Bleeding Espresso

You don’t have to take me on a trip around the world to make me happy; an afternoon in the garden with my P and my pooches will do just fine thankyouverymuch.

You’ve seen the girls playing in the greenery, and well they weren’t the only ones to enjoy the day. P was, for the most part, working, but I was busy snapping photos.

Some of my sexy worker bee, here with some sort of ghost hovering:

Admiring his work:

Taking a rest:

Giving Luna petties:

And then he begged me to stop:

But not before I got one of the two of us (minus some of his head–oops!):

Happy Love Thursday everyone!

I wish you many carefree afternoons with your loved ones.

P.S. I suppose the secret is out by now that I really don’t wear makeup all that often. Hope you’re not offended. Although it’s a bit catty and not at all in the Love Thursday spirit to point you to photos of celebrities without makeup, I’m doing it anyway: Caught without makeup. Enjoy!

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Let’s hear it for pears!

I got a plate of ‘em from a neighbor, so I went looking for a way to enjoy these lovelies instead of just eating them one after another after another, etc.

So I found this recipe for Pear, raisin and gorgonzola salad, and when I saw there were pecans involved too, I knew this would be the base of this week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday recipe. Be sure to check out all participants at Shan’s Tales from the Fairy Blogmother!

I know. My fellow expats in Italy are thinking, “Now where did she find pecans?!”

The answer is “in my mailbox!”–a gift from the lovely Litlequeen. I’ve been rationing them for months.

By the by, if you don’t have or don’t like pecans, you can substitute your favorite nut, of course.

Now, this is a salad for those of you who enjoy nuts and fruits mixed in with your greens–unlike P who will only eat lettuce, olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt (not even with tomato!) and call it a side dish. Whatev.

I just used whatever lettuce I had in the fridge, but this would be great with spinach and/or arugula/rocket as well. Also feel free to experiment with the fruit–dried cranberries would go fabulously but I was too lazy to dig out the bag my mom sent me. Yes, I’m very spoiled.

I haven’t included measurements for the salad as I’ve left you room to play with the ingredients to suit your tastes.

More lettuce for you? Have at it! Crazy for raisins? Pour ‘em in!

Aren’t salads fun?!

If you look at the recipe I based this dish on, you’ll see I made quite a few adjustments. Most notably, I didn’t caramelize the pecans. I figure if I’m trying to be healthy and eat a salad, why throw in extra sugar and butter (as much as I love them, and I do)? But if you’d like to, check out the directions on the recipe page.

Another note is that I invented my own dressing; I didn’t have the orange the recipe called for so I just scrapped the whole dressing recipe as written. I hope you’ll feel free to experiment as well. There are lots of great vinaigrette recipes out there, but since they revolve around similar ingredients, one day when you’re feeling adventurous, come up with your own and then come back here and share it, OK?

Now, the recipe.

Pear, Gorgonzola and Pecan salad
with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

For salad:

• Salad greens of your choice
• Pears, washed, sliced in half and cored
• Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
• Raisins
• Pecans

For dressing*:

• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt to taste

* This makes enough dressing for about 2-3 salads depending on personal taste and the size of the salads.

1. In a small bowl, mix together lemon and honey until honey is dissolved.

2. Stir in vinegar, then oil, and adjust for salt and other ingredients.

3. If making individual salad plates (recommended), assemble as shown in the photos with pear sliced in half lengthwise and cored placed in the middle of the plate–or any way you like really. It’s your salad!

4. Be sure to brush the pear slices/halves with lemon juice so they don’t brown before serving.

5. I would also recommend serving the dressing on the side at the table but that’s personal preference. If you’re adding it to the plates, serve immediately so things don’t get soggy.

Buon appetito!

What’s your favorite/signature salad?

And if you have a favorite pear recipe, please share in the comments!

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Continuing on with answering questions, I’ve grouped together ones that address how I got to Italy, what I miss and whether I see myself moving back to the United States.

First, I’ll talk about how I got here for Sparky Duck of Philly Transplant, Chel of Chasing Contentment and Stefanie of Stefanie Says (who asked how I got to *this* village specifically).

I’ve written about my decision to move to Italy in You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello, and I’m not sure I can do better than that, so I’ll direct you there. The short answer to how ended up here is basically that I wanted to come, but I do hope you’ll read my more thought-out response by clicking on the above link.

How I ended up in this particular village is more fully addressed in House of Violets, which explores the many signs that I received from the universe telling me I was on the right path by moving here. As you might imagine from the post title, violets were involved.

Both of these posts, by the way, are some of my favorites that I’ve written, so please do check them out if you have some time.

Oh, and Chel also wanted to know where I grew up in the States. The answer is that I’m a proud coal cracker from the heart of the Anthracite Coal Region in Pennsylvania, which you can read more about at CoalRegion.com.

