We wuv our bones

As the temperature gradually eases up the mercury ladder (it was a whopping 53°F today) and the daylight hours begin to lengthen, the dogs will find themselves out on the terrace more often. Last week I gave each of them a prosciutto bone which had been briefly blanched in boiling water (it removes much of the fatty grease). This was a FIRST for Mister B, and while it wasn't for Maddie, it inevitably was the first TIME where she realized that there was more than one ham bone to go around and that the other dog was sharing in the spoils. This may have been a bit of a shocker, because whenever I give them treats (always Mads first), she tends to "rub it in his face"?? She'll have the doggie treat in her mouth then walks over to Mister B in a sort of show-and-tell before settling down. He knows from past experience to never ever steal her doggie treat.

Anyway, on this day of two prosciutto bones all she kept doing was glance back and forth between her bone and Mister Bentley's. The Mister on the other hand, was all too happy to finally experience something other than fruit and kibble.

This is not good...not good I tell you! Drat! He has one too?

Me likes me some prosciutto bone - he was busy in the dog house for the better part of an hour. I have never seen him more engaged in a meal.

Huh? I was just sniffing... the leaves - Maddie is the consummate burier of bones. Check the cinder block (foreground) -- the bone is under the mound of dirt pushed up against it.

La Bigolada 2009

Butta la pasta! Which essentially, means “throw the pasta into the water”. Eight HUNDRED kilos of pasta (1760 pounds) and god-knows-how-many tins of anchovies and tuna. I'll tell you all about it in a minute, but first, let's step into the Rubber Slippers time machine and go back to the year of 1848.

March 8, 1848 - Castel d'Ario: the Society of Carnevale was made spokesman for the lower ranked populace such as tenants, artisans and traders (in other words, regular peeps like you and me), and declared on Ash Wednesday a "free public distribution of polenta, herring and wine to all of the people." The convivial event was an effort to alleviate social tensions harbored between the lower classes and those in power (i.e. land barons). Now while polenta and herring (and much later bigoli and sardines) could hardly be considered rich and indulgent fare, the festive occasion was perceived as an affront to the Catholic Church being that Ash Wednesday was the official beginning of Lent. [Note: During fascist rule the date was moved to the last day of Carnevale (Fat Tuesday), but after the war ended, the date was returned to its original slot.] In 1970 the Church granted a special exemption to the town, and while men in robes and tensions of long ago may no longer be of any concern, this unique tradition of Castel d'Ario lives on in what is now La Bigolada of today.
- Compiled from bits and pieces of info on the net.

If you haven't already guessed, the term bigolada owes its name to the bigoli pasta that is cooked for this enormous congregation of people. Always held on Ash Wednesday in the town of Castel d'Ario (province of Mantova), it is yet another example of why I love celebrating Italy, italian-style. We did not take the numbers on the web info seriously, and were shocked to see so many present. To top it all off, there were TWO lengthy queues for a bowl of bigoli (like fat spaghetti) in a sauce of anchovies and tuna. Judging from the generous amounts that were being dished out, I can see why a lot of people stood patiently in line, and at a mere 3 euros a bowl, why not? We decided, instead, to skip out but not before taking some candid shots of the event. We promised ourselves next year we'll get there way ahead of time. Recipe for my version of Bigoli with onions, anchovies and tuna in a future post.

We counted 9 of these wood-fired furnaces.


Checking to see if it's al dente...


Three euros got you a bowl of bigoli like this.


After pasta comes dessert.

The Egetmann parade: Where the Wild Things Are

watch in high quality (see link @ bottom right of video)

As I pointed out in yesterday's post, the enthusiasm of Carnevale unleashes itself in so many towns across the country that it boggles the mind. Where to go? What to see? I've already got the next two years "scheduled" in and they aren't even out of the northern landscapes of Italy. Imagine how long it would take me to experience carnevale in ALL of the regions! The good news is that some of these events occur only on odd or even-numbered years, and while I can't say if this is a strategic move to better organize the gamut of festivities, it certainly intensifies the anticipation, sorta like watching a pan of Jiffy Pop on the stove, you know? I've only come to appreciate the italian spirit of carnevale in the last couple of years, being that my wicked american sweet tooth looked forward only to Fat Tuesday indulgences, of which Italy has a PLENTY!

