Monday, October 26, 2009

Random Bakers Dozen List of Craves (Misses!)



1. Sweet potatoes

2. Our KitchenAid mixer ($800 bucks over here, completely different electrical plug, so then what do I do with it?!)

3. Adams No Stir Crunchy Peanut Butter

4. Delicata squash (they sure sound Italian, but I can’t find them in Italy!)

5. Our Cuisinart food processor (see #2 above)

6. Halloween – I missed all of the little girls in the neighborhood talking about “who they will be” for Halloween, and will miss seeing the smiles of the sweet neighborhood kiddos when I let them choose from the tray of mondo HUGE candy bars (no mini candies from my house!)

7. Pecans

8. Long sleeve, crewneck, black cashmere sweater – why did I leave that at home?

9. Chard – I eat a lot of chicory, but I miss chard

10. Our mattress

11. Cilantro

12. The kinetic sculpture in our front yard – it’s so beautiful

13. Family and friends – the best for last

Soup for You!


One of our best sets of friends has been in Rome with us and brought us a fabulous cookbook, In A Roman Kitchen, by Jo Bettoja. I was immediately inspired to make my very first batch of farro (aka, spelt) soup this last weekend and it was soooo good, I wanted to share the recipe.

This soup is the perfect fall soup. It’s super quick and easy to make, savory in flavor and simple to switch to a vegetarian soup. I’ve tweaked the recipe a bit from the original, but only to enhance the flavor.

Savory Farro Soup - Serves 6

1 ¾ cups (350 grams) *farro, soaked in water for 30 minutes, then drained

1/3 cup (80 ml) olive oil

¼ pound (110 grams) pancetta, chopped (or turkey bacon, or no meat at all!)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 medium onion, chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and julienned

½ pound (225 grams) tomatoes, finely chopped

1 large handful of basil, finely chopped

1 large handful of parsley, finely chopped

6 cups (1.5 liters) vegetable broth, chicken broth or beef broth

1 cup (225 ml) white or red wine (if you’d prefer not to use wine, add another cup of broth)

salt and pepper to taste

½ cup (50 grams) pecorino Romano cheese, freshly grated (or Parmesan)

Heat oil in a flameproof casserole (i.e., Le Creuset) or stockpot and add the pancetta, garlic, onion, celery and carrots. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the onion is translucent, 5-7 minutes. Add the tomatoes, basil, and parsley and continue cooking for an additional 5-7 minutes. Pour in the stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the farro to the pot, stirring to combine. Taste the broth and add salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low, allow the soup to gently boil for 30 minutes, or until the farro is tender. Stir in the grated cheese and serve. We pass additional grated cheese at our table.

If you prefer this soup vegetarian, add a can of borlotti, cannellini, or garbanzo beans after adding the farro. As the farro cooks, the soup thickens. If you prefer a thinner soup, add additional broth.

*Do check the cooking time of the farro on the package, as some farro needs to be soaked overnight, then cooked for a couple of hours before it is tender. We buy farro, which is “broken” so the cooking time is much shorter.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Crazy Maker

So it began… In Italy, we have found the majority of beds are as hard as a slab of marble. Dream bed? They’ve never heard of them in Italy. In hotels, I usually pile up the extra blankets or pillows on my side of the bed, for a somewhat lopsided, more comfortable night of sleep. In our apartment, I sleep on the extra pillows.

We did our research and found out for us to purchase a new mattress for our matrimoniale sized bed, would cost 2,000 euro, plus delivery fees. That’s $3,500! There’s no Sleep Country USA or Mattress World over here offering deals on mismatched sets. We found a less expensive option - there are two Ikea stores in Rome.

We have no experience shopping at Ikea in the States. We know its reputation as being a really big, really crowded warehouse, home furnishing shopping experience. And we’ve heard the quality of the merchandise isn’t worth the effort, however, desperate times call for desperate measures. We needed someone with experience to guide us. So, we grabbed our neighbor, an Aussie, who is living the same year abroad as us (she had been to Ikea already once, and mentioned she needed to go again.) We threw ourselves in a cab, and went to Ikea.

