It is the end of July and here in Italy August is the month of vacation. So, tomorrow we are also leaving for our summer vacation. Target: France. Plan: no plan, as usual. We like just packing our luggage and driving off. The only thing we know about our vacation this year is that tomorrow night we will sleep at a friend's house in San Remo, then on Wednesday we will pass over the border to France. We want to see mainly Provence. We have no idea how long we will be gone, and where we will make our stops. This means that I won't be able to write anything here until September. I will of course have my computer with me, I cannot travel without a computer, badly addicted ;-) Since we are planning to stay at little bed&breakfast hotels or farm houses I don't think we will have much Internet access.
I wish a beautiful vacation to all that are planning to go on vacation. Until September, bye!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Chocolate+Basil=Delicious!
I just have to give you this recipe of a delicious double chocolate cake that I learned and tried out on Sunday. Sunday, around lunch time, I was watching the news on an Italian TV channel and during the news there was a cook that gave the recipe of a cake that was to be cooked in microwave oven. It sounded very interesting because the cooking time was only 8 minutes. I didn't write down the recipe, nor did the cook give a real recipe with measurements of the ingredients. I only watched what he did. When I learned that my in-laws would pay a visit to us later that day, and that it was our wedding anniversary I decided to bake this cake so that we could celebrate our 7 years of marriage with our visitors in the afternoon. I need to warn you: if you are not used to improvising and/or measuring the ingredients 'with your eyes' rather then liters/cups and stuff, don't read it ;-) Oh, one more thing: your microwave oven should have the crisp function. Here it goes:
Put butter and bitter chocolate pieces in a bowl that can go in the microwave and melt at 160 watts for 2 minutes. I didn't have bitter chocolate at home, so I skipped that ingredient. If they do not melt thoroughly in 2 minutes, leave them a bit longer at the same power. In a big bowl whisk (don't use a hand blender) 4 eggs and sugar for about 1 minute. I added about one and a half 'small water glass' of sugar, though I usually use not that much sugar in my cakes I added that extra half a glass since I didn't have the chocolate which would have contributed to the sugar content of the cake. Add in a pinch of salt, baking powder, dark cacao powder, a little bit of all purpose flour and mix well. I used one small water glass of flour. Mix in some milk. I didn't measure my milk, just poured in from the bottle as much as I thought was necessary. Finally add the melted butter and chocolate in the batter. The result will be not thick and not excessively liquid. One important last-minute ingredient: fresh basil leaves. Wash some fresh basil leaves and add the shredded basil into the batter. Grease the crisp tray of your microwave oven and cover it with flour as well. Pour in the batter and bake using the crisp function for 8 minutes. Your cake is ready in circa 15 minutes, preparation time included. You can serve it with whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream, garnished with fresh basil leaves. I am planning to bake it again using bitter chocolate with chilly, mmmmm...
Buon appetito!
Put butter and bitter chocolate pieces in a bowl that can go in the microwave and melt at 160 watts for 2 minutes. I didn't have bitter chocolate at home, so I skipped that ingredient. If they do not melt thoroughly in 2 minutes, leave them a bit longer at the same power. In a big bowl whisk (don't use a hand blender) 4 eggs and sugar for about 1 minute. I added about one and a half 'small water glass' of sugar, though I usually use not that much sugar in my cakes I added that extra half a glass since I didn't have the chocolate which would have contributed to the sugar content of the cake. Add in a pinch of salt, baking powder, dark cacao powder, a little bit of all purpose flour and mix well. I used one small water glass of flour. Mix in some milk. I didn't measure my milk, just poured in from the bottle as much as I thought was necessary. Finally add the melted butter and chocolate in the batter. The result will be not thick and not excessively liquid. One important last-minute ingredient: fresh basil leaves. Wash some fresh basil leaves and add the shredded basil into the batter. Grease the crisp tray of your microwave oven and cover it with flour as well. Pour in the batter and bake using the crisp function for 8 minutes. Your cake is ready in circa 15 minutes, preparation time included. You can serve it with whipped cream, or vanilla ice cream, garnished with fresh basil leaves. I am planning to bake it again using bitter chocolate with chilly, mmmmm...
Buon appetito!
