Anybody's got a cat for rent?

Something ate the zuke, a photo by Rubber Slippers In Italy on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
When gardening is a hobby you have to take the good with the bad. Well this is not just bad, this is baaaad, and I'm going to get the sucka that did this.

I feel a small obnoxious headache coming on and it could be for the fact that I drank too much sangria after spending a short while in the garden. That sentence sounds all wrong (shouldn't it be drinking sangria in the hot sun while out tending to the tomatoes?). Well, I only have two hands. One to hold this dead zucchine plant and the other to hold the weeder that was ready to stab whatever it was that bit off the entire root system. I usually keep all things garden on my garden blog but I am desperate here folks. The culprit(s) are field mice - I am certain of it. And they are nocturnal. There are entry/exit holes throughout the zuke patch, about 2 inches in diameter, and these holes are part of a network of tunnels that take Mr. Topo Countrymouse from point A to point B. It seems that if anything is blocking the tunnel blueprint, these guys are just gnawing right through instead of circumventing the obstruction.

I asked MotH to go to the nursery dude to see what they have for an environmentally-safe solution, but I fear poison is the only answer. Mousetraps (the snap'em dead ones) are not available here and from day one the mice have never taken the cheese bait left in the cage traps, only the ants are licking their lips. Don't even suggest sticky traps, because I've had to deal with enough of those disgusting things before. Owning a cat is out of the question... Maddie would want to be best friends with it while Mr B would plot for its immediate demise.

Oishi Sushi for the 8th

Barca (boat) for 2: an assortment of 12 pcs. sushi, 18 pcs. sashimi and 6 pcs. uramaki.

As strange as it may have felt to go to a japanese restaurant for the first time since moving here, what's even more strange is knowing that we needed a really good reason to do so. We celebrated 8 years of marriage last week, skipping pizza in favor of checking out how a japanese eatery measures up in the bel paese, but I'm still not convinced about the whole experience. I'm of the opinion that sushi and sashimi just can't be all that great outside of Japan or anyplace else where there's a large giapponese community, and woe is the sushi bar that does not offer uni nigiri on the menu.

Well, first things first. If you don't know what oishi means then hurry and look it up, because I found only positive reviews on italian blogs and figured that we started off in the right direction with this place. The restaurant's outward appearance isn't much (it's on a busy intersection) but the interior decor is polished dark wood flooring, black leather seat cushions, votive candles and subdued lighting. We ordered one each of shrimp and meat gyoza apps, a sushi boat for two, an order of unagi hosomaki, and a large bottle each of Asahi and Kirin. Total price 60€, cover charge included. All of it good, but I can't say that what we ate was equal to the quality of sushi and sashimi had at japanese restaurants in Hawaii. I have a hunch that the reason why they kept asking if our dinner was okay is because they were waiting for an Oishi! We kept saying buonissimo. No uni on the menu. They've got a pointcard system (tessera) where you get a sticker for every 30€ spent on a meal. After 10 stickers, you receive a discount of 30€ on your next Oishi meal.

Oishi Sushi Restaurant
Via Castelletto, 2
Paderno Dugnano (MI)
Credit cards accepted

Gyoza apps are actually 4 pieces each.

Definitely not from the restaurant, but we had to drive-thru for coffee before ending the evening at a gelateria.

Doggies in Ikea

For those who live in a place where tail-wagging friends are almost regarded as equals (I'm thinking of a country and it begins with the letter “F”), this shouldn't be new news. But for those of us here in Italy, Ikea's fairly new policy of allowing dogs in the store is quite the bark of the day. All that's required is a muzzle, a leash, and Fido will at last come to learn what you actually meant when your parting words were “See you in a bit, I'm going shopping.”

Now the westie has been all over Europe: Spain, Paris, Germany, Switzerland and just about every corner of Italy, but she has never had to wear a muzzle. This means that it became a struggle of wills because if you know anything about westies, they are as stubborn as heck. We ultimately had to carry her so that she couldn't paw off the offending restraint, but she is super friendly with everyone and would never bite a soul. Instead, Maddie pees out of excitement whenever anyone gives her attention, and for that I was getting a little irritated with everyone that came up to greet her.

