As American as Apple Pie

It is always my goal to write these posts in chronological order, but I just can't.  I wanted to write a little bit more about our US trip and haven't gotten to it yet.  So here it is:

From US Trip May 2010

We were lucky to go to TWO baseball games while we were in town this month.  Both were Nats' games and both times they won, so that was pretty sweet.  We went to the first game with Micah & Anna, but not before meeting Amy in Chinatown for a couple of beers!

From US Trip May 2010

We saw a couple awesome home runs and one "play of the day" catch.  Don't ask me who did what, I don't remember any details.  That's why I try to write these things soon after the event happens...

From US Trip May 2010

The second game Fabri treated the Goldstein family (+ Chris, an unofficial Goldstein) to some awesome nose bleed seats. What's cool about the Nats' stadium is there are no bad seats.  We even got to see Steph who was at the game with her roommate.

From US Trip May 2010

I mostly go to baseball games for the food.  I like hotdogs & 8$ beers and of course peanuts.  Also sitting outside and yelling is fun too.  I even bought a new Nats hat so I would fit right in.  

Oh take me out to the ball game,

Take me out to the crowd!

Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks!

I don't care if we ever get back!

Root, root, root for the home team

If they don't win it's a shame,

Cause it's one, two, three strikes you're out

In the ol' ball game!

Awesome Weekend

We had a truly spectacular in it's simplicity kind of weekend.  On Friday Fabri got home from work early which was a nice treat, so we started our weekend early with an aperitivo at home.  Then we met Gaetano & Detta and baby Sofia at our favorite Saluzzo restaurant, La Taverna d'Artista.  They have my favorite wine ever (Nebbiolo Roagna Igino - I will give you some if you come visit) and they make good steak (very important) and very yummy pizza.  We got 2 bottles of the nebbiolo, 2 foccacias, 2 orders of steak (for 2 people), 2 orders of french fries, a salad and some grilled vegetables.  It was excellent.  Sofia has gotten bigger and she's started eating baby food.  She was very good and didn't cry.  We gave her a red, white & blue summer dress to wear for the 4th of July and Detta said it was the right size, so I'm happy.

From Around the House

After dinner we walked around Saluzzo and all got gelato.  Now that it's warmed up here we can eat outside, walk around with gelato, and generally enjoy Saluzzo more. 

From Blogger Pictures

Saturday morning we went to the market with Olney and bought a couple things for lunch and some flowers for my new vase.  On Friday I had worked a lot on our balconies cleaning them up, transplanting a couple of plants and watering everything, so they were beautiful and ready to go for Saturday.  When we got home from the market, we had a yummy aperitivo out on the balcony.  We drank a rose wine from the Saluzzo hills and had cheese and meat from Valle d'Aosta which Maria Pia had given us from a trip she took a couple weeks ago.  Then we relaxed and watched a movie on the couch.  It was so nice to just lounge around together.  After the movie I made ravioli of spinach & ricotta with oil and sage sauce.  It was yummy.  After lunch we took a nap (like I said, awesome weekend).  Then we took Olney to run around in the field and then showered and got ready to go out.  We went to Alba with our good friends Anna & Claudio to meet the St. Mary's College folks in town for the Alba Music Festival.  It was great to see people and we're probably going back to see them again this Saturday.

From Olney Puppy

Sunday morning we woke up late because we got home at ~2:30 am from Alba.  Around 11 we went to Savigliano to walk around the flea market they had there.  On our way we spotted a bunch of friends.  First Pach, Edo & Mia were at Gerry's and we stopped and had an aperitivo there with Pach.  Then, we found Miki, Steo, Luca and that whole group of friends (about 10 people in all) and chatted with them.  I'm glad we saw so many friends, because we didn't see anything at the flea market and left with all of our money in our pockets.  Then we went to Ruffia and had lunch with Maria Pia & Antonio and helped them open up the pool in Ruffia.  As we were pulling the cover off and you could see just the littlest bit of water underneath, Olney jumped in the pool!  Then we had to pull the cover off quickly, because there was a dog in the pool!  It was particularly funny because that was the first time Olney had jumped in from the side of the pool; he always goes in and out from the stairs.  So there was some craziness.  Also, a neighbor came with a tractor to create a new vegetable garden where we're going to plant corn and tomatoes and zucchini.  Then we had dinner in Ruffia and came home to attempt to go to bed early.  That didn't work out, and though we were tired, we were happy to have such a wonderful weekend.

From Blogger Pictures

CROWSSSSSSSSSSSS

The Crowberger Wedding

From Carolyn & Marcello Wedding

Us all spiffed up for the wedding!

