Tar Baby

Does anyone know the story of Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby?  Well I have my own Tar Baby.  Olney cannot walk past a mud puddle without rolling and digging in it.  He just loves to be dirty.  Yesterday I let him run around in the fenced in dog area to get some exercise.  Unfortunately, that area has been incredibly muddy for months and Olney felt the need to dig and slide around there.  That wouldn't be so bad, except that upon exiting the dog area, Olney needs to jump on me and rub against my legs so that I can get all dirty too...

Someone said that I don't write about the museum enough.  My work at the museum is going really well.  I'm about to start a new project.  I am almost finished organizing the butterfly and moth collection.  Gian just gave me a copy of a publication where he thanks me for helping him write in English and we might coauthor an article about an unusual sex ratio in a beetle species collected from Africa.  So that's all good and exciting!

Last Friday we went to the Leek Festival in Cervere.  There was a 10 euro buffet with raw meat (very popular here) and leek, a chicken coleslaw with leek, little baked leek cakes, leek risotto, ravioli with leeks and ragu sauce, and leek-free hazelnut cake.  It wasn't bad, but we were forced to eat quickly (and compete with others for food) so that wasn't so great.  We went in a big group of our friends from Savigliano who we hadn't seen in a long time.  We were pretty lame though and ready to go around 11:30.  There was a band, but the music wasn't very good and all of Fabri's friends were outside smoking, so we headed home.  I prefer nicer, slower, sit down dinners I've decided.  It was not as good as the gnocchi festival or bagna caoda (that being my favorite food festival). 

Anyway, it was awful weather today which I think was responsible for a recurring headache.  Hopefully this weekend will be nice.  There's a Christmas Market in Saluzzo which we will definitely be going to and I don't know what else.  But Fabri's not working, so we'll have fun!

Dinner Party Machines

Amy A. (the first one) said Fabri & I were dinner party maniacs yesterday.  We just really enjoy having people over and I like to cook, so things seem to go together quite nicely.  It's a good excuse to always have dessert & booze in the house as well. 

A week ago we had Fabri's cousins & sister over for fondue.  Fondue is great because it's a party, not just a dinner.  I made two types of broth, a French bouillon and an Asian inspired broth.  They were both big hits, especially the Asian.  One thing people have come to expect from our dinner parties is to have wine charms identifying everyone's glasses.  Italy, the land of wine, doesn't know about wine charms for some reason.  Everyone we've had over has gone crazy for them.  I have some wedding ones my mom gave me around wedding time.  I have a bunch I made myself with beads & old charms.  My newest are a set of insect wine charms I found at TJ Maxx.  Gaetano seems to really like those....

From Blogger Pictures

If those weren't colorful insect wine charms, he would be such a bad-ass biker dude. 

Saturday Fabri & I went to Ikea.  They opened a brand new store in Turin right off the Turin Beltway.  We got a new carpet for the family room (Olney's slowly destroying ours) and of course couldn't resist buying some fun Ikea stuff.  I got a beautiful red orchid, Fabri got a new fluffy pillow and Olney got a new mat for underneath his dog bowls. Though Ikea is, by definition, crazy, we had fun!

The weather has decided to play mean tricks on us.  It has been gorgeous all week.  Cold, but dry & no fog.  Look at how gorgeous Mount Viso is from the field next to the house!

From Blogger Pictures

The problem is, the weekend arrives and so does the rain and fog.  The fog started rolling in around 3 or 4 this afternoon and it's supposed to be foggy & rainy all weekend.  Stinks.  And this weekend and next Fabri isn't working at all!  Not one shift!  This is the first time in a long time.  It would be nice if the weather would cooperate a little so we could get a lot out of these weekends.

So I'm getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I have all of my recipes copied; I have a shopping list and a basket full of food and decorations ready; and I'm getting my game plan in place.  Maria Pia is buying the turkey for the occasion and went to order it on Wednesday.  She called me while I was at the museum and asked if I want a female or male turkey.  I had no idea.  I asked her what the difference was and she said the size.  Females are about 8 kg and males are 20 kg.  I had told her before we want between 10 and 13 kilos for our dinner of 15 (thank you butterball website).  She said then she'd better get the 20 kg bird.  I said ok, not having a firm concept of how much 20 kg is.  When I got home I calculated that in pounds.  FORTY-FOUR lbs of turkey!!!  I started freaking out.  Where are we going to cook this massive bird!?!?  How long should I cook it for!?  Butterball's website only goes up to a 30 lb turkey!  I'm going to have to put this thing in the oven the day before.  As I did more turkey research, I got even more nervous.

