2009

Books

I suppose I should be apologizing for not having posted in such a long time, but I’m not going to.  Ha!  I’ve been rediscovering the joy of reading this month with Jean M. Auel‘s Earth’s Children series.  It is so fantastic.  My Mom (Janet) gave me the first book in the series, Clan of the Cave Bear, which had been given to her by one of her college roommates (Jane).  (I find it interesting that the names of these three women all start with J, don’t you?)  After devouring the Cave Bear in record time (it is a whopping 468 pages), I absolutely HAD to have the rest of the series.  As you can imagine, this created a dilemna.  English literature isn’t exactly aboudingly easy to find in Verduno, so I book mooched the entire rest of the series for free online.  

Or I thought I had.  When I finished the third book (which had a little more sex than was necessary in it) two weeks ago and went to start the fourth I realized that I was missing #4.  Woe was me!!!  If you’re not a big reader, you cannot understand how it feels to be going strong on a great new series after a ten-year drought of quality reading material and then run out of books!! GHAIGHAIA!!  It’s THE worst.  (The same thing happened to me when I was twelve and discovered, on a trip to Wellesley to visit my Grandparents, Tamora Pierce‘s The Song of the Lioness series.  I unknowingly purchased the third book in the series and loved it.  Unfortunately, the rest of the series was not available at WML and I had to wait a whole year before going back to that book store near Nonnie’s house for the rest of the series.  (Which, obviously, they didn’t have.)  I ended up finding the last book FOUR years after reading the first one.  Can you imagine?!  That was life before internet!)  It seems this missing book in a series is a recurrent theme in my life and a burden I must bear.  Needless to say, I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of book #4…

In both of these series’ there’s a strong female protagonist that I am one with.  Seriously, this is more of a spiritual bond than I’ve felt with most of my boyfriends.  You know you’re in deep when start seeing parts of these fictional characters’ lives in your own life.  In Earth’s Children, there’s Ayla, daughter of the earth.  I knew I was in deep when I started wishing I had a birch tree near by so I could chew on that instead of brushing my teeth in the morning, and wearing my fake-suede slipper boots and pretending that I hunted the deer and prepared the hide myself.  In The Song of the Lioness, there was Alanna, the lady knight who also knew magic – I tried some of her magic spells myself in secret.  And in Anne of Green Gables (my other favorite series of all time, though I prefer the movies to the books), there’s Anne – I memorized and can recite from heart all of her favorite poetry.  (I find it interesting that all their names start with A, don’t you?)

What will the next series be?  Suggestions, anyone?

Mid-Week Mini Vaca

We went to Torino last night to participate in the Gusto del Territorio – an iniziative to promote typical products from various regions of Italy and unite chefs young an old for an exchange of innovative ideas.  In short, we ate and drank for four hours.  The event (part of a series) was hosted by the restaurant L’Birichin with guest chef Walter Miori from Trentino.  It was an awesome night.  Here’s what we had (I’ll let you use your imagination): 

Menu

Aperitivo Welcome  –  Isac Le Baladin e Super Baladin – Birrificio Le Baladin

Spuma di seirass (see below) ed agro di mosto San Giacomo

Polentina di Storo con sarda in saor 

Tartare di “carne salada” con verdurine e bavarese agli asparagi

Canederlotti alla verza e puzzone di Moena su burro e tartufo del Baldo

Pancia di maiale con polenta di patate porri alla crema con tartufo nero, salsa al miele Valdivia

Guayaba, frutto della passione ed Olio Terre Rosse

La torta sbriciolina con zabaione al Maso Grill

Bicchierino alla cioccolata modicana Quetzal, grappa Solera Selezione e gelatina al tabacco 

 

Wines

Ferrari Perlé

Ferreri Perlé Rosè

Tenuta Podernovo Tenuto igt Toscana

Lunelli Maso Grill

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SeirassSeirass –
Cow’s, Goat’s & Ewe’s Milk Whey

The name Seirass, Seras derives from the Latin Seracium and is the local name for Ricotta in Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta. The product has many different forms in the region, ranging from rounded cones to cylinders or an upturned basketshape. When dried and salted, it may have a roundish shape and varies in weight. The cheesemaking technique is the classic Ricotta method – the whey is heated to 90°C – with the difference that Seirass del Fen whey comes from mountain dairy milk used to make Toma cheese.  As is well-known, the whey of soft cheeses produces soft Ricottas while whey from cooked cheeses gives a more solid product. It is also difficult to obtain ricotta from pasteurised milk naturally. After 12-36 hours, the Seirass is taken out of its moulds or cloths and kneaded by hand with white salt. It is then exposed to the atmosphere. This operation is repeated several times. The cheeses are then placed in a dry, well-ventilated room to dry, after which they are wrapped in freshly cut hay (fieno or fen). In some cases, the Seirass is also lightly smoked.

