Granita di caffe'-2 ways

It was a sad, sad day when I gave our ice cream maker away, almost as devastating as when we gave our Kitchen Aid mixer with a million attachments away. Granitas, ice creams and sorbets are a necessity during summertime and this was my first go at it without my beloved machine.

Granitas were originally from the south of Italy, Sicily to be exact. It makes sense to be since it’s hot, hot, hot down there in the summer. I first had this granita at a dinner party my husband threw for a few friends last summer. One of the guests was from Palermo and we served him two distinctly Sicilian things, one was a fennel and orange salad and the other was this icy treat. As we were enjoying our granitas, we all commented that in Seattle, a coffee crazed town, there was no place to buy a decent espresso granita. From that day on, I whipped out the ice cream machine and made a granita or sorbet every week until we moved. This is a refreshing variation from the usual espresso we have after dinner.

About 3-3 1/2 C. espresso
1 cup of sugar

Lightly sweetened whipped cream
Biscotti for each glass, if desired

If you have an espresso machine, make a shot of espresso and dilute with ¼-1/3 C. water, do this until you have about 3-3 ½ C. of coffee.
If you have a moka espresso maker, make about 3 full large batches.
Add the sugar dissolve and let cool.
As an experiment I made the granita 2 ways (total freezing time depends on your freezer):

Method 1
I poured ½ of the mixture into a shallow container with a lid and set it in the freezer. About every 30 minutes to an hour, I shook the container. After 2 hours, scraped the frozen bits away from the sides and incorporated into the rest of the mix and let freeze. When you are ready to serve, use a fork to scrape and fluff the granita before you spoon into serving glasses. With this method, you get visible ice crystals and a nice mouth feel which contrasts with the whipped cream. I like this method best.

Method 2
Pour the other ½ of the mixture in a blender and put the whole thing in the freezer, every 30 minutes to an hour, give it a whirl. Keep the granita in the blender until it is almost frozen and you just cannot possibly get the blender to work anymore. Then scrape the creamy and noticeable lighter brown mixture into a container and freeze. Again serve with whipped cream.

Granita close-up

Granita di caffe' con panna

My Favorite Flank Steak

As a kid growing up I ate a lot of flank steak. The beef available on Guam at the time was usually from Australia and of good quality. After living in the “people fusion” that is Seattle, it would not be uncommon to find a tub of pre-prepared “Kalbi marinade”. This marinade/style of seasoning is Korean I think and very much like a “kicked up a notch” teriyaki sauce, if I can quote Emeril. My sometimes food snob husband doesn’t like flank steak very much but will eat it if it’s medium rare, sliced thinly across the grain and with 2 giant mounds of cooked jasmine rice.

Kalbi Flank Steak

½-1 t. scant bit of sesame oil
Chili oil to taste
¼-½ C. brown sugar and/either or honey
Chili flakes
Thinly sliced green onions (I left this out since I couldn’t find any)
2 smashed garlic cloves
Several pieces of sliced then julienne ginger root
Black or white sesame seeds or both
½+ C. soy sauce

All measurements are to be specified individually. I like sweet meat but I know some people don’t and I love things spicy. I say just wing it!

Marinate the meat for as long as you can. Before cooking bring the meat to room temp. and grill or BBQ. Since this marinade has a bit of sugar/sweetness to it, BBQ is the best way to cook if you don’t want charred sugar in your skillet. Another great way to prepare this dish is to broil on high turning once in your over. Line a baking sheet or pan with foil for easy clean up. Slice thinly across the grain and serve on a bed of white rice.

The other way I like to make flank steak is a bit more tropical.

Tropical Flank Steak

½ t. oregano or thyme
1 t. cumin
1 t. ground cardamom-this is a must
Dashes of clove, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon (whatever you’ve got)
2 cloves smashed garlic
Chili flakes or a seeded jalapeno
Chopped cilantro
Sliced red onion
Bit of brown sugar or honey
Salt and pepper
Juice and rind of 1 lime/lemon or both

Marinate the meat as long as you can, grill, broil or BBQ until medium rare, slice and serve with tropical salsa and grilled pineapples. I need to make this soon but have a hard time finding cilantro and avocados here.

