Spring asparagus lasagna (lasagne agli asparagi)

 

 

I know it is spring when:

 

I feel the constant urge to buy fresh flowers to brighten up the apartment

 

It is design week in Milan

 

Every pigeon, butterfly, ladybug and cat around me is doing it

 

I can't stop photographing the wisteria outside my window (see last post)

 

My solitary early morning run suddenly gets crowded

 

I start cutting 40 little nails and toenails 2x a week instead of 1x (is it just my kids' overall growth that is so affected by hot weather?)

 

I stop wearing socks, but keep an emergency pair in my handbag (fancy!)

 

Every previously hidden nook and cranny of the apartment is visible and screaming "clean me!"

 

Asparagus, and other veggies make their appearance at the market

 

 

How can you tell it is spring?

 

 

 

 

Arrosto di lonza al latte - pork loin slow cooked in milk with apple and onion fall roast

 

 

I am mentally and physically gearing up for my daughter's sleepover party on Friday. Friday the 13th, might I add.

 

Not that I am superstitious or anything, but I really didn't need a bad omen hanging over my head on the night I will be having 6 girls sleep over at our apartment, plus baby brother, husband and myself.

 

We live in a charming apartment with hard wood floors, molding and bow windows in the center of a big city, the urban slang equivalent of small. I literally had to get out a measuring tape to make sure all the mattresses would fit, wedging them in like Tetris pieces (our Christmas tree is taking up additional vital space these days).

 

Next came the pillow issue. We have plenty of sheets and blankets (although sleeping bags were heartily suggested on the invitation), but who has 10 pillows in a city dwelling? I mean, let's face it, every pillow you are not using to sleep on takes up an approximate $500.00 real estate value for storage. Luckily the Martha Stewart in me partially solved that problem by having decorative pillows on my bed. Off come the fancy pillow cases, on go the Ikea mice in carrot race cars.

 

 

 

 

I've done my research and if there is one thing I have learned is that you need a plan, some structure to avoid things spiralling out of control. So we will start with an organized activity, we will progress with pizza, soda and birthday cake; pop corn, potato chips and a very girlie movie will follow. Then, hopefully, a lot of whispering and giggling in bed, some sleep, a big breakfast and a 10:00am pick up.

 

I learned a valuable tip from another mom: having them change into their pjs shortly after they arrive, so they feel like they are getting into the mood, while you are really aiming to get them changed before the sugar high hits.

 

Back to the activity, I am having them decorate Christmas cookies - that I will pre-bake - around the kitchen table. Each girl gets to take home a bag of cookies she decorated, solving the party favor issue too. Bingo!

 

I am secretely fantasizing about baking an extra batch of cookies and setting up a decorating sweat shop so I have them ready to bring to the Christmas school bake sale the following week. Dozens of nimble fingers will do that to an overworked mom just before the holidays.

 

 

Right?

 

 

 

Aaanyhow...

 

This is the plan behind the scenes: F and I will keep the little guy busy with the precious help of Lightning Mc Queen. After watching a movie in our bed, he gets to fall asleep there, a rare and special treat. Once he is deep asleep (because sleeping in his room without his beloved sister could trigger all sorts of drama) we will carry him into his bed and hopefully, although not definitely, manage to sleep ourselves.

 

I will let you know how it goes, and if anyone has any suggestions they are more than welcome.

 

In the meantime, here is a dish you can easily make without the help of child labor.

 

 

A while back I told you about a pretty common method for preparing meat here in Italy: slow-cooking it in milk. I often make pork loin this way, because it is a cut that can turn out pretty dry when roasted. Also, you get the added bonus of a delicious sauce.

Ingredients

Pork loin
2 carrots, a few stalks of celery and 1 onion for 'soffritto' (see below) 
pork loin
2-3 cups milk
salt, pepper to taste
mixed herbs

The method is easy: you season the meat with salt, pepper and you preferred choice of herbs. Crushed fennel seeds work well, or a mixed herb rub or bay leaf directly in the milk. Sear the meat on all sides to lock in the juices and set aside. Next you prepare a soffritto by finely chopping carrots, celery and onion and then you fry them in olive oil until the carrots are slightly tender and the onion and celery are transluscent. This time I prepared my soffritto in the food processor so the result was almost a paste, which pleasantly tinged the milk during the cooking process as you can see below.

