TBT: As I previously commented on my increased imbibing regional wines and also Negroni, the gin concoction, I also was privvy to a more caffeinated day.
So I learned how strong Italian coffee can be, even a supposedly mild macchiato made me shaky. Whoa. But I couldn't refuse Johnny, our very own barista at Poggio Etrusco.
Recently this machine was added to the decor of the Johns' household and Johnny made sure our days weren't lacking caffeine.
What a beaut, no?
I'm sure if it could talk there would be oodles of stories...
I am beginning to wonder if I will ever make it through all the hoops to change my previous phone number. You enter a site and indicate you want to change your phone number and the automated response is that you are being texted using the old phone number. Seriously?
So, so aggravating. Now I am receiving collection agency calls on the new number for Sandra. I inform them this is my new number and AT&T is not going to be happy to see me again- so PLEASE take my new number off their list.
Two days later before 6am, you know I am up, but certainly not expecting a phone call at that hour and the phone rings, I answer it and there's silence at the other end.
"Good morning," I quip ... silence. Bewildered I now add, who's calling?"
A groggy voice responds "this is Sandra. "silence.
" Okay, can I help you?"
She utters: "This used to be my phone number, " and proceeds to hang up.
I write down the number she called me on and have decided if the collection agencies keep bugging me for Sandra, I'm giving them that number.
The next day the phone rings and a voice asks if Sandra is here.
Give me strength. "No, I thought this is my number now."
She hangs up. Now if she had waited 10 seconds, I would have asked her if she would like Sandra's new number... but she didn't.
For years on my 414 number, I received harmless calls for 'Rafael' if I wanted to sell my house/ vote for whomever. Fortunately, we were of the same political bend ...
So, now is the time to contemplate whether I want to keep the number. You just might be receiving this year's newsletter with a different phone number. Just saying...
TUESDAY TUNES: Certain Italian songs seeped into our lives when we were a lot younger ... Here's a steamy one that resurfaced although not from Tuscany but farther south- Sicily.
The first link is subtitles in both Spanish and English. I feel it's more powerful in Italian.
or this version :
or where I saw it this week...
Monday Musings is about why the end product ends up so costly especially if you want it rated organic So come with to see what happens with all those bins of picked olives.
As we approached the building machine noise welcomed us as we witnessed leaves flying out of a PVC pipe into barrels.
Benvenuto a Frantoio where a sister and brother are now helping run their family's business...
Truthfully, we weren't sure if we would see the process as one of the new automated machines had broken down the day before.
Anyhoo, after the extra debris is detached ie: small branches/stems along with leaves, insects, etc...the olives are washed...
Isn't it beautiful?
We had a sampling of the newly produced extra virgen olive oil with baguette slices.
Delizioso.
Let's see your suggestions in the comments.
I know you won't disappoint...
TBT: Today my brother Marc and I will spend some time visiting our Mom and cleaning up a bit as today marks her 95th birthday and what we both thought was a decade. Okay forget both of thinking 2014 as we discovered after removing the rain-splattered mud from my parents's joint headstone. Fortunately, I had a water bottle in the car and wipees in my travel backback.
Mom was the epitome of a homemaker having received her masters in Home Economics and Child Development. I interrupted her doctorate plan with my arrival and gave her the title of Mom instead of Ph.D.
Since she was such a good cook, our father rarely gave her a day off from being in the kitchen until we 3 kids had moved on. She loved baking and always shared her culinary endeavors at dinner parties/ with friends.
Bridge was her constant, a master in duplicate bridge and a director at the Little Rock Bridge house. We called it her home away from home. She had more than one bridge group. It was a cruel joke that her loss of sight prevented her from continuing playing.
In later years she also enjoyed swimming laps at the Y/ the senior center in North Little Rock and participating in the senior program of LifeQuest.
As a German Jew she lived through the Holocaust and then the Civil Rights years in Arkansas. After all she witnessed she warned us about any religious right. Today's news would have proven her feelings once again...
Having lived off the land in the Coulee in southwestern Wisconsin (where contour plowing was introduced) and recently being an agritourist in the Tuscan countryside, I was fascinated by their agricultural practices. Of course, this Tuscan area near Montepulciano is famous for its vineyards and olive groves. We even had an apple orchard at Poggio Etrusco's neighbors. But, the farmland can also be used for grains.