Body: the fresh cheese has a delicate, lumpy body while the mature version has a firm, translucent, brownish-white or straw-white body.
Height/weight: varying from 2-5 kg
Territory of origin: Seirass is made almost everywhere in Piedmont, but hay maturing is typical of the valleys around Pinerolo.

Venice!

Here are our pictures of Venice (and Padua)!  We went for a quick weekend trip with our friends Claudia & Fabrizio from Torino at the end of January.  Warning:  they’re mostly pictures of buildings/landscapes.  Not too many people pics, but if you’ve never been to Venice, it’ll give you a good idea of what the city looks like.  I have to say, it wasn’t what I was expecting.  I thought there would be more…water.  I suppose when you dream about going to a certain important destination for so long,  you can’t help but feel a little let down when you actually see it in person.  Though this isn’t always the case.  I remember when I got to Las Vegas I was like, “Holy crap!  This is SO not what I expected!!”  Venice is certainly beautiful, with gondolas and striped poles and live musicians like you would expect, but I always thought it would have a romantic feeling about it, and instead it just felt touristy.

We also visited Padova on this trip.  The highlight of the city for me was the Basilica di San Antonio, which is this huge basilica dedicated to Saint Anthony.  I’ve never seen a church like this, and I at least peek my head into all the churches I go to in the area.  Every single inch was covered with some sort of painting or sculpture or marble decoration.  I think they’re overdoing it a little on the whole Saint-Anthony-worshiping thing though.  There was a line of about 20 women waiting to throw themselves on his marble tomb and wail their miseries, and two walls dedicated to pictures and notes from people asking for his help.  Containers asking for donations abound, though I found it odd that they don’t let you light candles like they do in most churches.  You can donate money for candles or donate candles, but you can’t actually light one yourself.  There was also a chapel inside of the basilica that was filled with Saint Anthony’s embalmed body parts (cheerfully on display in golden canisters).  Umm, eww.  Besides, isn’t that like illegal in this religion?

Smart Raisin and Pear Muffins, or Pastry Chick on a Diet

  • February 16, 2009
  • Categorized: Shira, Etc.   Tagged:

Perhaps you can imagine my dilemna: I love eating and am on a diet. Here are the results from my latest attempt to turn a butter-rich muffin recipe into a more healthy treat. The original recipe for Apple-Pecan Buttermilk Muffins came from Bo Friberg‘s The Professional Pastry Chef.

I cut down the butter, increased the amount of liquid, substituted low-fat yogurt for buttermilk, and skim milk for half and half. I also got rid of the streusel topping. You might be thinking, “how are these muffins ever going to taste like anything if you take all the good stuff out??” But the muffins are chock-full of pears, raisins, nuts, spice, and ok, chocolate chips. If you want to reduce calories and fat even more, leave out the nuts and chocolate chips.

This is not a quick-and-easy recipe, in the sense that it uses two kinds of flours and you have to poach pears and measure honey. Speaking of which, I used Waiheke Island Manuka honey, great stuff that a bride from New Zealand who was staying at the B&B I used to run gave me as a thank you present. As with any muffin recipe, you don’t want to incorporate too much air or overmix. So beat the butter with a paddle just until smooth, mix the wet ingredients together well and whisk the dry ingredients together well before incorporating the two together. And remember, more acid = increased tenderness, so if your yogurt’s a little old, all the better.