Thankfully Maria Pia came over last night (we had pizza & cake for Francesca's 20th birthday) and we discussed the turkey.  Gaetano had already said the same thing, it's too big for the oven.  I said if she can't get one that's between 10 and 13 kilos,  then maybe she can get two small birds.  I am sure we could find room to cook them.  I wanted to try cooking in their wood pizza oven anyway.  She said she would call back the turkey store, so I'm feeling better about it now. 

From Blogger Pictures

This is a wooden turkey made by Grandpa and Fabri bought me those flowers today for no reason. :)

Wintery Weather

We're back in Saluzzamore after a wonderful vacation in the US.  We rested, relaxed, ate and shopped the entire time.  It was great.  We got to see almost all of our favorite people....

From US October 09 Visit

From US October 09 Visit

From US October 09 Visit

From US October 09 Visit

From Micah & Anna's Wedding

..... and we ate all of our favorite foods including crabs!

From US October 09 Visit

We bought a new winter wardrobe for Fabri and some fun stuff for me.  We also came home with all of the American-made ingredients I need to make my first Thanksgiving dinner.  I'm super excited about that.

At the end of our trip we went to Micah and Anna's wedding at a beautiful vineyard outside Charlottsville, VA.  It rained the whole day of the wedding and then an hour or two before the ceremony it cleared up.  They had the ceremony outside with the mountains, the autumn leaves and the sunset in the background.  They didn't need flowers or lights, it was just naturally gorgeous (as were we). 

From Micah & Anna's Wedding

So that's a very brief summary of our trip.  You can see more pictures in my Picasa web albums (as always there's a link to the right).  It was nice to get home and see the puppy.  He's gotten taller and filled out a lot.  He is looking a lot like a Labrador.  He was very happy to see us, but he did fine at the Motta's house and it was clear they really enjoyed having him.  Maria Pia called the next day to check and see how he was doing and everyone was happy the other night when we came with Olney for dinner.

Fabri immediately got back to work and hasn't slept in since the US.  Sunday will be his first day off since we got back and I'm looking forward to that day.  When Fabri doesn't sleep in, Olney doesn't sleep in, so I don't sleep in.  A horrible chain...

I've been back to work as well, but I gave notice at the Wall Street Institute where I teach.  I will be teaching for another month and a half with them.  Then I'll find other ways to fill my time.  Fabri and I are advertising our services as English ~ Italian translators specializing in medical & scientific themes.  I want to study Italian some more so that I can speak better/more correctly and I want to spend more time at the museum.  They are redoing all their displays in this period and I'm really excited to help with that and learn a new aspect of museum work.

Last night we had our friends Anna & Cladio over for dinner.  Anna is from California and has lived in Saluzzo for I think 5 years now.  I made Maryland steamed shrimp (one of Fabri's favorites) and a new pasta recipe from Rachel Ray.  Everything was really good and we had a great time.  Olney for a little wild and kept jumping up on Anna.  We have to do some more training...

Tomorrow we're having Gaetano & Detta, Giovanni & Brunella & Lulu, and Paolo & Giovanna over for fondue.  I think that's a good winter weather dinner party.  Did I mention that it's like winter here already?  And not the good winter moments when it is very cold but sunny & clear; it has been foggy,  grey, overcast and COLD.  Yuck!  We had a couple of days of clear blue sky and I could see the mountain peaks have quite a bit of snow.  No more hiking in the alps this year.

The City of Lights

From Paris Sept 09

We went to Paris 2 weekends ago with my parents.  The weather was perfect and the city was amazing.  Fabri and I arrived Friday afternoon.  It took about an hour longer to get from the airport to the hotel than we thought it would.  The Air France bus took us 2 blocks away from the hotel which was very convenient, but we waited for at least 30 minutes, if not more for the bus to pick us up.  Oh well.  We arrived at the hotel and Mom & Dad were waiting for us.  The hotel was very nice just down the street from the Arc de Triomphe!  Here are a couple views from our window.  It was very close quarters, so you couldn't stay there with just anybody.  The bathroom even had a relatively see-through glass door!

From Paris Sept 09

After relaxing a bit from our trip, we all hit the subway and went down to the Pompidou Center.  It was neat, but the Musee D'Orsay is still my favorite art museum in the world!  After all that modern art, we walked to the Jewish quarter of Paris and saw the house/road where my grandfather was born.

