by Krista | Sep 20, 2011 | Gulliver Tuesday
My first night in Montepulciano, Italy I found myself sitting at the train station in the glow of the setting sun, watching the local gang of old men assemble at cafes and under trees for their evening ritual of chit-chat with their mates.
My family arrived just as the sun disappeared and whisked me off to a stunning old villa rented by our friend Pia. She had invited us all over for a Tuscan BBQ to celebrate our first day in Italy.
It is a splendid place hidden far down a maze of gravel roads so twisty and turny that we couldn’t actually find it until Pia rode out on her bike to lead us in. It was well worth our haphazard journey though. Peaceful, secluded and so welcoming you really felt like you’d arrived home.
We were entranced by the splendid old wood-fired oven that was just perfect for grilling plump sausages, pork chops, chicken breasts and steaks. My brothers, Ryan and Dana, were grill masters for the evening, churning out massive platters of succulent meats that smelled heavenly.
We sipped glasses of Prosecco and nibbled on marinated beans and crisp potato chips while Pia and the others whipped up one delicious veggie dish after another: raw fennel drizzled with olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper, fresh tomato salad, fresh cucumber salad, oniony steamed spinach, pasta with sausage, green salad with radicchio, on and on it went.
When everything was ready we piled our plates high and sat outside to eat by candlelight under a moonlit sky, marveling that we were really, truly in Tuscany.
After thoroughly stuffing ourselves, the makers of our feast relaxed with Prosecco or played wild games of Foosball while the rest of us clustered around a couple sinks to wash up mounds of dishes and wrap up leftovers.
It was a grand evening, a splendid way to get acquainted with new friends and soon-to-be family members as we started our week of wedding festivities.
What is your favorite must-have dish at a BBQ?
by Krista | Sep 14, 2011 | Compatriot Wednesday
Hello dear ones! How I’ve missed you this past week, wishing you were with me to experience beautiful Tuscany in September.
I have so many stories to share with you, pictures of delicious food and gorgeous places, and I promise to get to that as soon as I can. 🙂
I am back in Amsterdam now, holding down the fort for my brother and sis-in-law while they celebrate their wedding with five more days in Italy. Although I loved every bit of my time in Tuscany, I am equally loving this downtime in chilly Amsterdam. It’s so wonderful sleeping in, getting caught up on work and emails, and sipping lots of soup and hot tea as the wind blusters and blows.
I’ve spent the last two days editing photos of my summer travels and will start sharing them with you in the days to come. Until then, I’ll leave you with a little collage of jolly times with my family in Tuscany.
Big hugs to you, my friends. I can’t wait to get all caught up with you. 🙂
xo
by Krista | Sep 21, 2010 | Gulliver Tuesday
The Villa Trotta in southern Italy is a place of beauty, respite and peace. When my friends and I stayed there last spring, one of my favorite things about it was how quickly it felt like home. A good 15-30 minute drive from the nearest town, it became our own private world.
We did our washing and hung it out to dry like proper Italians.
We washed dishes looking out of this window.
And after fetching pasta, bread, vegetables and wine from the local markets, we cooked in our very own little kitchen.
That was pure bliss to me. My friend Nat and I had such fun steaming purple artichokes, roasting green beans, and stirring pots of simmering tomatoes and garlic into thick, rich sauces.
One night after a long, glorious day exploring the Isle of Capri, we came home wanting simple comfort food. We found it in chilled white wine, chewy bread slathered with Nutella, and fried potatoes with red bell peppers, onion, garlic, and Italian sausage.
We brought our plates out onto the terrace and sipped, nibbled and visited as we watched the sun set over the Adriatic. Bliss.
After you’ve had a long day shopping, hiking or exploring, what is your ideal comfort food?
For more information on Villa Trotta or other reasonably priced vacation villas in Italy, click here.
This post is my contribution to Wanderfood Wednesday at Wanderlust and Lipstick. Click here to find more delicious food from around the world.
by Krista | Aug 5, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
I cried. I laughed. I sighed. And by the time I got to the end of Eat Pray Love wanted to give author Elizabeth Gilbert the biggest, squeeziest hug I could muster.
I love that woman, not because she is perfect or because I hold to all her beliefs and choices, but because she is so beautifully real, honest, and brave. And, most importantly, because her words reached into one of the darkest times of my life and shed a bright, radiant burst of sunlight that gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, I really was going to be OK.
