I went to the mountains this weekend with my boss and her family. They graciously let me stay with them in their home in the mountains. Their home is surrounded by mountains and makes for a wonderful view! It is very beautiful.
When we first arrived they took me through the town. The town is a quaint mountain town with its cobblestone roads and narrow medieval streets. The views of the surrounding area were breathtaking and of course the pictures don't do justice.
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| The town |
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| Views from town |
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| Their lovely house! |
We arrived at their house in the afternoon on Saturday. It was very cold about 10 degrees Celsius colder than in Acerra. Their house is situated away from many homes. It is private and secluded. It made for a great night's sleep! They have a large vegetable garden that was still harvesting many items when I was there. They were taking the green beans and tomatoes out because they knew the cold weather would be approaching and hurt the crops. I helped them pick green beans and tomatoes. They joked because I told them I never help my mom in her garden and here I was helping them! :) We ended up picking a lot of green beans that we ate some for dinner. Then there were a lot of green tomatoes and they showed me how to make green tomatoes. That evening, I helped cut up the tomatoes and take the seeds out. Then they added salt and left it over night. In the morning, they drained the salt and added some vinegar. A few hours later, they drained the vinegar and put the tomatoes in jars with olive oil, garlic, oregano and some chili pepper. They graciously let me take one home :) I can't wait to try them!
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| A section of the vegetable garden |
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| The herb garden |
On Sunday, we woke up and had the traditional Italian breakfast- Coffee, bread and Nutella. I love chocolate in the morning! :) Then we got ready to go to the market in town. There were many vendors although I am told that some were missing because of the cold weather. We went to the produce stand and got fresh produce. Then we went to the cheese stand and got fresh cheese. Of course, I had to sample some before buying and it was delicious! :) We passed by some linen stands, clothing stands, shoe stands before going into the meat store. We went into two meat stores and both times the butcher was a woman. I asked why because you would typically think of it being man. I was told that the men were on the farms running the farms so the women run the stores. Also, every place we went the people were very friendly.
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| The market in town |
After our shopping we returned home and put on more clothes (because it was cold out!) to go chestnut picking. When we were at the meat store, one lady said that there weren't any chestnuts yet and that it was too early. We decided to try anyways. We went only a few minutes drive from their house and stopped by the side of the road where there were chestnut trees in an open field. They told me that you have to only pick the chestnuts on the ground because those were ripe. The chestnut is covered by an outside pompom ball covered with needles. The only way to open them is to use your feet to separate the outer shell so you can get the chestnuts inside. Usually there are three chestnuts inside one pompom. We also wore gloves so we wouldn't get pricked. There were a good amount on the ground, apparently not as many as in the years past but enough so I can say I went chestnut picking! :) It was cold and I didn't have my winter coat so I had on five layers. I definitely wasn't going for the stylish look but I was warm! :)
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| Chestnuts |
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| Using your feet to open the outside shell |
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| A mushroom |
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| A chestnut tree |
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| Chestnuts on the tree |
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| Chestnuts when they open |
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| My dashing outfit! :) |
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| Acorns |
After we returned from chestnut picking we had the traditional Sunday large lunch! The antipasti was cheese, fig jam (the combination of cheese and jam is delicious), a smoked prosciutto called speck (not sure if I remembered that correctly), bread and spicy paste to spread on bread. Then we had the first course, wine and pasta with tomato sauce, onion, and pancetta (like bacon). We even used bread to clean our plates (scarpetta, I think)! For the second course we had roasted chicken with fresh herbs from the garden and salad from the garden. Then we had dried fruit (nuts) and fresh fruit. Followed by caffe (and/or liqueur (all homemade-licorice, lemoncello or walnut) and cookies. Everything was delicious! I was quite full!
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| The fire we had the entire weekend. It kept us nice and warm! |
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| The cheese, fig jam, and smoked prosciutto |
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| The antipasti |
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| First course. I was too busy eating to take pictures of the rest of the food! |
Before we left, I was given fresh herbs from the garden. During the car ride home, I kept smelling rosemary! I was given rosemary, oregano, thyme, sage and parsley. I think I am pretty set now on herbs. I was feeling a little scattered trying to cook with just salt and pepper, now I feel at home! :)
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| Thyme |
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| Oregano |
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| Sage |
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| Parsley |
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| Rosemary |
I had a wonderful weekend and I want to thank my gracious hosts for everything! It was perfect! :)
