OK, I thought I would finally address my blog's creative use of apostrophes with a simple google search. I found this great website for anyone who wants to stealthily check theirs.
http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp
Next, my hyphenation-fascination.
I originally bought my stroller, Peg Perego Pliko 3 Classico, for the little rubberized step in the back which, in Europe, it is promoted as a step for the second child to stand onto. In America, they do not promote it as such - I do not know why!
This is the position for two children, sanctioned by the manufacturer..
We have come up with a couple of our own. Firstly, when you have a car-seat in this stroller, the back seat extends over the step and the second child can no longer stand on it. Solution? The child can either sit on the rest of the back-rest facing backwards, or facing forward on their knees:
However, when you have two sleeping children and one stroller, things can get tricky. First, strap in the smallest child onto the harness that can be detached from the back of the stroller but is still fixed to the seat. Then, recline the back fully and place the larger child in the back, straddling the first.
Unfortunately, this does not bring maximum comfort to the child sitting in the front.
Try this at your child's risk! Obviously, this should only be done if you have an older and younger child - DO NOT ATTEMPT WITH TWINS, since there are restraints for only one child in a single stroller.
I read Bittman's NY Times Blog, Discovering Ricotta, and was inspired to give it a shot. The directions were not precise enough for my taste, so I dug around the web and found the Home-made Ricotta page on About.com (which I will excerpt, below).
I tried it, succeded and soon I had my sister- and mother-in-laws making it. I've been making it about once a week for 6 month- and with all that has been going on, plus two small children it should attest to how easy it really is!
Why would you want to make your own ricotta? Well, if you live in Italy... there is no need to! But if you live anywhere else OR you have a special diet (no salt or no lactose) OR you want BIO/Organic ricotta OR you just want to show off and impress your friends then... you will want to!
Technically speaking, ricotta is made from the by-product of making mozzarella. However, you can also make it straight from milk - this is not quite as fine as the original.
When you think about making this "cheese" all kinds of equipment, inoculates and whatever else comes to mind. But in reality, the only specialized equipment you need is cheesecloth - which can be substituted by a kitchen towel with a wide weave or a fine strainer- and a thermometer - which can also be skipped (see my notes below).
| Make your own Ricotta My notes are in black, the excerpted portions from Home-made Ricotta page on About.com are in gray. The photos are mine. Personally, the quantity is quite large for me, so I halve it. Just replace the gallon with two quarts or the four liters with two and halve everything else. 1 gallon whole pasteurized milk or 4lt (this can be lactose free milk, bio milk, even preserved milk - though I recommend the freshest milk you can find, check the expiration dates) 1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar or 150ml 1/4 teaspoon salt (more if you want a saltier taste and if you are not going to use it for desserts) you can leave out the salt entirely if your diet requires it Procedure: -Rinse the inside of the pot you intend to use with cold water (this helps prevent the milk from scorching). -Place 1 gallon milk in large, heavy non-reactive pot on medium heat. Add salt and stir briefly. -Allow milk to heat up slowly, stirring occasionally. Soon you will notice steam start to form above the surface and tiny bubbles appearing on the milk. You want it to reach 180-185 degrees, near scalding temperature, just before it comes to a boil. Check the temperature with your thermometer. If you do not have a thermometer on hand, as soon as a light film forms at the top.. -When it reaches the correct temperature, take the pot off the burner, add the vinegar and stir gently for only one minute. Add salt. You will notice curds forming immediately.  - Cover with a dry clean dish towel and allow the mixture to sit undisturbed for a couple of hours. You can also begin preparing your ricotta in the morning before going to work and let it sit until you come home. - When the ricotta has rested for 2 hours or more, take a piece of cheesecloth, dampen it and place it inside a colander. With a slotted spoon, ladle out the ricotta into the prepared colander. Place the colander with ricotta inside of a larger pan so it can drain freely. Let it drain for two hours or so depending on how creamy or dry you want your cheese to be. Personally, I do not wait more than 10 minutes. It all depends on how fine the mesh on your towel/cheesecloth is.  -Lift the cheesecloth up by the four corners and twist gently. If the liquid runs clear, squeeze a little more. If the liquid runs milky, there is no more need to squeeze.  - Place in a tight sealed container. Refrigerate. It will keep for up to 7 days. Ricotta does not freeze well.  Notes I would advise against the use of low fat or part skim milk in making the ricotta. The flavor comes from the cream in the whole milk. For desserts, add 1 pint heavy whipping cream along with the milk. I use this variation when I am making ricotta for a dessert filling such as cannoli, cassata, or cream puffs. It is richer, creamier, and a bit more decadent. |
We just got back from a week on the Roman coast. And I don't mean Ostia, since we were completely dissuaded from those in the know from even considering it. Instead, we are looking a little farther south to Anzio or Nettuno to find our next home.
This is a particularly interesting area because the open farmland in the region has recently been converted for use for building homes - there is an unbelievably large quantity of new construction happening just a little further back from the sea. These areas are both historic Roman centers and have become second-vacation-home areas for the modern Romans.
