Monte Bondone

Hi, everyone!

I just got back from a ski trip at Monte Bondone, near Trento.

My hotel room was €417 (about $470 at current exchange rates). This was the morning view from my balcony:








I know, I know, it is the Dolomites and all, but $470? Even for a ski resort that is a bit steep.

Except that wasn't the nightly rate: that was five nights. 150 meters from the lifts. Including a 4-day ski pass. And breakfast. And a four course meal every night.

OK, it is a small resort with only four lifts, but everyone in the town knows each other and the guests by name and I managed to have plenty of fun.

I also improved a lot, partly thanks to challenging snow conditions (I hit a week of perfectly sunny skies and therefore icy snow) and partly due to lessons. It is easy to take a lot of lessons when a two-hour private session is €68.

Michael

It's a crock!

I have been coveting an earthenware crock for cooking in the fireplace, but Michael wasn't sure that it was a "necessary" purchase.

So the last time he was out of town, I made stewed apples using the fireplace (a day we grilled pork chops, yum!)...in my normal pot. Which would be fine; the apples were certainly delicious! However, I must admit that the plastic handle on the pot lid didn't fare all that well.

Voilà! We need a crock, right???

Michael and I went to the housewares store to purchase this item. Tonight's dinner: Indian.

Veggies in the back of the fireplace

Naan rising in the front of the fireplace

Tandoori turkey

Veggies!

I forgot to take the picture until I'd had a few bites!

We tried cooking the naan on the bricks, but the grill worked best.

Oh, and the housewares store ALSO had a new lid handle for us, so we were able to repair the damage.

Love,

Alexandra

p.s. Concert tonight at Montesanto!

The start of a new season

Of swimming of course! On Sunday, we had our first meet. It went really well, at least as far as I'm concerned. Mummy was going to take me, but then, at the last minute she remembered that her car was at the spa. No problem, I managed to hitch a ride with Elena, at 9:30 from Pantalla, so promptly at 9:00 I drove off on my motorino.
When we got to Bastia, where we were having the meet, we immediately met up with some of our teammates, and decided to go change. In the changing room, we happened to pass by… our science teacher. Two of her nephews are on the team, and she also has some younger kids who swim on a different team. I love having connections outside of school.
We've redesigned our swimsuits and shirts so that they are completely nondescript; a grey T-shirt, a black swimsuit with an orange logo on the chest, and an orange swim cap. Oh well- at least the swimsuits aren't see-through.
The warm up was a complete disaster like it always is, and they had decided to switch around the order of events- all the girls went in one chunk for each event then all the boys. I did very well. I brought home three medals- one for each race; although to be fair one of them was chance and the medal for the relay was not due to my particular merit. But I DID earn the third place medal for IM.
It was really fun.
Ciao,
Florence

Samuele Biscotti and Lorenzo Rancini.
Lorenzo Rancini didn't actually win this medal, but he received it because Alessandro, who won it, had disappeared.

Medals for the IM

One of the younger relay teams- the 14-15 group: Veronica, Lorenzo, Sofia and Federico.

Elena, getting her medal for breaststroke 

Medals for backstroke.
I have a stripe across my belly because I naturally fold my arms, so that happens all the time at the meets. It is even more noticeable with the light grey shirt.

Twelfth Night

Getting ready

Rappelling off the Palazzo Comunale

Yesterday was Epiphany, which means the Befana. Here in Italy, there is a myth that an old lady failed to recognize the Christ child and give him gifts. She has regretted it ever since and continues to search every Christmas season, giving gifts to all children on Epiphany. As a result, an outdoor drama is played out during the evening in piazzas all over the country: a fireman dressed as an old lady (actually multiple players) pops in and out of windows, rappels off the parapets, etc. until he/she finally glides on a zip line across the piazza...generally playing the buffoon as he goes. Sweets are often thrown as part of the festivities.

Since it is still winter, for us it is evening by 5:30 and really dark at 6. The festivities were to start at 5:30 (meaning, as it turned out, 6:30). It was every bit as comic as I remembered from last year, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

We had been invited to dine with a lovely family I've met recently: Ann and James. They live in England but have owned a house here for 10 years and come throughout the year, thanks to cheap flights! We hadn't met their children prior to this visit, and it happened that twelfth night was the best night for us to have dinner with them.

They pulled out all the stops; they had been ill as a family over Christmas, so they had put all the traditional Christmas fare in cold storage, had canceled their usual party in England, and had brought the goodies to share with us! Last night we were treated to smoked salmon, British ham, an amazing roast, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, fennel, cabbage, and (mmm) gravy. For dessert, Ann had made a delicious Christmas cake, iced with marzipan and then rolled fondant, along with a ripe brie.

Along with eating, we had a regular abdominal workout: constant laughter throughout the room. 

And, sadly, the Christmas season is now officially behind us. At some point this week I will need to think about pulling down the Christmas tree, putting the presepi away, and getting back to workaday mode. The kids are back in school today for the first time, my in-laws left this morning, and we have only a few days more with Eleanor.

Still...real life isn't so bad, either!

Love,

Alexandra

Culinary time travel

I had often read of "toasted cheese" in books set in the 19th century, and had always wondered what that was and how it could work. Michael and I had thought it might refer to a method of softening a cheese rind enough to make it palatable.

Enquiring minds wanted to know, so Google to the rescue.

It turns out that toasted cheese is (surprisingly) made with a softer cheese...like a cheddar...and the process is much like roasting marshmallows.

Sounded like a plan to me.

Jeremy the inventor came up with my toasting fork. I came up with the cheese (brought from England the last time I went), and away we went.

Check it out:

Fork attachment for long handle

Nice smoky fire

Rosemary flatbread prepared

Loaded fork

In progress

Lump o' gold

The end result is a creamy (texture), smoky (flavor) lump of deliciousness. It would have been better gooey all through, perhaps, but then it would have all been in the fire. In other words, a lump of toasted cheese in the mouth is better than a stream of goo in the fire.

Love,

Alexandra

Cookie Chaos

When we were in the US, for several years we hosted a cookie baking open house. We baked cookies the entire day, ordered pizza for lunch, and had a grand time (after which I collapsed).

The kids thought about hosting one last year and never got organized, so I decided to make it happen this year. We invited fewer people, since our space is a bit more limited, but had every bit as much fun.

In the end, I think we made 8 varieties of cookies and ended up giving away most of our products: score!

Love,

Alexandra

Welcome to Gwydion, our Guinea Pig!

It all started when I went to the vet today. Faith was due for her shots, and so I took Rose as well just for fun.

Since the kids had noticed a possible prolapse in her nether regions, I asked the vet just to have a quick look since we were there.

"Congratulations! It's a boy!" The imputed prolapse was, in fact, ahem.

After much hilarity about possible new names ("Bab" (pronounced Bob) short for "Shish Kebab", "porco", and others), we settled on Gwydion.

Welcome to our new old guinea pig!

Love,

Alexandra