Someday I’ll tell you all about cruisin’ Shamokin, working at Knoebels Amusement Resort (the K is *not* silent) and our own version of Friday Night Lights over some Vitamin Y if you like der butt.

And if you think I came halfway around the world and *didn’t* bring a few pieces of anthracite with me in a mini coal bucket, holy cripes, you’re crazy in the head!

Now, Thotlady and Paul of Crazy Like Whoa would like to know about missing the States. Thotlady wrote “I am sure you get homesick for family and familiarity. But do you ‘deep down’ miss the states?” whereas Paul is looking for something more specific that I miss.

To put this in perspective, I’ve been living in Italy for nearly five years (my anniversary is at the end of August), but don’t hate me, Americans: I really don’t miss the States.

As Thotlady said, I definitely miss family and also friends and being able to spend physical time with the people I love (especially my niece and nephew) but there is nothing really intrinsic about life in those United States that I miss.

Perhaps a few years ago, I might’ve said something about the differences in bureaucracy, 24-hour stores, certain fast food, but really? Eh. Life is what you make of it no matter where you are, and I’m really, truly happy here. I don’t spend too much time thinking about “But in the US…” because it’s not helpful to anyone–least of all to me. I’m not saying Italy is perfect by any means (talk to me when I have to wait in line to pay a bill at the post office!) but I’ve learned to love my adopted country, wrinkles and all.

That said, you know what I do kind of miss, Paul, that falls outside the family and friends category?

Waking up on a gorgeous, sunny (humidity-free–it could happen!) Philadelphia weekend morning in my quaint (rented) row home that I *loved*, walking up to the corner for a *big* (maybe flavored) coffee and powdered (Tastykake) donuts and then going home and settling in to read a huge Inky from cover to cover. And then doing the crossword puzzle.

I also miss going to Phillies games. And walking around the Italian Market. And spending hours in the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Borders.

So yes, there are *some* specific, uniquely USian experiences that I still do miss, or at least Philadelphian ones.

I suppose it’d also be nice to have the choice to flit to NYC, Boston or DC for the weekend as well, but Rome, Florence and Sicily aren’t shabby options either.

And finally, NYC/Caribbean Ragazza, herself a recent transplant to the Bel Paese, asked whether I see myself moving back at some point.

Only if dragged kicking and screaming to the plane, cara.

I know, mai dire mai (never say never) but I *can* say that I’m staying put for the foreseeable future. Italy definitely isn’t the place for everyone, but it certainly is for me. How do I know that? Cheesy though it may be, I feel it deep within my very core, and I’ve felt it from the first time I set foot in Calabria in 2002.

And I’m smart enough not to argue with my core.

Thanks for reading!

Be sure to come back next Monday for more answers to readers’ questions!

Have something you want answered? Ask in the comments!

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Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

I sure did. I took off Friday as well and played all weekend long–with P, with the pooches, with the blog (notice the slightly different look? Feedreader peeps come on over!) and with some social networking sites. Ooh and I also read lots of Paulo Coelho. Love him!

Anyway, last week I asked you to ask me some questions, and once again, you’ve come up with some great ones, particularly about my feelings about settling here. I’m working on the answers to those too, but today I’m addressing the question of Jen of a2eatwrite:

What do your DOGS like best about living in Italy?

For those who don’t know Luna and Stella, you might want to check out their memes. Yes, my dogs do memes:

Getting to Know Luna

Stellaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Now the girls have talked it over, and they’ve decided that the best part of living in Italy is definitely hanging out with their Papà in the garden. What’s that? You want photographic evidence?

The girls love the open space in the garden where they can play:

And dig:

And chase things:

And drink from the hose, sort of (they’re afraid of it on its own):

And generally nose around the place:

But sometimes they just like to sit and look pretty:

And finally, after a hard afternoon’s play, it’s time to rest:

And just hang out with Papà.

See lots more photos of my babies in my Luna & Stella Flickr set!

So animal caretakers,
what do your little one(s) like best about where they live?

And how did you enjoy the weekend?

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A while back, Pumpkin at From my Swiss window wrote about how she washed a cell phone because she forgot to double check her husband’s jeans before throwing them in the washing machine. I agree with her, by the way, that the boys are taking their fate into their own hands by not cleaning out their pockets first.

Anyway, it reminded me of how just two days after P *finally* went down to the comune to get his new carta d’identita (Italian ID card) we had a little accident here ourselves:

Our ID cards are only paper, you see, so when washed, the ink from the writing on the left side *will* bleed onto the photo on the right. Just in case you wondered.

OOPS!

What’s your biggest or latest OOPS?

Please share in the comments and make me feel less like Steve Urkel!

Buon weekend!

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