On the contrary, the doxie likes to keep to himself. This is my space, that is yours, stay away from me. We were surprised that he didn't freak out for the new surroundings and when we were cutting fabric in the material section, he found himself a nice hiding spot under the table. Of course, this didn't mean he received any less attention from shoppers but they could tell that Mister B was antisocial and refrained from invading his space.

Any time we head out to Ikea I have to get something from the gourmet section, and last night we felt like eating swedish meatballs and pickled herring. I think I've discovered a new and great taste sensation...meatballs dipped in garlic cream sauce leftover from those herrings.

Thali for two

Twenty five recipes, a week's worth of prep, and 50€ lighter in the wallet. And all of it, mind you, for a lunch that barely lasted 45 minutes. How is it possible to go through a platter of food and not suffer the ill effects of massive indigestion later on? I'll tell you how. Thali.

Thali is a foodie's dream in a land of plenty-on-a-plate. Addressing the real deal would be folly for picky eaters. A large platter or tray carries the burden of this feast, where an array of small bowls filled with savory scents, colors and textures are set before the diner. It's almost as if an unspoken challenge is put to the test: eat all you can eat and eat all of it with your hands. A sweet dessert is also included in the meal. I learned about thali when I came across youtube clips for regional varieties by yoursumashankar. The videos detail a long list of dishes, many of which I've never heard of in my life, and I immediately knew that this woud be the next big cookfest. It would have to be menus from both north and south or bust.

Out of the six chapati that I made only 2 puffed up.

Traditionally the platters and bowls used to serve thali are made of steel, but huge banana leaves also make an appearance in southern thalis where the meal's components are put directly on the leaf. Everything is eaten with your hands - no western cutlery - which makes for an awkward balancing act between fingers and food before deftly placing it into your mouth. This was not easy, and after a couple of attempts we had to break out the forks.

All of what you see here was an awesome foray into the pleasures of indian food. The cuisine has always intimidated me because of the unfamiliar ingredients. Aamchur powder? Horse gram? It was impossible to get a few of them, so substitutions were made as needed. The most amazing thing was that neither of us felt uncomfortably full after the end of the meal. Given the small portions, it was like grazing on apps during happy hour, only better. There was just so much of it that I don't regret not being able to make mango lassi.

North India Thali

Clockwise from bottom left corner: palak paneer, onion pakora, mughlai fish korma, jeera potatoes, red onion raita, carrot halwa, dal kachori, lime pickle (left of dal kachori), five flour chapati, mint chutney, on plate - saffron pilau rice, bombay shrimp masala, tandoori salmon and grated carrots. View at full 1200x800 pixels.

Palak paneer - be sure to heed Indira's advice in getting the consistency of this spinach and paneer dish right. I made my own paneer cheese...only 2 ingredients...and there are dozens of identical recipes on the net.
Onion pakora - I ♥ these!!! Kamran made me rethink my 'no fried foods' restriction, and I am happy to say that they now rank #1 to my other fried weakness - french fries.
Mughlai fish korma - Nigella Lawson's recipe is actually for chicken but as I wanted fish, hake medallions took its place. Good, but I wouldn't make this again.
Jeera potatoes - quick and easy!
Red Onion Raita - make that roasted red onion. I made this 3 days ahead of time and the flavor developed nicely.
Carrot halwa - I'm not even that wild about carrot cake but this was hard to put down.
Dal kachori - the first at the frying station. I was only able to find green moong dal but they still turned out delicious. Take note of Athika's tip on the desired end result.
Lime pickle - making these the proper way involves a lengthy process that goes beyond what I was willing to do so I followed this quick recipe. The MotH eats them like candy.
Five flour chapati - unable to find 3 out of the 5 flours listed, my version uses whole wheat, millet, garbanzo, chestnut, and amaranth flour. I cut the recipe in half and made 6 chapati of which only 2 puffed up like a pillow (1st image in this post). These take skill!
Mint chutney - I love mint, and would dip anything in this stuff. Sushi included.
Saffron pilau rice - I should've added more saffron for a deeper yellow color like Natasha's.
Bombay shrimp masala - the recipe applies to fish but it works great with shrimp too.
Tandoori salmon - salmon sounds odd in an indian dish but it was all I had to work with.