Our backgrounds, lifestyles and worlds could not be more different, yet somehow she felt like a kindred spirit. She truly understood the terror of waking up and realizing you don’t belong in your world anymore, the inevitable fear, self-doubt and insecurity that follow as you try to figure out where you do belong, and the strange, beautiful feeling of discovering what you really love, really want to do, and who you really are.
We shared something else: a passionate love for travel and the incredible mind-expanding, soul-enriching, heart-healing impact it can have on a shattered life.
Strangely enough, I first read Eat Pray Love on a terrace in Italy overlooking vineyards, olive groves, and the Tyrrhenian Sea. I arrived with a broken heart, shaken faith, and a weary spirit, and as I read the book and talked with my dear friends, I was filled with hope and knew I was going to be alright.
Needless to say, when my wonderful Canadian blogger friend Val of More Than Burnt Toast issued an Eat Pray Love Italian Challenge, I was delighted to participate.
I knew exactly what I wanted to make too. No five-course dinner or lavish antipasti spread, I wanted to make a Street Food I had first heard about from Jamie Oliver: Fried Polenta with Rosemary and Salt.
His version looked delicious, but I wanted to amp mine up a bit so I cooked the polenta with chicken stock, garlic and lavish amounts of ground black pepper, stirred in a mound of grated Parmesan cheese, and set it to chill. When it was cool I tore it into bite-sized pieces, tossed them with cornmeal and fried them until they were nice and crispy. Mmm! They looked so good, but I wasn’t done yet. I added fresh garlic and rosemary to the oil and fried them up until the garlic was beautifully browned, added them to the fried polenta and sprinkled everything with salt. Delicious!! Crispy and salty on the outside, creamy and savory on the inside. Perfect.
Fried Polenta with Crispy Garlic and Rosemary
Ingredients:
6 cups chicken stock
2 tsp salt
1-2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 3/4 cups yellow cornmeal
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup cornmeal
4-5 cloves garlic, sliced
4-5 sprigs fresh rosemary, removed from stem
4-5 cups vegetable oil
Directions:
- Bring chicken stock, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to boil. Gradually stir in cornmeal, lower the heat to low and cook until the mixture thickens and the cornmeal is tender, stirring often, about 15 minutes.
- Stir in Parmesan Cheese and olive oil.
- Pour into large cookie sheet and chill until cool.
- Tear polenta into bite-sized pieces, toss with cornmeal to coat.
- Heat vegetable oil until polenta sizzles when dropped in. Lower heat if oil begins to smoke.
- Fry in batches until polenta pieces are browned and crispy. Drain on paper towel and dust with sea salt.
- When polenta is done, add garlic and rosemary to oil and cook for 2-4 minutes until garlic is browned. Drain on paper towel and dust with sea salt.
- Combine polenta, garlic and rosemary and serve warm.
by Krista | Mar 16, 2010 | Spring
We returned from our 5 a.m. walking tour of Venice in time to pack our bags and linger over a hearty breakfast of croissants, muesli and coffee.
Securing one last gelato we left the charming canals of Venice one bright Spring morning, loaded up our 9 passenger van and headed towards Slovenia.
It was a gorgeous drive beside flowering meadows, over mountain passes and through quaint villages. We were enjoying ourselves immensely as Ryan taught us his oh-so-novel dance moves and we sang loudly to The Proclaimers I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles). Suddenly we were startled by this sign:
Austria! How the dickens did we end up in Austria?! There was much laughter and the hurried unfurling of the largest road map I’ve ever seen as we attempted to find out where in tarnation we were. 🙂
To this day we don’t know how we got there, but it was a welcome detour as we pulled off the highway and wended our way up, up, up into forested hills.
As we entered Slovenia we were struck dumb by the soaring peaks rising up before us.
We pulled over to the prettiest meadow and just gazed up at them. Tearing ourselves away, we continued on, finding exquisite beauty at every turn. I was struck most by the color of the river we followed, a pale, ice blue, so striking against the lush green terrain. Before we knew it, we were at our destination: Bled Castle.
First mentioned in 1004, Bled Castle is one of the oldest in Slovenia, and overlooks the stunningly turquoise Lake Bled.
I love these shutters. 🙂
This monk chatting with his bird.
This lovely gateway that I simply had to go through.
We had such fun exploring, but the best part was being rowed across the lake to the ancient church on an island in the center. I shall take you there next time. 🙂
It was a grand evening, a splendid way to get acquainted with new friends and soon-to-be family members as we started our week of wedding festivities.
