Two weeks in Italy - what lies beneath (and around)

Casa Pietra is a lovely, traditional old Abruzzan farmhouse. When its owners, Robert and Marcia, bought it, it had not been occupied for 40 years, and it has taken them four years to get it to its present lovely and more functional state in which it comprises an apartment and a villa, both of which are available to rent. It is still a work in progress, although this did not intrude upon our holiday there. In the past, farmers would accomodate their livestock in the basement of their home, and I believe there are plans to turn these previous animal quarters into another small apartment. With the lovely stone walls and arched ceilings, there would be loads of atmosphere and character in such a transformation.

The house is on an unpaved road in an agricultural valley and National Park woodlands (where hunting is forbidden) within easy reach of several villages and the town of Atessa. I never tired of the view of the town across the valley, which changed constantly according to the time of day and weather conditions. The surroundings are glorious.

Again, Atessa.

To the south-east.

Across the road.

I love this hill and the colours here.

Two weeks in Italy - A visit to Pescara

Another day, another view of the town and a new sky over Atessa. Such a peaceful place to be, just the chugging of a tractor tilling the fields around us and the odd bird call. The driver of the tractor had a great technique: he would drive up the hill (whichever he was working that day) and then plough down to the bottom, using gravity to help him.

We needed to find an internet connection for academic reasons, and the Web is not yet a large part of rural life in this part of the world, so we decided to go off in search of an internet cafe. One of the larger towns in our region of Chieti seemed a good idea, so we set off for Lanciano, with Pescara as back up. We had managed to lay our hands on a guide book to the region and the author, Luciano di Grigorio, waxed lyrical about the shopping in Pescara. We'd not really gotback into the swing of the siesta habit, so while Lanciano was a very lovely town, it was also very closed when we got there. We decided to return another day, and drove on to Pescara, on the coast and where the nearest airport to Casa Pietra in located (with flights from Stansted, not so useful for us West Country folks).

I was actually very underwhelmed by the shops of Pescara, though I must admit that my limited range for walking did get in the way of a determined shop crawl. We managed to find an air-conditioned cafe in which to eat a very welcome late lunch and rehydrate ourselves. Then an internet connection was sought and eventually found in an internet cafe - there is a road containing several near to the railway station. The necessary academic material was duly downloaded onto a memory stick, and we were free to see some sights.

The Piazza Italia was a pretty urban breathing space, with its fountain and trees, by the Provincial Library and Offices, and we managed to find some parking there for a while.

 

Unfortunately the clouds gathered and it began to rain: a showery day.

We decided to return home along the coast road, the SS16.  This coastal area is known as the Costa Dei Trabocchi for the wooden fishing huts on stilts which can be seen.  The clouds were also creating some amazing skies:-

We decided to stop at one of the Fish Restaurants along the road for supper, but it was hard to spot them before we had gone past them, so we had travelled down to Fossacesia before we found the one we dined in, Ristorante Il Pescatore.  It was delicious, although it was hard to choose for the one of us who does not like fish.  The seafood was so fresh and delicious and the prawns could be eaten, shells and all.  I'm glad to say that they also served the semifreddo di torrone, for which I had developed a bit of a taste.

Then it was back to Casa Pietro, ready for our beds.

Real Travels: Two weeks in Italy

I have just had the shock of my life, to see it is more than two months since I last posted here. Summer has (more or less) happened, Autumn whispers in the wings. For two weeks we made our (very much last-minute) escape to a corner of paradise in the south of the Abruzzo region in Italy and, no, I had not heard of it previously, either... Or to be more truthful, it had not lodged in my memory, for Abruzzo is the region in which one finds L'Aquila, badly hit by an earthquake last year. L'Aquila is in the north west of the region and we were staying in the south east, near the hill-top town of Atessa.