Tropical Salsa

½ C. each of peeled and diced mango, avocado, pineapple, chopped cilantro, jicama, it’s all up to you!
1-2 seeded and diced jalapenos
Diced red onion to taste
Lime juice/lemon juice
Salt and Pepper

Add all the ingredients together in a large bowl, carefully fold everything together, let sit for 15-30 minutes for flavors to develop and enjoy.

A sidenote: Both recipes can be made with skirt and hanger steaks too.

Kalbi Flank Steak made in Italy

This sunflower field looks like an "Under the Tuscan Sun" photo but actually we are in the heart of Umbria. In many regions of Italy sunflowers are planted for later harvest of their seeds which are made into oil.

A baby sunflower, barely 4 feet tall.

At the top of a wide staircase, there is a courtyard and tourists from all over the world. I wish I could have gone inside the church but I was wearing a summer with dress with my kness exposed and was denied entry.

This weekend we drove through Umbria. This is the church of St. Francis of Assisi.

I love the fact we can buy bufala=buffalo mozzarella by the bucket at our local grocery store. This mozzarella is much softer, more buttery and slightly more acidic than the regular cow's milk version. It's actually difficult to cut into slices without a sharp knife.

The red, white and green that comprises Italy's flag also finds its way into one of my favorite salads, caprese.

A Meal That Beats the Heat

There is absolutely no way to beat this heat! My Italian tutor said “You will hate Torino in July.” Part of me is really scared, I don’t dare to take the dog out in the day or leave him in the car for even a minute. We may have to break down and buy and air conditioner. I swore I would not contribute to the heat by baking or turning the stove on for extended periods of time. This pasta dish serves as an entire meal so my time in the kitchen is limited plus I get to play with a bit of water as I scrub and clean the seafood.

Seafood Linguini
(serves 2 as a main course, with a bit leftover for the dog)

½ box of linguini-to be cooked in salted water until almost al dente
2 handfuls of cleaned/scrubbed/debearded shrimp, clams and mussels (or any other substitutes, like calamari, scampi etc…)
3 crushed garlic cloves
1 t. anchovy paste
Chopped flat leaf parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste
Grated lemon rind (optional) if you’re a seafood purist don’t add but I find it a nice touch
Good olive oil
½+ C. dry white wine
Handful of thinly sliced asparagus, sliced on the bias at 45+ degree angle, blanche until crisp tender and plunged in cold water, then dried and set aside.


1. Heat olive oil in the largest skillet you have, add smashed garlic cloves, cook and brown for 5-10 min. Remove from oil.
2. Add mussels, clams and shrimp, stagger the time depending on the size of the seafood. Remove one by one as they open and shrimp turns opaque and set aside in a large bowl.
3. In skillet add the anchovy paste, deglaze with wine, add lemon ride and scrape good stuff off the bottom of pan. Reduce a bit.
4. Add the asparagus to pan, add almost cooked pasta, let finish cooking for 2 min. Add seafood back to skillet and toss all together.
5. Pasta should be al dente and will have absorbed tons of flavor from seafood juices and wine, seafood should be just cooked and asparagus should be cooked through but not soggy. Garnish with the parsley, as with all seafood, no cheese.
6. This dish should come together in 15-20 min. Serve with a chilled white wine and enjoy!

Seafood Linguini

The Mad Scientist strikes again. He's also known as Demed, to his ex-exployees/group members (Satan/The Anti-Christ), Wine Guy from Kirkland (but don't let him pick the wine, unless he pays), permanent resident @ Mario's, Barnes and Noble, Tower Records or Barney's and last but not least my leather pants wearing husband!

Full Time Aunt

It’s official, as of July 2, a Saturday, I will be a full-time aunt. My mother-in-law and her husband will descend on Torino to drop my niece and nephew off for about 2 weeks. At first the kids did not want to come for a visit but I think they may have changed their minds. Needless to say this weekend we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to figure out a way to empty the guest room of clothing and boxes in a vain effort to make it homey. The room so far is furnished with a table, lovely rug of mine, 2 guitars, an amp, a gumball machine, some photos for the wall and a bookshelf with all sorts of books, comics and English children’s books I bought at a library sale in Seattle. All we need now are the beds and a dresser.

