Archive for the ‘life in calabria’ Category
Recipe: Bollito di Manzo
I don’t know how you normally make stews and soups, but I’m used to chopping things up into bite-sized pieces. Not with bollito! All you need to do is peel and clean everything and put it in a pot with water for a couple hours. Seriously, can it get any easier?
Read on...as california burns, calabria asks what the hail?
Over the weekend, as we were thinking about those caught in the line of wildfires in California, here in Calabria we also had some nasty weather. Quite ironically, ours came in the form of torrential downpours.
And so, right around noon on Saturday, thunder and lightning meant that we unplugged everything electric.
But the hail? Well that meant it was time for the camera:
P said he’d never seen anything like this in his nearly 30 years, as perhaps you can tell from his excitement in the video. Here’s where the video left off:
Stay safe, my friends.*
*Gah! I can’t stop saying it!
love thursday: bringing home the bacon
You know that saying about bringing home the bacon*?
Well, in Calabria that often happens quite literally.
Here is my amore holding the leg of a certain swine, parts of which were later marinated in red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, and rosemary, and then grilled. Yum!
Who could ask for more in a man?
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
Note that Love Thursday is now back at its original Chookooloonks home. Yay!
P.S. The history of this phrase from About.com Guide to Home Cooking: “In the twelfth century, a church in the English town of Dunmow promised a side of bacon to any married man who could swear before the congregation and God that he had not quarreled with his wife for a year and a day. A husband who could bring home the bacon was held in high esteem by the community for his forebearance.”
love thursday: autumn love blooms
Even in Calabria we have falling leaves and some gorgeous autumn colors (albeit later in the season), but not everything is dying off right now.
This little group of hearts blooms along the path I walk several times a day with the pooches:
And they make me smile every time.
What makes you smile each and every time you see it (or him or her)?
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
Autumn in Southern Italy Means Pomegranates
Do you like pomegranates?
Do you remember the first time you struggled with the intricate webbing and seeds?
The first time the juice ran all over the place, staining everything in its path–the tablecloth, your chin, your fingers?
I don’t remember it either, but luckily every October brings another chance for me to relive it.
No matter how many pomegranates I’ve eaten, the first one of the season always takes me back to being a child, just trying to figure out how to eat the thing without making a huge mess in the process.
I still haven’t mastered it, but that’s OK. It sure is fun trying.
Please share your pomegranate tales (and recipes)!
Buon weekend!
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
Calabria Guidebook
Recipes