 

I found the house to rent on the internet and we flew to Rome from Bristol, then hired a car to drive across Italy to the east coast, boggling at the first hill-top towns we passed.  Gradually it dawned that these are far from unique as we crossed the Appenines.  Our sat-nav did not cope well with finding the address of the farmhouse, so we found ourselves in town (Atessa) where some local men tried to come to our assistance.  They knew of "Robert and his 4 bambini" but didn't know where he lived, so we phoned him and rendez-voused outside the town hospital around the corner, as suggested by our Italian Knights in shining armour.  Robert (and the 4 bambini) met us successfully and guided us down the unpaved road to the house.  He showed us around, then guided us back to town so we could eat, in the lovely restaurant "Al Duka", where my offspring fell upon their pizza meal with great enjoyment and I ate a steak before rejoicing in a torrone semi-freddo dessert.  We found our way back to the Casa Pietra and slept well, to wake up to this view (above) of the town.
 

 

And this was the view in one direction from the house terrace.  It was a lovely, sunny day and so warm, too.  Now it was Monday morning and we had no food for breakfast, so it seemed best to head out to explore and shop.  We actually did our shopping in the nearby village of St Luca, where they had a supermercado, Conad, which had a fabulous stock of goodies.  Then we went back to Atessa...

 

This is the first bit of the town we would come to, opposite a modern piazza with water feature which topped off a multi-storey car park.  There was a nice cafe behind the signpost on the right, where we enjoyed liquid refreshment a number of times.

 

Through a narrow alleyway, between an excellent gelateria and a delicatessen, there was another piazza. backed by an ornate war memorial.  I noticed the forgotten but familiar hard stare of local people which initially seems a little hostile.  It isn't, though.  Smile and say "Buorngiorno" and you receive a friendly response.  I can't recall where I first came across this subtle difference of behaviour - but I did remember not to get paranoid!

There is no escaping that the town is atop a hill - everthing slopes either up or down!

Not surpringly, I experienced architectural echoes of both Venice and Florence despite the differences.

And there was evidence that this was once a walled town, with gated access - or possibly two walled towns, now joined together by the slaying of a dragon by the redoubtable local saint, S. Leucio.

But the rugged countryside is never far away in this region, even by the modern town library:-

Outside the  library was where we found this modern homage to the squid.

Medieval and modern lie almost side by side in Atessa.

And always more steps to climb, another corner to turn to discover another secret place.

At the top of the road opens another piazza, the church basking in the sunshine.

At the top of the hill was also a palazzo, its open door and arched hallway inviting the curious (me!).

While its windows were ornately barred.

So, back down the hill to this quatrefoiled building, which would not look out of place in Venice.

The street lights came on

And the sun set on the first full day of our holiday.

Where does time fly to?

Some time has admittedly gone in reading a totally delightful book, Wildwood by Roger Deakin. Is was a slow but intensely pleasurable read (I can rip through a novel in less than a day very often). I would have started it over again had it not needed to return to the library, but I have my own copy on order because it is the perfect bedside companion with so many wonderful tales and anecdotes that can be visited and revisited over and over. How sad that the author died soon after completing it.

I tried to order some more of his books from the library, but I wasn't allowed. I've made it a habit to try and order books from the library as a way of previewing and auditioning to see what should be added to my bookshelves, but the computer said no. Today I visited my local branch library and was told it was because I owed too much money and I could not even borrow any books until I paid up! This was not owing to overdue loan fines, but the fact I had so many books on order, so I had to hand over a sizeable amount of dosh "on account" for books I've requested in order to be allowed to take some which had arrived home with me. Luckily, I found this quite funny and I could manage to find the money to do it. It's those interlibrary loan requests - they do add up!

I've found another way of enjoying books without adding to the bookshelves - and it's not another electronic device, either, because I like to curl up with my paper tomes. I visited Silverpebble's lovely blog and learned of her Pass the Book giveaway. I am reluctant to mention it here really, because I really would like to win, but doing so gives me more potential to succeed, so, swings and roundabouts!