Summers in Seattle are heavenly and I miss them, usually Sophie, Jamie sometimes Rachel, Daniel and/or Charlie head out to enjoy all that Seattle has to offer. One year Sophie, Jamie and I rented a canoe from the UW and went on a leisurely ride across the Montlake cut and into the Arboretum. We ate our lunch in the canoe and had cherries for dessert. The highlight of the day was watching silly UW students jump off a part of the 520 floating bridge that either sunk or had not been completed. We watched as guys coaxed girls to jump, as guys jumped and then belly flopped, all in the comfort of our canoe.

The summer before that Rachel, Daniel, Marc and Caroline and I went to our usual spot in Marysville to pick fresh raspberries. We walked about 200 yards out to the canes, talked and shuffled our feet in the dusty fields while we argued as to who would fill their baskets more quickly. At the end of two hours, we had picked 13 pounds, not counting all the ones we are along the way. The afternoon ended with lunch at a great Mexican place. I miss everything about Seattle and the children that I spent so much time with. In two weeks, I’ll get a chance to do the same sort of things with Ginevra and Giordano.

This is an photo of an old photo. I finally put up the photo corkboards in my office and this is one of my favorites. Tia and I went to the beach one afternoon, the waves crashed all around us but I was oblivious.

It's been hot, hot, hot in Torino lately. It's 85 degrees F by the time I get up, 9:00 a.m. The dog cools off with a lemon popscicle.

This is balcony gardening at it's best, much smaller than the 5000 sq. feet lot I had in Seattle isn't it?

My tiny little herb garden, with 2 types of thyme, rosemary, mint, oregano, sage, chives and basil.

Here's the original 5 sisters before the 6th little one came along. I'm the oldest, (in blue), then Gia (in Red), Anna and Kentra ( are 3 & 4, and are twins) and Sara in the grey is number 5.

Family Values

Although the photo of this SmartCar Cabriolet may seem like it has nothing to do with family values, I actually think it does.

Several months ago as I was watching CNN World News, my ears perked up when I heard two stories: one was about the high unemployment rate in Germany around 14% and the second about how the population growth of Europe is nearing 0%. I did a bit of Googling and found this to be true. (Check my facts on this) I noticed this the minute I landed in Italy. The only place I saw large gatherings of babies and children was at IKEA. We visited IKEA about twice a week for a month as we were deciding on a kitchen and were picking up accessories for the house.

Curious little thing that I am, I asked around to find out why bunchkins “bunch of munchkins” were so scarce, I got these replies/explanations:

“Turin is a dead city; it died when Fiat started to go downhill.”
“Fiat is Turin and Turin is Fiat, when production when down, people stopped having families.”
“One child per family is the usual case.”
“More than one child, like three or four, is for the rich or the very poor.” (This comment sounds very Un-PC but I did not make it, I’m just repeating it.)

This self imposed child restriction is strange to me, especially since I am from a family of 6 girls. Being the Capitalist American I am, and wanting all the choices in the world, and not wanting to be told I don’t have choices, I am dumbfounded. “Children enrich your life in a beautiful way” says a good friend of mine. I have always wanted 2, a boy and a girl. We already have the dog, now the only item left on out family list is a mini-van, although I doubt my race car loving husband would agree with me. Back to the SmartCar convertible, this car is a cute little number that parks like a dream. In the US, a car like this would not meet any crash test standards whatsoever and I would be afraid of being crushed by the new L3 Land Rover, Chevy Yukon or Ford Explorer. The SmartCar also does not have a back seat for the family dog and definitely has no room for the average 2.4 kids that US families produce. Many of the worlds developed countries have birthrates below replacement levels, in contrast to the US which has the highest birth rates among rich countries. So I guess it’s no SmartCar for us, seeing as my husbands thinks three children is a nice round number.

Deme checks out the Smart Cabrio

The 6 girls of my family at our family reunion 2 summers ago.

Calamari Salad

Thank You Federica for inviting Deme and I to your dinner party and I'm glad the Calamari Salad was a hit.

