Non ho la parola
I'm doing it! I'm blogging! I guess it's like riding a bike....although it did take about a dozen tries to get the right username/password combination.
While faced with the monumental task of blogging again after such a long, long silence, I find myself faced with another challenge: processing pictures from a week in bell'Italia...made only more bell' since Jackie came all the way up to Torino to visit! Of course, we talked about better intentions with the blog and found lots of fodder for posts including being on the Italian show Bistro TV, finding Jelly Bellies, and checking out the foggy view from La Superga.
While aiming for two birds with one stone, hopefully this is the first of several posts with pics from our week in Piemonte.
Jackie, Bowden, and I were on the hunt for a quick coffee when we stumbled into this Torinese Enoteca. No espresso machine between the bottles there at
Parola so we left that day but Bowden and I got to go back a couple times later in the week.
We always arrived between two sets of regulars. The petite, curly-haired barista spoke like a mouse and splashed the first juice of each new bottle into the sink before she poured a glass. The quiet, Cyrano-look alike that we named the "resident artist" never asked for his glass to be refilled though it always was. After we'd sipped half a glass, the next group swung the glass door. Three glasses of prosecco was their tradition: one for the sturdy gent who laughed loudly and was convinced that we were German and one each for the two quieter ladies who laughed at his jokes and whispered about the cold that he didn't seem to feel. Everyone seemed to know each other and noticed but didn't mind that we strangers were there.
Here's the view from inside Parola.
Lucky Bowden is going to eat at Cochon in New Porkleans ... I mean Orleans.
Only four days left to study up (mateys):
http://ping.fm/bWvlv
Update: Indianapolis
flowers from my parents' backyard in Indianapolis
No posts for a while here from me, so I wanted to just send an update: I'm back in the states again visiting family--another one of those last minute trips home. I've been home since July 6th, and I'll be here until the end of August. It's hot, humid, and typical late summer weather here. I've had a chance to photograph plenty of flowers in the neighborhood, if you'd like to check those out over at
my flickr account. Otherwise, I've just been here with family. Antonello arrives in a week--I can't wait.
All for now. I hope you are having a wonderful summer.
-Jackie
Eye on the prize
I loved Jackie's description of the Italian sunset between the Cypress. We've often confided in each other our affection for the blue Italian sky. It sounds hyperbolic and over-affectionate, but the blue over the boot really is more vibrant than any other sky I've been under, and it produces some amazing sunsets. Anyway, her great description makes me miss Italia, and her, and almost makes me want to take up running. Almost...
While Jackie's getting ready for that long race, the little neighborhood market where I work is in the running for a different prize.
Goose the Market has been nominated for "Best Gourmet Grocery" on TheIndyChannel.com's A-List.Of course, I'm as biased here as the gal who judges blue skies, but the Goose gets my vote because of its commitment to quality foodstuffs. With a healthy nod to local producers who take as much care with their products as with the environment that produces them, there's also a discriminating selection of imports. Even if distance prevents an in-person investigation, you might check out the
good eats and local, all-natural treats at the Goose.
If the spirit (and/or your appetite) moves you, please cast a vote for the Goose!
- Corrie
School, Summer, and Suzanne Vega
First, welcome back to Corrie, who has been blogging again! Yay, Corrie! Lucky you with the tomatoes--that tomato pizza and chard pizza looks delicious!
The course has finally ended, and since it was such an intensive course, I'm ready for a little bit of a break. It seems like I've been running around like a mad woman since returning from Indy, so these last couple of days since the course ended on Monday have been relatively more laid back. The only problem is that it has been horribly hot here, and the fact that we live on the fifth floor of an apartment building without any air conditioning hasn't helped much. So between gulping down iced beverages and digging into watermelon, I'm just trying my best to keep cool.
Which has made me really wary of going running--outside in this heat? Are you crazy? But I'm still trying to get my miles in, and while I'm able to get my every-day 3 milers in, yesterday I did my first long distance run since coming back to Italy. It wasn't a record breaker (and it wasn't even THAT long), but I was just happy to be in the mood to run. I went down to my usual running spot, which is this long avenue lined with Cypress trees that leads into an abbey somewhat near our house, purposefully waiting until about 7:30 pm to go, so that most of the day's heat would have started to die down. And it may not have been exactly "cool," but once I got my start, running under the shade felt good after a long day of being hot under the sun.
One thing I hadn't considered was that I would get to the see the sun set during my run, something that still surprises me when it waits until almost 9 pm to happen. So there I was, doing my long run, and every once in a while catching glimpses through the Cypress trees of the golden hued countryside surrounding me, and the welcome sight of the sun finally giving up her day's battle, and slipping off to rest, leaving a whole sky filled with pink and orange glow as she left. It was quite a way to make an exit. So, I guess that settles it--seven o'clock long runs are my new routine.
One more thing that I wanted to mention, having it spotted it today in the New York Times:
this article about songstress
Suzanne Vega, and what the term 2-hit-wonder could mean for such an accomplished musician. She specifically talks about the work she put into her first Top 40 hit Luka, back in the days when talking about child abuse in music was not only uncommon, but also very unlikely to be placed in an upbeat, major key. It's quite an interesting article, and it's always neat to get a musician's perspective on their own music and how it came about--especially someone as prolific as Vega.
-Jackie
Pizza Primavera
We're so proud. Last night Bowden and I harvested our first tomato! Of course, we're biased, but it was perfect -- not a blemish on the tight skin and lots of flavor. As thin slices, it was the crowning addition to last night's Pizza Primavera with veggies from Hoosier soil not too far away from our own backyard: summer squash in two colors from
Goose The Market, Swiss chard from
Balanced Harvest Farm, and goat cheese with lots of herbs from pots on the deck.
We washed it all down with a tasty gift from Jackie's parents. (Grazie, Bob and Joy!) A 2006 bottle of
Colosi nero d'avola from Sicily was dry and spicy but nicely balanced with lots of berry flavor. Delicious!
A new world record
I wasn't sure what to think when I heard about the world's most expensive burger on NPR this morning. The story made me hungry for a good burger but certainly not for "The Burger."
Available only on pre-order from one London Burger King, "The Burger" includes "Wagyu beef, white truffles, Pata Negra ham slices, Cristal onion straws, Modena balsamic vinegar, lambs lettuce, pink Himalayan rock salt, organic white wine & shallot infused mayonnaise in an Iranian saffron & white truffle dusted bun."
All this (do you want fries with that?) for 95 British pounds or about $200, making it the new world's most expensive burger.
-Corrie