South India Thali

Clockwise from bottom left corner: chettinad chicken kari, peanut chutney, beetroot pachadi, onion chutney, medhu vadai, mysore bonda, zucchini version of vendaikkaai poriyal, ladoo and badam halwa (together), fried buttermilk chilli (left of laddo/badam halwa), paruppu dosai, on plate - saffron rice, masala fish, grated carrots. View at full 1200x800 pixels.

Chettinad chicken kari - a chance to use the packet of fenugreek seeds. Great dish!
Peanut chutney - should've made this a little more watery to dip the mysore bonda in.
Beetroot pachadi - made 3 days ahead of time.
Onion chutney - the recipe calls for tamarind which I didn't have so I used lemon juice.
Medhu vadai - I had no idea that the urad dal called for in this dish was supposed to be the split, dehusked ones. I had the whole black urad dal which gave the batter tiny dark specks.
Mysore bonda - I had a lot of things going on at once and opted to use a #40 scooper instead of shaping these with my bare hands. Wish I could've found mango pickle to serve it with.
Zuke version of vendaikkaai poriyal - vendaikkai (okra) is only sold at ethnic markets here. The recipe is half way down a food forum and using zukes instead of okra worked out fine.
Ladoo - these are diet taboos for sure. Butter, sugar and the nutty flavor of garbanzo flour all in a couple of bites. I topped them with coconut flakes instead of pistachio. Addicting.
Badam halwa - I think I didn't cook this long enough, but it tasted good.
Fried buttermilk chilli - I started these a week in advance because they take that long to prepare! I am envious of the small, pale green hot peppers shown on the Shilpa's blog. We don't have them here so I used the bigger and deep green hot peppers commonly found in italian markets. That's why mine are so dark. I burnt my lips on the first bite.
Paruppu dosai - a variety of paruppu (dal) and brown rice are ground together for this, but I needed to substitute the toor and masoor dal, horse gram (a type of bean) and asfoetida (an herb seasoning). I added more split peas and moong and urad dal to the rice. As for the asfoetida, garlic powder is the next best thing.
Saffron rice - (see northern menu)
Masala fish - this is supposed to be a fried fish but the marinade looked too good to not dump all of it into a pan along with the hake medallions. Btw, I used frozen hake and they were okay at best. Next time only fresh fish in indian recipes.

Will The Cuisine of Hawaii FB please give credit where it's due?

Edit: I would like to point out that the following situation has been sorted out, but only AFTER sending the facebook administrators of Cuisine of Hawaii an email with direct links to the food blogs whose material had been used without permission. As far as I am concerned, they should have taken it upon themselves to validate the true source of all material submitted to them before putting it up on their page, not me.

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Where is McGarrett when you need him? In a real muddle of who's who, who did this and who said what, it annoys me to no end that I still need to address this issue of suspected plagiarism.

The good news is that my recipe and accompanying photos are not in The Cuisines of Hawaii cookbook authored by Kohana Au. On the Blurb page you're able to preview the book's entire contents. I looked front to back and back again, and my text or visual images are nowhere to be seen.

The bad news is that part of my post was still copied verbatim to facebook, and the images to that post were used without consent.

The odd news is why post a recipe if it doesn't have anything to do with the cookbook?

Kohana Au tweeted Ho'io fern shoots etc etc on June 5th.

But the strangest revelation of all is the response from CoH to Grace's comment on facebook:

Rowena and I are old friends and go back to when I was a Featured Writer for the Kauai Menu Magazine and would send her copies to Italy. We get a lot of recipes with many of them without authors. I apololgize and will try to always post the author if possible! Thanks Grace!

To the account administrator of The Cuisine of Hawaii Facebook, I have a few friends that I would put into the category of going way back, and none of them have ever written for Kauai Menu. The ONLY contact I've had with that publication is with a person named Michael Huffman who sent me an issue sometime in the spring of 2007. I will kindly give the benefit of the doubt that perhaps some idiot reader sent in my work and images for your consideration, but I insist on the fact that we are not “old friends”. This is what I posted on April 25, 2007 in regards to Kauai Menu (Where to eat on Kauai).

