Cucina Siciliana

     On Tuesday, I had the special opportunity to learn how to prepare a traditional Sicilian Easter meal at a cooking class. I thought it would be exciting to use the recipes I learned for our family's Easter meal as a special treat for Matt and Christopher. In the span of three hours, we learned how to make eight typical Sicilian dishes using fresh, local ingredients and techniques and tools that are standard in a Sicilian kitchen. One of my favorite side stories that our instructor, Flavia, shared was how her family members argued over who would inherit the tool she used to rice the potatoes. I really liked the multipurpose knife we used for everything from cutting pastry to dicing pears, and I learned some tips for using a pastry tube for both side dishes and desserts. 

     At the end of class, we were able to sample all of the recipes that we prepared which was a nice way to celebrate our work. The menu included:

 Sausage-stuffed plums

Uova ripiene (Sicilian filled eggs)

Spinach and ricotta mini pies

Pasta in a box

Scallopine with limone

Duchesse potatoes

Chocolate eggs with caramelized pears and cream

Cassata mousse with Grand Marnier

Learning how use a pastry tube to make duchesse potatoes.
 

 

Our instructor, Flavia (right), works with her assistant to dip the filled eggs in bread crumbs.

Sausage-stuffed plums, spinach-ricotta pies, Sicilian filled eggs

Scallopini and duchesse potatoes

The Fantastic Fiat 500!

      When we woke up on Saturday, we could tell it was going to be a beautiful day. The sun was warm and shining, the breeze was cool and it was starting to feel like spring. It was a perfect day to spend outside, so Christopher and I decided to visit the auto show sponsored by the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society. The show featured rows and rows of colorful Fiat 500s - the tiny, but iconic car that is ubiquitous in Italy. We were there early enough to watch a stream of 500s cruise in, honking their horns and parking so as to best display their shiny paint and body work.
       Fiat 500s were manufactured in Italy from 1957-1975 to meet the need for an economic city-driving car in the post-war European market. They were immensely popular in Italy and across Europe during their production, and are now a prized collector's car for enthusiasts and restoration projects. Many of the Fiats exhibited at the show are owned by members of the Belpasso-Catania Fiat 500 Club and several were owned by service members from the Sigonella community.
    

How does your garden grow?

Sprouts!

    

      Last summer,  Christopher became fascinated with the bees traveling around the abundance of clover in his grandma's backyard. We talked about how they were collecting nectar to take back to their hive and make honey. Coincidentally when we took him to a children's nature program at the Canaan Valley Nature Center, the theme of the day was pollination and he learned more about bees and other pollinators and their role in the plant life cycle. 

     His interest in how things grow has been further peaked by the orange tree in our backyard and the fields of crops stretched in every direction of our Sicilian horizon. We've watched the fields plowed and prepared for planting, green sprouts raising from the soil and flourishing into leafy giants, and workers harvesting the crops to take to market. Every car ride has been a discussion on the progress of the agriculture around us. 

        When I was younger, I remember following my Grandpa out into his large garden and orchard (and treat of treats watching him tend to his beehive from a safe distance). He took time to show us the seeds and how tended with care they became plants and finally the food my grandmother prepared for our dinner. I loved to help in the garden, wearing playclothes and digging, planting and watering the crops. That's why when I saw this: Root Vue Farm, I thought Christopher might enjoy growing his own plants and it would let him have some hands on experience to go with his observations. 

          The farm was easy to assemble and has a viewing window in the front that can be revealed so that we can monitor the progress of the roots as well as the leaves growing through the top of the soil. After I the farm was set up, I let an eager Christopher take charge. We read the instructions together and then I read them again as he completed each step. Once our carrot, onion and radish seeds were planted, we labeled them with their Italian names on small stakes and put the garden in our kitchen window. 
     At first, Christopher wanted to check the viewing window every few minutes to see if there were roots. Eventually he caught on that the progress wouldn't be that quick, and now we check each morning and each night before we go upstairs for bed. On the fourth day, we were treated to tiny green radish sprouts. Now, all three types of vegetables are sprouting and it is Christopher's daily task to make sure the water reservoir does not get dry. 