Looking around, you don't get the idea that the Italian economy is in any trouble. Everyone is busy working or vacationing. No matter where you are, you hear power tools, lawn mowers and sprinklers buzzing in the air. That is not to say, however, that the Roman coast is not setting itself up for it's own housing bubble. As one real estate agent put it, "Everyone is hoping to sell their old (1960's) vacation-home for €400,000 and buy a new one for €300,000". In fact, most sellers are in complete denial as to the true value of their own home, while builders are very optimistic as to the number of buyers they will attract.
We looked at brand new homes with glee. Insulation, finishes, etc: are often the top-of-the-line and rarely chosen in bad taste. But, with every single new home we saw, there is one small problem...
These homes here are meant for vacation not all-year use.
The new villette lack all kinds of sensible storage. Each one has a "technical room/garage", which is an open, area enclosed on three sides with finished walls, tiled floor and a roof attached to the other side of the living room. All the builders will tell you with a nod and a wink that this is actually a round-about way to make the house larger than what is permissible. After the home is sold, the builder will close this opening with a window and simply remove the bricks in the pre-built opening in the wall between the living room and technical room/garage. We even saw a "technical room" with gas, water and electrical plugs for the kitchen which left me to wonder... where would you put your ladder, lawnmower, and plastic Christmas tree?
Aha!
If you can afford a second home you will not be changing light bulbs or mowing your own lawn!
OK, to all of my loyal and happenstance readers, a little catch-up to what has been happening...
The ´Short Version:
Economy hit electronics (people do not buy new gadgets when they are losing their jobs or going bankrupt!); husband was reduced; found ourselves in a country where we don't speak the language well, with two small children and unemployed; sold our home in a record two weeks (only after 2.5 years we were able to make back what we spent plus a little extra... yaay); planning a move to we-don't know where; looking for homes in Italy on the coast near Rome; might have to move to Bologna first 'til we get settled financially; still don't know where we are going!
No long version, I've been living through it and am too exausted to write about it.
I've lived the last 10 years with a husband who fears THE MICROWAVE. Until we left, we must have been the last household in the United States not to have one!
Well, I just recently gave in and bought a pressure cooker. Hello?!?! I can boil a kilo of potatoes (that's like 2lbs) in 10 minutes! And what bout carrots?!?! It only takes 8 minutes - and the flavor... the FLAVOR! Beans are also supposed to do really well in the pressure cooker - but I haven't tried that yet. My mother-in-law swears by it for cooking octopus (20 minutes, in case you were wondering).
There are some things you cannot do with a pressure cooker.
No matter what your closest friend, or trusted cooking website tells you: you cannot make a decent polenta in 20 minutes or risotto in 5. My curiosity got the best of me and I regret to say, I tried it. You are injecting vapor and not developing the starch that makes these dishes so yummy.
A few tips for a newbie that were not written in my instruction booklet.
- According to the directions I kept waiting for a "whistle" to start timing the cooking. It turns out that these pots don't whistle like a tea kettle, they hiss.
- Start a pressure cooker on the highest heat (9 for my burner) until you hear it hiss, then turn it down to the medium low setting (3 for my burner) and start counting the minutes.
-Pressure cooker recipes online makes this thing sound really complicated in terms on how to stop the pressure cooker from cooking.
You have three options:
1. Just turn off the flame and leave the pan on the burner and wait for the pressure safety-handle-locking-mechanism to disengage.
2. Lift the valve and let the pressure exit in quick bursts until the pressure s-h-l-m disengages.
3. Do number 2 in the sink while running cold water on the top of the pan.
OK, now let me know what you've been pressure cooking!
Last weekend we went to visit hubby's brother in Bologna, Italy. During the tirp, we made frequent stops as Tortellino decided to potty train on his OWN after I'd been prompting him for a year and a half. Luckily we brought his potty training seat reducer from home.
All the Italian gas stations and Autogrills (popular freeway restaurants) from Udine to Bologna suffered a systematic erradication of toilet seats. Previously, you would see some stalls with and some without or women's room with and mens's without.
Was it for hygiene? Stool prevention? Cleanup ease?
Whatever the reason, you certainly can't balance a kindergartner on the rim of the ceramic toilet and expect things to work. I was so happy with his reducer! It is designed to go on top of a toilet seat, but is wide enough to safely go directly on the ceramic and prevent accidental falls - which could easily instill an indelible fear of toilets.
Tortellino was quite the envy of children and adults alike as he proudly carried his own seat across the parking lot and through the restaurant/gift shop to the bathroom. OK Baby's Ducky seat is the perfect companion if you're traveling by car and space is not an issue!
I'm starting a new irregular series on my blog called "don't you wish you had a.." that describes new and old gadgets for cooking and living. I'm particularly looking forward to your feedback and comments so that I, too, wish I had some of what you've got!