A copy of this magazine has always come back with me from Kauai as a sort of souvenir reminder of where I should plan to eat the next time I'm back in my island digs. Thanks to Michael Huffman who has kindly and (promptly!) sent me this issue, I can drool over the next return while I count the days!

I remember having exchanged emails atleast a couple of times with Mr. Huffman, and that two copies of the magazine were sent to Italy. Digg this - Kohana Au is Michael Huffman?

Addendum
My situation isn't an isolated one. If you look at the fine-looking food images on the "Wall", many of them come from food blogs that were not credited either. I find it hard to believe that a writer would consent to the use of their recipes and/or images without a link or url to the original source, therefore I have taken the liberty of sharing a few of those blogs here.

The absolutely gorgeous photo of this cake was seen on the blog Ezra Pound Cake. Looks like she made this for her birthday.

You have to agree that the talent behind this beautiful dessert just has to have an equally beautiful blog. Meet Annmarie Kostyk - The Chocolate Goddess.

Although the recipe comes from HECO, the photo was seen on The Fromagette. I must say that her version was much more inspiring.

I immediately marked this one as a must-try, but the recipe at the original source looks and sounds much better. They also have extra photos of the finished dish called:
Aburage Stuffed With Pork Hash www.forevermanic.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=18805

You'll need to view the full entry in order to see the image, but I would have appreciated knowing that Guinataang Alimango is something that they cook in the Philippines. I know I've come across Raymund's blog Ang Sarap before so it's a pleasure to come across his food and writing again.

Banana as poi? Who would've thought?! At the blog Panipopo's Kitchen, this dish elicited nothing but positive comments, so why not give it a try and see for yourself?

The recipe is nothing like the one at Try Anything Once. Frozen dinner rolls...uhm, okay. But at the original recipe source the author does these from scratch. Dionne Baldwin writes about food so enthusiastically and it's a pity that life is taking up more of her free time to blog. I've got her version of these Pani Popo rolls bookmarked for future baking!

More uncredited content found on The Cuisine of Hawaii Facebook

I have contacted the following persons via email or through their blogs to let them know that image and/or text content from their site has been used. This goes beyond reasonable tolerance of misappropriated material. It didn't take me long to find the original sources, so shame on Cuisine of Hawaii's facebook administrators for not checking the material first before posting it online.

°FoodRecap
Bulanglang image on his page | Image on CoH facebook
°Closet Cooking
Thai style coconut butter squash | Image on CoH facebook
°Tasteduds
Hawaiian-Inspired Chocolate Cupcakes | Image/text on CoH facebook
°The Tasty Island
Sun Noodle's Okinawa Soba | Image on CoH facebook
°HI Cookery
Mochiko Chicken image | Image on CoH facebook
°Libertine Eats
Batayaki photo | Same photo on CoH facebook
°and yours truly, Rubber Slippers In Italy (again!)
Octopus salad image | Cropped image on CoH facebook

Was I plagiarized by the author of The Cuisines of Hawaii?

Edit: I would like to point out that the following situation has been resolved and that my blog content has been removed from the CoH facebook account. That said, when publishing second-hand information, websites should know to accept the reponsibility of checking the source. I was made aware of this discrepancy by using GOOGLE.

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Can't say for sure, but I have my suspicions after finding uncredited photos of mine that were published on Facebook in the first week of this month. When something like this happens you either contact the offending party or go through the proper channels to oust the perp. Me, I don't have fcuking time for that bullshit, so instead, I'll put up the page of the "whoever" that admires my work so much that I am led to believe written recipe content and accompanying photos for Ho'io fern shoots are printed in a COOKBOOK for PROFIT. What brah? Been cockaroach my post? Make one sistah TITA all agro l'dat. Regardless of the fact that even if my work MAY NOT be within the book's contents, the use of my images without credit is lame. Poser.

My stuff on Cuisine of Hawaii Facebook and no credit

Link to page: facebook.com/note.php?....comments

Rubber Slippers In Italy

Post that was partially pinched. Matching pictures!

