We went to the market again this week to buy food for lunches and dinners. I found a really nice sweater and skirt for only six euros combined. I wore them both on our walk to Pitigliano you will see later. The markets are best for buying fish and cheese, but also clothing.
Our dinner at Carla’s was amazing. We had a fish and prawn soup with several sides, that was followed by eight cheeses, and of course lots of their wine. We also had some grappa and cognac to end our meal. Other than I kingcup several suggestions as to so e of e better places to visit around the area, we also met Carla’s daughter Francesca, who……… just finished being an exchange student in Columbia, MD!!!!!!!!!! She had not only been to the inner harbor and several other Baltimore spots, but had actually vacationed in Ocean City with her host family. She spoke fluent english and we had a wonderful time with her.
Note: while we have been in Italy we have met a fair amount of people who we are somehow connected to in one way or another. At the olive press the other day there were some people there for a tour. Their daughter works at the Four Seasons in Baltimore and we knew who she was! We have also run into some of the people we have wwoofed with after we were all done at those farms. Also Gijon’s uncle is a professor at Salisbury Univeristy, and he attended college near where Isaac grew up.
We have settled into our new home, and plan to stay here for a little over a month with a small break soon. We have our own apartment next to the main house. The cats and dogs are always wandering around. We have decided that Zenzaro (italian for ginger) is our cat. He sleeps in our house every night now and sometimes comes in when it is raining. The other 7 cats are named Lucretzia, Kanella (cinnamon), Meggy (nutmeg), Gilda, Muton, Smokey, and 37 or Trente Sette. The dogs are named Gastone, France, and Bella.
Today was our first fay off so we traveled to colle val d’elsa. First Dante and Helena treated us to coffee at a cute outdoor cafe. Then we walked though the town and ended up in the market. After the market we went to the grocery store. At the market we purchased fresh meats and cheeses, as well as, gnocchi, bread, and squash blossoms. We will be preparing most of this tonight for Drew’s last supper.
We only worked a half day in the vineyard yesterday, and then had a very special lunch. Luis entertained us for a while as we prepared pâté, and chicken wrapped in pancetta. After lunch we worked in the cellar for a while opening a emptying bottles to add to the grapes we had picked that day because there just weren’t enough to reach the right level. For dinner we ate pasta with a Gorgonzola walnut pesto sauce, as well as cheese, bread and figs. Tonight’s dinner is going to be even more special because it is Drew’s last night and we are making it ourselves.
Today was our first day picking grapes. We worked for a few hours and then had a lunch of fried polenta with Gorgonzola, spaghetti with rosemary tomatoe sauce, and bread. We ended our meal with coffee and cookies as well. After lunch we traveled back to the vineyard and picked more grapes. We are harvesting Sangiovese grapes, and should be finished after tomorrow morning. Because of the weather we will most likely have a half day of work tomorrow with no work on Friday. Tonight for dinner we tasted the Colombaia Toscano Rosso, and ate fresh figs wrapped with prosciutto and Gorgonzola for our antipasti. Our dinner was pumpkin soup pured over top some Italian bread. We finished our meal with more figs.
EO: Emily's Occurrences 