The Egetmann Pageant of Tramin (english) is held on Fat Tuesday (that's today) and only on odd-numbered years so I'm looking forward to 2011 since we couldn't get out there this time. The clip above shows some of the characters called Schnappvieh - you just have to watch this! I'm like... why does this seem so familiar? Something about the costumes, the massive head masks perhaps...and then it dawned on me. They reminded me of a book that I read when I was a child, and most likely a book that my son (now a grown young man) had read when HE was a little boy. Come on people, don't let me down here. Come clean and tell me that you know of this book, otherwise I am truly "archiving" myself. The first publication of Where the Wild Things Are goes back to the year that I was born, and I'm up for the film version when it comes out in October.

Carnevale of Schignano: the "Bei" and the "Brut"

One of the "bei" at Schignano - description below

Carnevale in Italy - it's a birthright. And without need of even having to mention the famous event in Venice, there are simply too many to choose from. This year we ventured to Como, sister province to Lecco. High above the lake in a small mountain village named Schignano, two protagonists - i Bei (the beautiful) and i Brut (the ugly), perform a sort of theatrical display in which its origins are ensconced deep within ancient history. The carved wooden masks (typically out of walnut and made by local craftsmen) of the bei and brut symbolize the disparity between opposites, whether it concerns wealth, success or beauty.

This is supposed to be one of the more complex carnevale rites because it involves a period in history's past where at one time, emigration by the men of the village was an occurrence like the coming of seasons. Carnevale marked the end of the old year and brought promise of the new one as the males left for far away places in search of work. Those who met with success are seen in the faces of the bei / belli (beautiful), while the ones who lucked out are depicted in the brut / brutti (ugly).

Compared to Venice, Schignano's carnevale has gained outside attention only recently and I've been wanting to attend this for the past couple of years. While it may seem bourgeois from the outlook, it is always unique tradition that draws me in more than the famous ones. The following photos are just a few taken this past Saturday. Although I've tried my best to describe the images, a link (italian) at the end of this post better explains this occasion in detail. At this point I'd like to give a big appreciation of thanks to the italian reader who recently sent me the following email. Really, it's like a big shot in the arm because here I thought I was going overboard with a goal of 100 ways to celebrate Italy. I guess not!

I like your gaze into italian traditions...it seems quite like the anthropologist's gaze, which comes from the outside and sees things that many locals don't even care about!

Carnevale dei Belli e dei Brutti (bei e brut) - more at flickr

WHERE: Schignano in Val d'Intelvi (piazza S. Giovanni) - about 17 miles north of Como.
WHEN: On the Saturday and Shrove/Fat Tuesday just before Ash Wednesday.

Bello or "mascarun" (above): their extravagant demeanor exemplifies those who went and made their fortune, their swollen bellies a clear sign of weath and well-being. A lot of pomp in their step as you can see. Above their smooth masks, they wear a hat which is densely covered with flowers, ribbons, a feather and a small doll or toys.

The wooden masks: I wish I could have tried them on but I was too shy to ask! Handsome bello (left) and ugly brutto (right) were hanging above the stand where mulled wine was being sold. It was the best hot spicy wine that we've tasted in all our travels. They had that sugar/clove/wine ratio just right.

Brut: there was a bunch of them, pulling pranks to onlookers (they'll grab your hat or even grab you!). Some carried empty flasks (a gesture of self-consolation), while others toted a "gerla", the type of shoulder basket used by grape harvesters. These are the unfortunate ones, the men who didn't quite make it out there and returned with nothing (as depicted by this brut with an empty suitcase). In contrast to the arrogant behavior of the bei, the brut carried an air of melancholy and despair. I actually thought something was wrong with one of them when I was snapping an image but he was just playing the role!

Again, one of the brut. This guy looks as if he's saying, 'What do you want? I have nothing!' Note that some of them also had horns on their caps.

The antagonism between the beautiful and the ugly: Here, several of them were chasing each other around in circles. Both characters have cow bells strapped to their waists but the brutti wore especially enormous ones. The whole scene was a riot of noise, confetti and a thousand shutters firing all at once.

Link - http://www.ifgonline.it/UserFiles/File/schignano.pdf

It's the little things . . .

The only thing lacking was a big ol' mug filled with hawaiian coffee.

Rarely do I ever eat like this - when I'm not in the islands.

