There's More Than One Artist In This Family...

  Don't ever underestimate the creative mind of a hungry gal waiting for her meal.

  Give me just the basics to work with, and I can entertain myself for hours.

  Case in point:

1) A piece of plastic from a water bottle cap

2) A couple of grains of black pepper

3) A bread crumb

4) Add a piece of dry stick.

5) Add some grass.

(Lunch was great. We had three courses and dessert. Plenty of time in-between courses to have a bit of fun.)

6) Add a toothpick. 

7) Add a scrap of paper from the toothpick.

8) Dip toothpick in chocolate from your dessert and use it like paint to make eye balls.

9) Take time to realize your husband is having second thoughts about ever taking you out in public again.

10) Create a worried look.

11) Keep having a great time with this...because you are really enjoying yourself despite your husband's regrets.

12) Remember your child within, and honor the hell out of her.

13) Don't forget that it's ok to be a weirdo.

Sunday Morning In The Kitchen

  Nothing like a grey and wet day to inspire me to stay put in the kitchen.

  Plus, it's Sunday, so that makes it even better. 

  Why? Because.

  Remember all those veggies I bought this week at various roadside stands?

  Well, some were gifts from our landlord, too...all the yellow peppers. 

  I cut those up in pieces, along with the veg stand potatoes, then tossed them with good olive oil, salt and pepper. 

  Also, I had a bunch of wild fennel seeds that I picked on our walk yesterday. I thought these would be perfect in this dish...

Out of focus, but those are the fennel seeds...

All ready to pop into the oven.

   I was so happy to find some local Japanese eggplant at the stand, too. I sliced these up, soaked them in heavily salted water for a good hour, then rinsed them and patted them dry with a clean kitchen towel. I brushed a little olive oil on them, and set them on my hot grill pan...

Slow and steady is the way to go.

All they need is a sprinkle of flaky salt.

  Since I had the grill pan out and hot, I decided we needed a slice of toast with lunch, and why not grill some figs? These were beauties from our pals, Jody & Bob.

 
I had held back a couple of the smaller peppers to roast, cut lengthwise in half.
  We had some like this at a cicchetti bar in Venice. OMG, So good! I smeared some soft cheese in them, and topped with bits of sun dried tomatoes...this was also the preparation in Venice. I used stracchino cheese, a mild soft cheese found all over here, in Umbria.

 All the components done, we enjoyed our crazy Sunday lunch!

Perfect lunch for two...I forgot to mention the whole roasted garlic heads.
I did these a couple of days ago when I roasted tomatoes.
Perfect to spread on the warm grilled bread.

Just add a glass of local white...

Best garlic bread ever.
Sweet and roasty.

  While all that went on, I was still roasting the peppers and potatoes with fennel seeds. The house smelled so good! These are for another time, in the next day or two. Maybe with a nice salad...

  I love a rainy Sunday morning. So does my tummy. And Johnny's, too.

Back Home At The Nut

  I can't keep up with all the posts I want to do! How can I be so busy here? It's not like back in California, where I work a solid five days a week, with tons of chores on my days off...

  I have very few real commitments here, other than a daily (and non-negotiable) sweeping of the house...there are morning walks, trips to the market, a little puttering in the garden. But where on earth do the hours go?

  Could it be all that time sitting sipping a glass or two of wine here and there? Hmmm...maybe...

  Anyway, it's clouds and rain this Sunday morning, so I'm staying in bed later than usual to write this post. Luxury!

  We got back from Venice Tuesday evening, and our landlord gave us this impressive bowl of delights, so we popped up to the local market for some black olives and feta to make a Greek style salad. 

  It wasn't bad...but I forgot the important cucumber component! Damn!

Those peppers will be roasted today.

  We've had a mellow week of morning and evening walks, lots of home meals, and some time with pals. The weather has been stellar, until the much needed rain we are getting now. Big lightning and thunder last night, too!

Morning walk earlier this week.

A couple of our next door neighbors...

I love the grasses around here.
Spotted this on a walk.

Beautiful in the morning light.

Traffic on our walk up the hill to The Nut.
This would be our landlord. 

  

  I've always loved clematis, a climbing vine, and I really enjoy seeing the massive wild ones here along side the road. I never see them bloom, though I know these are a variety which have clusters of small white flowers. I'm just entranced by the seed heads in the fall!

Wowza!

  We've been taking long walks alongside the canals down in the nearby fields. The views are lovely, and it's easier on our aging knees, etc.

  The landscape changes everyday, as fields get turned over and new crops are planted. 

There are still some little batches of sunflowers here and there,
Though most of the big ones are done.

 

 This time of year, there are a few roadside stands selling fruit and veg straight from the fields. They are all different, some have lots of this, and others have loads of that...we try to stop at them all.
  These stands aren't open when we are here in the springtime, so this is a treat we look forward to.

The potatoes are especially sweet and tasty.
Those peppers...gonna getcha today!

  With all the tomatoes we've been gifted and have bought, lunches are very tomato forward!

Caprese style salad with grilled bread.

I added some beans and topped with seeds.
I like the textures.

 I roasted up all the marzano tomatoes Carlo had given us. We've made a couple of meals out of them this week.

Slow roast with olive oil, salt and fresh thyme.
You will know when they are done.

Wonderful on grilled bread, smothered in olive oil and parmesan...

  Friday, we walked to the neighboring village to buy some bread from the 'forno' that we like there, and were delighted to see this charming 'installation' of colorful umbrellas.

  I'd seen some photos of this on social media posted by local pals, but assumed it would be gone by now.

  Really so much better in person!

What joy!

One of the half loaves of bread we bought on Friday.
Uh...yum.

  There were some roasted tomatoes left, so of course they became lunch with the above bread. I grilled it, rubbed it well with a clove of garlic, drizzled olive oil, a pinch of flakey salt....

Always best with an arugula salad on the side.
I always like to dress mine with lemon juice, a touch of oil,
salt and lots of parmesan.

I love our lunches here...

Some odds and ends have become our table decor.
Those are tiny solar lights that we brought over in the spring.
They are perfect for the terrace.

  What's next? Well, Johnny has started painting in his studio here, so I'll have more time to myself to cook, write, read, garden and do more language study!
  (And I'll sneak in some Netflix, too, ok?) (...and a glass of wine, ok?)