Calamari Salad
(Serves 4-6 as an antipasti)

1 lb. cleaned squid, about 1 ½ lbs. uncleaned
2 T. lemon juice
2 T. lime juice
1 t. lemon or lime rind
2 T. red wine vinegar
1/3 C. olive oil
1 lg. garlic clove pressed
½-1 t. salt
¼ t. black pepper
½ sm. red onion, thinly slivered/sliced
1/3 c. pitted kalamata olives, halved and split length wise
1 C. cherry toms or grape toms
½ slivered/sliced fennel
½ C. coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley

1. Clean squid.
2. Squid can be dried, seasoned with oil and S+P and grilled for 30-60 seconds per side, then sliced into rings or cut into rings and blanched in salted water. If they are blanched (for 40-60 seconds), then after the blanching, plunge into iced water to stop the cooking. Squid should be very tender. Pat the squid dry if blanched and set aside.
3. Whisk together lemon juice, lime juice, rind, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper and stir in the red onion. Let stand for 5-10 mins.
4. Combine squid, olives, toms, fennel, and parsley in a large bowl. Toss in dressing and season with salt and pepper. Let stand at least 30 mins. to develop flavors.

Calamari Salad

No Longer in Exile

I no longer feel like I‘m living in exile. Let me elaborate; today I went with my language exchange tutor, named Alberto, out to lunch. For all the Italians pals of my darling husband, yes, I asked for permission first and yes, I know this may seem like déjà vu since I had another Italian tutor in Seattle named Adalberto. Ciao Adalberto! Now that I have cleared that up, we went to eat a Chinese restaurant in the center of town. Upon sitting down I asked the waitress if she spoke Cantonese and she said “no”, I asked her is anyone in the building spoke Cantonese and she said “no”, when I asked her what kind of Chinese cuisine they served, she said “Cantonese”. You can’t win them all can you?

After lunch we went for a walk, chatted then drove to look for a Chinese grocery store I had spotted late one night but have to had the chance to frequent again. There were actually two in the area, one Chinese and the other Vietnamese. All I can say is that I squealed with delight when I saw frozen lumpia wrappers, rice paper, soy sauce, sesame oil, coconut milk, star anise, jasmine rice, a rice cooker, soy bean milk, canned lychees, chili oil and the like.....

Alberto was pretty much out of his element but very interested in the difference between coconut milk and coconut juice. He had also never seen guava juice, smelly dried and salted Asian fish, and jasmine tea so the visit really opened his eyes. I can’t wait to finish stocking the pantry and getting on a first name basis with the store owners. Oh happy day!

My newest pantry items

A gorgeous carved watermelon in a gourmet food shop in Torino.

Ragu alla Bolognese

There are a ton of recipes out there for this pasta sauce and since I do not know a Bolognese nonna, I am going by my husband’s able and delicious version. He went on an all afternoon business trip yesterday and that gave me the time to simmer away.

A note: This version has a hint of cinnamon in it, this is highly irregular but we tried this dish at a restaurant in Rome and it was a surprisingly good combination. You can just leave the cinnamon out if you wish.

Ragu alla Bolognese
(For 4 people, and 1 little Chihuahua mix)

1 lg. carrot, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1-2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
Olive oil
1-2 bay leaves
½-2/3 cup milk
1 lg. can tomatoes
1 c. red wine
1 T. red wine vinegar
1-2 T. tomato paste
½ t. salt and a few good grinds of pepper
3 cinnamon sticks + ½ t. ground cinnamon (optional)

For the meat:
Ideally 1/3 lb. ground beef, pork and veal but ½ lb. ground pork and beef will do.

1. Heat a bit of olive oil in a large pot, add the onion, celery and carrots and sauté until soft, about 5-8 minutes. (The goal of this mixture is to have 1/3 of each ingredient, I process them all together because I‘m lazy.)
2. Add the meat and cook through, until there are no more pink spots.
3. Add wine, tomatoes, paste, salt and pepper, bay leaf, cinnamon, vinegar and let simmer with lid on for 1 hour. Stir occasionally. .
4. After 1 hour, add the milk, and simmer for another hour. The sauce should be slightly thick and so simmer with lid off if you have too much liquid. After 2 hours the meat should be soft and the sauce should be rich and a bit of a pale red, deep orange color.
5. Taste for salt; remove cinnamon sticks, and bay leaf.
6. Serve with Parmigiano and a thick pasta like fettuccini.