     

Counting out the soil discs

  Measuring the water so the discs can soak and expand.

 

 Transferring the prepared soil to his viewing garden.
 

 Time for a little clean-up before the next step.

Planting radishes, carrots and onions in a neat row.

 Some books we have been reading about plants.

Seeing Sicily: Caltagirone

 The famous tiled stairs in Caltagirone - I'll save climbing them for another day :)

   A few Saturdays ago, my friends Allison and Anna picked me up for a fun morning of shopping in Caltagirone. World famous for its majolica and terra cotta pottery, Caltagirone actually means "hill of vases" in Arabic. The town center is filled with ceramic workshops and boutiques selling tableware as well as decorative items painted with bright, beautiful patterns. Anna and I were in luck because Caltagirone is one of Allison's favorite towns and she was very knowledgeable about which shops offered the finest quality for the best price. I found a gorgeous and unique serving set as well as a few gifts, and can't wait to return to with Matt to show him some of the intricate landscapes of Sicily and Mt. Etna painted on tiles in several shops. After filling our bags and lugging them back to Allison's prime parking spot (another advantage of having an in-the-know guide), we headed to one of Anna's island finds - an agriturismo in a cave near the mountain top town of Vizzini for a delicious and relaxing lunch.

Rosy di Natale of Le Ceramiche di Rosy. She is the ceramicist of the shop where I bought my first piece of Caltagirone pottery. She wanted a picture of the piece before it left the shop and I asked if I could snap one of her, too.
 

Upstairs workshop at Silva Ceramica. Most of the shop proprietors were eager to show us examples of the ceramics process or photo albums of their best work. At Silva, a lady showed us a photo album of her project tiling the Dolce and Gabbana showroom in Manhattan (Dolce is a native of Sicily).

 

At Silva Ceramica, they even let us pose for a photo opportunity in the workshop. Here, Allison paints under the watchful eye of one of their ceramicists.

 

My favorite experience of the day was sorting through the stacks of hand-painted tiles at Silva Ceramica. What started as lifting a piece here and there quickly turned into a team project of methodically looking through each stack of tiles to find treasures that coordinated with each other. "Artistes!" exclaimed the amused proprietor.

 

When it comes to driving in Sicily, there is NEVER` a dull moment. This is a view through the back window of a dried mudslide obstructing 2/3 of the road. Faced with any obstacle, our fearless driver Allison would proclaim "Don't worry. I've got this." Showing her true Sicilian driving skill, she also informed us midway through a series of downhill S-turns that the car was in neutral.

 

It really isn't a drive through the Sicilian countryside unless you encounter animals in the road. This fine billy had some impressive horns.

 

Our delicious and artistic semifreddo dessert at an agriturismo near Vizzini - the perfect way to celebrate a successful afternoon adventure!

'Tis the Season

 Gorgeous doorway garland

     Are you feeling the Christmas spirit? I've taken a break in blogging to enjoy some of the holiday activities here and also to concentrate on a major endeavor in baking. Last week, I baked over 14 dozen cookies - for my annual cookies and cocoa party, for neighbors, for chapel caroling, for Matt's work and for two guys in our house that just love gingerbread!

      I'll resume the final posts from our trip next week, but for now, I thought I might post some pictures of the beautiful Christmas decorations we found in Salzburg and Munich. It seemed that every nook and cranny held some holiday cheer. Enjoy!

 

 Pretzels!

 Wooden ornaments at the Salzburg Christkindlmarkt

 

 Nativity at Festung Hohensalzburg

 Tree and garlands in the stairwell of Stiegl-keller

 

 Chandelier garland at Schneider in Munich

 Froliche Weinachten from Schneider :)

 Handcarved wooden nativity at Munich Christkindlmarkt (would not fit budget or in suitcase)

 

 Gluhwein stand in Munich. The best way to keep warm while Christmas shopping!

 

Christopher with a festive roadster at the BMW Welt, Munich.

