Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was on a Sunday, so we had sort of a Valentine's weekend.  Friday Fabri gave me a beautiful freshwater pearl necklace.  He wanted me to have it early so that I could wear it when we went out Friday & Saturday nights.  So sweet!

From Blogger Pictures

Friday we went to our favorite pub in Saluzzo, the Irish Cave.  They used to have Murphy's beer (super delish!) but they are closing this week, so they don't have the good stuff anymore.  When we heard they were closing right before Christmas we asked the owner, Michele, if we could buy the wooden Murphy's signs decorating the pub.  On Friday we finalized that transaction and got 3 beer signs, 4 other wooden signs, 2 framed maps plus another frame and a Murphy's tray.  Olney really liked the tray which must have had some beer left on it.

From Blogger Pictures

Then on Saturday morning we walked with Olney around the market.  On Saturdays we often go to the market and buy something to make for lunch, but nothing was exciting us, so we dropped Olney off at home and went to Fujiyama,  the sushi restaurant in Saluzzo for their 10 euro lunch buffet.  It's really the best deal around and Fabri and I have been stuffing our faces there or at their Cuneo location for several weekends in a row now.  I even have it written on the calendar for this coming Saturday! Saturday night we headed to Savigliano with the intention of meeting up with some friends there, but we only found Gibo.  So we had a romantic pizza dinner just the 3 of us.  Gibo's one of Fabri's best friends and a fun guy despite the fact he doesn't speak any English.  Chiara, Gibo's girlfriend joined us after dinner when she got back from Turin, but we headed back to Saluzzo after dinner.  We had big plans for Sunday! Sunday we headed to Savigliano with the pup to make bugie for carnivale. That was fun, but sort of a lot of work.

From Valentine's Day 2010

 Fabri flattened the dough with the pasta maker.

From Valentine's Day 2010

I cut the dough and knotted it or filled it (see last week's blog).

From Valentine's Day 2010

Then Maria Pia fried them in oil.

From Valentine's Day 2010

And Francesca finished them off with a generous helping of powdered sugar!

From Valentine's Day 2010

Then we brought a bunch to Giovanni's house for lunch.  This month is Giovanni's birthday so he hosted the whole family to a lovely Valentine's Day lunch where we ate and drank like morons.  We ate so much that Fabri and I didn't even eat dinner that night!  Which is really strange for us, especially me. 

Hair Cut!

I finally got my hair cut a week ago.  We really dropped the ball by not taking a photo right after it was done because the hairdressers styled it so nice and all.

From Valentine's Day 2010

Note new hair and new Valentine's Day pearl necklace.  I'm making bugie (fried dough filled with jam or nutella and covered with powdered sugar) for Carnival.

Snowshoeing February 2010

From Snowshoeing February 2010

Now that we're expert snowshoers and own all our own gear, we're going to the mountains whenever the weather's good.  Last weekend we went to Pontebernardo in the Stura Valley.  Even though it had snowed the night before, the roads were very clean.  We had been worried that we wouldn't be able to get all the way up to Pontebernardo, but it was no problem at all.  The roads in Stura Valley are better than in some of the other valleys because it's a main driving route to & from France.  In fact, we saw a lot of trucks and plows.

From Snowshoeing February 2010

Pontebernardo from above

Anyway, it was us, the pup, our adventure couple friends and their dog again.  We parked off the road in Pontebernardo and then we headed up, up, up.  One thing you have to know about Pontebernardo: It is up a VERY STEEP hill from the road.  Now they are up in the mountains, so the people there know what they're doing.  The hill was pretty much clear of snow, but I think it was still the hardest part of our trek.

The snow was perfect.  Very soft and fresh.  It was at least 2 feet of snow.  We followed what, in the summer, is a paved road snaking up the mountain.  There is always a concern about avalanche's, but sticking to the road kept us safe.  That and we were in the woods pretty much the entire time.

From Snowshoeing February 2010

Last time we went we didn't see much wildlife.  No animals and only a bird or two.  This time was exciting because we saw 7 mountain deer called comoscio in Italian.  They were across the valley from us walking straight up the steep, snow covered mountain without problems.  I'm sure Davide's fancy camera caught a better picture than this, so I'll exchange it when we get those pictures from him.  I also saw some cute little chick-a-dee-type birds. They were flitting around the tops of some pine trees probably eating seeds from the pine cones.

From Snowshoeing February 2010

At one point I fell behind everyone else.  I'm probably in the worst shape, but also I'm a slow hiker/walker.  I like to look around a lot.  I was the only one who saw all 5 comoscio in the second group.  In the summer I'm always stopping to collect insects & in the winter I'm stopping to look around for deer and birds.  But Fabri & Olney waited for me and we all caught up at what must be a summer restaurant and took some photos.  That was after about 2 hours of snowshoeing.  From there we turned back and headed down to Pontebernardo which took a little less than an hour.  Then we went to lunch at the only restaurant in Pontebernardo, the Osteria al Pecora Nera. 