This evening's pasta, Ragu alla Bolognese

Our lovely brown child's water dish holds half a litre.

Even Zavier eats like a king

Puttanesca

I end up making pasta at almost every meal, here is usually eaten as a first course followed by meat, chicken or fish. The internet is a great source for recipes but I also try to re-create pasta dishes I read about in magazines or have eaten in restaurants. When I am in a hurry, this dish comes together very quickly.

Puttanesca (the dog does not get any of this, too spicy)
Serves 2-4

½ box pasta
2 T. chopped black olives
4 anchovy fillets chopped
1 T. capers chopped
1 15 oz. can of chopped tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, pressed
Pinch of chili flakes

1. Put pasta water on to boil, add salt and cook pasta until almost al dente.
2. Meanwhile, sauté the garlic, chili flakes, anchovies and capers in some olive oil until fragrant and softened. (2-5 minutes)
3. Add tomatoes and cook for 5-10 minutes until the liquid has reduced slightly.
4. Add olives, give a good stir and add sauce to drained pasta, let everything cook together for a minute or two, until pasta is al dente and serve.

Our Primi Piatti=Our First Course

Pesce Fresco=Fresh Fish

I was craving fish for dinner and asked my friend Linda to show me the way to an upscale supermarket called Bennet. There I found brown sugar, sweetened condensed milk, powdered sugar and many other goodies. I was in hog heaven, but had my mind set on fish for dinner. Really simple, fresh, well-cooked fish is one of life’s greatest pleasures. My dad used to tell us stories about how he worked on fishing boat as a young man. When he caught or was given fish, he cooked it directly on top of either the engine of the boat or a hot exhaust pipe. He relished the simple, pure taste and taught us all to do the same. One of his best recipes is for steamed tilapia:

1 tilapia
Slivers of ginger, green onion and shitake mushrooms (optional)
Several drops of sesame oil
Salt and pepper
Soy sauce

1. The fish is cleaned (be careful not to break open the gall bladder aka green sac when you do clean the fish or else), scaled and rubbed with salt inside and out to clean it thoroughly, then rinsed and dried.
2. Score the fish with 3-4 diagonal slits on each side, halfway to the spine.
3. Stuff slivers of ginger, green onion and mushrooms inside the fish and into the slits on each side.
4. Place the fish on a heat proof platter and steam until just done.
5. Remove from steamer, drizzle with sesame oil and soy sauce and enjoy.

Tonight I made a branzini (it’s a delicate white fish that’s a bit like a sea bass).
I follow all of the above steps for cleaning and preparation and stuffed it with lemons, chopped parsley and chopped garlic. I usually truss the fish just to hold all the filling in and set in a grill pan on medium low to cook. The timing is crucial, my dad used to poke a chopstick through his fish to check for doneness; I look at the spine and when the skin starts to pull away from the spine, it’s just about ready. If you are not sure you can make a tiny nick in the thickest part of the spine and take a little peek. If you wait until the fish flakes apart, it is usually overdone. A well cooked fish should glisten with juices and be very supple. Our dinner was yummy.

Last night's Secondo Piatti.

This might bring back memories for those who grew up on Cup-O-Noodle. Behold the European version.

I received the cutest letter today from my youngest sister Tia. She lives on Guam with my dad and her mom. "Je Je" in Cantonese means big sister and she always starts her letters to me this way. What a way to brighten my day!

Accounting 101 in Torino

For the first time in my adult life, I don’t have a job. For the first time in my adult life, I am not producing any income. For the first time in my adult life, I am relying TOTALLY on the income of another party. This situation generates a bit of stress and anxiety especially when it comes to managing the finances.

Last weekend, while we were in Rome, we traipsed over to the post office, open on a Saturday (thank heavens), to pay a few parking tickets and the start-up costs of our utilities. My darling husband loves to expose me to a variety of social situations, and rightfully so, in the hopes I will be able to handle things on my own and garnish for myself some semblance of autonomy.

