Tall Mast in Trani Harbor

Rick and I decided to go for a walk this afternoon so we ambled down to the port. It was a beautiful afternoon. There were a ton of boats in the marina. Can you see the one mast in the center of the picture? This yacht has been in port before and it is very recognizable because of it's incredibly tall mast. We tried to get pictures of it from different angles. I wonder who it belongs to and why they decided to stop in Trani. Are they just here for lunch? Or perhaps the weekend. This is a holiday weekend because tomorrow, November 1st, is All Saints Day and most of Italy is off. Rick and the girls have Monday off so we are enjoying this special treat.

Another shot of the mast from the back.

You can see how much higher it's mast is than the others. The Hotel San Paulo is in the background...we stayed there for two weeks when we first arrived over two years ago.

A close look at the boat...

Closer...

Closer still.

Roasted Chestnuts

A few blog entries back I showed you some of the chestnuts at the market. On Sunday afternoons you can go to some of the green grocers and get fresh roasted chestnuts. We caught this guy just before he was closing up. Lots of people were walking around with bags of warm chestnuts. I can't eat them because of my allergies but the rest of the family can and they say they are pretty good.

Here are the containers piled high with the fresh nuts.

So I did try to do this myself at home. Rachael's boyfriend (he has done this a lot, right, Pete??) told me how to soak the nuts first then score the rounded part so that when they are heated the steam will escape. Roast them in a hot oven (180*c) for 5-10 minutes and then wrap in a towel for about 5 minutes. It worked and we were able to enjoy them fresh from our own oven! You should try it! Let me know how it works for you.

Wrong Holiday!!!!

Today is October 31st....HALLOWEEN!! Look what was in the store window this afternoon!!! Please! Can we have one holiday at a time!!!!

Salt

I am reading an excellent book called Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. Throughout history salt was searched for, traded for and fought over. Salt = wealth. Words such as salary and salvation find their roots in the word "salt". Mr. Kurlansky points out that "Trade routes that remain major thoroughfares today were established, alliances built, empires secured and revolutions provoked - all for something that fills the oceans and bubbles up from springs."

Just up the road from us is the town of Margheria di Savoia. It is here that there is the largest productive salt-works in Italy. It produces 5,500,000 quintals (1q=220.46 lbs.) of salt annually in 2470 acres of saltpans. The salt is harvested from June to August. It seems amazing to me but the peoples of the region have been extracting salt from the marshy areas of Margherita di Savoia since at least the 6th century B.C.!

Here is a box of table salt from Margherita di Savoia. You can also get larger crystals which are good as a cooking agent...We have had delicious moist fish that was buried in salt and cooked in the oven.

Halloween Eve in Trani ... Viewing 2

"A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and subsequently encounters a young motel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother."

Can you guess the next movie we had to introduce to our two teen-aged American daughters to bring them up to speed with the whole American Halloween tradition???

A viewing of Hitchcock's Psycho!!!
Eileen was duly frightened...she can't wait to see it again!

Halloween Eve in Trani

What is a mother to do? It is Halloween eve... Two American teens who have lived in Europe for seven years are longing for a good old American Halloween tradition. Of course, I break out a classic movie... Can you guess which one?

Here are some of the props we needed for the viewing...toast, water squirter, rice, rubber gloves, flashlights and lighters, keys, confetti, TP

Need another hint????

TA-DAAAA!

We had such a good time singing and playing along with the movie! Aren't I a good mother??!!! I've got to fill in the cultural gaps otherwise they will return to the US ignorant of these
important things!

VOTING FROM AFAR

I feel that we all need to do our civic duty and vote. It is a bit of a challenge doing it from overseas but we do what we have to do... So the ballots arrived in the pouch on Friday and Rick and I sat down and filled them out on Sunday. Off to the Post I went with them this morning and after paying a euro fifty to mail each ballot they are off. Hopefully they will make it to WA state by November 2nd.

Rick reading the voter's pamphlet on line.

