Here We GO Again!

On Saturday we'll be leaving for Cortina and we are so excited to get back! We're excited for the hockey season (some of us more than others - no, just kidding), for homemade pasta (some of us can't stop thinking about it), for those jagged mountain views, for readily available bottles of Lagrein and mostly, for all those new experiences and adventures that this next season will bring.

Which brings me to my point, which is the history behind the name "Here We Go Again."
What's in the name? First of all, I want to be clear that when you read the phrase "here we go again", you should be reading it "Here We GO Again!!!!"

NOT: "HERE we go again" or "here we go AGAIN"

While in some situations this phrase signals monotony - or as my husband likes to call it, the "Groundhog Day Effect" - in this case, that's not at all what it means.

Here We Go Again means here comes another adventure. Here's another lesson learned, another recipe tried, another country visited, another trip taken. Here's one more ravioli recipe, one more picture of a canal in Venice, one more funny Italy story (although now that we know how to recycle, our stories just aren't as funny...).

Here We Go Again embodies having exciting adventures each and every day, no matter how big or small. Whether it's a trip to Austria or a simple bowl of pasta, Here We Go Again revels in it all.

So with that in mind, here we GO again!!


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Kale Chips

One of the first things people always say when they find out that we live in Italy is: "it must be amaaaaazing to get to eat all that delicious food!"

And it is.

There are the Italian classics: Caprese salads dripping with olive oil from Tuscany; plump ravioli filled with dark green spinach and the whitest, creamiest ricotta cheese; bubbling hot pizzas and golden fried artichokes...

So we almost always forget about all the things that Italy actually doesn't have: first of all, Italian salad dressing (ha), and actually any kind of salad dressing, for that matter, other than olive oil and vinegar. Cumin. Cilantro. Cheddar cheese. Chocolate chips. (I don't know why they don't like C foods). And my personal favorite, kale.

Okay, not exactly true. Of course Italy has kale and it's called cavolo nero. Apparently it grows abundantly in Tuscany and never gets shipped to Cortina. Last October I spotted it in a grocery store an hour away from Cortina, in Brunico, but unfortunately I do not normally make hour trips just to buy kale.

I tend to just wait until we get back to Colorado in April and then I eat it every day. This summer baking it in the oven was my favorite preparation, so much so that one week, I did it five days in a row. The result is a crispy kale leaf, almost like a potato chip, which is perfect for a snack, cocktail hour, dinner time, and basically any time.

I will be making these almost every day until we leave for Cortina. Lucky for my husband (who oddly seems to be less enchanted with kale chips), that's only 16 days away.

Crispy Kale Chips

1 small bunch of kale
Olive oil for drizzling
Sea salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the kale. Remove the kale leaves from the stem and cut into bite size pieces (not too small because it shrinks while it cooks). Place the kale on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 or 2 tablespoons of olive oil (it doesn't need to be drenched). Sprinkle on the sea salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes (if spice is desired) and toss together to mix and coat. Bake for no more than 10 minutes. **It's so important to keep an eye on them after the 7 minute mark because the leaves can burn so easily! You'll know they're done when they are dark green, not brown, with a crisp to them.** Serve immediately.

Summer Pasta

I don't usually post during the summer while we're in Colorado (or anywhere and everywhere), but since we're dying to get things up and running again, I thought this summer-y pasta recipe would be a good start.

This is a pasta dish that is very unlike the spaghetti and meatballs, carbonara and cacio e pepe that I love to make in the freezing cold winters. It's perfect for hot summer nights because the only thing that cooks is the pasta. I used store-bought Barilla this time, but if you have a pasta maker and time (neither of which I had), obviously fresh pasta is the best.

 

 

Spaghetti with Uncooked Tomato Sauce
(Serves four as a light meal or first course)

Sauce
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped - I use one tomato per person, so if you are feeding more or less than four, take that into consideration
1/2 cup of basil, coarsely chopped
Roughly 25 fresh bite-sized mozzarella balls (called "Ciliegine"), halved
1/2 cup good extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste


Pasta
1/2 box of thin spaghetti - this time I used Barilla Whole Grain - cooked according to package instructions

Make the sauce - Combine the chopped tomatoes, basil, halved mozzarella balls, and olive oil in a bowl. Stir together and add salt and pepper to taste. It's best to make the sauce at least four hours before you want to serve dinner so that the flavors can meld together. I usually make it in the morning and put it in the refrigerator for the day - just make sure to remove it at least an hour before serving so that it can come to room temperature. 