As we entered the building, we took a number, queued and waited. As our number came up, we headed over to a friendly looking guy that proceeded to sing “American Pie” by Don McClean. The process was actually quite painless; we gave him our ATM or as they call it here BancoMat card, our super secret PIN number and he proceeded to debit our account dry. He spoke a fantastic English and stated he has been to California, twice, for 3 months at a time. Nice guy, we were drained but none worse for wear. However, I still have not figured out how to mail a package, all I know is that it involves a totally different queue.

A side note about the parking tickets: Since we live in a busy area of town, we have to pay to park on the street. Yes, we have a garage but it is partly filled with boxes and is used to store the moped. Our first two weeks at our new apartment was wrought with tickets because we did not have a perking permit. After a bit of complaining on my part, we went to the motor vehicle office to ask for a permit. To make a long story short, a parking permit, valid for 24 hours a day and for 1 year, costs about 8 Euros. What a deal!! We paid 70 Euros for 3 months, why you ask? The lady at the desk told us that since we are not official residents of Torino (we are in the process of changing this), she cannot give us the permit at the regular cost even if we are renting an apartment, pay utilities at said apartment and Deme works in Torino full-time. My ever patient husband almost blew his top. In the end he graciously accepted the permit and said “At least it’s better than 35 Euros a day.” We left in a huff.

Our next set of bills will arrive this month, I am the only person in my apartment building with a dryer but I am scared to death to use it. The weather has been great and I have been drying clothes on the drying rack but got the dryer for use in the winter. I don’t see waiting 3-4 days for a towel or a pair of jeans to dry; maybe it’s just my American impatience or my capitalistic needs talking. Slap! Slap! A friend of mine told me she bought and air conditioner for her apartment and ended up paying 600 Euros last August. Now I am envisioning drying 3 pairs of jeans costing me 25 Euros a pop. Yikes! Lately, I have found myself turning off all lights as I leave a room and not leaving any appliances on in the hopes that all these measures will allow me to use my dryer at least once this winter.

Banking Italian Style

***Before I start this post, I should add this disclaimer: Although it may seem that I think things in Italy are inferior to the U.S. I assure you this is not true. Many things are so different, I find them frustrating but in my next post I will be sure to include all that I enjoy about this country just to keep things fair and even***

A bit of background, about three weeks ago, Deme and I went to a bank in Turin and opened a joint account. We could not do this earlier since I did not have my Codice Fiscale number and now I do. About two weeks after opening the account, the bank sent us a note to inform us that our account is open and functional. We are still waiting for our bank cards though, and it’s been three weeks and counting.

If I want to access the money I just have to go to the bank to withdraw it. Today I did just that; I wanted to do and international money transfer straight to my bank account in Seattle. (For the past three months, Deme’s mom has been helping us with this but I would much prefer to give her less to do and take responsibility for our accounts.)

I attempted a bank transfer yesterday at 3:54 p.m. but the bank had already closed. The hours are a bit strange: 8:35-1:35 p.m. and 2:35-3:45 p.m. I missed my window yesterday but made it here in time today. Deme drove me and left me to my own devices while he waited in the car. I entered the bank, made the request and filled out a form to process the transfer. The teller spoke no English and I was surprised to have the transaction go so smoothly. The only glitches were:

1) I did not receive a receipt for my transfer, simply because they don’t do transfers at the branch, they have to fax the request to a main branch and that’s where it’s done and a bit of a mix up regarding the transaction fee which is about 20 Euros.

2) Also when I asked how long the transfer would take, the teller was unsure stating about a week or so. She was also unsure about the actual cost. Deme tells me this is a rare request and many banks never even do it, I told the lady I would be coming in once a month. Maybe next time she will remember me and everything will go more effortlessly.

Now all that’s left for me to do is wait a week and see if they money goes through, when we did this same transfer in Rome, it was quick and painless. While Deme drops me home, he gets a call on his cell phone from said bank. The tellers want to make sure that he knows there is a fee associated with this transaction. I guess a husband’s word is good as gold here since she told me about the fee and I said it was fine with me. Go figure!