From Paris Sept 09

Then we wandered around Paris until we found an acceptable bar for an aperitif.  They were sooo stingy with the aperitif snacks, but the drinks weren't overpriced.  Then we followed Dad to a Belgium Pub/Restaurant.  We shared the Belgian specialty, moules frites and drank a bunch of beer.  Then we headed to a beer brewery called the Frog & Rosbif where we get some more food, and of course more beer.

From Paris Sept 09

On Saturday morning we headed to Montmartre, my favorite area of Paris.  We took the cable car up to the top of the hill and walked around watching the artists.  Fabri and I are still looking for a piece for above our couch, but didn't find anything we liked enough to deal with the hassle of getting it home.  We had lunch at another Belgian Pub/Restaurant (Dad doesn't travel without a list of all these types of places).  Then Fabri & I went to the Eiffel Tower and took a boat ride down the Seine.  Next time we'll try to take the nighttime boat ride; we hear it's amazing when the city is all lit up.

From Paris Sept 09

Saturday night was the Jimmy Buffet Concert.  We had an aperitif with cheese & meats and rose´ wine.  The rose´ was very appropriate because Jimmy had a new song, "Turn up the heat and chill the rose´!"  The concert was a lot of fun.  Just like all of his concerts it was more like a party.  The theater was small and intimate and full of wild & crazy Americans & Brits.  I think there were very few Frenchies.  After the concert we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner and more rose´!

Sunday Mom & Dad left early for the airport and home.  Fabri and I had an afternoon flight, so we walked around Paris for a couple hours.  Unfortunately everything is closed on Sunday, so I wasn't able to any shopping even on the Champs d'Elysee.  We visited a flea market on the banks of the Seine, but didn't find anything.  It was fun (and romantic) walking hand in hand through Paris Sunday morning. 

From Paris Sept 09

Mom & Dad Visit

Mom & Dad are safe & sound back at home in Maryland and I think we can safely say we all had a great time.  We met in Paris this weekend which was awesome, but I haven't loaded the photos yet, so those stories will be featured in the next post. 

Mom and Dad arrived Friday morning in Turin where I picked them up.  We headed straight to Saluzzo for them to meet the Olney pup.  He was not sure about these new people and all their luggage, but everyone quickly became friends when Mom & Dad brought out the liver treats.

Friday afternoon after Fabri got home from work we all went for a private tour of the Convent of Saluzzo.  Fabri had been the doctor of a monk from the convent and the other brothers were happy to thank him.  We got to see a lot of behind the scenes murals and woodwork.  The Chapel was breathtaking and it was extra special to have the brother as a guide.  They're Franciscan monks and gave Fabri a book full of amazing pictures of Franciscan monk convents.  I think Fabri & I will be going back soon as they're having a festival this weekend and invited us to come.

Saturday we woke up and headed to the Saluzzo market.  It's always neat to walk around the market especially the food stalls.  Olney came with us, and his favorite part is the food stalls as well.  We bought food to make for dinner that night as Maria Pia & Antonio were coming over.  We also bought some fresh pasta for lunch and some plants and flowers.  We went home and had a type of cheese ravioli with butter and sage or with oil and parmesan.  We ate on the balcony as it was beautiful and sunny for the first half of the day.

Saturday afternoon we headed to Manta Castle.  It's the most beautiful castle I've ever been to.  It is beautifully decorated inside and there's a small chapel next door full or paintings as well.  Though the chapel has had many of the paintings destroyed by water damage.  There are photos in the slide show below.

Saturday night we had a nice dinner with our parents.  Dad helped by smoking some chicken & pork.  I made steamed clams with garlic oil and cauliflower popcorn to start.  Then I made chicken and sauteed veggies to go with the smoked meat.  We had cookies and pastries Mom bought when we were at the market.  We drank the dolcetto wine we made last fall with Gaetano.  It was finally really good.  When we've drank it earlier it's been too sweet.  We ate on our fancy Butterfly Meadow china.  It was a special occasion to have both sets of parents over for dinner and the dinner went very well.



