Little Italy 26

[Rosa]

Siamo qui ... Ciao a tutti !

Well your traditional recipes have inspired me Rosa-I cook a big risotto every week for my sister's lunches-and I try to keep things 'authentic'

I am going to look out for the Piedmont staples I was taught,and the southern things I learnt to keep family-I-L happy

Re the convent and the goats-we used to visit most days to get the cheese-from warm from the teat to stinky mcstinkimisso and ready to walk

Franca my polenta is always a bit hit or miss

*stinkyissimo?

Mmmmm I love stinkyissimi cheeses!

Serious envy for your kenwood chef rosa. At the end the polpettone was actually very nice, the lasagne quite nice, even if the ragu wasn't the tastier ragù in the world.

I thought I had cooked for an army, but the fridge is empty again. grrrr.

Yes, Sans, the polenta can be hit and miss. Here you can find ready made polenta which is ok, if you then fry it (with eggs is amazing) or put it in the oven with lots of cheeses.

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who has trouble with polenta! I never seem to get it quite right.

As for cheese I have to agree. I'm fairly sure I've eaten some new life forms in my time, to judge by the smell, and I love them all. When I went to Arezzo in the summer I bought a whole load of Italian cheeses to bring back with me too in a freezer sack. We should arrange an exchange: I'll post you some top quality traditional feta (flavour is no comparison to the relatively bland FAGE stuff they sell in shops in Italy), and you can post me some dolcelatte, because NOWHERE sells it here. Deal??

Done! I adore Feta.

You would like the feta I get at home, Franca, I get it from a local family run dairy, and they bring it over on the boat from the island of Samothraki, just opposite Alexandroupoli. It's the best I've ever tasted, and believe me, I have tried lots of fetas in all the years I've lived in Greece!

Pass on the cheese. I like it but not the smell !!! I like Brie or Camembert , Pecorino has to have pepper or something on it to drown the smell. Keep me away from blue cheese . Dh can only cope with mozzarella!!
As for Polenta nobody likes it in my house so I don't bother. They might eat the white stuff possibly when out but rarely.

We are back in fog again here after a nice day yesterday !

Alex, it sounds delicious, and I love the fact that it comes by boat. I love cheese, any kind, the stinkier the better for me.

Rosa, still sunny and mild here. How's dd1 doing, is she in a better mood?

The farmer who lives next to MIL makes the most amazing stinky cheese. If you ask really nicely he lets you in the shed... oh it's heaven!

I love going round a proper cheese 'farm'-those wheels of the hard stuff

I wish that I had taken up photography earlier to have the image of the trestle table at the convent -from the hour old pats of goatcheese through the gradations of colour to the rank orangey bark-like delicacy

Glad I am not the only person who has a 'wobble' with polenta

Love proper Feta and proper mozzarella and pecorino

Wish I had a Dutch friend who could smuggle that cheese with cumin seeds though

Feel inspired to make some focaccia tomorrow-you are all making me feel inspired to cook old favourites again

My neighbour brought a bunch of herbs from her mums garden on the mainland, had no idea what some were . They are sitting on the boiler ( the only possible dryish place here then I plan to chop finely and do a foccacia as well....a la kenwood obviously!!!
Dd1 in tears as her sleepover with friends has been cancelled due to the birthday girl having pidocchi...and her sister and mamma. Sensible mom has postponed for a week. Poor dd she waso looking forward to it. Now hoping weather holds so will take her out tom. Minirosa has a party this afternoon and she kindly said dd1 could come !!!!

My sister grows the most amazing Rosemary[she is a Rosey in RL!]-and her lovely garden backs onto a big bus garage

Hope your little dd1 is consoled-minirosa is very kind

Focaccia was a success and also risotto con i piselli

Praying for sun for the domani!

Oh no the dreaded pidocchi! I was about to say I am so glad that part of my life is over, but then I remembered bambina

I am furious at DS's girlfriend, she has decided that he has to learn to iron!

Mmmmm the focaccias sound divine, mil makes it with sage and it's yummie.
I hope dd1 is feeling a bit better now, I hate head lice, last summer we found it very difficult to get rid of those living in ds' hair.

It's a glorious day here, it's hard to believe it's going to snow next week. My mood is def better when it's sunny

I have calmed down now Oh dear.

We were told the snow was coming here today, but it's really clear now.

We were told to expect snow (!) too, but we haven't seen as much as one flake. Oh well.

What's pidocchi?

We have also had lice problems. I have taken drastic measures and rinsed the children's hair with spirits, and it seems to have done the job!

Pidocchi - headlice ... Well we made up for it by doing the presepie di sabbia and a chinese for lunch!!
Today it is due to be bad but at the mo it is cold witha slight wind so i have changed the sheets in hope that i get them dry. have to blitz the house today ...so best be getting on with it instead if coffee and MN!!!

Annunziata !

Freezing here, I am successfully avoiding going out even if i really need to hit the supermarket.

been out and done mine..... ( smirk / smile !)

Annu if its any consolation I taught Dh to iron !!!

I have decided I'll go in the afternoon, while the children have their english lesson.

One of dh's flatmates in London used to iron only the colletti of his shirts to save time

I was actually crying, I was so upset. And then I woke up on Sunday morning and thought, really Nunzia, come on, this is what people talk about with suocere.... anyway, he is now doing his own ironing...

DS4 and DD2 had maths exams this afternoon, I am hoping they went alright. DD2 especially, she is not a natural!

I hope the exams went well, Nunzia.

Anytime the dc ask me to help them with their math home works I break into a sweat .

Oh me too! Thankfully I am not asked any more! DS1 and DD2 do horrendous stuff to get through their degrees, 50 mark questions and things

DS is quite confident, he said the last question was the only one he really got stuck on. DD said it was alright and she wrote down something for each question. English tomorrow.... And this is just the mocks!

I have all this homework helping to look forward to. Yippee!

At the moment, DH looks over the children's homework, because it's all basic stuff and it's in Greek (I only speak to the children in English, which is an excuse I intend to use for several more years yet!!)

But I do teach the older two to read and write in English. We had a little bit of confusion at first with a couple of letters that coincide with the Greek alphabet but are used differently, but they soon got the hang of it. Reading, however, is a tricky business in English when you are being taught phonetic reading in Greek, and I mean really phonetic, not "oh, it works for some words", like in English.

All the best for the exams, Annunziata!

My ds struggled to learn to read in english when we were in the uk, but i think he was too young.
Once he learnt to read in italian he was ok to read in english too, though he resists it!