Cast Iron versus Marble

I am so mad at myself. While making tonight’s dinner (baby green beans, roasted potatoes, and roasted turkey) I dropped my cast iron pan on the marble kitchen floor and the pan broke. The floor fared very well, no chips to speak of. Thank goodness, the pan only held 2 pieces of roasted turkey. I usually sear meat in an All-Clad grill pan but put it in the oven to finish cooking and my beloved cast iron pan was the perfect tool. I hope I can find another one here or else I will have to send Deme out looking for one when he goes to Seattle.

The broken pan

We Drove to Vote

We spent another weekend in Rome with our niece and nephew, not much to report as it was a very short weekend. We left Torino at 7 pm Friday evening, and ended up in Rome at 3 am. The drive was long due to four stops, our usual is two. We were both very tired by the end. On Saturday we all hung out at home and on Sunday we took the kids to a museum, after a late lunch we headed back to Torino. This weekend’s travel was so Deme could vote on a few important referendums, what a positive example he makes.

For three months, we’ve been driving to Genova, Pisa, Florence then Rome. This time we tried a new route, Torino, Parma, Bologna, Florence and Rome,; it was much faster, only 5.5 hours with two stops and an average of 136 kph or 81 mph. Much progess is being made!

After the museum, the girls rest at the park.

I think my nephew's a better specimen than the gorilla.

What a resemblence!!!

As American as Apple Pie

Today as I groggily went downstairs to let Zavier to his business in the courtyard of our apartment, our portiere (apartment custode) let me know I had a tiny package. Could this be this be the ironing board clips from Suzanne or the dry baking goods from Sara? It was the latter.

Two weeks ago Deme and I decided it was time to stock our pantry with essentials. We head to Carrefour, a very large grocery store, complete with an optical, gelateria, tires for sale, a deli where you can purchase a whole leg of prosciutto; you get the picture, like a gourmet Costco. This place was about 1 ½ football fields long. I knew I would be able to find most of what I needed here. I found countless types of pasta, dried and pressed mullet roe (called bottarga), dried porcini, salt for the dishwasher, brillo pads and tons of other stuff I needed, except a few American baking essentials. We combed the isles for baking soda, baking powder, and brown sugar, molasses, and corn syrup just to name a few. I found chocolate chips, cocoa powder, sugar and flour but that was all. So I placed a call to Sara; she and Chris promptly put together a little baking package for me. I have been having a chocolate chip cookie craving for the past month. Sara told me when she heard craving she set to work grocery shopping. See the results below:

My cravings have been satisfied.

Golden Showers

The American phrase “Golden Showers” used to be associated with a certain fetish but now I think it is used as a catch phrase for anything that has to do with urination. This is a kid’s friendly blog, so I am keeping the definition relatively clean.

When Deme and I drive to Rome for the weekend, a 6+ hour drive depending on the traffic, the number of stops, road work etc…We usually get gas, a snack and use the restroom. Restrooms are big business here in Italy, the people of this country love to travel. As I have mentioned in previous posts, Italians travel to eat, to go to the seaside, to shop, for any reason whatsoever. When I was in Venice last year, I say my first pay toilet. They call them WC’s here (Water Closet) this is an English term. You pay 1 dollar and get to use the facilities, same with the train stations and many public places likes, parks, parking lots and the like. When I was in Thailand, I saw my first Asian toilet, the one with a hole in the ground that you squat over. Here in Italy they call them Turkish toilets and yes, they still exist abundantly.

Restrooms are coveted here, you are expected to buy food or drink from an establishment before you may use the restroom. We are always looking for a bar so I can get a fresh squeezed orange juice and Deme a coffee when I need a restroom. There was one occasion in which we ate breakfast at a bar and after I used the restroom and left, a guy who did not see me eat and drink, ran out of the place yelling, “Grazie, Grazie, Va Bene, Va Bene.” I had no idea why he was saying this, Deme told me it was the equivalent of “Thanks, a lot for nothing lady.” We won’t go there again.

