Cherry Pie, American Thighs, etc...

I actually baked a cherry pie!  cannot believe it.  am a multi-talented genius.  FL will be so impressed, cannot wait for him to come home.  perhaps had better slip over to the store and grab a little tub of vanilla gelato to top it all off. 

Cooked down the cherries with sugar, brandy, ginger and cinnamon.

Last night I made tortellini soup, which is my no. 2 comfort food (white rice cooked in chicken broth and topped with a huge pat of butter being no. 1) and delicious even when it is sweltering hot outside.  FL had to take his shirt off halfway through the meal, we were both sweating bullets.  so yummy though.  we moved a giant rotating fan into our bedroom, and have been camped out there the past couple of nights, watching movies and chewing on ice cubes.  It keep threatening to storm, but alas- nothing gives.

the garden is lush and returning to it's naturally wild state, which i find romantic.  It takes so much energy and time just tending to the flower beds and the vegetable garden that we've neglected to mow the lawn or trim hedges for a couple of weeks now.  The sweet, gentle flowers like lillies and camillias have almost stopped blooming.  It's just too damned hot, but the roses are going strong.  also, FL bought me a lovely little gardenia bush which i cherish.  it has one pretty white flower right now, and the perfume fills the air.  I am keeping it moist in the sunshine, pamper pamper.

FLs mother presented me with a suitcase full of clothes for me to go through.  I was instructed to chose what I wanted and she said she'd give the rest to charity.  Really beautiful things from the 80's, nice italian designers, some simple house dresses, a lovely silk skirt, some bathing suits (80's bathingsuits are definitely time pieces).  was surprised they fit me, as she is the size of a pencil, but most of everything works very well.  perhaps clothes expand with age. 

am so very ready to part for sicily.  am going to bring a giant bag of cherries and a couple of bottles of wine for the ladies.

Throwing a little dinner party tomorrow for a few friends.  found a recipe for stuffed grilled squid on a wonderful blog from a lady in veneto (http://turosdolci.wordpress.com/2010/05/30/little-grilled-things-grilled-stuffed-calamaretti/), who has a collection of yummy italian recipes.  hopefully this relentless heat will let up and let in some oft breezes.  garden dining is so much more pleasant that way.

Ugh.  Is so hot.  Just attempted to make a rather heroic journey down to the bottom of the garden to bring up the wheelbarrow, and had to take a break.  Our sweet kitty (whom I have named Nana due to her sugary, incessant babbling) was lying in the shade under the cherry tree, and I thought that sounded like the best idea I'd heard all day.  

What to do with all of these glorious cherries??  My mother has sent me the recipe of a friend, whom she says make the best cherry pie she's ever had.  I'll have to scrounge up a pie tin.  Baking is not my forte (roasting is a much easier oven-based activity), so we'll see how it goes.  I believe that one in my life I made a really killer apple pie, and then decorated it with sugar-coated violets and cinnamon swirls.  Washed down with whiskey, accompanied by a sharp cheddar cheese...I don't know if goodness comes in any greater form.  If the pie doesn't work out, the original plan was just to pack them all into mason jars and top them with grappa.  Let them sit like that for a few months, and whoo, what a treat!

This is one of the kitties.  He lost his ear somehow, and I think it makes him look tuff.

The leg of wild boar, by the way, was wonderful.  I think FL was really very impressed with self.  Braised it, as I said, with cherries, wild strawberries and chocolate, and then served it over polenta.  It wasn't dry at all, which I think was a benefit of the brine.  Tonight I'm going to roast a chicken and some potatoes, make a big, fresh salad and slice up some yummy Montasio cheese.  A note about Montasio:  it is a cows milk cheese made here in Friuli, up in the mountains in Carnia.  When aged 5 or 6 months, it has a sweet, firm yet milky taste, with just the right amount of bite.  It melts fabulously and is really wonderful for snacking.  I say this because I know that it can be found at Harry's/Whole Foods, and I recommend picking some up the next time yall are there.

Saturday I leave for Sicily, and it couldn't come at a better time.  So looking forward to a week in the gorgeous sun, hanging out with my wonderful Aunt Cindy and her friends.  Will bring my deck of cards to teach them Briscola, and will be sure and cook lots of yummy dinners and impress them all as expert guide and translator.

FL's mother gifted us an entire leg of wild boar, and I've been wracking my brain for 3 days trying to figure out how to cook it.  I brined it last night in red wine vinegar, salt and sugar, and added cloves, cinnamon and tart cherries from our garden, which we have in spades.  Thinking of rubbing some pepper and chocolate on it, then braising it tonight, slowly, with red wine, juniper berries, wild cherries and strawberries.  served over polenta, with some roasted root vegetables on the side.  i told FL he can invite a friend over to eat if that friend brings a bottle of red wine to share.  i'm thinking something from Piemonte, or Tuscany, something earthy and whimsical...

i meant to write more those days i was in Alto Adige, but I was usually so exhausted at the end of the day that it took all of me to not just cram my mouth full of sweet, smoky speck and crawl in bed and sleep at 8pm.  The work was tough, but rather meditative, and I felt as though I were floating through a dream most of the time.  The family was so dear, and so kind, and a really wonderful girl from Berlin showed up after a few days.  A couple of mornings we took horse rides at dawn, walking the gorgeous ponies up the steep mountain slopes, our eyes blinded by the rising sun shining on the snow-capped mountains across the valley.  At another time I feel like I could have just settled down and learned a little german and hid out from the world for a couple of months...but i wanted to go home!  I missed FL and our little life, I missed our garden and watching things bloom, new flowers and fruit buds and the bright green tips of the pines.  It was a wonderful feeling, really, and after a week in Sudtirol I took my leave.  The family was gracious about it and said they'd miss me, that I was welcome back anytime.  I sure hope I make it back some day.

As for now things are running smoothly.  the trees are full of cherries and the grass is covered in strawberries.  we hung pretty pictures and planted some vegetables and herbs.  Two of my good friends from athens are gonna pop in for a visit this week, which is unbelievably exciting.  There's a huge festival this weekend in Cormons, Viarte, where all the houses on Mt. Quarin open their door and throw parties, with food, music, drink, games, etc.  People start at the bottom and make their way up the mountains, stopping in here and there.  At the top there's a big bonfire, and from what I remember 2 years ago it gets rather rowdy.  Glad I'll have some wild athens girl company for this one.

and in less than 2 weeks:  SICILY!!!