Food Adventures

Fabri has some really generous patients.  He has one woman who is doing quite well that he's been following for about 9 months.  I have not bought eggs in all that time because every week she gives Fabri between 6 and 12 farm fresh eggs.  Last summer she gave us at least 5 kilos of tomatoes that I turned into salsa, tomato soup, and lots of caprese salads.  She always sends Fabri home with some sort of veggies: lettuce, cabbage, turnips...

Recently a patient gave Fabri a bag of wild hops they collected.  Thankfully they explained what I was to do with them because I never ate such a thing before!  They said to treat them like wild asparagus which I do have some experience with.  So you either boil them and eat them with a little oil or make them into a frittata.  Since we have all those free eggs (some of which I'm hoarding to decorate for Easter), we went the frittata route.

First I boiled the hops in salted water for 5 or 6 minutes to make them soft.  Meanwhile I whisked six eggs together with salt, pepper, parmesan cheese and a couple of splashes of milk.  Then I put the hops and the egg mix together in a pan and let it cook covered for about 10 minutes.  You have to lift up the sides of the frittata to let the egg run underneath so that it will all cook. 

It was really good.  The hops don't have a strong taste at all.  We didn't eat the flowers (cones) which are what is used for beer and have a strong flavor that Fabri loves in his IPA.  We ate the fresh spring shoots; the leaves were barely open on them.  They just gave the omelet a crisp, fresh taste and of course a beautiful green color.  We ate the frittata along side some chicken quesedillas.  Fabri ate so fast he didn't have time to breathe, so I guess he really liked it all, as did I.

I like the idea of collecting food.  Here they collect berries, mushrooms, greens, asparagus, and apparently hops to eat.  I wish I could do that.  At our friend Angela & Gabrielle's house I tasted wild strawberry liquor that Angela's mom made with berries she collected.  That's on my list of things to make; it was very yummy!  And in the fall I go crazy for the porcini mushrooms which can be collected in the mountains.  Thankfully neighbors and patients like to share in what they've found and Fabri and I get to have these food adventures!

Food & Friends

A couple of weeks ago I went out with some great English speaking ladies.  We were celebrating a birthday in style with fancy cocktails and then a yummy dinner.

English speaking ladies!!

Then about a week ago Fabri and I went to dinner with a big group of friends we don't get to see enough of.  We thought we were going to go out in Saluzzo with two or three other couples.  On Saturday Fabri called me to make the dinner reservation (he was working) and told me we would need a reservation for 18!!  I thought he was crazy!  I tried to find a restaurant in Saluzzo that could handle us with a few hours notice with no luck.  Miki thankfully made a reservation for us at the Osteria del Teatro in Savigliano. 

Table for 18 please!

We had a lot of fun catching up with all those Savi-beach friends.  Pej and his girlfriend even came all the way from Turin just for dinner!  I have to say, the food wasn't great, but the company was amazing and there was never a lull in the conversation.  It was good practice for my Italian because all the girls sat at one end of the table and the boys at the other, so Fabri and I were too far apart for him to help me speak.  I just had to prove my awesomeness!!

Some of those Savi-Beach friends 2.5 years ago at our Italian wedding reception.

Exploring Lombardy with Micah & Anna

I am overwhelmed by the idea of writing about everything that happened this super fun weekend in Lombardia, so I'm starting by just sticking some captioned photos on here and see if something more organically flows from that beginning!

We visited Bergamo, Cremona and Piacenza with Micah & Anna!

Bergamo is all decked out to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy.

Exploring Bergamo Alta (high) - the historic center is up on a hill above the modern city

The facade of the Duomo of Bergamo

The main piazza - we ate at that restaurant to the right

Looking down on Bergamo Basso (low)

Walking down to get the car & head to Cremona for night #2!

Piazza duomo in Cremona

Tallest brick tower in Italy, and we went up it!

Fabri climbing the final staircase up the tower

It took me some convincing and I was the last to arrive to the top.

Here we are in front of the duomo.  The rain began Sunday morning,

This is a very rainy Piacenza where we stopped for lunch before heading home.

Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Wearing green on St. Patty's Day before going out for a Guinness!

International Woman's Day

Last week was the International Woman's Day which supposedly started in the US, but I had never heard about it before coming here.  In Italian it's called La Festa della Donna.  Fabri and I have never really celebrated it much.  Two years ago we bought a mimosa tree, the official woman's day flower.  Unfortunately Winter of 2009 was very harsh and that died and hasn't been replaced.  Last year Fabri probably brought me flowers, but I don't remember.  This year a couple of my American girlfriends here in Italy (Tammy & Anna) convinced me I had to do something for woman's day.  Fabri's response was, "yeah, sure, whatever go out and I'll go out with some guy friends."

The restaurant gave Tammy & I mimosa swags

So Tammy attempted to organize an evening of dinner and dancing, but apparently you have to book weeks ahead of time.  Who has time for that?  So then she suggested we go bowling.  I like bowling, but bowling in just two didn't sound that great, so I suggested we bring our husbands.  They put up a front like we were ruining their plans for a wild night out with the boys, but neither of them had spoken to any other "boyz" the afternoon of Festa della Donna.

Fabri and Michele LOVING their American import beers!

Anyway, they certainly enjoyed the restaurant choice! We went to Eleat in Cuneo. It's a new restaurant that opened in October.  Tammy & Michele had been there a few times and especially liked their mussel dishes.  Fabri and I were happy when we saw the reviews that they have good beer.  I have to say that bottle of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale tasted better than any Sierra Nevada I've had before. 

Tammy and Jess love Barbera!

The restaurant is very modern and looks super American compared to most of the restaurants I've been to in Italy.  It is on the third floor of an office building and the walls are completely windows so you can look out.  We told the owners that the restaurant was almost perfect, they just needed stools at the bar.  They had a nice looking American style restaurant bar, but no stools.  If they had been there, we would have had a drink at the bar while waiting for Tammy & Michele instead of waiting at the table.  Not that that's a big deal, but the restaurant owners said it was a good idea and that next time we came, there would be stools.  We all had the mussel appetizer and different pizzas.  It was good, but Tammy said the mussel portion used to be larger, and I'd like to see the bowl filled to the brim with mussels next time instead of the stools! 

Strike a bowling pose!

After dinner we went over to the bowling alley.  That was a lot of fun.  It was great to do something new.  We hadn't been bowling for at least a year.  I don't know if Festa della Donna will be an annual event for me, it's sort of a pointless holiday.  I expect Fabri to treat me like a goddess every day, not just one day a year! But it's always fun to have an excuse to go out with friends.

Roses Maria Pia bought me for Festa della Donna

A Normal Day in the Life

Exciting news.  This is my hundredth post!  Ok, not really that exciting, but I've been enjoying writing these and I really enjoy looking back at the photos and stories from the past 2.5 years.  Let me know what you like the best about the blog!

We've been keeping things low key lately.  You know, the holidays have been over for a couple months; the weather is still pretty bad; and, though we have things to look forward to, they're not happening until the spring.  So what have we been doing?  Well, Fabri's been working a lot and I've been trying to keep busy.  I have a few students, but I don't volunteer at the museum anymore.

the path around the field

Everyday I walk the dog a couple of times.  Often we meet neighbors with their dogs and let them play together in the field near our house.  

making some beer can chickens to eat for the week

I attempt to keep the house clean and presentable because sometimes we have fun folks come over for dinner!  This week was our upstairs neighbors.

rosemary encrusted salmon with red potatoes

I love to cook so I make dinner every night.  Sunday we made bugie, fried cookies, with Maria Pia.

Now that it's getting to be a little, tiny bit spring-like, I've been working in my "garden".  I cut some flowering bush branches and brought them inside to open.  The pink ones are very perfumed so the house smells like spring!

The palace in Racconigi, check out the storks on the roof!

Sometimes we go to markets or just to visit around a nearby town.  Last weekend we went to a flea market in Racconigi. 

Olney is a Fatso!