by

A Sicilian surprise at Grant’s Farm in Missouri

Grants farm 4 (1024x576)You never know where the Italian south is going to show up.

My daughter and her husband planned a family outing when I visited them this month near St. Louis, Missouri. Grant’s Farm looked like a family-friendly place that their toddler daughter would enjoy, and the history of the place appealed to the adults.

The property was given to Ulysses S. Grant by his wife’s parents when they married, and their cabin, built in 1855, is still on the property. Grant also built an interesting fence from Civil War rifle barrels. In 1907, August Busch bought the property and developed it as a family getaway in the style of the rich and famous. As the fortunes of Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company rose, the Busch family developed world class riding stables, and gathered exotic animals. The friends they hosted loved the place so much, eventually the family decided to open part of it to the public.

Since the day we visited was rainy (to put it mildly) we were glad to browse the Bauernhof, a building where several horses were stabled. Trophy cases filled with blue ribbons and silver engraved plates and bowls reflected the Busch family’s horsemanship. Another wing held their collection of carriages, wagons, and sleighs–dozens of horse-drawn vehicles.Grants farm 2 (823x1024)

And there I found the unexpected, the Sicilian surprise: A beautiful pair of Sicilian wedding carts dating from the 1700s. Traditionally pulled by donkeys, the carts were the smallest vehicles in the collection. I hope my photos give you a glimpse of the Sicilian history they represent. One is for the bride and one for the groom. The detailed carving and bright color stood in high contrast to the gleaming black carriages and bright red Budweiser wagon nearby!Grants farm 1Grants farm 6 (865x1024)Grants farm 5 (741x1024)

Advertisement
by

New world record from Molise?

Snow in Capracotta. Image from the Capracotta.com website, which also provides ski information in three languages.

Snow in Capracotta. Image from the Capracotta.com website, which also provides ski information in three languages.

We rarely hear from Molise, that region southeast of Abruzzo, northwest of Puglia. Molise extends from the mountains of central Italy to the Adriatic coast. But a village in Molise made international news today, boasting a world record snowfall of more than 100 inches–in just 18 hours! Take a look here. 

The village of Capracotta (translation: cooked goat. Hmmm.) is in ski country, so winter snow is common. But their recent snowfall was out of the ordinary, even for them! Check out this webcam for an image of Piazza Falconi.

9 Recipes to Celebrate Carnevale
by

9 Recipes to Celebrate Carnevale

I have to admit, I never thought about the translation of the word “Carnevale”! But ‘farewell to meat’ makes sense, as that was the tradition for centuries. Here are some ideas from the Sons of Italy blog for celebrating Carnevale!

Sons of Italy Blog

It’s Carnevale! Carnevale, translated from Latin as “farewell to meat,”  is celebrated in the days leading up to the season of Lent. Since meat was once forbidden during the entirety of Lent, people would celebrate and feast extravagantly beforehand.

To celebrate #MangiaMonday and Martedì Grasso (Fat Tuesday) tomorrow, we are serving up Nine Recipes to Celebrate Carnevale! Buon appetito!

1. Galani di Carnevale
This is a typical Venetian sweet treat! 

galaniRecipe: Hotel Mediterraneo

2. Sweet Ravioli with Ricotta
A new twist on a traditional favorite!

lazio_ravioli_dolci_con_ricotta__mg_8418-7Recipe: Academia Barilla

3. Castagnole
This treat goes by many different regional names. Shaped like a chestnut with a soft interior, this dessert is one to try!

hd450x300Recipe: Giallozafferano

4. Ricotta Gnocchi
This easy-to-make recipe will have you asking for seconds!

canada-gnocchi-xlRecipe: Delish

5. Pignoccata
This dessert and Carnevale tradition hails from Palermo.

324-ingaglia-pignoccata-pignolataRecipe: Cooking with Nonna

6. Pasticcio di Maccheroni
Another easy dinner from chef…

View original post 101 more words

by

Abruzzo’s gift that keeps on giving

Glenn and I with Piero at the Cantina di Biffi in Sulmona. Note bottle of Montepulciano d'Abruzzo on the table.

Glenn and I with Piero at the Cantina di Biffi in Sulmona. Note bottle of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo on the table.

We drank a lot of wine in Italy. Italian wine. Big mouthfilling reds and crisp Calabrian whites. But one of the most lasting wine pleasures we discovered was Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, a wine I had never heard of before spending a few weeks in Abruzzo.

So last week my brother, Glenn, forwarded me an email from a wine store, touting “a true gem of a wine” in Fantini’s 2012 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. The email claims a wine score of 90 for it, though my online research turns up 85 or 87. Am I concerned? Naaa. I’m gonna go look for some of this, which is available from several places at about $10 a bottle, and I’m gonna bring it home, and I’m gonna cook up some pasta with sauce that includes zucchini (because I am overloaded with it right now). Then I’ll pour a couple of big red glasses of that stuff.