Ikea is a Crazy Maker, as quoted via text from one of my bestest friends in the whole world. She wasn’t lying! Ikea was packed with people! They were six deep around the customer service booths. Once we found the mattress topper we wanted, wrote down the name, size and corresponding numbers, we stood in line and waited for our turn to place our order.

In Italy, you have to be aggressive when waiting in line. An Italian will have no shame in cutting right in front of you. It happens to us all of the time. The phrase, “Sono prima!” comes in handy. Once our family was waiting at an empty taxi stand waiting for a taxi to pull up. Three gorgeous Italian women dressed in designer clothing and very high heels, walk up to wait for a taxi as well. When the taxi pulled up, one of the women went to grab the door handle. Not so fast! I grabbed the same door handle, said, “Sono prima!” The beautiful Italian knew she wasn’t going to win this battle, especially because I had the most coveted item in all of Italia with me – children. I ushered my children into the cab, my husband sheepishly hopped in the front (no man wants to possibly offend a luscious Italian woman, let alone three!) and off we went.

We encountered a problem at Ikea – no soft and cushy mattress topper in stock for us. All of that time and effort and no mattress. Sigh. We did find a few other much needed household items, like hangers for our clothes, stainless steel baking pans, wastepaper baskets, but no mattress. So, we decided to go to the other Ikea the following Monday. This time, we took the subway, which we had never done before and found, it was quite efficient. However, again, no mattress topper in stock. The customer service folks said there were plenty in Napoli and Firenze. Okay! We’ll gladly go to Firenze….

My husband looked up Ikea’s Firenze address and emailed it to me. I pulled it up on my iPhone, mapped it, no problem. We would enjoy a heavenly weekend in the Toscana countryside, visit with family, relax in the sun... We would wait and go to the Crazy Maker, on our way out of town. Sunday came and…

It took us about 60 minutes to wind ourselves around the various one way streets, through piazzas and roundabouts to find the address –and- no Ikea was to be found at that address. We went online and pulled up another address, out by the airport, but knew, it would probably take us another 60 minutes to find our way to that address. And there was no guarantee, this was the right place. Not to mention, working our way through the lines of people to put in our order and pay for it. Again a couple of hours at the Crazy Maker. By this time, we were all very hungry and really looking forward to a meal at one of the many memorable trattorias in Firenze. So we did what any Italian would do – we parked the car and enjoyed a wonderful lunch – cleaned our plates!

We drove home with happy memories of our weekend and knowing, it would be another day, to attempt the Crazy Maker.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The BEST Weekend in Toscana





A couple of weekends ago, we went to Il Borro, located in Toscana. Ahhhhh, there's really no way to describe the gentle rolling hills of bella Toscana - you just have to experience it! We could feel the city tension fall away from our shoulders. We could smell the sweet, warm autumn air. Heaven.

We drove through the gorgeous Toscana countryside to any itty, bitty medieval village called Il Borro. We’ve been fortunate enough to have stayed in Il Borro many times as it’s the closest hotel to stay when visiting with my husband’s cousin, Sara, her husband, Mario, and their oh-so-darling-daughter, Franci.

Il Borro was founded in 1039. As was custom in the day, it was built on a wee hill, connected to the land via a bridge. It was, and still is, very secluded, off the beaten tourist path.

In the 1990’s, Il Borro was purchased by the Ferragamo family (yep, the famous “shoe” family). The Medici family had a brief ownership in the 1400’s and unfortunately, it received a lot of damage by the German forces as they fled Italy during WWII. Il Borro had been abandoned for decades by the time the Ferragamo’s purchased it. Luckily, the Ferragamo’s took their newly acquired job of ripristini (restorers) seriously and bit by bit, year by year, have made Il Borro a dream destination.

There are three different choices of accommodations. The first, Villa Il Borro, is an impressive palazzo! It sits across the bridge from the village of Il Borro on an opposite hillside. At 5 stories tall, sleeping 20, with 2 kitchens, a game room, indoor swimming pool and more living space than we’d ever know what to do with, we’ve never stayed there. However, we hear it’s very luxurious and who knows – maybe we’ll book it with a bunch of family and/or friends (hint, hint).

Secondly, we’ve read there are 4 farmhouses in different locations around the estate that we’ve not stayed in. Again, I’m confident they have been beautifully restored and offer every available amenity.