Perhaps it was the comments on the blue sky from the previous post, but I got out of bed with such an appetite that it meant not only espresso cups were gonna see the kitchen sink. Fire up the burners! Bring on the bacon! And actually the whole point of "loading up" was to give me an extra boost in the bum — the lovely 50-ish degrees had dropped by 15 digits and I really wasn't looking forward to being walked by the doggies in 35°F weather for an hour.

Of course when you're digging into a breakfast that only an islander could understand (hence the kimchee cabbage, bottom left), the next best thing is music to set the mood and here I go again, plugging my home island of Kauai as it appears on this music video. I've never heard of Colbie Caillat until recently, but she certainly knows how to pick a place to film a video. There's no other bay like Hanalei.

In the event of an error message, the video can be viewed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWwmMSMzEyw

View from a living room window

It's still too soon to comfortably walk around in shorts, tshirt and slippers, but with abundant sunshine and near 50-ish temperatures throughout the week, it feels as if spring has already arrived. The cleaning woman for the neighbor directly above us wasted no time in laundry chores - and in a way, neither did I.

- Maddie, you stink (ears go down)
- Mister, you too (eyes look away)
- Both of you, it's time for a bath. (whoooooooooosh! out the kitchen door they go!!)

It's only that after giving the dogs a good lather, rinse and a blowdry, the next thing they will ultimately want to do is get back out and roll around in the dirt.

Your request could not be processed

Nothing like a little disagreement to start off the week. There I was, squinting at word verification for a comment module when wowzah - is that...is that what I think it reads like? So I entered what my eyes relayed to my brain, took a photo, clicked Finish, then received the following message:

Your request could not be processed. (scratches head...HuH?)

My only question is this: does Blogger implement parental/censorship control in its own word verification system? If so, they should lighten up....the first image that came to mind were of the owls that hoot at night in these chestnut woods...

View from a car window

Ponte Nuovo in Lecco. Monte Moregallo in the background.

This goes out to RONW of Hotel Waikiki. I'm not much into panoramic picture taking unless it involves a good hike, but as we were stopped on Ponte Vecchio (old bridge) while going about errands, I couldn't help snapping a photo of Ponte Nuovo (new bridge) and towering Monte Moregallo in the background. The province of Lecco is truly in a beautiful spot. Clooney, eat your heart out. At least we have 4 bridges to get to the other side of our section of the lake.

Thank you Tamakikat ^-^

Tea, bath salts, sweet treats and a few other surprises from Tamakikat.

As long as bloggers and blog giveaways exist, christmas will keep comin' around no matter what the date. And while I could have held off til tomorrow to post this on a day other than "the 13th", I was so hopping ecstatic (and really truly I was because who doesn't love prezzies in the mail?) that a thank you could not wait. A package from Tamakikat (Japan) arrived today after nearly 2 months in transit, and all I can say is mille grazie!

..in the spirit of Friday the 13th weirdness

#1 - I got crabs

If I hadn't included a photo would you have thought differently? These claws are destined for a stay-at-home Valentines dinner tomorrow. Pretty economical, considering that they weigh about 1½ pounds each and cost a little over 15 euros total. I hope they're not full of water!

#2 - 1000 euros for face cream? Honey, that's egg on yer...face

I don't know why it should come as a surprise but I was in complete disbelief when it was disclosed on a television news report that even in these tough economic times, women will spend upwards of 1000 euros for face cream. You know, the stuff that is supposed to make wrinkles disappear. Beauty and the illusion of youth hath no price... limit. I checked italian beauty forums and discovered a swiss line of facial treatments under the name La Prairie, of which their Caviar Collection commands prices that only the rich and very frivolous could afford. From what I understand, the facial/body creams, treatments, ampoules (oooh, you just gotta love that word) contain caviar extract. Drat! And here I thought they might include a mother-of-pearl spoon for free. The justification for such extravagance is that it's far less costly than going under the knife. Me, if worse comes to worse there's always lard...

Only Monica Bellucci is worthy enough to actually have caviar smeared all over her boobs.

Mister Bentley makes 1

Those of you who are owned or have been owned by pets know that some of the funniest moments occur when you are sans camera — as it so happened this morning when I was instructing Mister B the usual command of putting his playthings into the toybox. He is always good at following through - with or without treats. But today, for whatever reason, he kept flinging his stuff around the room until finally, upon deciding to cooperate with a stuffed rat, chose to jump into his doggie bed with Mr. Rat still in his mouth rather than dropping it into the toybox nearby. Not willing to let him have the last say, I instructed him one final time, "In. The. Box!" and wouldn't you know? With a casual toss of his head the little smarty pants chucked the rat right into the pile of toys without missing a beat. Whaaat?

