Too windy to surf

When we went to bed last night, we noticed that it was windy outside. This morning was much the same. I was planning on hitting the beach today, but the wind tat we had, I knew it would be futile to sit on blowing sand and water that is too agitated to go into. My second choice was basketball, but the court is on the beach and the wind would just mess with the ball too much. So I went with choice three, biking.

I hopped on my bike and headed over to the port to see if there was any action there. No action there and I was off to the Aloha Park Hotel to use the bankomat (ATM). It is the only one in town, and evidently it is popular. I was about the 7^th person in line when I decided to return home, get in the car and head to Campomarino sopra and use one of their multitude (well like five) of ATMs. On the way I stopped for a panorama photo of Campomarino Lido with the Adriatic Sea behind it. I got cash, returned home again, and was off on my bike. I went for nectarines first, and then off to the bakery for bread, then the butcher. I’m cooking for the family on Sunday and needed brasciola.

Zia came down after lunch and we went out looking for a mensola (shelf) for her bathroom and bedroom. My first thought would’ve been a store like Home Depot or Lowes, where her first thought was a factory for custom built shelves. They told her to head to a Brico (a Home Depot-like store), so we headed over to Bricopoint. She found plenty of shelves, and much like Home Depot, it took us nearly 10 minutes to find an employee to help.

The biggest news of the day is that the little green car, my uncle’s FIAT 500 that my dad used to use is no longer here. It’s now at the auto graveyard. Keeping a car that both I and my Aunt can’t drive, and was non-transferable because of Italian law stopped making sense. It was great for my father to use for four months at a time, but was not feasible for our current needs.

Tonight was a full meeting of family from three parts of the world at my place. Mom and I hosted Zia and my cousin Vincenzo from Torremaggiore and his wife Mariella their daughters Erica and Mila, and my Aunt Dini and cousin Mariella and her younger son Elio. It was a fun and busy night of conversations in three languages (Italian primary, and English and Dutch side conversations). 

Foodtopia Moments – Part II

When my cousin Vincenzo came by tonight, he and his wife brought all kinds of goodies, including homemade jams of cherries and apricots and jars of olives from their farm. She also brought a tiramisu that she made from scratch. It was one of the greatest I’ve ever tasted. 

Foodtopia Moments

Today’s pranzo (lunch) was one that I started two days ago when I made a big pan full of eggplant and tomatoes. I used some of the eggplant that I cooked, and mixed in a little pasta so that the plat was like half and half with pasta and eggplant. For meat, I egg dipped chicken breast and lightly fried it with olive oil. After sprinkling a little salt and flipping, and squeezed a lemon over top and topped with lemon slices. Then I poured in a little bit of white wine, and let the flavors come together. The chicken was tender and the flavor was rich and plentiful. For dessert, Mom and I each had a vanilla cream filled donut. It was the first time wither of us had ever had a bakery donut here, and it was really good. Maybe it was not as good as a bakery donut from McMillan’s, Gallo’s or Potito’s, but damn good for over here. 

Foodtopia Moments

Today we ate pranzo (lunch) in Civitella del Tronto. We all ate from the menu turistico, only 15 Euros each for a primi (first course), secondi (second course), contorni (vegetable side), water and vino (wine). Zia and I had the same thing, chitara pasta with polpettini (mini meatballs). For seconds, Mom and Zia had veal scaloppini, and I had a fritto misto of local treats. One was pretty interesting. They had stuffed a green olive with meat, breaded and fried it. The flavor was very interesting, and I wish there were more than four on the plate. We also had patatine fritti (French fries). I tried something new as a topping on the fries when I ran out of ketchup and mayonnaise. I used lemon. The fries already had salt, and the lemon added a whole new dimension that I am looking forward to trying again. 

On top of the world

We got back to the house to late last night for me to blog, so I am merging it with this one. Last night, we took a ride into my Dad’s hometown of Torremaggiore to visit the cemetery, and spend time with family and friends. I took Mom to see the memorial that we put in Dad’s hometown cemetery. As we were visiting graves, we heard a strange siren, sort of like a fire siren. As we walked out the custode (caretaker) was locking the gates behind us. We quickly figured out what the horn was for. After the cemetery we saw my cousins Connie and Rosana. Then we headed off to visit with the Monaco family. Mario Monaco was one of my father’s best friends, and we have thankfully kept in contact with them. After spending time with Mario’s wife and kids, we went to the house of his oldest son Antonio and his new bride Anna. We loved their house and the kitchen was organized perfectly. It looked like it’d be fun to cook in.

Today’s big event was heading off to Civitella del Tronto, home to Europe’s second largest castello (castle). On a continent with as many castles as this one has, being the second largest means it’s pretty darn big. Mom, Zia and I made the 2-hour trek across winding hillsides in the middle of Abruzzo’s rich farmland. People still live in the town, with the ruins of the ancient fortress resting high above. For mom, the trip up to the fortress was impossible, so she waited down below. Zia saw how many steps she would need to walk down to get out and she balked. I braved the two giant escalators up, followed by about 300 yards of rock covered incline walking just to get into the fortress (then did it all in reverse, save for the escalator as there are only stairs going down. Once in the fortress I saw antique battle armor, an old bakery, and some of the most breathtaking panorama views I’ve ever experienced. It was truly a one of a kind day.

We ended the day with a passagiatta (evening stroll) around Campomarino. We stopped for pizza and gelato. We even made it to the evening flea market, and purchased some interesting looking watches. It was a fitting end to a busy day. 

Foodtopia Moments

Today’s pranzo (lunch) was what I would call peasant food, and it was damn good. It wasn’t any less intricate to prepare, in fact I had more dishes to wash today than normal, but it was worth it. For the main dish, I took some of a jar of passed tomatoes that I had left over, and I mixed it with a little water, salt, olive oil and capers. Then I added chicken. It was very saucy. Instead of serving over pasta, I ripped chunks of 2-day-old bread and threw them inside the pan, then I turned the heat on medium and cooked it all until the sauce had saturated the bread. It was filling and delicious, as the bread added a whole new dimension of texture and flavor. As a side dish, Mom made some string beans with garlic, oil and vinegar, and she baked finocchio (fennel, and an Italian slur toward gay men, so context is important when using the word). The fennel was baked with a little chopped onion, salt, grana padano cheese and olive oil. It comes out tender and with an aroma that makes the whole block jealous. 

Foodtopia Moments

Lunch was a successful merge of old and new. We had some pasta with zucchini left over, but not enough for a full serving. It also didn’t have enough sauce to just add pasta. So while Mom was awakening, I cut up some garlic, basil and tomatoes and cooked them with some olive oil. When it was close to done, I turned it off and covered the pot. When we got back, I cooked up some more pasta, added the leftovers to the tomato sauce from today, and then added today’s pasta. The flavor merge was delicious. We also had some olive oil for dipping bread.