Monday, July 23, 2007
An entrepreneur is born
Since yesterday my little daughter decided to earn some money and began working (!). She decided to sell her drawings and paintings :-) Her first exhibition was on the coffee table in our living room. She put little labels on each painting with the price in Euro. Some paintings had two labels with two different prices. We asked her why they had two different prices. 'The buyer can choose which price to pay', was her answer :-) She first forced my mother to buy two paintings. Then my husband bought 5 paintings, so she was very happy. I bought one only, and she gave me another one as gift, since she had to open more space on the table to put more paintings :-) After selling each piece she sat down and 'produced' more to sell. She even 'ordered' one painting to my mother, told her what to paint and where on the paper, and when the work was done she added also that one to her collection on the table with a price tag: 100 Euro! :-) In the afternoon when my in-laws paid a short visit to us they couldn't escape the 'pressure' and bought two paintings, one of which was the one that my mother made (no, they didn't pay 100 Euro, they did a hard bargain and ended up paying a few Euros only). Right now my little one is waiting in the garden, her paintings in her hand, that our neighbor downstairs returns home from her daily jogging tour so that she can sell some paintings also to her.... When we ask her what she will do with all that money she says that she will put some in her bank account, and she will buy ice-cream and frozen yogurt with the rest...
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
A new blog..
As of today I am the co-author of the blog Internations Musings: Istanbul, Florence and Athens, originally of Hans A.H.C. de Wit, the husband of a dear friend of mine, Ozlem.
For a while I have been editing the postings, correcting a mistake here and there without touching the essence of the posts, nor changing the style. Now I will try to write some stuff also myself every now and then.
Don't forget to check our blog when you have time :-)
For a while I have been editing the postings, correcting a mistake here and there without touching the essence of the posts, nor changing the style. Now I will try to write some stuff also myself every now and then.
Don't forget to check our blog when you have time :-)
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Vacation at Giannella
We are back. We came back Saturday around noon after a 2,5 hours drive under the heat.
Vacation was nice, it is always nice. But I cannot say that I could rest much. I had my mother with me, yet she was not much help since she has some problem with one of her knees. She had to sit, put her leg up and put ice on her knee everyday. She couldn't walk much either. Unfortunately this year our apartment was in one of the rear corners of the housing complex, so we had to walk a bit to get to the beach, which, for me, was great. Everyday I had to cook, wash the dishes (by hand), wash some clothes/bed-sheets/towels (by hand), take care of the kids, play with them in the sea, wash them when we returned from the beach, clean the house, tidy the house, shortly do everything that I usually do at home and more (like cleaning the house, or washing the dishes and clothes by hand, that I don't do at home). I was so exhausted at the end of the day that every evening I went to bed around 21.30!!! This means that I didn't manage to keep a diary as I planned to do before traveling. I used my computer only to listen to music, play some DVDs for the kids or transfer the photos from my camera, that's all.
Anyway, let me make a summary of our two weeks down in Giannella (Orbetello). This year we wanted an apartment with garden. They have given us a two bedroom apartment, one room with a double bed, the other one with two single beds and in the living-room a sofa-bed for two. So we had more than enough place to sleep. The living-room was spacious with a kitchen-corner and a big dining-table. The garden was quite big, with huge pine trees, and a big charcoal grill. There were porches both on the front and back part of the apartment and we used the table out in the back porch for dining instead of eating inside.
The housing complex is only a few meters away from the sea, separated from the sea by a road. The beach is quite large and sandy, a dream for all the mothers of little kids :-) My children were making sand castles, opening wells, lying down and rolling around on the beach non-stop, when I managed to take them out of the water, that is ;-)
The second week also my in-laws rented an apartment there and we were at the beach all together everyday. I don't know if this was good or bad for me.. I had a bit more time for myself, for lying down under the sun and reading my magazines since they helped me take care of the kids, but the kids became more spoiled and unmanageable as a result of their presence, as is the case most of time when the grandparents are around.
All in all it was a nice change for us, we all got a nice tan and had fun for two weeks.
Now about Giannella and surroundings. Giannella is a fraction of Orbetello, a town in the province of Grosseto in Tuscany. Orbetello is situated on a tongue of land projecting westward into a lagoon which is enclosed on the west and south by two long narrow sandy spits, and on the seaward (southwest) side by the peninsula of Monte Argentario. One of these long and narrow sandy spits is Giannella. On one side of the land you find the salty lagoon, on the other side the sea and in the middle of the two there is the road that connects mainland to the peninsula of Mount Argentario. The sea has a fine sandy base, always crystal clear (you see the little fish and crabs practically on the shore) and quite shallow, so it is a paradise for families with little children (that is one of the main reasons I chose this place for our vacation). Giannella is situated at the mid-point of Orbetello and Porto Santo Stefano, an old little fishing center now an important vacation point and the port from which you can take ferries to the Giglio and Giannutri islands. Another little port in the peninsula of Mt. Argentario is Porto Ercole, a charming fishing and holiday site. All of these beautiful places are located in the southern coastal part of Tuscany called Maremma.
