Italian Cuisine No. 2-Italian Culture

Ah, the lovely idea of a lazy Saturday or Sunday morning.  While we usually have no pressing matters to get to most weekend mornings, unless we're traveling somewhere, we have our own idea of soaking up the extra weekend moments.  Sometimes we sleep in, sometimes we wake up reasonably early and cook up a traditional breakfast, eggs and rosti (the "here" version of hash browns but so much more delicious), coffee or tea.  We read or TV show marathon, catch up on emails.  If we go out and about around 10 or so though, there is a bit of life around town, even on Sundays.  Here, if you're not a church-going person or if you've gone early, chances are, you wind up at one of the randomly early open cafes or even gas stations, one particular chain brand of whom has the regular snack aisle of foods and a coffee/wine bar.  You wind up there for a bit of breakfast, which is wildly different from an American or even an English breakfast.  Sure, the grocery stores sell a variable selection of breakfast cereals, but the most that people usually eat on a weekday is a cappuccino or an espresso and a cornetto (like a croissant) or two with butter or jam, maybe a yogurt.  


On the weekends it's the same thing, with a twist.  When you wind up at a cafe,  time all but comes to a stop.  Whatever pressing errand you have for the day usually end up waiting for a while.  You meet up with a friend or two, or have a conversation with the other regulars, the employees, and you just sit back and relax.  Cafes have whatever Italian selection of coffee you desire, sometimes even "American" style drip, which only means it packs the same punch in a larger serving, assorted fruit juices, but the Italian style on the weekends is to have your coffee and bread, and then it's on to popping bottles.  The morning choice is Prosecco or Charme (white or rose sparkling wine,) or glass of flavored liquor with a cube or two of ice, like Bailey's.  Mid morning the snacks come out, on the house, cheese and meat plates, little finger-sandwiches, bowls of flavored peanuts or assorted potato chips.  Aside from that you can order something, a toast (ham and cheese melted and toasted in between two slices of bread), or another style of sandwich, but whatever it is, its usually not huge.  Huge meals on the weekends are usually reserved for midday, late lunch after church, pasta and salad and the like, and dinner is usually small, maybe the afore-mentioned toast, salami and cheese platter, bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip it in, nothing significant, just like breakfast.  Having guests over means something more celebratory, like fondue, but mostly, if you're eating at home and it's a quiet night, you're more eating a snack than an actual meal, to tide you over til the morning.  Most bars and restaurants have menus that support either choice in meal, big or small.  And then there's the kebab stands, the pizza places that deliver, and yes, even Burger King and McDonalds, which the locals, born and raised, seem  to have an unnatural attraction to.  Since it's huge in the states, they seem to understand that it's good, and that it's worth paying for.  Paying a lot for.  Due to the exchange rate, paying for a Happy Meal here means laying down almost $15-20 per person, even super-sized, where back home it's $10 tops.  It's incredible!  It's not that it tastes better.  It tastes pretty much about the same.  And they charge through the nose for it.  We've had it once or twice, we get fries on occasion but a whole meal here, after having lived with the simplicity of Italian breakfasts and meals, even three months after being on a new continent, just kind of made us feel sick to our stomachs.  The locals treat it like a delicacy, the Asian tourists flock to it, the American tourists don't quite understand how much they're paying for it until after they've paid.  It's a bit ridiculous.  Makes the Italian culture of weekend food and breakfast bites seem so much more inviting and welcome, don't you think?


Happy Weekend Laze!
Enjoy, 


Allie H.    

Italian Cuisine

I realized that doing a blog on Italian Cuisine and Food culture is long overdue as we’ve been living here for over a year and a half and I haven’t said too much about it.  Italian food is necessary to the life force of the entire  world, I’m absolutely certain.  Without a doubt!  I should mention that as I’m typing this, hubby is in the kitchen cooking pasta with butter and garlic, our favorite “what to eat when we can’t think of anything else to eat” and it’s starting to smell fabulous.  
Italians, in my book put the world to shame with how they can take something so simple as pasta and make it a masterpiece of a  dish.  (I do give a little credit to the Japanese and their sushi, which I dearly, sorely miss being located where we are and having moved away from a neighborhood where there were about 6 sushi places within twenty minutes of driving.)  Italian food, basically put, is so simple, and so perfect.  I asked my husband what his favorite thing about it was and he came back with “the purity of flavor the simplicity, the amazing taste,” and I couldn’t have come up with a better notion other than to say it’s heartwarming.  Italians who love to cook show it with their food.  Most restaurants around us have the same things, a few select pasta dishes, pizza with every topping combination you can think of, a dish or two with steak or chicken and the classic caprese or Caesar salads.  The five-star rated, if you go to a worthy one, has some of the most amazing dishes I’ve ever tasted.  