When the vegetables are yeilding put the meat back in the pot and then add about an inch or two of milk. Let the meat simmer, covered, for at least an hour (depending on size) on low heat, turning the meat a few times during the process. The milk will reduce and start curdling. Take out the meat and let it sit for a few minutes. In the meantime let the sauce reduce and mash the soffritto with a fork if the pieces are too big for your liking. Taste for seasoning. Thinly cut the roast and spoon the sauce over the meat.

 

Fall roast
2 apples
2 red onions
6-8 cloves garlic
rosemary
a handful of pinoli
olive oil
aged balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper

You can prepare this dish while the meat is cooking.

Pre-heat your oven to 220°C/440°F and line a baking sheet or pan with paper. Peel and chop 2 apples and 2 red onions into bitesize chunks. Throw in a few cloves of garlic, peel on, and a couple of branches of rosemary and a handful of pinoli. Toss with olive oil, balsamic vinegar (if it is very liquid use very little or the vegetables/fruit will not roast), pepper and salt. Cook in oven for about 20-30 minutes stirring a few times so the apples and onions roast evenly.

 

Polpette al latte - veal meatballs (made with rolled oats) in milk sauce

 

 

We spent the week end with good friends in the country. We grilled, ate, drank and the kids all had the best time. We even got creative with what the local supermaket had to offer and made these. We were dreading the drive back in heavy traffic and pouring rain on Sunday evening, but it was actually fine. And although the kids didn't fall into a deep sleep as we had hoped, it turned out to be quite entertaining.

 

Snap shots from the back seat

  

Son (3 yrs): " Jesus died before me".

Daughter (7 yrs): "That's obvious ".  (Uh, yeah! That was a couple of thousand years ago).

                           "You aren't dead yet". (um, ooookaaaay...)

 

                                                                ***

                                                       

S: "Is there meat inside of us?"

 

                                                                ***

 

D: " What is your team?"

S (with great enthusiasm): "Goal!!!"*

D: "No!! What team do you support?!"

S: "..."

S: " What is a team?"

 

* He calls soccer or anything soccer related "goal". As in: "I played goal today in pre K". Or "Can you get me my goal ball?". Or "I want to wear my goal shoes" or "Are these goal pants Mommy?" referring to sneakers and sweat pants.
 

                                                                 ***

 

D: " Moooommy, can you put songs on? I want the Rumple Stiltskin CD"

S: "Nooo! I want Bruce Stiltskin".

 

No, we don't have the Shrek soundtrack in the car. That would be Robbie Williams and Bruce Springsteen. As said by my Italian children.

 

                                                                 ***

 

Turning Tables was blasting on the speaker.

S (wagging his finger at Adele): "Non si grida - screaming is a no-no!"

                                                                 ***

 

This next one is from yesterday during story time on the couch, not Sunday in the car, but I couldn't resist.

S: "Mommy, this isn't The Three Little Pigs... look! One, three, four, five, six, eight.

  

Baccalà alla vicentina

There are different versions of how the inhabitants of Vicenza, the vicentini, came to love baccalà.

Some say that this recipe from Vicenza was already greatly appreciated back in the 13th century. There is a story that tells of how the Veronese opened the gates of the castle of Montebello in a battle against Vicenza when the latter called out that they were carrying polenta and baccalà.

The most accredited version of the recipe's origin, however, dates back to the middle of the 15th century, when an expedition led by the Venetian Querini was shipwrecked on Rost, an isolated island way off the coast of Norway. The unfortunate event however resulted in a few specimens of stockfish, dried cod, being brought back to the Italian shores, and it was the beginning of a neverending love story. It is undeniable that dried fish was a great solution both for seafaring people all over the world and those they left at home. Preserving food was not as simple as it is today and stockfish became the perfect substitute for fresh fish, then extremely expensive and easily perishable. The people of Vicenza found many a way to cook this fish, but it seems that  a well-loved woman, familiarly called siora Vitoria, the owner of a trattoria came up with this simple, yet very tasty way, of making baccalà at the end of the 19th century: the recipe now known all over Italy as baccalà alla Vicentina.