For that he earned 5 kibble treats and a chunk of nonna's homemade tart for dessert. For dinner tonight he'll have tuna fish. Happy 1st birthday Mister B!

Nobody cooks like mama!

Because cooking is what she does best, even if it might come as a surprise that we don't visit my inlaws as much as you'd think. It's not that we live very far away (90 minutes), but weekends, and nice ones at that, are always penciled in with hiking trails, sagra-chasing or general work around the house. When we do visit my inlaws for lunch, it is always on an empty stomach, for MotH's mom never fails to fix us a great feast. Our special request this time around was casseula, a thick dish of braised pork ribs, pig skin, sausage and cabbage. It represents the best of traditional comfort foods in Lombardia, and you simply can not let a winter go by without partaking in at least one meal of casseula and (preferably) polenta.

Mama in the pantry, cooking on the apartment-sized stove of my husband's grandmother. She uses only savoy cabbage for this dish. Lots and lots of it.

Mama! Ho tanta fame!!! (Mom! I'm really hungry!)

Usually by the time we arrive, MotH's mother has already finished everything from antipasti to dessert. Just my luck that on this occasion, my father-in-law needed tech help with his pc so we were hours ahead of lunchtime. Finally, FINALLY, I get an opportunity to witness my mother-in-law flit between TWO of her kitchens. One is actually a large pantry/storage room with a single window while the other is the actual kitchen. Being of the generation where nothing is thrown away (and anything broken is salvageable), the small stovetop oven of MotH's grandmother sits in the pantry, still in working condition.

Casseula is a recipe that is typically made to serve a large crowd. My mother-in-law engages the burners of both stoves to comfortably accommodate wide cooking pots. One to brown the meat while the other to cook down the cabbage. [And here I thought I was smart by investing in an extra-wide 5-burner range with a rotisserie and space to cook a 20 pound turkey.]

Back in the kitchen, she prepares to transfer and mix the cabbage and pork. Combining little by little as is comfortable to do so. The aroma was making my mouth water!

An important detail about how she serves casseula - plates are kept warmed in the oven before use. With the amount of pork fat in this dish, cold plates do nothing to keep that lard flowing tasty and fluid. And this is why my father-in-law says that you should always serve a good red wine to stand up to this hearty meal. It'll already be a double whammy if traditional mamas insist on using butter instead of olive oil.

Christmas all over again

Since our xmas was spent in Trentino, holiday presents were still forthcoming. From mama (and papa), it is always a large basket filled with all sorts of edible treats: olives, olive oil, chocolates, assorted nuts, limoncello, porcini mushrooms in oil/dried, torrone, grappa, cotechino, cheese, artichokes preserved in oil, salame, and, and, and...the leftover casseula and baked tarts and cookies to stock our freezer! Can you believe it when I say mamma mia?

The weather in Italy in February

There you go, you peeps looking for Italy weather. It's 43°F cold, it's windy and if I could put a face to the weather outside my door, I'd say it looked like Medusa at the height of PMS — or maybe even suffering one of those "bad hair days", you know? A bright spot of sun shone for about 5 sorry minutes (I'd swear it was like the coming of the apocalypse or something), but then dark clouds took care of that little blimp on the radar and now I'm thinking the "kids" will start a mutiny any minute now. This morning started off pretty rough...

Maddie at the kitchen door:
- Let me out! Let me out! Can't you see that I'm at the door?

Mister B runs up and swats a solid paw at the door:
- Here, I'll get it sister. Mama won't open the door unless she sees us...or better, HEARS us.

Maddie to Mister B:
- Get AWAY from me you ruffian! Don't you think that I wasn't aware of you sniffing my butt a minute ago? Grrrrr......

And then the mad chaos began, with her snarling and ultimately chasing after him while he periodically shot a glance behind (he's always faster than her) with a look of total glee. Comparable to a pair of mismatched twins, it crossed my mind that these two had caught the passing attention of an elderly woman once.

Lady:
- Excuse me, but is that one (pointing at Mister B) the brother of the other one?

My husband looks at the woman while I mentally roll my eyeballs.
- No, he isn't. They don't look anything alike.