I would recommend the coast of Tuscany for your summer vacations. We prefer this coast to the Adriatic coast of Italy mainly because it is less crowded, the coastline is beautiful with rocky and sandy beaches addressing different tastes, there are pine tree forests combining the freshness of the blue with the relaxing effect of green.... Quite a poetic scenery indeed...
PS. I began writing this post yesterday morning and can finish only now. It is really difficult to find time for myself with two monsters around me the whole day. You bet I am looking forward to September when both of them will be at school the whole day ;-)
Vacation was nice, it is always nice. But I cannot say that I could rest much. I had my mother with me, yet she was not much help since she has some problem with one of her knees. She had to sit, put her leg up and put ice on her knee everyday. She couldn't walk much either. Unfortunately this year our apartment was in one of the rear corners of the housing complex, so we had to walk a bit to get to the beach, which, for me, was great. Everyday I had to cook, wash the dishes (by hand), wash some clothes/bed-sheets/towels (by hand), take care of the kids, play with them in the sea, wash them when we returned from the beach, clean the house, tidy the house, shortly do everything that I usually do at home and more (like cleaning the house, or washing the dishes and clothes by hand, that I don't do at home). I was so exhausted at the end of the day that every evening I went to bed around 21.30!!! This means that I didn't manage to keep a diary as I planned to do before traveling. I used my computer only to listen to music, play some DVDs for the kids or transfer the photos from my camera, that's all.
Anyway, let me make a summary of our two weeks down in Giannella (Orbetello). This year we wanted an apartment with garden. They have given us a two bedroom apartment, one room with a double bed, the other one with two single beds and in the living-room a sofa-bed for two. So we had more than enough place to sleep. The living-room was spacious with a kitchen-corner and a big dining-table. The garden was quite big, with huge pine trees, and a big charcoal grill. There were porches both on the front and back part of the apartment and we used the table out in the back porch for dining instead of eating inside.
The housing complex is only a few meters away from the sea, separated from the sea by a road. The beach is quite large and sandy, a dream for all the mothers of little kids :-) My children were making sand castles, opening wells, lying down and rolling around on the beach non-stop, when I managed to take them out of the water, that is ;-)
The second week also my in-laws rented an apartment there and we were at the beach all together everyday. I don't know if this was good or bad for me.. I had a bit more time for myself, for lying down under the sun and reading my magazines since they helped me take care of the kids, but the kids became more spoiled and unmanageable as a result of their presence, as is the case most of time when the grandparents are around.
All in all it was a nice change for us, we all got a nice tan and had fun for two weeks.
Now about Giannella and surroundings. Giannella is a fraction of Orbetello, a town in the province of Grosseto in Tuscany. Orbetello is situated on a tongue of land projecting westward into a lagoon which is enclosed on the west and south by two long narrow sandy spits, and on the seaward (southwest) side by the peninsula of Monte Argentario. One of these long and narrow sandy spits is Giannella. On one side of the land you find the salty lagoon, on the other side the sea and in the middle of the two there is the road that connects mainland to the peninsula of Mount Argentario. The sea has a fine sandy base, always crystal clear (you see the little fish and crabs practically on the shore) and quite shallow, so it is a paradise for families with little children (that is one of the main reasons I chose this place for our vacation). Giannella is situated at the mid-point of Orbetello and Porto Santo Stefano, an old little fishing center now an important vacation point and the port from which you can take ferries to the Giglio and Giannutri islands. Another little port in the peninsula of Mt. Argentario is Porto Ercole, a charming fishing and holiday site. All of these beautiful places are located in the southern coastal part of Tuscany called Maremma.
I would recommend the coast of Tuscany for your summer vacations. We prefer this coast to the Adriatic coast of Italy mainly because it is less crowded, the coastline is beautiful with rocky and sandy beaches addressing different tastes, there are pine tree forests combining the freshness of the blue with the relaxing effect of green.... Quite a poetic scenery indeed...
PS. I began writing this post yesterday morning and can finish only now. It is really difficult to find time for myself with two monsters around me the whole day. You bet I am looking forward to September when both of them will be at school the whole day ;-)
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