Cooking with Dee » Italy

Vacation

pawsinsd — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 04:09:06 +0000

There’s no possible way we can ever use the vacation days Jim has accrued. He’s just started a new job at work and once he gets into it, there’s no way to get him to go on vacation and November and December are pretty verboten for time off.

So where do we go? He may have a week off mid-August but I don’t want to travel to somewhere like Europe then when all the kiddos are still out of school and it’s a backpacker’s heyday.

So I’m looking into driving vacations and short, inexpensive flights, trying to stay away from triple digit heat and deserts. I’ll work on it over the weekend as I also have to make plans for the dog because she’s a pain to travel with. Even when hotels will take her, we get a crummy room, can’t have her stay there alone, so our meals are compromised as we can’t take her there either. A week driving into Sonic, forget it. That’s no vacation, eating with the engine running in an air-conditioned car with the dog in the back. And even if Sonic’s burgers are OK, their bathrooms are horrendous.

If you’ve any suggestions for the trip, probably in the Western states or Pacific NW, just comment right here. Thanks! Cheers, Dee

Balance

pawsinsd — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:25:26 +0000

Our families are involved in different things. Retired and in his seventies, my father is working to create a new ballet company. Jim’s father owns a cattle ranch. Jim majored in physics but is a software engineer and inventor.

Lately, I take care of the home. It has been a year since Jim created this blog for me. I was so scared at first, now some of my friends don’t email anymore and do facebook and I feel OK on the blog but facebook is something I want no part of.

Recipes. I’d like to do a book about family recipes and may have received that box a few days before our temporary move. It remains unopened, in storage, so you’ll have to wait as will I. If I do a really complicated recipe, I like to have it in front of me while cooking, otherwise, unless it’s baking, that’s not my interest, I’ll guess-timate after the first couple of times.

With a solid background in French cooking I skew towards southern France, Italy, Greece and the Mediterranean for ideas. Otherwise for Jim it’s some version of meat and potatoes, as he’s allergic to fish.

His technical books are about numerical recipes, mine are about food. But I didn’t bring one book with me on this short-term journey. I love my cookbooks and hope you’ll take a look because I chose the ones I feature judiciously. They’re in air-conditioned storage right now.

The balance is between us, physics and cooking, science and art, software and being a dog’s “mom” and taking care of a household. No, I never thought I’d be here, but living in the mountains for a couple of months isn’t a bad thing. As for boiling water for tea at high altitude, I chose Overstock’s electric Kaloric kettle, that comes with placemats and two mugs. It boils water in 1/4 the time it takes the gas stove to do so. Again, we’re living at high altitude so your results will differ.

I’m looking forward to my first surprise organic basket Wednesday morning so will do minimal shopping tomorrow. Will let you know how it goes…. Take care, Dee

Franciscans

pawsinsd — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:50:39 +0000

My favorite church is Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. I used to stay with family nearby and go to Mass or tour the church or the leather factory. It is the largest Franciscan church in the world with a fascinating history.

Three works of art there make my heart stop. One is the wooden Donatello crucifix. But the Donatello Annunciation is my passion. Don’t mind me, the frescoes of St. Francis and so many other historic references are right here in this church. Michelangelo, Dante, and more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_di_Santa_Croce_di_Firenze

Cimabue’s altarpiece was severely damaged by the 1966 flood of the Arno river.

The Pazzi chapel is also a treasure due to its architectural structure and della Robia art.

Don’t miss anything in Florence! OK, do miss something so you can return. Dee

Farmhouse of the Nightingales

pawsinsd — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 03:44:13 +0000

For my 40th birthday my dad and step-mom sent me to cooking school in Italy. It was like adult food camp, with my own two-bedroom place and roosters along the Val d’Arno to awaken me at sunrise. The grapes and olives had just been picked, and the Italians leave the grapes on the row beside the road so it looks pretty.

We stayed for a week at a 16th century Domenican monastery where the fathers made legendary Vin Santo (literally holy wine).

The course was run by Peggy Markel at La Cucina del Focolare (cooking by the fireside) and the 18 of us in class were ensconced on a property 19 miles south of Florence at Fattoria dei Usignole (Farmhouse of the Nightingales).

Chef Piero gave us nearly daily participatory lessons in the kitchen, and every day we ventured to an herb farm, farmer’s market, or bakery with lessons. We spent one day touring Greve, Siena and San Gimignano, and another visiting Florence and going to Cibreo for dinner.

I made friends with whom I’m still in touch and it trumped my cooking school experience in NYC only because it was a treat and there were no knife skill tests or making puff pastry.

Peggy Markel plans these trips with the big picture in mind as well as all the details, and her staff is spot on. She also runs a school on the Ligurian coast and in Morocco. Check out www.cookinitaly.com or www.peggymarkel.com.

Make sure to say that Dee sent you! Happy cooking.