I had one of the best meals I’ve ever had at a little place in a few towns away from us where the chef is five-star and usually you have to make a reservation to get in, but during lunchtime, he employs an all local handi-capable staff to serve and wait tables and handle the bar and I don’t think we’ve seen much better service in all the time that we’ve been here.  We picked the menu of the day, the “piatto del giorno.”  It was my first fish entree in a long time and I’m going to have to take the risk and try it more often based on my experience there.  Not to mention, Italians work with foods that as a child I swore I’d never like as an adult, but that I know try and am amazed by.  Don’t tell my mother that I’ve willingly eaten eggplant.  Willingly!  I’ve had it several times and am soon going to attempt to cook it for myself.  And just a few weeks ago, I had a starter salad with beets that was sectioned off like all the other toppings, shredded carrots and such, but because of the simple, tangy vinaigrette, I ended up eating every last bite.  They make pasta sauces that you clean the last traces of off your plate with the table bread even though you swore you were so full you couldn’t handle dessert, a habit my hubby has long since been a fan of but that I’ve now adopted as well.  (I’m absolutely serious about not telling my mother.  She swears I’m somehow not her child because I refuse to eat coconut, anything with cranberries in it, sweet pickle relish, tuna from a can, or pumpkin pie.  I’m learning to appreciate pumpkin thanks to a recipe I found for a creamy soup involving chicken broth, evaporated milk and curry, but really, I implore you.  Don’t tell her.   She’ll be too proud and she’ll try to convince me to come other to the dark side and accept coconut into my heart and I just couldn’t handle that.)

A few of the comparisons?  Pasta sauce.  Bolognase, in particular.  In the states we know it as Ragu and it comes in a jar with a yellow lid and most of the ingredients are unidentifiable.  Here, it’s savory and aromatic, sometimes well blended, sometimes chunky but amazing.  Pizza?  Ahh, pizza is fantastic.  I don’t know what you people are eating back home if it’s not made by an old Italian family but it’s not pizza.  Here, we’ve had a variety of toppings and we have our favorites that the same combo in the states doesn’t even compare to!  We’ve even had the most simple, basic pizza made on a huge piece of flat-bread, pre-sectioned and then baked with caramelized onions and Gruyere cheese.  Seems ridiculously easy, right?  But it tastes so amazingly wonderful.  Ask my husband and he’ll tell you that I’ve done more happy-food dances in the last year and a half than I’ve done since he’s known me.  Yes, I said happy-food dances. I eat something so incredibly good and I literally dance in my chair and clap my hands like a 5 year old who just had a gigantic banana split set down in front of them and the reins to a Shetland pony handed to them.  I can’t help it.  Great food just makes me ecstatic from head to toe.  And the Italians know how to make good food.

Happy Eating (and Drooling!)

Allie H.

P.S. For all you fellow pumpkin nay-sayers out there, even if you're not a huge fan of curry (I wasn't before I tried this), you should definitely try this soup. You can find the recipe in the link below. There's a few variations out there but this is the closest to the one I've made a few times.

http://low-cholesterol.food.com/recipe/pumpkin-curry-soup-31749

Weather...summer weather!

I am absolutely enthralled to be able to experience an actual summer!  Don't get me wrong, I loved Monterey summers, but to not have fog in the morning?  Will be nice!  To be able to wander outdoors after dark and not need a sweater?  Can't wait!  Having said that, I know it's going to be blasted hot and super sunny, so I'm preparing-I bought a pair of pants here that are black, double layer breezy fabric, that go all the way down to the floor (even on my ridiculous long legs) and have little ties to get them UP off the floor.  Have shorts from showing up here at the end of last summer, capris, and soon, thanks to Target, I'll have this beauty!

Went shopping downtown yesterday and tried on every floppy sun-hat I could find and after having seen this picture and thinking I could hold off on ordering it, nothing I could actually touch and try on seemed quite right, so yes, it's on it's way to my parent's house to pick up when we visit in a few weeks!  (Which is exciting enough in itself, but I'll be picking up this gem, and thanks to Writer's Digest, a few writing books to fuel the creative system, one on Travel writing, one with 101 Habits for successful writers, and one to schedule your current writing project.  Books to read on the plane back home!)  As it's going to be quite hot in two of the other states we'll be visiting as well, sure this will be able to come in handy even back in the states.  Can't wait!  As I'll be chopping off most of my hair (hopefully mere minutes after landing in Cali...and by minutes, of course, I mean, a day or two), it'll fit quite nicely, I think.  There was one here similar to this that was gorgeous, but $120.  I think I found the bargain for $13, don't you?  Called my mother to let her know a barrage of packages were coming her way-will just have to make sure there's an inch of room in my suitcase to bring it all back home!
Looking forward to wearing all my breezy skirts that have been shelved over the winter as tights don't even block the cold from the snow.  Maybe I need to ask the local girls where they shop for nylons-there were an incredible amount of gals running around in boots, tights, sweaters, and little skirts and they weren't shivering, so there must be some trick to the brand.  Hmm.  But that's months away!  Bring on the SUN!  Pictures will be coming of the summer fashions.  