Sunday we woke up early and headed up past Limone to the Colle de Tende.  It's a passage through the alps between Italy and France and part of the old salt road from the middle ages.  Fabri, Olney and I hiked it before in better weather.  There was a possibility of scattered storms, but hiking in the alps was something Mom & Dad had wanted to do, and we were all willing to risk it.  It was getting sunny in Saluzzo, so we all opted to wear shorts.  That was sort of a silly decision, but we were fine.  When we got up to the mountains, we opened the trunk of the car and put on all the layers we brought especially the wind breakers.  You can see the photos in the slide show.  After hiking and visiting the forts, we had lunch at Le Marmotte refuge up in the mountains.  We had some delicious mountain food: polenta, boar, cheese, tagliata and wild mushrooms.

On Monday I took Mom & Dad to the museum to see where I work.  It was fun to show them around and we of course received a private tour from the museum director and Gian, the museum entomologist.  For the rest of Monday we took it easy, played with the pup, Mom and I went shopping.  Monday night we went out for burgers and beer at Fabri's & my favorite risto-pub.  Then Tuesday morning I drove Mom & Dad back to Turin and they flew to Nice where they caught a train to Holland.

Haven't written

Ok, I'm bad.  I haven't written for practically a month.  It's been a busy month.  Classes started up again so I've been trying to get back into the groove of teaching.  It turns out I don't actually like teaching English, so that's been a bit difficult.  Also we had the dog neutered (poor pup) and he had to be watched closely and kept from licking his wound for a week.  Finally I was studying hard for my driving theory test for my Italian driver's license.  I took that & passed on September 15.  Now I'm practicing and taking lessons for the actual driving exam.  I'll probably take that next week (we'll see what the instructor says this afternoon). 

So that was the busyness, but there was some funness too!  Mom & Dad were here visiting for a few days.  Pictures and stories of the visit to be added soon!

Party Weekend

Fabri's birthday party on Saturday was a major success. We worked hard Saturday morning cutting the grass and setting up the pool chairs. Friends began arriving around 4 in the afternoon and we all began enjoying the pool. Olney was of course in the pool right along side us. Also Antonio (Fabri's Dad) brought Tom (English Setter) to the party too. Tom and Olney have played many times before, but I think Olney's at a point where he's trying to show that he's ahead of Tom in the pack, so Olney can be aggressive towards Tom when he doesn't want him around. Especially when we're at the table and Olney's guarding food. But there was a third little puppy there and Olney was very good with her. Zoe, a 3 month old Australian Shepard played with Olney for hours. It was really cute watching the two puppies play together and they wore each other out.

At 8:30 or so we began dinner. Some girlfriends of Fabri's planned and cooked everything. I mostly just showed them where things were in the kitchen. There was a lot of aperitivo/appetizer food and by the time it came time for pasta, we were all full! My favorite were rolls of speck (smoked prosciutto) with gorgonzola inside and heated. They were delicious!

The party continued all night and included a midnight swim which was a lot of fun. At about 3am a storm started brewing. With thunder and lightening in the distance, Fabri and I took this opportunity to kick everyone out; I mean end the party. We were very tired and my eyes were all red from the chlorine (so were poor Olney's). We got to bed at about 4:00 after cleaning up and closing all the shutters to prevent them from being blown around in the storm. The storm ended up being very mild with little wind and light rain, so everything was fine, but we did not sleep well. After a 12 hour party that's to be expected.

The next morning we woke up and started the final cleaning of the house. Fabri and Olney worked outside and I gave the kitchen a scrub down. On our way home we stopped in Savigliano to bring a little left over food and some things Antonio had forgotten at the house. Right after we pulled up to our house, while we were getting our things out of the car, our neighbor Mauro came down to say they're waiting on us for lunch (it was a bit after 1 I believe). He had mentioned lunch on Sunday, but plans hadn't been finalized so we were a little surprised. We said we needed a few minutes to clean up and ran upstairs to take showers. We got there a bit before 2 and our other neighbors from upstairs who we've been having meals with were there as well. We were exhausted, but at least I didn't have to make us lunch and they were drinking Nebbiolo wine, so I was happy. We had a lovely time and came home exhausted and a little drunk after 6! It was a long lunch. I don't even remember what we did the rest of the evening, but I'm sure it was mostly laying around the house.

There will be pictures once I get them from Fabri's friends.

One last thing, I would like to send out an SOS. I can't find any of my bookmarks! I read all the time and I have been using scraps of paper and business cards. If you could find it in your heart to drop a bookmark or two in the mail, I would greatly appreciate it.

Postage to Italy, 98 cents; having a free place to stay in Italian wine country, priceless.