Lastly, there are 12 residences in the medieval village that have been turned into spacious, charming and luxurious apartments. Those, we’ve had the pleasure of staying in. Every detail was carefully though out, each apartment has everything a family needs for a comfortable stay. You want to stay in and cook for your family – no problem! You need wireless access – done. Soak in a large bathtub and sit in front of a fire – it’s ready and waiting.

The old businesses in town have been leased to skilled craftspeople to sell their wares –and- most importantly, to offer classes. You want to learn how to make a pair of shoes? Make an appointment with the cobbler and in a few hours, you’ll know. Jewelry, pottery, clothing, painting, glassblowing – there’s many hands-on lessons to choose from.

The surrounding grounds provide ample lessons in winemaking, olive oil pressing, horseback riding and even hot air ballooning! There’s a lovely outdoor swimming pool located in the back of town that’s open in the warmer months. If you’d like to take a tour of one of the Toscana towns, they will take you wherever you want to go - Firenze, Siena, Arrezo…

Another wonderful amenity: I 5 Sensi (the five senses). I 5 Sensi is an Osteria, run by five young locals, that offer amazing meals and cooking classes. They serve the seasonal, traditional Toscana dishes of Chianina beef steaks, fish, pork, lamb, fresh pastas, chicken liver pate (which I love, but can only find in the Jewish contrata in Rome), all with a choice of their wines grown on the estate (the 2001 Merlot/Sangiovese was rich and smooth as silk – we tried to buy additional bottles, but they were only selling the 2006), or other Italian wines. The desserts offered are a delightful end, to a most satisfying meal.

Staying at Il Borro is like staying with family. We couldn’t wait to arrive! Each time, we are housed in a different apartment. This time, we were located in the back of town, overlooking the freshly plowed valley below. Wild pheasant nest in the fields and the pool is close. Across the valley up on a plateau is the young Colombaia vineyard. It’s gated, we’re not supposed to trespass, but we always hop the fence. There are a few ruins along the vineyard, which makes for great pictures. Wheat fields, sunflowers and olive groves make up the balance of the agriculture of Il Borro.

We look forward to our next stay! Maybe family and/or friends will get the hint!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Newsflash!

We received all four boxes via the Italian postage service. Over all, there wasn't too much damage. A tube of toothpaste was punctured, which created a bit of a mess all over the other tubes of toothpaste. The top of a bottle of shampoo hadn't been re-screwed on tight enough, after official Customs doctor review, so the other bottles of shampoo had to be rinsed off.

One very weird detail to share... the Italian postage service charged us the same amount, in Euro, as the amount we paid in dollars for box delivery. It cost $200 to ship our boxes out of the U.S., and we had to pay 200 Euro to receive our boxes - we paid more than twice as much. I guess at this point, who cares, right?! We have our boxes! Yippee!!!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

A Most Beautiful Place...



I don’t know if I’m so enamored with Villa Torlonia because I was in need of a green space fix, or because it really is as enchanting as I believe it to be.

My husband and I had read about a self-taught (Outside) artist, by the name of Pasquarosa. She had created many vivid paintings in her lifetime and a retrospective of her work was being displayed at Musei di Villa Torlonia. We’ve never seen an Outside artist’s work advertised in Rome during any of our visits and we both love Outside art. We also had never been to Villa Torlonia, so this was a perfect adventure for us. However, there was no mention of Villa Torlonia in any of our guidebooks. It was advertised as being located on Via Nomentana, one of the major roadways of Rome, just outside the Porta Pia, so we guessed we’d have no problem finding it.

Historically, the Pamphilj family (a Roman family with many properties scattered about Rome - I see a historical trail we'll be sleuthing!) operated a farm (cane fields, vineyards and orchards) on the 32.5 acres of land that is now, Villa Torlonia. Giovanni Torlonia became Marchese in 1797, and purchased the grounds to build a grand estate for his family. He commissioned Giuseppe Valadier to renovate the property with a grand palazzina (mansion), horse stables, and English-style garden. After Giovanni passed away, his son, Alessandro made many additional improvements to the grounds. He had an amphitheatre, coffee house, Chapel, Temple of Saturn, fountains, orangery, conservatory, grotto, tournament field, and lakes built for the many social and artistic events his family hosted. He also turned several outbuildings into grand homes. After Alessandro passed away, his son, Giovanni built the enclosure wall, three beautiful homes and a guardhouse. A large Jewish cemetery, dated from the 3rd and 4th cemetery, was discovered in 1919.