In other news, we finally made our way via funiculare up to the top of San Salvatore-check out the views!  All the water is Lake Lugano.  Gorgeous!

Our friend Max hiked to the top, which we'll have to do someday soon, before it gets too hot, but still, a wonderful little half-day trip.  Enjoy!


Allie H.

Proper Grammar is Sexy!

See?  The sign says so.  It's true.


I have a bone to pick with the American public at large.  I know that with the young texting generation, conversations include, "LMAO," "BRB" and so on, mostly because teens these days can't be bothered to pick up a phone call and actually have a conversation with someone. But for every other conversation,  Facebook post, blog, even news articles, can we please follow the proper rules of spelling, grammar and syntax?  Please?  I'm begging you.  It's not so difficult.  I know there are people out there who are habitually bad spellers, but can everyone else attempt to proofread before they put something out into the world?  People are learning your mistakes and adopting it as being correct.  I'm sure that many people see an error in a newspaper article or online publication and assuming that it's correct, as news agencies are responsible for being factual.  And for everyone not holding down a reporter's desk?  You're doing it, too.  I saw this caption on Pinterest the other day in regards to a quick party food: "These would be so fun for party's!"  Apostrophes do not make a word plural!  I understand that many people simply copy a pin and copy the caption as many times they like the comment, or that the ingredients or the craft steps or what have you in relation to the pin are all written out in the caption area so you don't have to click on the link to find the webpage it's connected to, but it's really not going to hurt you to quickly scan it and make sure there are no glaringly obvious errors.  Don't pass them forward!  

I know I'm not the best with proper grammar but when someone' being paid to write and they'r making mistakes, it really ruffles my proverbial feathers.  I read news articles online and wonder if there are journalism students out there as offended as I am when I see an error, and I'm sure they're wondering why the're working so hard to study and get their degrees when a mistake can be made and simply retracted the next day with a corporate apology.  I seriously wonder.  And what of the editors that these online publications say they have?  Do they really proofread these days or do they merely check the word-count and give it a gold star?  Maybe they've been locked in the broom closet, stripped of their credentials and the key to the nuclear missile-style button encased in a shiny plexi-glass cover, painted an extraordinary shade of candy apple red with the word "PUBLISH" carefully etched in a white veneer across the slightly curved surface. In my head, it's one of those buttons that when you push it, there's no going back.  (James Bond, if you want a little extra cash in your off-time, you should be hanging around these buttons. You could save lives, I'm sure.)  Editors used to be in for the love of teaching their underlings to become wonderful reporters, no matter what the subject.  What's with the lack of excellence these days?  When I care to read online news and entertainment articles anymore, I spot at least three errors that could have easily been spotted before spread out into the world.  I think I'm going to take it upon myself to be the scourge of the internet comment fields, pointing out every spelling and grammar error I can find until the news agencies at large somehow find me and contact me, begging me to stop, at which point I'll offer to proofread every article and get paid $20 per article if I fix any errors.  Someone I think it would be better money spent than the salary their staff is getting to either ignore or not understand the mistakes that are being made.  I'm giving myself the title of Grammar Queen.  Someone needs to do it...might as well be me.  


Happy Grammar!
Enjoy,


Allie H.


P.S.

Last Year's Firsts

I started a list of all of my "firsts" from last year, things I'd done that I hadn't done before and I'm going to keep it up for 2012 as we'll be doing some things that we've never done before (Sailing in Tuscany!) and more new exciting things.  

2011 Firsts:

First time to Rome

First time flying on a plane in Italy

First visit to Chamonix, FR

First Fondue Chinoise (on New Year's Eve)

First Cheese fondue cooked with champagne instead of white wine (In Chamonix)

First time eating Escargot (will not be a second time anytime soon...)

First time eating roasted chestnuts (interesting...and gross, at the same time.)

First Wedding Anniversary!!

First time making homemade hummus

First class in taught in Italian that wasn't meant to teach me Italian!

First owned pair of Italian handmade leather boots

First Driver's License from another country

First year using Linux/Ubuntu OS

First full year living in Switzerland!

What "first" things did anyone else do last year, and what do you intend to do this year?

Happy musing!

Allie H.

Let's pretend we made some healthy New Year's Resolutions

I know, I know.  I promise I'm not going to write one of those long drawn out blogs on how your every day life would benefit from dropping the sugary sodas and a big bags of potato chips and how exercising even just 20 minutes a day can do our bodies good.  I'm not so good at making New Years' Resolutions to stay in shape and sticking to them.  But I ran across this article from Family Circle Magazine online about the benefits of drinking enough water every day, which some days I'm good at, and some days not so good at. There's the standard "8 glasses of water every day" rule which apparently, according to the article, is a variable, especially for women.  They made it really easy to break down.  (And yes, we're talking plain, natural water, not sparkling flavored waters.)