From Snowshoeing February 2010

Fabri and I had been wanting to try the Osteria al Pecora Nera since we hiked up there this summer.  We made reservations for 4 plus 2 dogs for lunch.  They're famous for their Sambuco lamb.  Sambuco is a sheep that comes from the Stura Valley and after lunch we got to see them in their barn being sheered.  We wanted to try the place because they have an American chef!  I don't know how this poor American guy ended up cooking Italian food in the middle of nowhere, but he did a good job.  We'll be going back!  Then I'll get the chance to ask him how he ended up there. 

From Snowshoeing February 2010

Chef Jess

Yesterday it snowed some and I got really crafty.  I'm trying to clean out the office armoire because I have more stuff I want to store in there.  Thankfully, this fall we put together the shelves we bought for the cellar, so I have more room down there to hide the stuff from up here.  And then, when we run out of space in the cellar, we have a garage that is practically too small for a car, but plenty big for a crap load of stuff.  It's a beautiful thing.

Anyway, I got crafty.  I made wine charms as I plan to eventually become rich selling hand made wine charms around Italy.  Then, I finally put together the scrapbook for our wedding that I received as a shower gift.  I'm really happy with that.  And I worked on the "Our First Year Together" calendar scrapbook that I also received as a shower gift.  (One was from my mom and one from my grandparents, but I don't remember which was which).  That is still not finished, but I added a year's worth of activities to the calendar and got an idea what photos will be on each month.  Anyway, crafty.

From Blogger Pictures

So those of you who are keeping track of me via Facebook in addition to this blog, may have noticed that I did a little experimenting in the kitchen last week.  I don't follow recipes except when I'm baking, so every night's dinner is really an experiment, but I made some things I'd never made before which is always fun.

Tuesday we went to dinner at Gaetano's house with Gabrielle and Angela.  I offered to make dessert, so I made what I call black bottom cupcakes.  The recipe is from my Healthy Foods book that Laura gave me.  Instead of frosting there is a second batter with cream cheese and chocolate chips.  Delish!  I made a horrible mistake though, I didn't save enough for Fabri and I so Detta & Gaetano got about a dozen cupcakes!

Wednesday we had Pasqualino & Sylvia over for a tea.  I have never hosted a tea before, but they don't drink and she is somewhat of a picky eater, so both dinner and aperitivo seemed out of the question to me.  For the tea I made my first coffee cake from my new Better Homes & Gardens cookbook.  That turned out really well, but next time I will put the topping in the middle of the cake like my Aunt Pam does.  Pasqualino apparently raved about it to the rest of the family because when we saw them on Thursday they had all heard about it and all wanted to try it!

Thursday we went to Fabri's family for dinner also with Gaetano & Detta & Sofia.  Maria Pia said she was going to make some steaks, so I brought a side dish of roasted winter veggies.  There were carrots, potatoes and brussel sprouts.  For most of the family, that was the first time they ate a brussel sprout, but they all got eaten up, so I think they enjoyed it.

From Blogger Pictures

Then Friday I didn't go into the museum, so I had time to try a new recipe for lunch.  I made Chickpea Fritters and they were really yummy.  In fact, they were so yummy, I felt guilty eating them for lunch with out Fabri, so I just had a couple and saved the reset to have for dinner with Fabri.  That's just the kind of gal I am.  

Snowshoeing

From Snow Showing Jan 2010

I'm currently ignoring the housework.  It's been a long week and I'm just not up to it right now.  It's also been a VERY cold week with today and yesterday not reaching above freezing.  It's very foggy and there is a little snow falling, but not enough in my opinion.  In Italy they have this idea that the temperature has to be very close to 0°C for snow to fall and if it's too cold (like today) it can't snow.  I want snow!!

From Snow Showing Jan 2010

Saturday I got to go play in a winter wonderland.  We went snowshoeing in the Alps with our "adventure couple" friends and their dog.  We went up to the Varaita Valley to a place called Pontechianale.  There is a large lake formed by a damn up there that they say is very beautiful in the summer.  This time it was hidden under ice and 3 or 4 feet of snow!  Fabri and I rented snowshoes for only 7 euros each for the day and the adventure couple: Davide and Elena helped us figure out how to put them on.  Then we hit the trail.

From Snow Showing Jan 2010

We headed up the mountain on a very snowy woodland trail.  Just like in cross-country skiing, you get hot very quickly and we began shedding our layers. The first half hour or so was pretty hard for me.  I had trouble catching my breath (which happens a lot when we go up to the alps).  But once I got adjusted, it was pretty easy going.  I was smiling the whole time though because it was wonderful being out in the snow. 

From Snow Showing Jan 2010

When we arrived to a flat area, we took some time to enjoy the awesome views and take a bunch of photos.  The hike we did takes about 1 hour in the summer, we took our time and arrived at our destination, an alpine refuge, in a little under 2 hours. There we enjoyed some delicious polenta and sausage.  We sat outside because they wouldn't let Olney come in and while Davide and Elena's dog Nana can be left tied up outside, Olney cries and barks and eventually slips out of his collar and attacks the door.  Our dog has horrible manners!

