iron chef

Brad and I watched 2 cooking shows in the last few days that reminded us of the apprentice. first we watched Hells Kitchen. i liked the part where they are cooking individually but the restaurant part really didn't do much for me, mainly because it was more about who they were than what they were cooking. too much drama. not sure why all the bleeping was needed but i guess it's supposed to be funny.

then we watched Iron Chef. what i liked about it was that they had a box of random ingredients and a short time to create a masterpiece with it. i thought one of the guys in particular was a little too emotional. if you are trying to be a top chef in a really busy and exclusive restaurant, you need to have your act together. if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. hahaha.

the reason i like shows like this because it gives me great ideas for throwing things together at the house. meal planning? what's that??? i will say that i will never have frogs legs laying around the house so i don't need to worry about what to do with those. the frog needs them more than i do...

so last night, my iron chef challenge was some fresh pasta, shrimp, red pepper, one tomato, one red onion and some sliced mushrooms. so i decided to use the wok and i used the lemon olive oil since there would be shrimp, then i threw in 3 cloves of minced garlic, the small red onion, the red pepper and the mushrooms. i let those cook for a little while and then threw in the fresh pasta (this stuff is awesome - we don't have it in the states), then of course i had to add more lemon olive oil, ground sea salt, lemon pepper, and regular ground pepper. let that cook a bit and then threw in the shrimp for the last few minutes, a bit more pepper and a little tobasco. after i turned off the gas burner, then i threw in the diced tomatoes and some fresh basil. the only thing i wish i had would have been some scallions and some fresh lemon to squeeze over the top. otherwise it was really good! it got rave reviews from Brad and that's all that matters!

along the way

just some beautiful views on the way to/from church on Sundays...

hunting lizards

or maybe they are salamanders. i do not know since i was more interested in geology and computers than anything else in college.

anyway, the kids are always hunting for lizards in the yard. especially Ringo. every time he goes out the door he races right to some of their favorite hang outs.

we also have baby birds on the roof so i'm trying to keep him away from them until they can fly off on their own. you can hear them chirping away at a very high pitch when you are up there...

living room before and after...

well, we finally have at least one room that is close to finished. we could almost have people over. if it wasn't for the 3 wild and crazy dogs that live in this house!!!

anyway, i have a series that depicts the transformation of the living room... which probably no one else in the world cares about besides me (and maybe my Mom)...! thank you for caring Mom!!

before we moved in...

when we had the loaner stuff...and.....when we first got our stuff

before we got the buffet

(that Brad modified into a tv/media/storage cabinet)

and finally....ta da.....................

now before you wonder what all of that clutter is in the far left corner, i will tell you that is my area and i was busily working when i decided i should take a picture before i forget again. so my violin is out on the chair along with my journals and notebooks, my laptop and purse and Bible are on my ottoman, the box for my new sewing machine is on the floor (yay - another dream come true thank you God - i've been wanting this for the longest time) and my music stand and my water bottle and coffee cup.

besides my mess though, the room has come a long way and we are really happy with the results. just need to put some family photos on the wall around the tv and we will be finished.

the guest room/Brad's exercise room is almost ready. the office in in progress. one step at a time. we are very grateful for what we have been blessed with and i refuse to complain just because we're a few cabinets shy of a kitchen! :-)

oh, here are a couple of pics outside...

ciliegie e fragolini

better late than never....! this will be a rather long post because so many amazing things happened on this day.

last saturday, june 30, we were invited by Sebastiano, a friend that works with Brad to his fiancee's family farm to pick cherries and grill out. it was a hot day but as we drove up into the mountain it cooled off nicely. we were invited because another couple we know are very good friends with him and his family - they have been celebrating with them in the past. so it was them and their daughter, another American couple and their daughter, and Brad and me, in addition to the Sicilians.

first Sebastiano took us to a place on the way where there is the oldest living chestnut tree in europe/the world. it was extremely large, but it is beginning to die off. you can see it in this picture with Brad and several of our friends. it is all around behind them. it is called the Castagno dei Cento Cavalli (The One Hundred Horse's chestnut tree) and you can learn more about the history of it at this web site: http://sicilia.indettaglio.it/eng/comuni/ct/santalfio/turismo/turismo.html

we actually parked up the trail in the 'official' parking area for viewing the tree. there was a truck with a man selling some fruit which is very common in Sicily. we will have to get some pictures of these because this is one of the things i really love about living here. makes me sad just thinking of the day i will not experience that anymore. so i will not think about that now.

