Let the Playoffs Begin!

Bring it on, Renon! Playoffs start today and we're facing off with Renon. Actually, everyone else is...Ryan and I will be at home eating risotto and watching 24. He has a strained hamstring and won't play until Thursday and I don't go to Renon because it's a very bad drive.

I think I say this a lot, but I can't believe that it's already playoff time once again and that the regular season is OVER! We went out on a good note, last Saturday night, beating Pontebba 4-1.

Hopefully something like this happens again this year too. Although Renon is #1. Little bit of role reversal this year....oh well.

In other incredibly exciting news, Baby Gracie has arrived! She was born on February 17. We were out having schnitzel for lunch when we got the good news, so of course we had to order a few glasses of prosecco and have a toast. We've been waiting for her all season! Obviously she is adorable and though I haven't met her yet (I have a bad cold), I'm sure she's a perfect baby.

Valentines

Happy V-Day! A little late, but we're on Italian time after all....

Back At It

It's snowing again! Weird. We've had SO much snow this year, much more than last year....just getting the ski hill ready for Ryan when his season is over, I guess.

Ryan's break is over and he's in Milan today, trying to bump the team up from #8 to #7.

I'm making white bean chicken chili, since it's snowing, and I managed to find jalapenos (not a common sight here) at a huge grocery store outside of Venice......

Last week we went to Padova to the children's hospital to present them with a check for 3,000 euro that we raised at the games by auctioning off jerseys and signed sticks (Ryan's jersey raised the most money - JUST saying). The doctors and nurses were all so happy with the donation and the kids loved to meet all the players and were very sweet. We did this last year too and it really puts things into perspective.

AND.....playoffs start in a week! Can't believe how fast the time this year has flown by. (Or that this happened a YEAR ago!)

Lately

Time for a very long overdue post! January was a busy month - after our trip to Lake Como, we settled into 2013....

....the women's World Cup ski race came to Cortina for the 17th year in a row. The boys handed out bibs to the skiers one very cold night while the whole town watched. (Last year Ryan was picked by Lindsay Vonn, this year by Daniela Merighetti, since he's so Italian now). It was fun to see a few American flags around town.

My friend Angela came to visit her husband who is playing here now until the end of the season. We had a very fun four days together.

It snowed a LOT (might be time to hit the slopes this week since my ski pants - which we mailed in November - have finally arrived!) so we cooked at home a lot and hunkered down watching 24.

Ryan and the boys just had last weekend off though, so we had lots of fun dinners out with our friends. (This is Ryan's favorite meal in Cortina).

In hockey news, the team has definitely made the playoffs and those start on February 19. Ryan wouldn't want me to write this but he's on fire, getting 2 or 3 points per game. We'll see if he actually reads this blog...

This week we're going to Padova, to visit the Children's Hospital. We raised 3,000 euro for them last month and we'll present them with the check and a few sticks and jerseys.

Happy February!

Spaghetti + Meatballs

Ever since we got back from our Lake Como trip on Sunday night, we've been in the midst of a Dolomiti snowstorm! Perfect time for spaghetti and meatballs, so I whipped some up on Tuesday night and thought I'd share my recipe.

To make the meatballs, I combine two or three types of ground meat - I use veal and beef because those are my only options in the store! About 3/4 of a pound of each, depending on how many meatballs you want. I usually cook for three because Ryan tends to eat for two.

Anyway. Then you take about a cup of breadcrumbs, two tablespoons of parsley, half a cup of parmesan, and an egg and mix that all together with the meat (and add some salt and pepper and about half a cup of warm water to keep it moist).

Then take your rings off and dig in! I usually make 2 inch meatballs and this time, I ended up with 25, but froze half of them for meatball subs later in the week - not even Ryan can eat 25 meatballs at once. Then I throw them outside on the deck because our fridge isn't big enough for 25 meatballs, and go have a glass of vino rosso down the street.

When I get back, I cook the meatballs and make the sauce. So - a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a non-stick pan, throw the meatballs in there (maybe in batches if you have tons) and cook away. About 10 minutes does it.

Then I make the sauce. Sometimes I go all out and make sauce from scratch and sometimes I only half do. This time I used a jar of tomato sauce that I noticed had been sitting around and taking up space in the fridge for quite some time. I added some ricotta to make it creamier (and more homemade) and some onion, garlic (sorry, Dad), red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and more parsley because I have to buy a whole bag at the store which usually goes bad within three days unless I put parsley in everything that I cook.

Heat that up and add the meatballs to simmer in it while the spaghetti cooks....

.....maybe add a little more parsley........

....and there you have it! We're calling it "Snowstorm Spaghetti + Meatballs".

Back to Normal

It's been a whirlwind of Christmas, New Years, visitors, birthdays and today we are finally settling back in to our normal routine. This past weekend, Ryan had a few days off so we took a little birthday trip to Lake Como. We stayed in Bellagio and it was so beautiful, relaxing, and quiet and was the perfect place to unwind after the past 3 weeks.

We went for a long walk, had a picnic by the lake, found the hotel that my parents stayed in 30 years ago during their honeymoon, drank prosecco while watching the sunset, had a delicious local pasta (both nights because it was so good) with sage and cabbage and cheese, played cards and took naps. It was the perfect weekend trip - here are a few pictures, if you'd like to see....

 Our hotel and the view from one of our windows.....the light there was so dreamy.

When we arrived, the woman who ran the hotel gave us a map and told us the only thing to do in January was to go for a long walk. So on Saturday we took the walk on the map, which led us down by the lake, up in the hills and into a few neighboring towns.

We had stopped at a salumeria beforehand and brought a picnic with us, which we ate by the lake....

It was quite cold so we had to go back to the room afterwards to snuggle up under blankets and take a nap, but we woke up to see the sun setting over the lake while having a glass of prosecco.

And then.......since no trip in Italy is complete without a visit to a church, we stopped in Milan on the way home on Sunday to see the Duomo, which was incredible, of course, and have lunch.

Buon Anno!

Happy 2013! We had a great time last night at the Menardi Hotel eating a New Years Eve dinner with all of our friends.....and we are so excited for 2013!