Twenty minutes or so before you're ready to eat dinner, cook the pasta, drain well and transfer to a large serving bowl. Mix in the sauce and sprinkle with more salt and pepper and fresh Parmesan, if desired.

And We're Back!

We're finally re-surfacing after a few months of summer vacation down-time and now we're rested, ready and eager to get back to blogging, cooking homemade ravioli and ITALY. Welcome back, readers! We had a busy summer; a few pictures below, if you'd like to see:

It all started with a trip to Palisade - Colorado wine country!

We were on the search for the perfect summer porch wine, and as we biked our way through the hills we managed to find several!

As usual, we spent lots of time visiting friends and family all over the country, squeezing in trips to Massachusetts, Maine and Lake Placid....

 In May, we decided to go on a two-night camping trip to Moab, Utah....

...which turned into a five-night camping trip when we spontaneously continued on to the Grand Canyon...

...and then to Mesa Verde!

We traveled a lot, but we worked a lot too. Ryan had a successful fourth year of Elite Hockey Training and I landed a food column in Italia! Magazine, a UK publication (my first article is out in this month's issue which can be found at Barnes and Noble, for US readers - in print only!).

And, in honor of soon-to-be four years of Italian living, the article that I wrote for A Practical Wedding, is up on their website today (here).

As summer winds down, we're gearing up for Italy and are so excited to see what this next season will bring...Stay tuned!

Goodbye, Cortina!

We're heading back to Colorado tomorrow morning so this will be my last post of the season! And so, a look back at this year in Cortina seems appropriate:

We arrived in September to a new house in a new neighborhood, with an amazing view of the mountains.

We had a really pretty fall, so we took lots of walks and watched the leaves change. We learned how to make cazunsiei. And we had another huge Thanksgiving turkey!

I went to Bologna, the food capital of Italy, to explore and to eat...

....and we went down to Venice as much as possible.

We had a busy December filled with Christmas markets and trips. We went to Salzburg for two nights and Prague for three nights.

We celebrated our third Christmas in Cortina and had the annual Christmas Eve party at our house...

...and then, the day after Christmas, all of the lights went out in the entire town! We were without power, hot water or heat for over two days, so we played games in the dark and got out our warmest blankets.

Then it was 2014!

January was pretty sunny so we went up the mountain a lot, to ski and to sun.

Then, at the beginning of February there was a blizzard that went on for days...

...and then my parents came to visit! We did a few days trips and I finally crossed the Scrovegni Chapel off my list of things to see. We ate lots of yummy food, took longs walks and just enjoyed being together.

Suddenly it was time for playoffs! Cortina won the first two rounds and lost to Brunico in the semi-finals.

My friend Cori and I were nervous about playoffs and needed to go on a mini-vacation to the sea, so we went to Trieste.

Then the season was OVER and it was time to think about packing and Colorado! So - goodbye for now Cortina, and thanks for another great year!

Thanks for reading this year! xo

Celebrate!

This past weekend was full of celebrations for the end of the season AND Ryan's 30th birthday! Too much fun!

In Italy we celebrate with Prosecco, of course, so today I'm sharing my favorite ways to drink it.

This winter, we drank it with pomegranate seeds for a festive touch:

On vacation, we drink it with fresh squeezed orange juice:

And at home, I drink it with ice. It sounds odd, but it's so good.

Happy Birthday Ryan and Happy End of Season too! xo

5 Things We Love About Italy

April means that this season in Italy is sadly coming to an end, and lately we've been talking about all the things we love about Italy, like....

1. Lunch. Is there really anything better than a real Italian lunch? You are expected to eat pasta, supposed to drink wine, and you get to take a nap afterwards! Also one time, we were at our Italian friends' house for lunch and you know what we had? Spaghetti carbonara, a pork roast, salad, homemade bread, red wine, gelato with berries, espresso and tiny sips of Grappa. And then we didn't have to eat for the next two days!

2. The wild unpredictability of what might happen on any given day. Example: one Sunday afternoon we stumbled upon a chestnut festival where we bought paper bags full of roast chestnuts and ate them at long tables under a tent in the center of town. Another time, in the fall, I woke up in the morning and looked out of the bedroom window and there were cows running down the sidewalk. You just never know.

3. You only have to do one thing a day. This was our first lesson in Italy three years ago: someone told us "DO NOT make a to-do list! Expect to get only one thing done per day." Imagine how accomplished we feel when we get three things done!

4. The scenery. This isn't too bad to look at:

5. The friends we've made. The ones from Cortina, the ones from Chicago and the ones from Canada.