First post coming... it's coming. It's been a year since I've been writing regularly and I have a new little girl to show for it, Rompiscattolina. Now that Rompi, almost sleeps through the night and takes somewhat regular naps I actually have time to think coherent thoughts and put them down onto paper... er screen.
Found this while looking for used exercise equipment for the winter at willhaben.at. I looked at this ad because, I had considered a stepper but wasn't really convinced. However, after looking at this picture I thought... "what do I need a stepper for?!? I have stairs!"
I don't think the seller meant to bring the point home quite like this and... after two weeks at the seductive price of €30, it's still for sale!
You won't believe where I got my inspiration for this sauce... a coach class airline vegetarian meal on Lufthansa. But don't let the source turn you off, it was surprisingly delicious! I searched and searched their website and online and I just couldn't find a recipe for it. So, I made my own!
Please, please, please do not waste your money on those pitted canned olives that are painted black. You will be throwing your money away because they will not taste like anything and you may as well leave them out! Instead, go to the deli-section of the super-market or for one of those higher-end glass jars.
Ragu' di Carciofini ed Olive (Baby Artichoke & Olive Ragout) This chunky sauce requires a sturdy pasta like fusilli or penne, and could even be used as a base for a vegetarian lasagna instead of a meat Ragu'. The olives and artichokes are thrown in at the end so that the sauce will not have a monotonous taste and give you little olive and artichoke surprises with every bite. 1 clove of garlic, crushed 1 pinch of hot pepper flakes 5 TBSP of Olive Oil 3 TBSP of Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 Onion, chopped 1 cup of black olives, pitted and chopped 1 cup of baby artichokes, quartered 500 ml or 8 oz of tomato puree 1 TBS of tomato concentrate/tomato paste salt & pepper to taste To Remove The Pits  Rinse the salt, salt-water, or oil off the olives. To remove the pits, place them in a large, plastic transparent bag. Place the bag on a sturdy cutting board and bang each olive with a meat-thingy-magig to lightly crush the olive flesh(if you bang too hard, you will break the pits). Open the bag, and gently and easily separate the skin from the pits. For the Sauce In a cold, wide, tall-sided skillet add the 5TBSP of Olive Oil crushed garlic clove and pinch of hot pepper flakes. Turn the heat on to very low. In the meantime, chop the onion. When the garlic starts to sizzle, add the onion to the skillet, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper and turn the heat up to medium. When the onion becomes translucent, add the tomato puree and concentrate. Mix well and let the sauce reduce reduce he sauce (at a slow boil with no top on the pan) for about 15 minutes). When the sauce becomes a little thicker add the olives and artichokes. Mix well and cook toss on the pasta. Buon Appetito! |
Several times,while shopping in Graz I have noted female customers handing their wallets to the cashiers and making them fish out the change.
What is up with that?!?
Maybe it's a new service, or maybe the ladies think the cashiers can find the change faster. Did they forget their glasses? Just had their nails done?
Hmmmm...
Enter the gates at Schloss Eggenberg follow the main path towards the castle through the gardens, and take the first right. Just behind two statues, one of which is pictured above, you will find a small cafe'. Probably not meant to wet the appetite!
While shopping in Austria for bedding with a Scottish friend I stumbled on yet another cultural divide. There is a huge difference between European and American bedding. And I'm not talking size, or material...I'm talking bedding!
Having lived both in Italy and America, I have grown accustomed to some bedding basics, like a top sheet and a bed cover to keep the dust off the pillows. Instead, in Austria (and UK from what I understand), it is very common to just have a covered comforter and a bottom sheet. They use the covered comforter, which is often made of cotton, as a top sheet and throw the whole thing in the wash when it's time to change the bedding.
The simplicity of European bedding, certainly makes it easy to make the bed (just straighten the blanket) but is a big change for those who are used to sleeping in a tightly tucked bed!
| American Bedding | Austrian Bedding |
 |  |
| Basic Bedding: -Pillow & Case -Bottom Sheet -Top Sheet -Blanket -Comforter/Bed cover Extras: -The comforter could be put in a comforter cover, but this is not typical. -Pillow Shams for extra pillows are very common, though not commonly used. -Bed skirts are a very popular addition Notes: This is also true in Italy, with the exception of the bed skirt. | Basic Bedding: -Pillow & Case -Bottom Sheet -Comforter in Cover Extras: -An extra blanket is used for extra cold nights Notes: This is also true in the U.K. |
We went mushroom hunting in the hills just outside of Graz, yesterday. My husband practically grew up in the Italian Alps and can recognize the dangerous mushrooms. In Italy, you can take your mushrooms to the piazza and have an expert examine them, but I haven't heard of anything similar here. To be sure, we stuck to the safe varieties and stayed way from the "iffy" adventurous ones.
One thing is for sure. If it's red, and it has white dots on it, like these, DO NOT EAT THEM!
We found lots of Finferele, Portobello, Mazza Tamburo and about three fresh Porcini! Actually, I found the biggest porcino... right next to the road!
We breaded and fired the big ones last night, tonight... Risotto ai Funghi!