I’ll be wishing my brother was here to enjoy it, like we did in Sulmona in 2004 at the Cantina di Biffi. Montepulciano d’Abruzzo has become my go-to red since then.

Readers, please share your best Italian wine experience in the comments. What made it special?

by

Destination weddings, Italian style

Wedding in Catania, "Carrozza in Piazza Duomo" by Giovanni dall'Orto (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Wedding in Catania, “Carrozza in Piazza Duomo” by Giovanni dall’Orto (photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Does the Villa Caesar Augustus on Capri sound like your ideal wedding venue? Maybe you are more inclined to exchange vows on the Lovers’ Walk  along the Amalfi Coast. Or take a few of your friends on an antique sailboat and tie the knot on the water. Destination weddings in Italy come in all shapes and sizes.

Commercial wedding organizers are prepared to help you plan a wedding just about anywhere in the Italian South. (No doubt the north, too, but that is somebody else’s blog!) Here are some examples:

A 1950s Italian wedding.

A 1950s Italian wedding.

Sicily: A seventeenth century baroque castle near Taormina offers garden weddings for up to 250 guests, with on-site catering and hotel rooms for about 50 people. Enjoy music and dancing ’til dawn.

Calabria: A medieval chapel attached to a nineteenth century luxury residence near Cosenza, with religious ceremonies available in the chapel or civil ceremonies in other parts of the venue.

Basilicata: A masseria, or large farmhouse, in the hills, has been converted to a beautiful wedding venue with lots of privacy, and a more informal environment.

Apulia: Need space for 800 of your closest friends? Get married on the beach at Monopoli. The club has a private beach and restaurant–with parking for 500 cars.

Campania: Romantic to the core, Sorrento offers numerous wedding venues, and the possibility of a religious wedding inside the medieval cloisters in the historic center of town. Stunning views of the Gulf of Naples and Vesuvius.

A wedding in Amalfi. © Jorge Royan / http://www.royan.com.ar / CC-BY-SA-3.0

A wedding in Amalfi. © Jorge Royan / http://www.royan.com.ar / CC-BY-SA-3.0

Abruzzo: In a castle near Chieti, you can host your reception dinner in the cantina, the castle’s winemaking cellar, surrounded by enormous wooden casks. The castle sits among grapevines on a hillside above the Adriatic Sea.

One Italian wedding website, Slow Dreams, has an especially helpful page on legal factors involved with marrying in Italy. A Google search for ‘wedding venues in Italy’ turned up nearly three million hits–you won’t have any trouble finding a wedding planner to help you. If you have accomplished the first step–finding your lifelong partner–see what Italy has to offer for your perfect wedding.

by

Timpano–the big drum of baked pasta!

If you saw the movie The Big Night which I reviewed last week, then you’ve seen timpano, an Italian dish I had never heard of before watching the film. I tried to buy the cookbook written by actor Stanley Tucci’s mother but it is out of print, so I’ll be scouring for a used copy. In the meantime, I find that the internet is full of recipes for timpano, and I’m going to share some links with you to find them.

I have never made this dish. I now live in a household of two, and making a six-quart baked pasta is a little intimidating, not to mention the complexity of the dish. Have you made it? Is a smaller version possible? I have to admit, we do have a pretty big gathering for Christmas and I think this may be our next Christmas or Christmas eve dinner!

Here are some links to recipes:

There is one in Los Angeles Magazine online.

And another with a video tutorial! from Coco’s Italian Market.

This one from Epicurian is made in a 10″ or 12″ springform pan, but from the list of filling ingredients, I don’t know how it could fit in that size pan.

And here’s another adaptation, just for the fun of it–with lots of good photos of the construction process. And it’s a little smaller, so maybe I’ll try it for a dinner with some friends.

by

Movie Review: The Big Night

big night movieDo you enjoy hearing a little Italian when you watch a movie? Me too! And that’s one of the things I really enjoyed while watching The Big Night. Though it takes place in America, many conversations between Italian characters are in Italian (with subtitles). This 1996 movie has a great cast–Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub, Minnie Driver, Isabella Rossellini, Ian Holm, Allison Janney–and the acting is great.

An Italian restaurant, run by two immigrant brothers, is on the brink of failure. One big night could change their fortunes–and they throw everything into it. Although not every aspect of the characters is adequately explained, they are realistically flawed characters and I found myself rooting for their successes and wincing at their failures.

This is a wonderful “foodie movie” and if you have ever been comatose over too much wonderful Italian food, this will bring back all the memories.

The Big Night is available on Netflix, so pour yourself a glass of wine and trade the popcorn for some bruschetta. After you’ve watched, tell me what you think of it.