A sign of the passage of time is the arthritis whch is giving me a bit of a hard time at the moment, especially affecting my dominant hand, my right hip and giving me a tailor's bunion and cyst on my right foot. It's a literal pain, but at least it seems right to relax and read as much as possible.

And I'm taking time to smell the roses - and the sweet peas!

This is not a food blog -

but you'd be forgiven for beginning to wonder! I blame my daughter for my current experiment, as she discovered a recipe she thought I might enjoy trying.

One of the problems with a gluten free diet is bread. Purchased bread that is also gluten free is usually costly and often not very good. Some resembles madeira cake more than bread and is so spongy it is hard to swallow, others turn to crumbs if you look at them, which is a costly way of making breadcrumbs. Genius is the best I've come across and I feel churlish saying this, but it tends to have over-large air holes which make the slices fall apart, and also it comes in white or brown only - I long for something with a bit more substance and fibre.

I have tried making my own bread and, again, have had some success after a lot of testing and perseverence. We bought a (Panasonic) breadmaker and a number of books. I tried using gram flour (chick peas). The best ready flour mix I have found is made by Glebe Farm Seeded Brown Bread Mix. The snag with this is that the breadmaker paddle leaves a big hole in the bottom which makes the slices of bread fragile (as does the lack of gluten), but I should try to make the dough in the machine and then bake it in the oven. It requires the addition of egg or egg substitute to make it work, so it does not taste altogether authentic, either.

Spelt is a primitive form of wheat and I can tolerate it fairly well (I'm not coeliac). My daughter forwarded this recipe for Three-minute Spelt Bread from the Guardian's blog post on making wholemeal bread, and the idea of quick natural bread mde it seem worth giving a go. The rest of the Blog entry is really interesting and gave me some further ideas to pursue.

I used a mix of 400g wholemeal spelt to 100g white spelt flour. I mixed the dough with my Kenwood Chef mixer. The dough was quite wet and did not form a clump, so I decided I might as well also use the idea of cooking in a well-oiled cast-iron casserole (it is suggested that the trapped moisture encourages rising). So, I oiled my casserole and used a spatula to transfer the dough therein, and proceeded to bake as instructed having placed the lid on the casserole.



The oven has a bread baking setting, so I used that, and left everything alone for an hour.



The loaf looked wonderful when I took the lid off the casserole, and had risen somewhat more than the photograph suggests.



However, the oiling of the casserole was not sufficent lubrication to allow an easy release of the baked loaf and I had to dig it out, leaving most of the bottom crust behind. The flavour, however, is wonderful.

I need to try some further variations on this theme, but oh! The pleasure of eating bread that tastles like bread is a great joy indeed.

Scotch Eggs

I have been eating a gluten-free diet for some time now, and I am fairly well-adjusted to it, but from time to time I really miss something from my wheaten days. At the end of last month, my eldest daughter celebrated her birthday with a trip to Bristol Zoo, and my younger daughter picked up a Scotch Egg as part of her lunch for the occasion. I felt very envious, but decided I needed to find a way of making them that did not involve wheat or gluten and preferably baked rather than fried - deep fat frying is just not a way of cooking I am equipped or desire to use.

Where would we be without the internet? So many recipes to choose from! I referred to this and this. I bought minced pork from the butcher, and processed it with sage, thyme, ground cloves and black pepper while my free-range hard-boiled eggs were cooling and shelled. Now I know how to make my own, rusk-free, sausage meat for Christmas stuffing! I divided my meat into six portions, one for each egg, and made a sort of egg-sized dip in a portion before moulding it around the egg. Once the six eggs were all enrobed in meat, I blitzed three slices of gluten-free bread into breadcrumbs, and beat another egg. The eggs were first rolled in the egg, then in the breadcrumbs. I sprayed oil onto a baking sheet and put the eggs onto it before giving them a little oil spritz and placing them in the preheated oven.

The result:-



Really delicious they were, too, with salads, for all the family. Definitely another recipe to keep and repeat.

