Life...Italian Style

4th of July at Basilikó!!!

4 LUGLIO - INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

GIORNO DELL'INDIPENDENZA AMERICANA

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ANTIPASTI A STELLE E STRISCE

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HAMBURGER DI CHIANINA

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APPLE PIE

(TORTA DI MELA)

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€20 a persona

escluse bevande

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Se volete mangiare all'aperto nel vicolo

affrettatevi a prenotare!!!

 

Vi aspettiamo numerosi!!!

 

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Jennifer e Cristiana

Michael Jackson Tribute tonight at Basilikó!

• My favorite Michael Jackson moments:
• Billie Jean
• watching MTV for hours and hours waiting for the Thriller video
• dancing to all of his music for as long as I can remember

Becoming Cannarese....

Cannara, originally uploaded by jennifer mcilvaine.

Cannara:
"Welcome to the land where the nature smiles at you and the traditions have a heart."

What one needs to live in Cannara:

• a love of onions
• a love of flowers
• no need to sleep in on Sunday morning (the church bells start pretty early)
• a bicycle
• a chair to set out in front of your house
• the knowledge of every move every neighbor makes...
• no need for wireless internet :-(
• no need for great cell phone coverage....CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW???  MI SENTI???
• an old car, preferably an old Fiat Panda  - lucky me!

♫ TANTI AUGURI A ME ♫

The Countdown...

the view - rooftops of Cannara, originally uploaded by jennifer mcilvaine.

....6 more days and this will be our view of "downtown" Cannara.....I cannot wait !!!!!!!!!!!!

Will Oldham/ Bonnie Prince Billy is eating at Basilikó tonight!!!!

I can't believe someone I like is actually playing in Foligno - I'd better watch out for flying pigs.....

Libera-azione - il 25 aprile a Foligno!

Happy Italian 4th of July!

Today is Italian liberation day and there is a festival in Foligno in collaboration with Libera Terra, the anti-mafia group that also makes organic pasta....and preserved eggplant....!

Here's a link to the program in Foligno today: http://www.arciperugia.it/?p=436

VINITALY 2009

Sunday and Monday I was in Verona for my third annual VinItaly trip.  By chance I spent almost the entire day Sunday this year tasting wine from Abruzzo.  I had been going around with my friend Alessandro (also Abruzzese), so we really had been having fun talking with all of the people from the different wineries and hearing their stories. Needless to say, after all of these new aquaintances I had made (and with our plans to spend Easter in Lanciano, Abruzzo),  I was especially saddened by the news of the earthquake Monday morning - they and their families are in my thoughts everyday....

The tastings started out a little rough, as Ale wasn't exactly dressed for the part (this event is geared towards buyers and distributors), and none of the cantinas wanted to waste their time or wine on us... however we soon found out that my lovely american accent was music to their ears...and things changed....  There was much less of an American presence this year at the fair, much to the dismay of the producers trying to sell their wines oversees, so as soon as I asked to try something, business card in hand, they embraced us with open arms....and open bottles..... I loathe the fact that most Italians think that all Americans are rich, and convincing them otherwise is all but useless... but I have to admit, it worked to my advantage.   Next year I'm just going to make things easier for everyone and wear a Prada t-shirt that says:  Yes, I am American and I own a restaurant in Italy!

Favorites this year:
Cantina Pasetti:  Pasetti Pecorino I.G.T,  Terre di Chieti
                              Testarossa Rosso Montepulciano D.O.C. - this is a really original wine, un vino unico, and its inspired by the redheads in the family (testarossa), so of course its excellent!
Cantina Emidio Pepe:  all organic wines, and all excellent - I had a Trebbiano that was amazing,     and a desgutazione of different vintages of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo ranging from 2005 to 1982! (the 1982 bottle is when it comes in handy to be an american  who owns a restaurant in italy....)
Cantina del Glicine:  found these guys at the end of my tasting so my judgement could be a little fuzzy, but they definately win the award for best labels - all hand drawn and some with cats!  I liked:
                                     Il Mandolo, Roero Arneis
                                     La Sconsolata Barbera d'Alba
                                     Grappa di Arneis
Domenis Distilleria:  Storica Nera grappa - its a classic!

 

Is it Spring yet???

enough for dinner, originally uploaded by jennifer mcilvaine.

It was raining all last week, and now it will rain again for the next 3 days, but yesterday was really nice (until 8:00 when it started raining..)  so I went into the hills to try to find some wild asparagus.  Last year people were finding asparagus in February, but this year the seasons are respecting themselves, and February was wintery, March came in like a lamb, and went out like a  lion, and April is at least starting with the showers.  Great for the environment, but bad for those of us who are impatient for warm weather and spring veggies...
Here in Umbria wild asparagus (and the wild fennel) are always the first true sign of spring, because they don't pop up until the ground starts to thaw.  The best place to find them is in the unkempt olive groves covering the hills, the more natural and "weedy" they are, the better.   In fact the spiny weed that drives you nuts when harvesting olives (because it catches and tears the nets) is the signal for exactly where to find the asparagus.  Besides in the hollows of the olives trees, this weed, or herbaccia, likes to grow out of rock groupings, always on the steepest part of the hills.  While this makes it easier to find the asparagus, its also a little more dangerous because the rocks are home to vipers and bats.  If you ever see a viper, run like hell, because from what I hear, they bite without hesitation.   Other warnings......don't leave your stuff around....I left my jacket hanging on a tree because it was hot, and luckily I came back to it just in time as an old woman was about to carry it away.   She talked my ear off for 20 minutes about everything that had ever been stolen from every person she knows, and how she wouldn't want that to happen to happen to her because everything comes back to you....I guess with the story she earned the change she nabbed out of my pocket...poveraccia......