Two days after my birthday we left for the States for a well deserved vacation.  We arrived just in time for the Crowberger wedding extravaganza!!

From Carolyn & Marcello Wedding

Chris & Laura at the Rehearsal Dinner

Friday afternoon Laura, Fabri & I headed down to the DREADED Northern Virginia to get lost on the nonsensical roads without road signs.  After getting lost only once, we found the hotel.  Which, by the way, has the exact same name as another hotel 4 or 5 blocks north.  Welcome to Virginia.

From Carolyn & Marcello Wedding

Fabri & his blonde, teenage daughter, Maddie

But, once found, we saw the hotel was very posh and comfortable.  After depositing our stuff and saying hi to some Very Important People, Fabri and I went in search of his favorite smoothie spot, Jamba Juice.  Poor Fabri was heart broken when we saw Jamba Juice is no more.  Instead, it's the wine and beer area of the Magruder's grocery store, which was fortunate, because, while Fabri wanted smoothie, I wanted spumante!  We grabbed a bottle of Prosecco and made our way back to the hotel to have an aperitivo with the Crows.  Then we went to the rehearsal dinner at Harry's Tap Room.  On our way out of the hotel we met Carolyn's friend Laurie and her husband Harvey of the Atlanta Falcons.  That's right, a professional NFL football player!  Fabri was in heaven, and those 2 chatted a bunch.

From Carolyn & Marcello Wedding

Laurie, Harvey, Us, Laura & Chris drinking prosecco

The rehearsal dinner was very nice.  Laura, Chris, Fabri & I all had the Harry's Tap Room steak, but Fabri was so tired, he wasn't able to finish his!!  He regretted this later when Chris reminded him that Chris had never seen Fabri NOT finish something.  Fabri isn't very good with jet lag.  Then we ate a delicious chocolate cake made by Carolyn and Fabri and I headed back to the hotel to sleep while Mom, Dad, Laura & Chris went on a forced march searching for Murphy's Beer.

From Carolyn & Marcello Wedding

The next day we had to wake up early for the noon wedding.  We made the mistake of following Dad to the location.  Northern Virginia roads struck again, and we drove the wrong direction for about 10 minutes before turning around.  Punctuality was stressed, but weddings never start on time, and we got there with plenty of time to spare.  It was a lovely ceremony outside next to a lake in front of a koi pond with a waterfall. 

From Carolyn & Marcello Wedding

The reception was full of prosecco and Carolyn was soooo beautiful.  I loved her hair, which Aunt Pam styled.  Fabri wouldn't dance with me because he was having fun hanging out with the guys, so I danced with Maddie and Aunt Sue.  The cake was an amazing finale.  It was made by Carolyn's friend Maris who is a pastry chef.  It was a beautiful wedding and we had a great time.  Virginia is for Lovers.

From Carolyn & Marcello Wedding

Better late than never

From 28th Birthday

Me and Angela

I'm always so slow writing my blogs!  This one is about my awesome 28th birthday a couple of weeks ago.  We threw a little dinner party at the house in Ruffia.  I made hummus with vegetable crudites for the cocktail hour and bought like 8 bottles of prosecco.  Anna and Claudio kindly brought what I call Alba Salad, but has a different name at every restaurant that serves it.  Anyway, it's a yummy bite with celery, toma cheese and walnuts served with some sort of vinaigrette dressing.  So I served that as our first appetizer and then Maryland steamed shrimp with Old Bay.  The shrimp is always a crowd pleaser and I think I owe every guest a can of Old Bay now...

From 28th Birthday

Fabri and Antonio

The main course was pizza cooked in the wood oven by Maria Pia.  That made the party.  Everyone got in on the action and helped cook the pizzas.  It was all soooo good, especially the vegetable pizzas!

From 28th Birthday

Making pizzas!!

For dessert, I made black bottom cupcakes.  They're from my healthy meals cookbook Laura gave me a few years ago.  Here's the recipe:
1/2 of an 8 ounce package fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 and 1/3 cups sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 and 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup cooking oil
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Line 18 muffin cups with paper cupcake cups; set aside.

In a small mixing bowl beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Add 1/3 cup of the sugar and the egg.  Beat on medium speed for 1 minute or until smooth.  Stir in the semisweet chocolate pieces; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl combine remaining 1 cup sugar, the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add water, oil, vinegar and vanilla.  Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping side of bowl occasionally.  Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each half full.  Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture over each.

Bake in a 350° oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched.  Cool cupcakes in pan or on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Remove cupcakes from pan and cool thoroughly.  Makes 18 cupcakes.

Bon apetit!

From 28th Birthday