Elderflower Cordial

I have been playing at being a Domestic Goddess again. Yesterday I managed to find some accessible off-road elderflowers, plus citric acid, granulated sugar and fresh lemons in the local village shops. Syrup was made, lemons had their zest peeled off and were then sliced and steeped overnight in the syrup with the elderflower heads and citric acid.

Today I found clip-top bottles at the hardware shop in the next village and now the cordial is bottled up. A tip - if you are sterilizing your bottles by washing them well, then sterilizing in a warm oven, remove the clip tops first. I found out the messy way that the caps are no longer ceramic, but plastic. Luckily more bottles were available.

Loads of recipes exist on the internet - I used this one as a basis but deviated a little in quantitites. It tastes wonderful and I'm looking forward to finding ways of using it - it's wonderful with gin on the rocks! Now I feel like exploring more elderflower recipes - but first need to gather more blossoms. Anyone got any spare?



This photo was taken using flash and the colour is a bit more truthful, but I loved the light and contrast of the previous one, with only natural light.

It looks as it it will be a good year for blackberries, too.



The bramble bushes are absolutely smothered in buds - I've never seen the like before. Definitely worth a return visit later in the year!

Summery Supper - Salad Days

This week's warmer weather has caused us to make a transition to summery salad suppers, and I've been trying to think of different dishes to add to the salady bits to make a meal. Yesterday we had smoked mackerel fillets, which were delicious. I fancied a quiche today, so hit Google to find a gluten free recipe, as I've not yet found a very successful pastry crust method. This recipe caught my eye, as we have Polenta in the larder, so I gave it a go. The polenta crust was delicious, although I had to vary the method of making a little: I ended up kneading it into place in the quiche tin, pressing it out into a smooth layer before blind baking whilst making the filling. I would definitely repeat this recipe soon.



For some reason I cannot get this photo into landscape format, the quiche seems determined to be a half-moon!

I also made some muffins from the wonderful Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook: Maple and Pecan, again gluten free. They don't look like the ones in the book, but they taste excellent. I don't often bake because I really don't need the calories, but once in a while it's good to practice methods and try out some recipes. I enjoy the occasional cakey treat, too.

A little of what you fancy does you good!

Blue Skies and Armchair Travels

At the moment, when I leave the house by the kitchen door to go to the garden, this is what I see and smell: the glorious wisteria growing in next-door's garden and arching over the path beside the study. It is so glorious a combination, the two shades of blue in flower and sky and the subtle,heady, sweet scent as you pass below the plant.

We have been thinking a lot about summer adventures and travels, and what we can do for a holiday this year. It seems harder to plan than usual. For starters, the ash cloud effects on flying cannot be ignored, and neither can the parlous economic state of the country and its local effects on all of us.

Then there are the limitations I am experiencing due to health problems, which sap my energy so severely and also are causing extreme pain when I walk the shoert distances I can manage.

At present we can fly from our local airport to New York, but that service will be ended soon, and part of me feels we should try to take advantage of it while it is there. I've been looking around the internet but its so hard to find out information about accessible travel. So can anyone tell me how accessible New York is? I'm not confined to a wheelchair although I have the use of one, but I do use two walking sticks or a rollator walking frame with integral seat. Any advice, suggestions or comments would be ever so gratefully received. When I think of New York I think of busy traffic, the subway (which I don't use in the UK due to the amount of walking involved to get to it), yellow taxis (are they costly?)...

What are must-sees?

Then there's the rest of the world! I yearn to return to Venice, and to go to Turkey/Istanbul and to Granada in Spain, but I'm missing Greece and open to other suggestions. Am I spoiled for choice? Maybe. Over the past few years we've tended to take self-catering properties which are more family-friendly and flexible. I'd love to visit the Scilly Isles but you need to book up sp far in advance - years not months or weeks - because they are so popular. Rome has been suggested but I don't know how easy it would be to get around and I suspect hiring a car would not be a relaxing option there!

So, please, give me some information and ideas! Meanwhile, I'm glad not to be missing the glorious sight and smell of the wisteria over the fence.