Smart Raisin & Pear Muffins

6 oz. Butter, soft
8oz. Light brown sugar
1/2 cup Honey
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Baking Soda
10 oz. Cake flour
1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg, ground
3 oz. Whole wheat flour
1 cup Low-fat yogurt
2/3 cup Skim milk
4 Pears, poached (or very ripe) & diced
1/2 cup Raisins
1/2 cup Chocolate chips/chunks
1/2 cup Nuts, chopped

Method

1. Cream together butter, sugar & honey. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.

3. In yet another bowl (thank god for dishwashers!), mix together the yogurt and milk.

4. Add the dry and wet ingredients to the butter mixture in three alternating segments. Stir in pears, raisins & nuts.

5. Fill the cups of a buttered or paper-lined muffin tin 3/4 full and bake in a preheated 395° F oven for 20 minutes. For mini-muffins: 400° F oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool 2 minutes and turn on sides to finish cooling.

Yield: 14 muffins + 24 mini-muffins or 24 large muffins

50 Things

This tag game called “25 Random Things” has been going around facebook for a couple weeks now, and I thought I’d share my things here.  I’ve been tagged a bunch of times, so I have more than 25 things…

1.  After seeing the movie turner and hooch with my sister when I was little, I have to sleep with something to my back to escape being knived in just the perfect spot that kills you instantly.
2. have cold feet
3. hate gel toothpaste
4. I’m messy
5. I’m pretty sure I was an Indian maiden in a past life – like the kind that can walk in the forest without cracking a twig and can identify all sorts of random weeds.
6. Used to want to be an archaeologist
7. Don’t know how to put on makeup
8. Used to have a fish named Belthezar who is now buried in our front yard
9.  Love making forts (especially with snow and couch cushions)
10. Always wanted to dance
11. Things I have stolen on purpose: 5 cent purse from Lauren Amiss’ garage sale, pineapple buttons for a tropical shirt my mom made me when i was six (she made me bring them back), broken glass vase from a restaurant in Las Vegas, demitasse spoon from the Culinary Institute of America, a tupperware container and internet service from an ex-landlady (I replaced the tupperware), hotel towels.
12. I can 12 strand boondoggle
13. I’m a girl scout and proud of it.
14. Wrote a book with several friends in high school and then made it into an audio book.
15. Have a knack for making pinatas
16. One time the fire department was called in to break up a party that was held partially in my honor
17. Have driven cross country twice, once alone.
18. Would like to go back to college to take more courses with a favorite professor.
19. Have a bad habit of using toothpicks and leaving them by the phone.
20. Learned how to shave my legs on Conesius lake when i was 12 years old.
21. Wouldn’t mind being a mermaid or a Lady Knight
22. I like playing dress-up
23 I  cut up old tights to use as garden string
24. My only doll’s name was Zelda
25. I like dogs and REALLY REALLY REALLY want to get one.

26. I spent two hours polishing silver this weekend and strangely enjoyed it. We only have three silver things in the whole house (so I’m not sure why it took me so long to polish them…): 2 candlesticks (that Luca’s friends gave him for his birthday three years ago, weird right?) and an etched tea pot with an antler handle. The teapot was totally transformed after polishing. I felt like I was rubbing the magic Genie in the lamp. All these objects are now prominently displayed in our kitchen.

27. My practically favorite genre of literature is semi-historical J-Fic fantasty. I know, “Juvenile Fiction?”, you’re asking. I love it. I read these few books over and over again and love them even more every time. Most are pretty straight-forward, which I don’t like, and use limited vocabulary, but there’s something special about the way authors storytell for a younger audience that’s missing in the adult fantasy I’ve read. Books in this genre that I’ll never get tired of reading: Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness series.

28. I have a serious phobia of making phone calls and talking on the phone. Especially with people I don’t know. I dread phone calls. Even talking to relatives makes me uncomfortable most of the time. I’ll procrastinate and procrastinate making calls and that makes the whole thing worse, so I’m doing a therapy now where I force myself to make calls as soon as the idea comes into my head. I think it might be helping a little…

29. I’m NOT a big fan of most Caribbean islands.

30. I dream about having my own house someday that I can decorate any way I want and where I’ll live by myself with my dog.

31. Language freak. I love listening to foreign languages and often imagine I can understand what people are saying even when they’re speaking a language I don’t know. I speak Italian fluently now and besides 4 two hour lessons with a professor am entirely self-taught. I understand Piemonteis, the dialect that’s spoken by older generations in the part of Italy where I live, and am finally learning to speak that as well. Majored in English and Spanish in college and studied Latin and Spanish in high school.

