Mamma Americana

Scary Kitty!

Atma could easily be the cat "Church" (below) in Pet Semetary

"Church" is one freaky kitty

My kitty looking regal

Atma looks scary in that photo, but he's really just about the sweetest furball I know. He lets Eleonora pet him while he purrs with delight. He's soft as a rabbit too and makes a lovely lap warmer in the winter. 

Things I'm excited about/enjoying

• Seeing my daughter enjoy pizza (for the 2nd time ever)

• The Fleet Foxes new album (self titled), especially "White Winter Hymnal". It's not winter yet, but this song makes me want to wallow in the snow.

• Tim Burton is doing Alice in Wonderland! I just found this out, but it's been talked about since last November evidently. Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter (YES!!!) and Crispin Glover is the Knave of Hearts. Could it get any better?  

• Sourdough Pumpkin Spice bread with mascarpone (an Italian cream cheese) and vanilla spice honey. The ultimate comfort food. 

Soufflé!

Lorenzo taking the soufflé out of the oven

On Monday night I attempted my first soufflé. I don't know why I waited so long before trying to make one. I guess I was intimidated by this bit of french cookery. I shouldn't have been. It was actually pretty simple. That may have been because the recipe came from Alice Waters The Art of Simple Food ;). It was pretty darn tasty.

And voilà! Goat cheese soufflé

New to Knitting

After contemplating it for a while I've finally jumped on the knitting bandwagon. I was inspired by my good friend Tracie (seeing one of her awesome sweaters did it for me) to pick up knitting needles and yarn. 

Knitting is back in style and there are plenty of good books for the beginner. I chose Stitch N' Bitch and Teach Yourself Visually Knitting. 

This will eventually be a scarf (I hope!)

Yarn that I bought at Mirko Filati here in Florence

So wish me luck and let's hope for the best because I can't wait to try Itty Bitty Baby Hats.

Edward Gorey

We're halfway to Halloween now, so I'm dedicating this post to one of my favorite authors and artists: Edward Gorey. The first book of his that I remember seeing was The Curious Sofa: A Pornographic Tale. A strange tale about Alice that leaves much to the imagination.

By Edward Gorey

My favorite has to be the GashlyCrumb Tinies or After the Outing. Click here to see the entire work. It is a macabre take on the alphabet: "A is for Amy who fell down the stairs..." all the way to "Z is for Zillah who drank to much gin." 

Cover of the GashlyCrumb Tinies

L is for Leo who swallowed some tacks

I also own T.S. Eliot's Old Possums Book of Practical Cats which was the basis for Andrew L. Webber's CATS.

Montepulciano

At Ristorante La Grotta

On Sunday we visited the Tuscan hill town of Montepulciano. It's about a 1 1/2 hour drive south of Florence on the A1 (the road to Rome). This was our first visit to the town. 

We placed our faith in the Michelin guide to find a restaurant, and we weren't disappointed. Lunch at La Grotta (the cave) was wonderful. Since the weather was so warm, we sat outside in the garden. The tasting menu offered just the right amount of several delicious dishes and was accompanied by a glass of the local red wine, vino nobile di Montepulciano. Eleonora enjoyed the zuppa di farro and a pear sorbet.

Church of San Biagio, in front of La Grotta

After lunch we headed into town for a leisurely stroll.

Market in the Piazza Grande

Well in the corner of the Piazza Grande

The view speaks for itself

Fall Food

Fall gets me in the mood for cooking, baking and all sorts of kitchen witchery. This past week I've baked, boiled, and stewed my way through several fall foods.

Around the time of the grape harvest here in Tuscany you can find a special focaccia called schiacciata con l'uva ( focaccia with grapes - schiacciata means flattened). It is made with small wine grapes, sugar and a pizza like base. You can find a good recipe here. 

Or a simpler way to make it would be to use some pizza dough, divided into two balls. Roll out the dough, place in a pan with some parchment underneath. Add most of the grapes (toss the grapes with the sugar first) and cover with the other layer of dough. Put the remaining grapes on top. Bake at 400°F for about 40 minutes.

The lovely wine grapes. (sorry they're a little blurry)

The sweet result.

I also made some applesauce from a recipe in The Barefoot Contessa cookbook, which has become my favorite.

6 pounds apples (get creative with the type)peeled, cored, and quartered

juice and zest from 1 lemon

juice and zest of 3 navel oranges

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 unsalted butter

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

Oven 350°F

Put the juice and zest in an enameled dutch oven. Add the apples, and the rest of the ingredients. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Mix with a whisk until smooth. Keeps for several weeks in fridge.

Can you smell the cinnamon?

 

Fall Decorating

Here lies the body of our Anna

Done to death by a banana.

It wasn't the fruit that laid her low

But the skin of the thing that made her go.

                                                 

grave in Enosburg, Vermont

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, except Christmas. Now that I've got a little one I have an excuse to really get into the spirit. I want her to grow up enjoying Halloween just as much as I did. Hard to do in a foreign country, but Italy seems to be adopting Halloween customs. 

In the ten years that I've been in Italy I've seen Halloween go from just another reason for adults to party at the discotech, to seeing actual trick-or-treaters! The children say "Dolcetto o scherzetto" inverting the words to say "Sweet(treat) or trick". The supermarkets sell carving pumpkins and face paint. It may be just another commercial invasion of american culture, but it sure puts a smile on my face. Besides, Halloween goes hand in hand with All Saints and All souls days.

The catholic holidays of Tutti Santi (All Saints) and Tutti Morti (All Souls) are celebrated on November 1st and 2nd, respectively, with the 1st being a national holiday. These holidays are similar to the Mexican Day of the Dead, having the same catholic origin. People visit the graves of their loved ones, bringing flowers and cleaning up the headstones. The mood is usually somber. The florists are always accused of ripping people off this time of year, and they probably do.

Console table in our foyer.

Fireplace in living room

Happy Birthday Baby!

Have you missed me? Things have been a bit hectic around here over the last week. There was a birthday party to plan and execute (Friday-Saturday); a christening party for Eleonora's twin cousins that we attended on Sunday afternoon plus more visiting cousins that evening; a routine checkup at the pediatrician Monday morning and yet another trip to Ikea in the afternoon; booster shots for my little gal Tuesday morning, even though she had a cold coming on; and to top it all off a fever of 101.5 on Wednesday! Probably a combination of the shots and the cold. Today she only has a slight fever, but her nose is pretty stuffed up. Poor thing...

Friday was Eleonora's first birthday, and we celebrated it at our home on Saturday. The preparation leading up to the big day was enough to keep me busy for the better part of a month. Planning, creating, cooking and baking; whew! I'm glad they only come around once a year. There are also 364 un-birthdays, but we'll leave that to the Mad Hatter and the March Hare.

A special tablecloth that I made (the cupcakes are iron on)

Eleonora wearing her birthday crown

Inspiration for the tablecloth came from Martha Stewart. The original idea has guests signing the tablecloth. I liked the idea of a keep sake tablecloth that can be used year after year, so I hand painted one with fabric paint and added iron-on cupcakes. I can always add more in the years to come. The birthday crown came from The Creative Family by Amanda Soule.

Onto the festivities!

The cake was a yellow butter cake with buttercream icing. The bug cupcakes came from Martha Stewart.