Lady:
- But he does -- the nose, the eyes...blah, blah, blah

The MotH, ever patient soul that he is:
- He is brown...and short. She is white. We bought them from two different breeders. One is a dachshund and the other is a westie. I see no resemblance. Have a good day.

I've never seen a cross between the two breeds so I did a little netmorphing at MorphThing. Honestly, I would rather be out hiking mountains or doing something fun, like breaking in my snow rackets, but the weather right now in Italy in February is just plain ugly.

1. Mister and Maddie morphed. 2. Mister and Shrek morphed. 3. Mister and Yoda morphed.

How to make: buckwheat gyoza wrappers

It's as easy as making any ravioli type of pasta. Why go to the trouble of making my own? For starters, it's difficult to find asian foodstuffs where I live. Need wonton/gyoza/mandoo wrappers? Forget it. Secondly, the idea for homemade was born out of stuffing my face with buta kim chee gyoza that Kat (Our Adventures in Japan) had shared almost a year and a half ago. I tried the recipe yesterday and they were so good, SO GOOD I tell ya, that it only made sense to keep a stash of ready-to-use wrappers in the freezer to gogo-a-gyoza at any given moment.

I'll admit that making these were simplified by having a manual pasta machine but if you possess the finesse at wielding a rolling pin, then rolling to a thickness of 1/16th of an inch (2mm) is what's called for here. An added plus? I'm proud to say that I used organic flours.

Buckwheat pasta recipe

makes about 60 3-inch rounds
2 cups all-purpose (italian "00") flour
1/3 cup buckwheat flour
1 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup (6oz.) water

Combine the flours and salt on a clean work surface. Make a well in the center and add the water. Gradually incorporate the water and flour and knead for several minutes until smooth and elastic. Depending on humidity level in the flour, you may need to add a bit more water. Add a teaspoon at a time, but the goal is to achieve medium firm elasticity. Shape dough into a ball and set aside to rest for at least 20 minutes, covered.

Flour your work surface. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each to 1/16th of an inch. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out as many rounds as possible. Generously flour each side of pasta rounds (I manually rubbed each circle and shook off the excess). For this recipe I got about 60 gyoza wrappers. Stack into piles of ten. Wrap in plastic and freeze.

Dusting the rounds is crucial to keeping them from sticking together. I would have opted for cornstarch but that's another ingredient that I cannot find in Italy. When using the frozen rounds, allow to defrost at room temperature for several minutes until they are easy to take apart. I don't suggest leaving them unattended for a long period in a very warm kitchen. You know what happens when hot and cold come together - condensation - and sticky dough.

And here is what you can whip up in a jiffy when there's unexpected company. Google "gyoza" and you'll find a ton of results. The sky's the limit in fillings, but my favorite has to be kim chee and minced pork. Thank you Kat for posting quick and easy food!

Caballero and Carmencita

Hola! I can't expect anyone unfamiliar with italian coffee to know who these two are, so this is a 'no comments' post to introduce the couple on our terrace. Like what Juan Valdez means to Colombian java, Caballero and Carmencita were personages back in the 60's for the italian coffee company Lavazza. Now that I've hosted the celebrity duo the only thing left is to build me an igloo. I've already got the specs, but this will be a project for next year.

This doggie wears Prada

0°celsius, snowing, and it's all good. This time the weatherman finessed an accurate forecast and around 8am yesterday commenced the beginning of what would become both lazy and creative reasons to settle ourselves at home. The lazy part: a BIG pot of pasta with spicy pork ragu for lunch; FOUR dvd rentals for a 2-day period which cost only 12 euros total; popcorn and Pepsi to wash it all down. The creative part: pattern-making and a fitting for Maddie the model. MotH designed a one-piece pattern with a CAD program but it ultimately necessitated help from the Mads to insure that perfect fit. As you can see, she has no problem whatsoever making 'la modella'. I told her that the finished outfit would be a coat made of fashion fabric from Prada. Mister Bentley, in comparison, tried to rip off the prototype while we were pinning it on (I used safety pins of course).

Seeing that Mister B has no intention of strutting on the catwalk (or should that be dogwalk?) I thought of something more energetic and found this video on youtube. Wonder of wonders, while practicing a few of those moves with Mister B, I realized that we may have a natural Astaire on our hands. American Idol, here we come. Watch the clip, that Baxter can dance!!