things here.

So, that’s done and dusted! Of course there is the sinus issue still looming. The dentist had to remove an old crown (with difficulty) and tested the tooth which is viable so they say it can’t be the problem. So next is a pre-op testing regime and I guess I’ll find out about a date for the procedure. I don’t look forward to that but I will look forward to feeling better, for sure!

This weekend is the festival of San Martino. One of my favorites!

August

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It is agosto, August, time stops here. I read some complaints on Facebook expat groups about the fact you can’t get anything done now because everyone is on vacation. You might be surprised, but really everything does stop. Go to your bank. There are no tellers. All construction stops. Factories close. Everyone is at the beach or in the mountains. My comment to the complainer, who said Italy can’t progress because of this stupid August thing, was to say, Viva la difference. Although it can and is frustrating to live in a culture so unlike the culture in the US. The very nature of the inconveniences make Italy, Italy. I didn’t move here for convenience and US sameness. I moved here precisely for the differences. For 45 years I worked in the “progressive” USA and fought for a work/life balance. Who is to say the crazy work, work ethic of the US is better?

On a lighter note, I walked to and from the Wednesday market and I grabbed a couple shots of this newly created “garden(?)”. I was amused. Snow White and her dwarves, fake grass, fake water lilies! Who says the Italians can’t be tacky? 🤣😂😅

I forgot to mention that we learned a little more about our apartment. Paolo, our cabinet maker, seems to be fascinated with this apartment. He was surprised, as so many are, to find a place like this in this area and in this building. Unexpected I guess.

Anyway, he must have mentioned it to other people and in the process he learned the original owner was a strange one. He had a storefront but did no business, his money sources were not known and he seemed to have no visible means of support. This means one thing to me. And you can probably guess what that is. He ended up bankrupt and this apartment went up for auction. The people we bought from were it’s second owners. I assume they got it for cheap. The original owner is no longer living. It is always interesting to learn about your house.

Again I made pesto. I wish you were here, I would give you some!