32. Like most people, I like being part of a group. This is something that I’m missing in my life right now. The only group I’m a part of at the moment is the “immigrant” group. I’m an outsider here, a foreigner even though I have dual citizenship. I speak, act, look, dress, and am different from most people where I live. It’s not really at all enjoyable. In the States I prided myself on being a creative individual, in Italy I often find myself trying to stifle these differences.

33. I’ve had four meaningful long-distance relationships in my life. And one (and a half) meaningful local relationships.

34. I’m a homegirl. I really like being at home. May have a minor socializing phobia going on, but I’m hoping it’s just a cultural thing I’m going to get over soon…

35. Christmas and Halloween are my favorite holidays.

36. Love kids – being around them, teaching them, babysitting them, etc.

37. I organized and directed what I believe was the only serious Summer Recreation Talent Show LeRoy has ever had.

38. I prefer theme parties to non-theme parties and have given many of them.

(me, me me, is this list done yet?!)

39. I love pastry and am technically a qualified pastry chef – I have a degree from the Culinary Institute of America (the Greystone campus in Napa Valley) and worked at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon in Las Vegas for a year, as well as at several other prominent restaurants.

40. I enjoy being one with nature. And in particular finding things in the wild and bringing them inside for use in interior decoration. Pretty sure I got this from my Mom, who my Dad now calls “The Weed Woman” because she’s always out scavaging for interesting looking weeds. He says every time he turns around in the house now he gets poked in the eye by a wayward branch of rosehip or stalk of Russian sage.

41. I suppose we all have a period of delinquency in our lives, mine was in college and involved making and wearing very small, glittery scarf-shirts, nitrous oxide, and school probation for making a large quantity of gourmet alcoholic jello-shots while underage. (ok, and the time I forged my Mom’s signature on a Math progress report in high school).

42. I enjoy learning about cheese and have a secret desire to become a cheesemonger when I retire.

43. I am crafty and especially enjoy making stationary with food-related products that still smell like the food (think stinky cheese wrappers, salami twine, chocolate wrappers).

44. I love board games. Recent addictions include a dice game called Bonz and Scrabble.

45. I believe in snail mail.

46. I love reading and spending time in libraries.

47. I have a wide variety of job experience, including: librarian, summer camp counselor, teacher, line cook, dishwasher, pastry chef, B&B manager, private tutor, computer programmer, translator, web designer, recipe editor, tour guide, hotel receptionist, waitress, sign maker, babysitter.

48. I enjoy gardening. In particular I enjoy planning what I’m going to plant and seeing the final product.

49. Favorite music: hip hop and classic rock.
50. Enjoy taking outdoor showers

Thoughts on housekeeping…

In the four years I’ve lived in Italy, I’ve noticed a LARGE abyss between my way of keeping house and the Italian way.  I’ve given considerable thought as to why my feelings on housekeeping are SO different than Italian women’s feelings and think the difference is a result of the American Industrial Revolution.

This revolution caused young women to take responsability for their futures: while supporting themselves in mill towns, they achieved a measure of economic and social independence not possible while living under the parental roof.  It created an ambitious drive in American women that I find lacking in my experience with Italian women in Italy.  And, if you consider the fact that most Italian men and women live with their parents until at least age 30 and rarely move out of their hometown, this lack of ambition makes sense.  Why should “young” Italians try to make more money or give more effort when their lives are perfectly fine living at home having their parents take care of them?

Perhaps the ambition and drive the young women don’t spend on making a career for themselves is redirected into housekeeping.  Luca’s mom and female friends are always trying to give me tips on being a better housekeeper – keeping delicate clothing in plastic bags, ironing everything from underwear to towels, using only delicate wash cycles and air drying everything, dusting once a day, separating winter socks from summer socks…the list goes on and on.

I’ve received several email forwards that illustrate my response to these “helpful” housekeeping hints:

Thanks, but:   

Remember…a layer of dust protects the wood beneath it.

maxine
maxinemaxine

 
maxine maxine

 

I used to spend at least 4 hours every weekend making sure things were just perfect – “in case someone came over.”  Finally I realized one day that no one came over; they were all out living life and having fun!  
NOW, when people visit, I don’t have to explain the ‘condition’ of my home.  They are more interested in hearing about the things I’ve been doing while I was away living life and having fun….

 

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