As one drives through the rolling hills between towns in some places the land appears almost like a moonscape and then upon closer inspection there are acres of big clodded upturned earth.
Disc blades no matter what can be used for tilling, preparing farmland and mowing vegetation whether it's grass/hay.
In tilling the discs cut, mix and turn over the soil, bringing nutrients up to the surface and helping crops's roots develop. Discing prepares the land for sowing seeds and also integrating leftover crop remains into the soil.
Fascinating for this transplant suburbanite...
The world is very lucky UNESCO chose this area of Tuscany as a World Heritage site so future generations can continue to enjoy both the bounty and the beauty of this region.
TUESDAY TUNES this week makes the cut as it was in my favorite movie of the weekend FOCUS. What an entertaining premise and story line...especially at a time when we all feel we have been scammed. I think many of you will remember this tune. The image will give you a hint.
I haven't heard it in so long... by It's a Beautiful Day (1970)
MONDAY MUSINGS is about sniffing; both the good and the bad. Our schnazzes come in all sizes and maybe the bigger, the better for their olfactory jobs. You'll see what I mean...
Some folks make their living by sniffing:
Sommeliers, wine smellers.
Cogno scenti, a person who smells perfumes
or in the case of my most recent outing out in a forest in Tuscany, a dog who has a very specific use for her sense of smell.
As Milli picks up a scent and begins to dig to uncover her find, Paolo interrupts her gently, clearing the area with one hand and can tell by the smell of the earth if a truffle is there...
The nose knows. We also get a whiff of this earthy mushroom.
The restaurant we went to for lunch is kind enough to use our truffles in our meals with Crostina di Tartufo, as well as atop a fried egg. Yum.
Frustrated to the max. Probably being jetlagged doesn't help either.
Let me hear your suggestions.
Bummed.
It's been unseasonably warm the world over with extreme weather. Even Italian rains were virtual nonexistent until the end of October and then delayed the olive crop getting to the presses. At Poggio Etrusco the crew arrived first week in November to fill their truck's bed with bins full of Poggio Etrusco olives. Olive oil time.
What a beautiful sight!
We enjoyed garden appetizers of batter fried squash blossoms, sage leaves, cauliflower and zucchini (too busy eating them hot for a pic)
Chicken turkey sausage with sauteed red peppers
For dessert, there was yummy crostina di marmellata (fig) and chestnut honey topping a smooth ricotta.
As always there was an aperitif/wine/ with our meals followed by a an expresso/ macchiato courtesy of our barista Johnny accompanying our dessert.
Take a look at this Halloween pie decorating by Colleen ...
(I'll add my journal page when I am able to have cell phone usage again since my account is blocked due to being stolen at O'Hare airport on Tuesday.)
*It was traced btw to the Chicago suburb of Rosemont to an address of a professional business building. My children unknowingly to me, put a tag on my phone, 3 years ago to make sure they knew where I was. Well, my phone will never be in my hands again.
TBC..
TUESDAY TUNES:Helen Reddy said it best that we know too much to sit back and pretend...Ladies make sure everybody you know votes today. It's the least we can do for our. daughters and grandchildren. The world is awaiting with bated breath...
Those of you who have followed Life in the End of the Rainbow Valley since its inception know that this suburbanite ended up living off the land in a valley after meeting Natureman, a back-to-the-lander, whose favorite book was 5 Acres of Independence. He actually had 42 acres but this once city dweller had to figure out how to live off the land with a big learning curve. I benefitted from his knowledge and his dream. This is probably why the story of how Podere Il Casale came to exist touched a special place in my heart.
What a view to wake up to for 30 years!
Val D'Orcia became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.
Fast forward to today, 5 grown sons later they are a shining example of Agriturismo.
Podere Il Casale now has a campsite, organic restaurant, cooking classes, farm visits. as well as being a site for weddings and special events.
Our guide Ervin gave us an informative tour including the farm's history, cheese production and its farm animals.
We saw goats, sheep, mules, pigs, peacocks, cats and dogs in their stables.
We enjoyed local wine* and a salad from their garden with our cheese sampler platter. The drunken cheese (middle right) aged with the bran of grape skins was my favorite.
There also were honey and jam sauces to put atop the cheeses.
*Nearby are also vineyards with some of the most famous wines in the world : Brunello di Montalcino, Nobile di Montepulciano and Chianti Classico.