From Snow Showing Jan 2010

After lunch we started back down the mountain.  Davide did a little off-road snowshoeing and Fabri & Olney were happy to follow him.  Elena, Nana and I (the gals stuck to the path) until we were tricked into following the boys down a hill where I slid most of the way on my butt!

From Snow Showing Jan 2010

The trip back was all downhill so we got to the car faster, but it was more fun with all the trail blazing and sliding.  Olney really loved all the snow too.  At first he was crying and holding his paws up.  I was worried that he wouldn't be able to do it, but his paws got bigger and spread out and he was jumping and running all over the place.  

From Snow Showing Jan 2010

From Snow Showing Jan 2010

We slept well that night and Sunday was horrible: grey, cold and humid.  So I'm glad we got out there on a sunny Saturday. 

Epiphany

We celebrated Epiphany a week ago. Epiphany is a strange holiday and I don't think the Catholics in the US know about it. It's on January 6 and it celebrates the day the 3 wise men arrived at the manger to see Jesus. The 3 wise men don't show up in the ever present nativity scenes until this day and the die-hards stay up until midnight on the 5th to add the 3 wise men to their scenes. Fabri's grandmother used to do that. The same for Jesus on the night of the 24th.

This is us in 2003 with Fabri's grandmother's nativity scene in the background.

On epiphany good girls and boys receive candy in their stockings and bad kids get coal.  Sound familiar?  Well good ol' Santa Claus has nothing to do with it.  These treats are brought by a witch named Befana.  According to Liz (and I don't remember who told her), Befana was sweeping her house when the 3 wise men came by and said they were going to go see a baby in a stable and she should join them.  She said no thanks, she has lots of sweeping to do.  It turns out the baby was Jesus and she felt so bad that now she rides that broom around delivering candy & coal.  So it's a holiday for kids & witches (aka single women).

So that's what we were celebrating last Thursday with a big lunch at the Ruffia house.  It was a beautiful day.  There was snow on the ground, but it was very sunny and not too cold.  Fabri and I arrived early with Olney to help Maria Pia set up and cook.

From Epiphania 2010

I helped Maria Pia plan a bourguignonne menu (fondue with broth or oil).  I made an asian beef broth and we had beef, chicken, sausage, shrimp and veggies to cook in it.  Just about the entire family came.  We were at least 20.  It's not easy setting up fondue pots for 20.  We used 5.  I helped Maria Pia prepare the tables and we hung out until everyone else arrived.  Gaetano & Detta came with the new baby Sofia, Pasqualino & Sylvia with Emanuele and Giovanni & Brunella with Lulu, so there were a lot of babies there.  We left Olney outside of the house for the lunch to keep the drama down with all the little ones. 

It was a lot of fun and we ate a LOT of food.  Detta's mom brought lasagna, an antipasto and dessert (a LOT of dessert).  Giovanni made stuffed mussels and of course we all drank a lot of wine. After lunch we played Bingo and hung out. 

From Epiphania 2010

Even that little minx Lulu had some wine!

Now this week Fabri's back to work and I'm back to the museum.  And I'm hoping for snow everyday!

Holidays Update

From US Xmas 09

We had a wonderful time in the US this past trip.  Our favorite part was being snowed in and spending time with the family.  We (amazingly) were able to get home with all of our stuff.  We bought a LOT of stuff (as usual) and received a lot of great presents (thank you, thank you)!  Dad gave us an HD video camera, so be prepared for more videos.  I bought extra storage space from Google, so I'm ready for them!

From US Xmas 09

Now when I say snowed in, I mean there was a LOT of snow!

Fabri worked a 22 hours long shift Dec 31 ending the morning of the first.  He was able to come home for lunch and dinner though, leaving around 11pm.  This is Olney sleeping on the couch on the 31st while Fabri was at work.

From Olney Puppy

 Olney is terrified of fireworks (and loud noises in general) so I put on a Bond movie and tried to drown out the noises with that.  It worked well and he was fine during the midnight countdown.  Then on the first we went to Ruffia to have lunch with Maria Pia & Antonio.  The best part was watching Olney run around and play in the yard.  He chased a couple of bunnies.  The second is Maria Pia's birthday, so we returned to Ruffia for lunch the next day.  They made pizzas (delicious) and we hung out and ate all afternoon.

Now the holidays are almost over, but not quite.  Wednesday is Epiphany which means another huge lunch with the family.  We're doing a big fondue party.  I'm helping Maria Pia because Fabri & I have had some experience hosting successful fondue dinners.  We'll do broth & oil with meat, shrimp, pasta and vegetables.  Good stuff. 

So I'm on a snow watch.  They're calling for snow starting tonight and continuing through tomorrow until Tuesday.  But get this, people are NOT freaking out.  I'm not sure how much snow they're calling for, but in Maryland, if people saw a forecast that said snow for 24 hours, they'd be FREAKING OWT!  Shoot, I better go check and make sure we have at least 30 rolls of toilet paper....

From US Xmas 09