A few notes:

For those of you who may not be familiar with the difference, stockfish is dried cod while salt cod is made by preserving the same fish in salt. The different ways of preserving the fish are a direct consequence of the seasons. Cod is fished in the northern waters surrounding the coasts of countries like Scandinavia, Canada and Iceland. When the fish was caught in the winter months it was set out to dry in the cold sea air on rocks or wooden racks. In the warmer months, when this was not an option, the fish was cleaned directly on the boats and preserved in layers of salt in barrels. Once the fish is soaked for several days in fresh water, the result is quite similar.

In Italian cod is called merluzzo and the two variations are respectively called stoccafisso and baccalà. The people of Vicenza traditionally use stoccafisso in this recipe although they call it bacalà. They are neither ignorant nor confused, they simply call stockfish bacalà with one "c" and salt cod baccalà with two "c"s. So the truly correct name of the recipe is bacalà alla vicentina, although my post is called baccalà alla vicentina because I used salted cod instead of stockfish to make it (and I made boiled potatoes to go with it instead of polenta, because my daughter came down with the stomach flu and I couldn't hop over to the supermarket as I had been planning).

Griessbrei (German semolina pudding) and recipe for pomegranate syrup



You are never ready when a loved one leaves you. Even though you know it is going to happen sooner rather than later because of age or health conditions, even though you think you are  prepared, you really never are.

This past week end my grandmother passed away. We called her Mutti, Mommy in German, because that is what she was for all of us, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren alike, in one way or another.

Mutti, unlike my Nana, was a maternal, traditional grandmother.

 

...a heap of love...

 

We spent time with her every summer in Austria, where she lived when we were growing up. I remember watching her  darn socks by the kitchen window with a red and white sock mushroom, the flavor of her roast chicken with peas and freshly picked mushrooms and my sister's favorite, her Paprikaschoten, meat-stuffed peppers. I remember how she always soaked envelopes in water to peel off the stamps for my uncle's collection; how she came into our room in the morning, pulling the curtains and opening the windows, so the chilly morning mountain air and the chiming of the village church bells would abruptly wake us. I remember running errands with her: the smell of freshly cut wood curls at the wood carver's who made our Christmas crib; the pungent tang of fresh milk and cow dung at the barn where the farmer filled her milk can. I remember running my fingers along the smooth surface of the tailor's chalk while they chatted. We often walked to the neighboring town on small paths along cornfields and on a few occasions she pulled us into them to give us a scolding or a very rare spanking when we had really misbehaved.

 

Fudgesicles

Most of us working in offices have a routine, something that makes the endless hours sitting at a desk in front of a computer, day in and day out, bearable. The kind of routine you actually grow fond of and almost come to look forward too, especially if you have little kids at home. Those habits that make your day orderly, that dictate the rhythm of your work.

Checking your emails and missed calls, reading the headlines of the papers, a steaming cup of coffee and a chat by the coffee machine, lunch (and a look at your favorite sites and blogs whilst chewing), some gossip or a few laughs with a colleague on the way to the ladies'/mens'.

Except those days when the *beep* hits the fan, like today. When everything is hectic and crazy and there is no time to even go the ladies' room. This of course always happens when half your team is on summer vacation. But hey, the worst is over (should I even be writing that?) and today is Friday (T.G.I.F.) so I wish you all a lovely week end and a Happy 4th of July to all you lucky ones who have a lonf weekend to spend with the family.

Here is a great treat to enjoy with the family on a hot summer's day, reminiscent of childhood and belly flops and hot dogs and sprinklers.

Do you have an office/work/daily routine?

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen  (original recipe by Matt Armendariz).

Ingredients (for 4 popsicles)

2 tablespoons chopped semisweet chocolate

1/3 cup/70gr sugar

1 tbsp potato starch (or cornstarch)

1 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/4 cup/300 ml milk

a pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1/2 tbsp butter

Melt the chopped chocolate (or chocolate chips if you prefer) over very low heat, stirring constantly. When smooth, stir in sugar, potato starch, cocoa powder, milk and salt and raise heat a little. Cook until the  mixture thickens, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, add vanilla (my homemade batch isn't ready yet so I skipped this step) and butter and stir until well combined. When the mixture has cooled pour it into popsicle molds and freeze.