Unfortunately, we didn’t know any of this history or about any of these sites, until after we arrived and began exploring. I felt like Alice in Wonderland when I walked through the gates off of Via Nomentana (a 2+ mile walk from our apartment). I was immediately struck by the smell of fresh cut grass and all of the old, beautiful palm trees, planted along pathways. There are Egyptian-style obelisks in the park as well as a gazebo and statues, many headless (typical!) There are olive trees, lemon trees and low hedges to guide you through the gardens. Skeletal remains of large purple Alliums mingled within the hedges.

We walked, wide eyed, over to the Casino dei Principi, a small, lovely home that has been used as an art gallery and houses the archive of the Roman School (realism and expressionism artistic movement between 1920 and 1940.) The main floor has the most beautiful mosaic floors, in the Etruscan style, with scenes of classic theater images. One room contains amazing tempera painted views of the Gulf of Naples. Unfortunately, the many tempera paintings of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, which were documented in other rooms, no longer exist.

Pasquarosa’s paintings did not disappoint. Her early 1910 work was elementary in style, but the colors she used are so vibrant, they bring each piece alive. Her subjects, too, are basic, but lovely. In another room, her paintings from the 1920’s are displayed and you can see how her painting style became more complex. She still used rich paint hues, and similar subjects, but the details within each painting are more in focus. I appreciated most Pasquarosa’s paintings of the 1930’s. Her multi-colored and textured subjects came to life for me. I felt like I was in the room with her, stealing a look over her shoulder at her subjects. She branched out with her subjects as well. There were paintings she had made up until 1959, but none displayed beyond that year. She passed away in 1973, so I don’t know if she continued painting of not, as all of the materials produced for the show are in Italian. There were also half a dozen painted images of Pasquarosa - painted by her husband, Nino Bertoletti, an artist as well. It was truly, a great exhibit.

We left the Casino and planned on exploring the grounds further. We walked as far as the Limonaia and were so charmed, decided to stop for lunch.

The Limonaia (formerly the orangery) is a huge restaurant with outdoor tables in front of the structure, with seating for 50 or so. Inside the restaurant there must be room for 150, but the tables are all outside for our daily 80 degree temperatures. Outside, in the back, is where we were seated with 50 or so others, for lunch. There was seating beyond for at least another 50. I’m guessing on weekends, this place is packed. I can’t wait to take the kids for lunch on a lazy weekend.

The kitchen makes fresh pasta, offers salads, vegetable dishes, desserts and with a wood fired oven, fresh pizza. My husband couldn’t resist the tagliatelle with a creamy lemon sauce. Actually, I wanted it, but I could tell he really wanted it, so I ordered a pasta called paccheri with a tomato, eggplant and Gaeta olive sauce that was just as delicious as the lemon sauce. We also ordered my favorite, cicoria – chicory greens sautéed with a bit of spicy red pepper flakes, garlic and salt. I have yet to find cicoria in the market, but it has to be there somewhere! We decided to skip dessert because we knew we’d have our daily fix of gelato after we met the children at their bus stop.

We wandered over to one of the lakes and campo da tornei (tournament field), then into the grand Casino Nobile – the palazzina Giuseppe Torlonia had built for his family. Much of the architecture remains, however, much has deteriorated over the years. We only made it through the first floor, we will definitely return, so will provide details and better photos in a future post.

Casino Nobile was bestowed upon Mussolini and his family from 1925 to 1943. Mussolini made a few plumbing and central heating improvements to the home. He also had a few underground bunkers built, created a wartime vegetable garden and kept livestock – pigs, chickens and the like. From June of 1944 until 1947, the Allied High Command occupied Villa Torlonia. No improvements were made and the property fell into disrepair until 1977, when the Municipality of Rome purchased it and began a series of restorations.

We realized it was really time to go! We would have over 3 miles to walk to meet the kids at their bus stop. We wish we had left our apartment earlier in the morning, to spend a full day to thoroughly enjoy and explore all of Villa Torlonia. With regret, we left. However, now that we know the history and beauty that await us, we will soon return!