Sipping Pretty

Water can do wonders for your health, but exactly how much do you need to gulp each day? It depends on your weight, how many caffeinated and alcoholic beverages you down, and how active you are, says Esther Blum, RD, author Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous: A Nutritionist's Guide to Living Well While Living It Up (Chronicle Books). Her advice: First, divide your weight in half to get the minimum number of ounces your body needs each day. Then add 8 ounces for each caffeinated or alcoholic beverage you consume (because both are diuretics) and another 8 ounces for every 20 minutes of exercise you do (because you sweat out water). A 144-pound woman who drinks a cup of coffee in the morning and a glass of wine at night and exercises regularly should drink 13 glasses of water a day. Here's the math:

Weight (144 lbs. / 2) 72 ounces
Coffee (one cup) + 8 ounces
Alcohol (one drink) + 8 ounces
Exercise (40 minutes) + 16 ounces

Total H2O 104 ounces or 13 glasses/day

According to this math (if I exercise for that 40 minutes and have 2 alcoholic drinks a day), that means I'm supposed to be drinking 105 ounces or roughly 13 glasses of water a day as well.  And as I know that I drink more than two alcoholic drinks when we go out, I know I need more!  Seems like a lot, but the benefits of drinking just plain water is so good for you!  I used to hate drinking water when I was a little kid, I wouldn't drink just plain water for two or three days in a row and I'd come home from school dehydrated and sick and my mom would have to take care of me.  After I started camping, hiking, and backpacking as a pre-teenager I couldn't get enough of it!  I started to understand why it was so good for my body.  Drinking water is so good for your skin, your circulatory system, your immune system, tension headaches and migraines, etc, etc!  When I worked I used to have one or two cups of coffee first thing at work and and then it would be ice water all day long.  Every time I finished a glass I'd go right back to the office kitchen and refill it, whether or not I was thirsty.  I just made sure I had it on my desk when I needed it, along with whatever soda I was drinking.  I try to make sure I take a glass of water to bed with me so if I wake up in the middle of the night, I drink it.  I usually end up drinking most of a glass of water overnight that way and I feel so much better in the morning when I do.  I keep a large bottle of water in the fridge and refill it when needed because I personally prefer cold water first thing in the morning after one too many drinks.  Drinking plenty of water and keeping yourself moderately hydrated all the time is just overall better than thinking that drinking diet sodas and herbal teas is better than calorie loaded designer coffee drinks from Starbucks and the super-sized Coke from that fast food place down the street where you get lunch.  If you're not into weekly gym appointments and counting calories all day long but still want to launch a healthier New Year in general, WATER is a good way to get started.  (If you're not into just plain tasting water all day long, add lemon or lime slices.  I'm thinking of adding tangerine slices as I buy bagfuls of them from the store and can't get enough of them.)

Be hydrated (and healthy!)

Enjoy,

Allie H.

Happy New Year!!

I absolutely cannot believe it's a new year, 2012, even.  I can't remember wondering when I was a teenager what 2012 was going to be like but I don't think I could have possibly imagined I'd be sitting on an entirely different continent with a husband and a dog, having already been there for a year and a half, having been to parts of France and Rome, Milan, struggling with the Italian language because we live in the gorgeous Italian region of Switzerland!  Never in my wildest dreams.  I've always dreamed of traveling, going to exotic places like Egypt and romantic spots in Paris, but I never thought when I was in high school that I'd actually live abroad while being able to travel, being all the closer to "the other side of the world."  


We have plans to eventually see more sights, visit more countries, reach some more goals which we're working towards.  The Dutch bloodline in me wants to see Holland; the dream to sail the world has us taking a sailing course to get our International Skipper's License so we can sail anywhere in the world, charter a boat on our vacations.  Kris has seen the southern coast of Italy and I would love more than anything to go and see it with him, and sail the waters of the Mediterranean.  Chloe's goals are no more lofty than going anywhere we go and tasting different cheeses and other whatever treats we're willing to dispense.  She's pretty easy to please!  


We've been pretty lucky to have this chance in life-living halfway around the world and meeting new people, making new friends, seeing new things, and we're hoping that this year will be even more profitable in new experiences and stamps on our passports.  It's been the most incredible start to our marriage, picking ourselves up and whisking ourselves away to a new place, and we're only hoping to continue seeing amazing things happen.  I can only hope that everyone else out there is finding just as amazing things for themselves and their loved ones as we're been finding for ourselves.  I'm wishing everyone a very Happy New Year and many more Happy New Years to come.
Cheers!


Allie H.