Hey, I used a Sharpie marker! How cool is that??!!

What To Do With Oyster Mushrooms

Here was one of the dishes I made with the recently purchased oyster mushrooms from the market. Saute some onions with the mushrooms...

Sprinkle in some chopped chicory...

Serve on top of a toasted roll with blue cheese...Delish!

Langage at the hands of Flight of the Conchords

Here is a funny video of people trying to use another language. I love these guys.

And here is Eddie Izzard with his take on learning languages. Both fantastic!

Fall Food

At the Tuesday market I found some definite signs that it is Autumn here in Trani. The first was chestnuts! Lots and lots of chestnuts to roast. On Sundays there are street vendors with carts roasting the nuts and selling them. It is a really neat sight and smell.

And the second sign is the mushrooms. There are all kinds of wild mushrooms showing up at the market. This is an oyster mushroom and it has a very mild taste. I sauteed it and served it with a white wine and cream sauce that was D I V I N E! I think there will be a mushroom soup in our future too!

Pumpkins in Trani

It is October and I see from various websites that thoughts have turned to pumpkins back in the good ol' USA. Here in Trani pumpkins are just another Fall/winter vegetable. When you do see them at the market they are usually sliced up and sold by weight. This is a slice of pumpkin that Rick picked up at our local supermarket.

This little slice goes for euro 1.69 a kilo which translates to about $2.35 for two pounds (or $1.21 for the slice we got). If I buy a whole pumpkin it can cost up to 20 euro or $30! Oh, how I miss those pumpkin stands in the US that sell them for $5.00!

Assisi and St. Francis of...

Recently we visited the Umbrian town of Assisi. It is well known as the birthplace of Saint Francis who founded the Franciscan religious order here in 1209. St. Francis is the patron saint of animals, the environment, merchants and Italy. Francis was never ordained a priest. The order dedicated itself to poverty and spreading the word of God to the people through song and plain language. They taught in the local languages and dialects, not Latin. They were more like christian troubadours.

This is the Basilica di San Francesco which was built in 1226 to honor him after his death. In 2000 it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Below is the Basilica di Santa Chiara, the church dedicated to the founder of the order of the Poor Clares. Clare abandoned her life of wealth and privilege to follow St. Francis. The church holds the crucifix that supposedly spoke to St. Francis and lead to his conversion in 1206. It is a beautiful church inside and out and built in a plain Gothic style it has a lovely view of the town and valley.

Here is a view of the town from the courtyard outside Chiara's basilica.

A resting lion outside Chiara's basilica.

A relief on the side of a building in town. It shows Christ, St. Francis and St. Clare. FYI: St Francis of Assisi celebrated Christmas by setting up the first known three-dimensional presepio or crèche in the town of Greccio near Assisi, around 1220. He used real animals to create a living scene so that the worshipers could contemplate the birth of Jesus in a direct way. *

A look at some of the beautiful narrow and twisted streets of Assisi.

Rick's parents enjoying a walk around the shops of Assisi.

Some of the amazing looking sweets on offer in the town. We had a most memorable meal of bruschetta with tartufo (truffles), rabbit, grilled eggplant and the best wine from Montefalcone.

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi#Founding_of_the_Order_of_Friars_Minor

Searching for a Vegan Immune Booster For Eileen

Eileen has had a terrible cold for the last week. I decided yesterday that there must be some type of soup I can make that is vegan acceptable so I did some research on line and turmeric, garlic, oregeano, broccoli, green tea and pumpkin are all high in immune boosting stuff. So I set out to make a soup with as many of these ingredients as possible...

Here it is! Eileen's pumpkin, carrot, onion, garlic and turmeric with oregano soup.

It must have worked because she was feeling much better by dinner! (Either that or she decided she would pretend to be better so mom wouldn't come up with any more of these food combinations for her to eat!) By the by... pumpkin, carrot and turmeric stain anything they touch! We now have orange spatulas, towels and spotted counter tops:)