anyway...there was also a small outdoor cafe - these are also very common all around. it was a small pentagonal-(or some geometric)-shaped building made of wood with wood shutters that open and inside is where the owner and workers make and serve whatever they have to offer. also there is a large canopy with tables and chairs for you to sit and relax while you eat.

this is a permanent stand. there are some that are integrated into vehicles and travel around to offer their delicious treats in various places around the area. this particular stand had granite e brioche, which is a breakfast ice-creamy type food along with a freshly baked sweet croissant that usually has creme or chocolate inside or can be plain with powdered sugar on top. YUM! this is also something i absolutely love. they have all different flavors of granita - limone, fragola (strawberry), mandorle (almond - my favorite), pistachio and possibly others - i cannot remember... we ordered limone con brioche (lemon without) because we knew we would eat later. the limone is SO refreshing. anything with lemons in Sicily is going to be fantastic. our friends' daughter ordered a fragola (strawberry) but didn't like it so Brad traded with her and so we kind of shared the limone and the fragola - i liked them both. the owner also had a foosball table and so a couple of the guys were playing against the owner and possibly his son - i am not sure - but they had a great time.

after walking around the park area and seeing the tree, we went back to the stand and noticed that he was also selling honey and marmalade from Mt. Etna (something else they are famous for...) he allowed us to taste several flavors which were all good. i bought some lemon honey (of course!) which will be incredible in hot tea and maybe for cooking as well, and some with actual almonds and pistachios in the jar which should be good with cheese as a friend of ours observed. we will report later on that. also, this is something that we could easily ship to the US, so if anyone reading this is interested in anything mentioned on this site, let us know and we will happily ship it to you!

after this it was time to go to the farm area. they have a house there and use that to eat and it is where they prepare the cherries (and whatever else they grow) to go to market. i know they also have vineyards, and some other fruit trees. hopefully we will learn more about them at a future date. but today was for the cherries (ciliegie) and for eating! oh yeah, there is no running water or electricity but there is a really deep well with cold water but you do not drink it.

this is Sebastiano showing the ciliegie, ready for harvesting

there were also many fragolini (mini strawberries) in the area

here is Sebastiano's fiancee's father with tools for harvesting - a bucket, a ladder and a pole to pull down branches to get the cherries

we picked enough to fill a couple of these buckets

Sebastiano's parents were also there. his fiancee, her 2 sisters and their mother, along with his mother prepared the most fantastic meal we have eaten since arriving in Sicily. mainly because everything was made by them from their garden...first we had some pasta with homemade sauce which was delicious and simple. they had made that from their own pomodori (tomatoes) just that morning! along with that was the grated fresh parmigiano cheese. then we had 2 kinds of melanzane (eggplant) - one grilled hot, thinly sliced to go with the pasta and one that had been marinated and was cool to go with the salad. the bread (several different kinds) was all home made. the salad was fantastic too - there was a giant bowl of lettuce and then another bowl with the marinaded tomatoes, carrots, onions and i'm not sure what else but it was incredible. there were also some green beans that were cold and marinated and they were some of my favorites - i have to learn how to make those.

then they started bringing out all the grilled meats...they had sausages, steaks, veal, lamb - all grilled and fantastic!! we were all so full but could not resist the cake that Sebastiano's fiancee made. it had fresh pineapple and pecans and he said he had sliced the pineapple and shelled the nuts - she did the rest.

this is a view from the window of the room where we ate - up on the 2nd floor. there was a cool breeze blowing the whole time.

you can see the tops of some of the olive trees, part of the city below and the Mediterranean Sea. they also had a small bowl of fresh gardenias on the window sill and so you could smell their fragrance throughout the room. gardenias are my favorite flowers. it was dreamy.

oh i almost forgot - we also had ice cold watermelon - they had lowered it down into the cold well water to chill while we picked cherries and ate...

such a wonderful experience. we have been so blessed since we have been here with such good friends and memories that will last a lifetime.