Italy–the Amalfi Coast

November 25, 2019 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

On one of our day trips from Sorrento, we headed down the Amalfi Coast. For years I have seen photos and told myself, “Wow”. No photo can do this coastline justice. The highway is excellent but narrow. On many of the turns, only one vehicle can proceed. A large bus cannot travel this highway. Even with the small ones we took, the driver would often honk as we turned a corner which we could not see around.

We stopped at one of the few turnoffs along the highway and took a short hike down to an overlook. This is the town of Positano. I took the following photos while at this overlook.

I love bougainvillea and all colors grew everywhere.

Looking across the Mediterranean.

The land is rugged with both new and ancient buildings hanging off mountainsides and cliffs.

A closer view of Positano.

Another view across the Mediterranean.

The highway, houses hanging off the edge, olive trees, lushness everywhere.

It was a stormy looking day. We kept thinking it would rain but luckily it did not.

The Amalfi Cathedral in the town of Almalfi. Its design is unique and shows the cultural influence of the Muslim world with whom the town was a major trading center for centuries–arches, gold and green.

A typical street in Amalfi. We walked all the way up this street to just below the school, found all sorts of delightful shops, and ate our favorite food of the entire trip. My favorite was spaghetti with a lemon creme sauce. Recipe comes later.

Near the sea looking up into the city. The large building up on the slopes is now a cemetery but used to be a monastery.

Same spot as previous photo, just looking the other direction.

We were supposed to take a little boat trip out into the sea but it was too rough. Ema, my daughter, walked all the way out to the end of the pier.

The water was so high I thought perhaps it was high tide. I was told it was not.

Today I asked my daughter and grandson what/where was their favorite in Italy. We all agree, Amalfi. I also loved Capri–more about there later.

An “Italian” Evening–Two

January 20, 2019 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

My daughter and grandson arrived shortly after six. First course included nuts, cheeses, crackers, blue corn chips and salsa–I know, not Italian. For the adults, Stella Rosa Black from Italy. For the non-adults organic apple juice.

While we snacked on the first course, we created two versions of Pasta alla Carbonara, one for my vegetarian grandson and one without much parmesan cheese for everyone else. Traditionally, this dish requires parmesan cheese; however, my daughter is lactose intolerant so we created the other one for her. The rest of us just topped off our dish with grated parmesan at the dinner table.

We used conchiglie from Monastero di Montebello in Italy for the pasta and for version two, pancetta cut into cubes. For the vegetarian version we used Morning Star bacon. Here is the basic recipe for pasta alla carbonara:

cooked pasta

bacon or ham, cut in cubes or small pieces

whipped eggs, approximately one egg for every two people

finely chopped onions sautéed in olive oil–we used one large onion for four

grated parmesan cheese–1/8 to 1/4 cup per person (you can use half parmesan and half pecorino)

Saute onions until translucent. If you are using any bacon except pancetta, cook it first but not until too crispy. Add the bacon and heat through. Add the cooked pasta and the whipped egg/cheese to the onion/bacon mixture. Continually stir until thoroughly combined and the eggs are cooked.

When to start cooking the pasta so it is cooked and ready to combine with the other ingredients depends on the type of pasta you use.

We served this with a large salad: leaf lettuce, shredded purple cabbage, chopped red bell peppers, onions, chopped carrots, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. We concluded the evening with three different ice cream choices for dessert.

In case you are wondering why the Christmas tree is still there, well, Martina and I like the lights so we keep procrastinating taking it down. I keep telling myself today it will be dismantled and then it is not. Tonight it will come down–maybe.

An “Italian” Evening–One

January 19, 2019 / Juliana Lightle / Leave a comment

Two weeks and one day ago, Martina arrived from Milano, Italy, to live with me until the end of the school year. We have discovered astonishing similarities: we both sing and play the piano, we love vegetables and fish, we read books. Tonight my grandson and daughter are coming over for Italian food. We went grocery shopping today, bought pancetta for pasta alla carbonara. Because my grandson is vegetarian, we purchased Morning Star “bacon” and will make a separate vegetarian version for him.

As we planned this repast, I learned that in Italy everyone eats several courses unless in a very big hurry. Course one includes various little goodies like cheeses, nuts, salami, often thought of in the US as antipasto, but it can include many other things. Each person obtains a drink of his or her choice and snacks on the goodies and converses. There are separate courses that follow: pasta, meat or fish, salad, and finally dessert. Italians eat dinner late, e.g. 9-9:30, which reminded me of Argentina where people also eat late. I like to eat late unlike many people in the US. However, we won’t eat that late tonight, more like perhaps 7:30 or whenever we get everything done.

Right now as we await the arrival of my family, Martina and I are sipping tea while she works on a dystopian short story she has to write for English class–she is a senior here–and I write this blog post. The snow from last evening has mostly melted and the sun is setting. Martina loves Panhandle of Texas sunsets and sunrises. I will take photos of the food and post them tomorrow.