Dimmidove | Tell me where

It has been far, far too long since we've attended sagre and feste in Italy and I'm really missing these grand occasions of cool tradition. The current lack of local good eats and enjoyment hasn't stopped me from trying to discover what's out there though, so I'd like to pass on a link that gets to the core of finding these events in the first place: Dimmidove (Tell me where). I came across the website just a few minutes ago and the list of what's happening for the rest of June - Sagra della Porchetta in Matrice (Campobasso), Festa del Toro allo Spiedo in Malo, Vicenza (bull on a spit, yum!), L’assedio di Canelli in Asti - to name a few, makes me clench my teeth in resentment knowing there's not a chance in getting out to these. Atleast I can say that we've been to the latter although it was three years ago. The Seige of Canelli was a fantastic historical reenactment full of color, noise, parades and of course, great food!

Click to enlarge to full view

You go George, yes you speak italiano!

In the event of an error, the video can be viewed here:
http://youtu.be/ZBO8AGlxg2E

Avvocato, veloce, and vuoi una mano? Abbastanza semplici da memorizzare. In the beginning of the Fastweb commercials he didn't say much (no need to say anything to get anyone's attention, I should think), but in this latest ad I'm liking the fact that he utters something more than ciao.

The weather in Italy in June

Cloudy, cool, rainy, damp, foggy, occasional hail and so unsummer-like. For this area of the northern lakes and I believe much of the peninsula's upper third, June has been looking pretty wet so far. We get updates from MotH's folks near Milan and it's the same, if not worse, so they, us, and all the rest of the landlubbers have been waiting for a break in this monotonous weather. And a break is what we had yesterday. The skies cleared up a bit and we headed out for the huge commercial shopping center along with every other soul that felt deserving of a little retail therapy. I had intentions of taking photos of Maddie going shopping in Ikea and Leroy Merlin (a Home Depot type of store) where doggies are allowed as long as they are on a leash, but I forgot the camera at home.

Gloomy weather does have its purpose though because that's when projects are born out. After the initial stage of designing a simple pergola for the terrace, the Man of the House purchased and prepped all of the pieces, waited until the skies cleared, then rang the neighbor for a helping hand. Yesterday was one of the nicest days in the whole month.

BEFORE

AFTER

The only thing left are the pieces to lay across the top. We still haven't decided on what type of vining plant to grow as shade cover (no grapes or flowering ones because of the bugs) so in the meantime it's back to Ikea to look for cloth that is sturdy and appropriate. I like the diffused lighting and fluid look that this draped ceiling gives. Any ideas?

What is a ciabatta?

Turkey ciabatta on sourdough wheat, a photo by Rubber Slippers In Italy on Flickr

If you live stateside and know your breads, then you'll know it's the italian "slipper" bread that is all the rage on sandwich menus. In Italy it's the same, minus the hype, plus the footwear that you use in the house and...and...something you might say to shut someone up. Chiudi la ciabatta! Shut your mouth, or better yet, shut your trap!

I thought it stopped there until I came across ciabatta di tacchino at the supermarket. A 5/8-inch thick turkey burger filled with cheese and shaped like a slipper. It was so good that I gobbled it all up.

Granola and hot milk?

Forgive me for living under a rock, but I thought granola was a cold milk cereal sort of thing. It took a country other than my own to tell me that with hot milk/latte caldo, granola is supposed to be very good? So I tried it and came away with only one thought. Kellogg's puts way too much sugar/inverted sugar in this cereal. Hot milk extracts more if it into a sickly sweet liquid. Che schifo.

Have a doggone good weekend

I'm practicing my role as a dancing Ewok, originally uploaded by Rubber Slippers In Italy

Via Flickr: He said that if there should ever be a remake of the first Star Wars trilogy, he wants to audition for a part as one of the Ewoks. A little padding around the middle and costume work on the ears (if they can do Spock) and he just might have a doggone good shot at nabbing a role.

Second day of a 4-day weekend and the munkeys are, as usual, up to no good (as if they ever are up to ANY good, period). We cleared out the tulip patch and now it's “free-for-all” between the two in Who Can Catch and Kill the Most Lizards. The westie has determination, patience and years of hunting experience, but the doxie is more into reward-driven activities, a mentality of you-scratch-my-back-and-I'll-scratch-yours, if you will. When he was a puppy I used to give him empty plastic water bottles because it was a great game to bite off the caps. Nowadays, he takes a second to rip the caps off and afterwards has a bored look as if to say “seriously, is that ALL you can come up with?”