Back to the Golden Highways, last weekend on our most recent trip to Rome and back, the traffic was heavy as it was a holiday weekend. On this weekend I saw a good number of cars pulled over by the side of the road, not for overheating but for peeing. Mom’s holding kids above ground, men with their backs turned towards traffic and people just crawling out of ditches next to the highway. This sort of shocked me because Italy has the most sophisticated rest stops I have ever frequented. The rest stops are not like the ones on the West Coast at all, they are full-blown gas stations, bars, restaurants, restrooms and shops all rolled into one. You can buy the paper, a pizza, a CD, a bit of prosciutto and licorice gum. I spend about 2-3 Euros per long drive because I pay the little lady who cleans the restrooms. Usually at the bigger ones there is an attendant and she sits by the entrance with a little wicker basket for tips. Deme never tips but I always do depending on the cleanliness of the place. So why would anyone pee next to a highway? Mind you the cars can be going up to 120 mph!

There are no obvious laws or taboos here about urinating in public. Once at a gelato store in Torino, of course they did not have a public restroom, a family of four pulled up on their bicycles. It’s a bit of a hot day and as mom and daughter go in for the gelatos, dad and boy stay outside to watch the bikes. I stand in the shade with my cone and Deme is on his cell phone. All of a sudden the little boy run over to a large garbage dumpster and pees on the side of it, this kids is about 8 years old. Another time in Rome, after a late night out, we head home and while parking our car, I see and well dressed guy peeing on a light pole right in front of Deme’s mom apartment. These are not isolated incidents; in fact, I notice these events often when we go out.

Peeing in public in the U.S. usually means you are so drunk that you can’t possibly navigate yourself to a proper restroom. Here in Italy, it just means you could not find of the moment you had the inkling you might need one.

Our Holiday Weekend

June 2nd is a national holiday in Italy. On this day in 1945, Italy became a republic, kind of like an American 4th of July. We had a 4 day weekend and decided to drive to Rome. Unluckily for us, about ½ of Italy planned to head to the seaside and our 6 hour drive stretched to 9 hours. Needless to say, my darling husband was not too happy when we finally arrived. It was nice to see our niece and nephew as well as a good slew of friends. On Saturday, we headed to Sabaudia, a small seaside town about 110 km from Naples, (66 miles from Naples) to hang out with a few friends and their children on their boat. I took my first swim in the gorgeous Mediterranean; the water was very salty and quite warm for early June. After a long cruise we headed back to dinner with the family. What a way to end a weekend. Being in Rome always cures my homesickness.

The family sits down for dinner on the terrace in Rome.

Ginevra and I go in for a awim, this is my first time in the Mediterranean!

Deme watches the girls as they swim.

A small lagoon in Tirreno, near the town of Sabaudia.

The Strada di Sagrantino

Last weekend, we spent some time at in the region of Umbria. We drove the Stada di Sagrantino, this is a road that follows the wineries that produce Sagrantino. At the end of the road we ended up at the winery of Demetrio's friend, http://www.arnaldocaprai.it/

This winery makes Sagrantino di Montefalco, the grapes are called Sagrantino and the town in which they are made is called Montefalco. This red wine is one that has reached success only recently; I am not sure when it stated to become popular but when I still lived in Seattle this wine was featured many times at Larry’s Markets. It is an ancient grape variety that dates back to the pre-Roma era and was cultivated by Franciscan monks; many say they grape originated from Spain.

Here a bit more information about Sagrantino:

Sagrantino of Montefalco, in its dry version, is a garnet-red Italian wine with a faint scent of violet petals, an aroma and bouquet reminiscent of blackberries, alcoholic strength between 13 and 15 percent, to be served at room temperature, 17° to 20° centigrade, not more. It is excellent for soups and light meats; though its full-bodied character is typically partnered with roasted meats, game and piquant cheeses.

This wine, in its version produced from partially dried grapes, (called Passito) is perfection: full-bodied and mellow, spicy, warm taste, alcoholic strength never below 14 percent, color tending towards garnet red. Here a better definition of Passito.

Passito
[pah-SEE-toh]

An Italian term used both for a method of making sweet wines and for the sweet wines made this way. Passito wines begin by laying freshly picked grapes on mats (or hanging them in bunches) so that they can partially dry. This process eliminates much of the grape's water and concentrates its sugar and flavor components. Depending on the technique used, the drying time can vary from several weeks (in the hot sun) to several months (in a cool ventilated room).