Salzburg: Festung Hohensalzburg

View of the fortress from Old Town

     A visit to Salzburg would not have been complete without a trip up the Festungberg to visit the Hohensalzburg Fortress. The fortress can be reached by a funicular railway or a long, steep staircase that leads up the mountain. We took the funicular, which has been operating for hundreds of years in various forms (horse to hi-tech), since the cobblestone was a little slippery from recent snowfall and I think we were all excited by the idea of just zipping up the mountainside and enjoying the view. And the views are amazing! On one side, you are able to overlook Salzburg from the domes and spires of the Old Town churches, across to Schloss Mirabell and the gardens and further to the train station. On the other side of the fortress, the outskirts of Salzburg stretch across a long flatland until they reach the magnificent mountains that border Austria and Germany. 

      After we took in these sweeping views, we headed inside for an audio-guided tour of the fortress interior. The fortress was built in 1077 as a stronghold for the archbishops of Salzburg. It was originally a small structure, but each archbishop added onto the fortress for the next several centuries. One of our favorite stories from the audio guide was about an archbishop whose uncle did not think he would amount to much when he was a child. The uncle threw a turnip at his head to "knock some sense into him" and once he became archbishop he adopted the turnip as his official symbol and incorporated it into his coat of arms. Throughout the rest of the tour, we hunted for the turnip symbol in doorways and on shields throughout the fortress.

A view of Old Town from the fortress walls

On the other side of the fortress, countryside gives way to the Alps. Coincidentally, I used to have views of this mountain from my bedroom window at the pension where I stayed during my semester abroad.

Within the fortress walls

Wood paneled interior room where the archibishops ruled over Salzburg.

 

Listening intently to his special children's audioguide.

Salzburg: That Mozart Guy

Statue of Mozart in Mozartplatz, Old Town

 

 

Mozart's Birthplace on Getriedgasse

 

Mozart's family also lived in this home on Markartplatz in New Town

 

Christopher's favorite Mozart. He wanted to see the "moving statue" every day.

 

Monument for Mozart's wife, Constanze, and other family members in St. Sebastian's Cemetery. Mozart was buried, as was custom, in a common grave in Vienna.

 

Memorial arcade at St. Sebastian's Cemetery. It was recreated at a soundstage for the escape scene in Sound of Music.

Salzburg: Essen und Trinken

 Augustinerbrau

     I noticed that when several of my friends were sharing their favorite things in Salzburg, different foods were often at the top of the list. I know that when we were planning our trip, I kept saying to Matt "and we can do this and then go here to eat this." Austrian cuisine is pretty fantastic. It has many similarities to German food and in Salzburg, the nearby Bavarian influence is strong. There is a lot of meat, potatoes and dumplings of various shapes and consistencies. I consider it comfort food for its savoury flavors, warmth and ability to keep your tummy full and happy for a long time. And if you still have room, Austrian desserts are confections straight from heaven.

      Early on in our visit, I gave Matt a quick rundown of what to expect and how to pick something from the extensive menus. My advice to Matt was that you can never go wrong with Austrian soups or gravy. Some of our favorite dishes that we tried were wienerschnitzel (veal) with a mushroom gravy and curried rice, venison stew with potatoes and wild boar schnitzel (melted in our mouths without the least bit of gaminess). Our favorite soups were a creamy pumpkin and a clear broth with dumplings. At our frequent cafe stops to warm up and take a break between activities, we savored fruit and cheese strudels, layered cakes and strong, dark, Austrian coffee.

Christopher gets his first taste of Apfelstrudel from Cafe Tomaselli.

Coffee and pastry at Cafe Tomaselli

Known as a "new-fangled, Viennese-style cafe" when it opened, Cafe Tomaselli was a favorite of Mozart's wife, Constanze.

Food vendor's hall at Augustinerbrau

Pretzels, kasekrainer (cheese filled sausage) and pommes frites at Augustiner.

Prost! Toasting our Augustiner mugs of apple juice and beer.

Stiegl - home of a Salzburg beer and a great place to warm up after a chilly morning touring the fortress.

Plate of meats, cheeses and relishes at Stiegl-Keller.