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A few recipes
Two great things. Florence, Italy.
The Florence post will go up tomorrow. Meanwhile, here are some recipes for you to try. It just so happens that I am serving this for dinner tonight:
Pulled Pork Barbecue (cooking it in a crock pot)
No Egg Tirimasu Edited to add: Aledys tells me that she can’t access the recipe for Tirimasu, so here it is (adapted from Sainsbury.co.uk)
175ml strong black coffee (I used espresso)
6 tablespoons coffee liqueur
About 175g savoiardi biscuits (Lady or Sponge fingers–I ended up needing 1.25 packets for my dish)
250g mascarpone cheese
300ml double cream, whipped to very soft peaks
4 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
- Mix together the coffee liqueur.
- Put half of the biscuits in a serving dish and pour half the coffee mixture on top.
- Mix together the mascarpone, whipped cream and confectioner’s sugar. Spread half over the biscuits.
- Place the remaining savoiardi biscuits on top and pour over the remaining coffee mixture.
- Top with the remaining mascarpone mixture and smooth the surface.
- Chill for at least 2-3 hours (I heard overnight is better). Lightly dust with cocoa powder before serving.
Note: I have never made tiramisu before and was worried that the coffee would make a mess with the whipped cream mixture. However the lady fingers (sponge fingers) soaked up the liquid almost instantly.
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Italy: Lucca (ti amo)
Lucca was a charming surprise! Located in Tuscany, this little town is surrounded by thick walls from the Renaissance era. Rick Steves listed Lucca and Pisa together in his Italy book, which I have to admit was the only reason we went. I am so glad we did, though. Lucca is a town with heart.
It wasn’t until I started going through my photos that I realized why I fell in love with Lucca. I bet you can guess why, especially if you’ve been a reader of this blog for a while. :-)
By the way, if you’ve missed the other stops on this trip, you can find them here: Nice -> Monaco -> Antibes -> Cannes -> Cinque Terre -> Pisa.
The walls aren’t used for protection anymore. In the 19th century, the rampart’s wide top was transformed into a tree lined avenue, perfect for a nice evening walk.
Porta San Pietro.
Just inside the gate.
:-)
Have you guessed why I love Lucca?
It’s the bikes! And the general Old World gorgeousness, of course.
San Martino Cathedral dates back to the 11th century.
This talented duo, Vladlen Nemtsev on the bayan and Hanna Chayeuskaya on the tsymbaly, were so good that we bought their CD. They played classical music in shadows of the cathedral. Magical…
Lucca was founded by the Etruscans but became a Roman colony in 180 BC. This site has some excellent information on Lucca, which would be quite useful for the next time you’re in the neighbourhood :-)
Here’s Roxi singing a little Italian opera in front of Giacomo Puccini’s birthplace.
This photo and the one I posted yesterday are my favourites from our time in Lucca. I bet it would be just lovely to spend a leisurely weekend in this town.
I should have gone in, just to see.
We ate here–the food was yummy and the proprietor so friendly and welcoming. By the way, we were surprised how homey (in a good way) the food was on this trip. So different from the Italian food we’ve eaten before.
View from on top of the wall. Tuscany, I’m not done with you yet…
Tomorrow… Florence.
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Italy: Pisa
Because we were “in the neighbourhood”, I really wanted to have a peek at Pisa. We did Rick Steve’s walk from the train station through the town to the Piazza dei Miracoli (Square of Miracles), where the Leaning Tower is located. We spent half a day in Pisa and half a day in Lucca. I’ll show you the charming city of Lucca tomorrow, but for now, here’s Pisa.
Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Cosimo I de’Medici.
Duomo in the Piazza dei Miracoli, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Italy: Cinque Terre
This is a continuation of our trip to France and Italy in April. If you missed my previous posts, you can click here for: Nice, Antibes, Cannes, and Monaco. Next week, I’ll finish up this series with two more posts: Pisa/Lucca and Florence.
Cinque Terre is a collection of five villages situated along the Italian Riviera: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare. For a short introduction to the area, you can read Rick Steve’s article here.
We walked from Riomaggiore to Vernazza, where we decided the town was too beautiful to hurry on to the last village. Instead, we stayed there to rest our feet, enjoy the sunset and eat a delicious dinner.
For those of you who might be wondering, we used La Spezia as the base for this Italian leg of our trip because it was close enough to Cinque Terre and the other cities we were interested in visiting. This was very convenient, but I should warn you that the trains were often late and sometimes cancelled (not just in La Spezia!). So just be aware of that, especially if you’re counting on that last train home.
Also, we were there in April. It was hot during the day but surprisingly chilly after sunset. A light fleece pullover in your daypack would be a good idea!
As for the Cinque Terre trail itself, the leg between Riomaggiore and Manarola is nicely paved and a very easy 40-ish minute stroll. After Manarola, the trail gets quite rugged, so be sure you have decent hiking shoes (or trainers at the very least). Walking sticks would be nice, if you have them. Lastly, be sure to carry enough water and a few snacks. I think it’s easy to forget that this is a real hiking trail versus an easy amble between towns.
I’m going to leave the rest of this post wordless. If you have any questions, please do leave them in the comments and I’ll be happy to answer them if I can!
Riomaggiore to Manarola
Manarola to Corniglia
Corniglia to Vernazza
Vernazza
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What happens when we run out of Stroopwafels
(my least favourite)
I won’t tell you how many boxes of Daelman‘s double packs we brought over with us, but now they’re GONE. So as of yesterday, we’re going cold turkey and switching over to 100% British biscuits. A real hardship, you know ;-)
Interestingly, we can buy Daelman’s stroopwafels at our local post office (for non UK readers, many of the branch post offices here are located at the back of convenience-type stores). I don’t think I’m that desperate, though. All of the food in that store looks like it’s been sitting on the shelf for a while. Our local Waitrose sells “toffee wafels” that look like stroopwafels, but they’re just not the same.
Mr. DJ told me that he might have to make a business trip to Amsterdam in a few weeks. Maybe he can take over an empty suitcase and pick up a couple of those huge duty-free boxes at the airport. My daughter says I should learn how to make them. No thank you! I’ll just do without for now. LOL!
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Wordless Wednesday ~ 54: By Appointment to the Queen
Click here for more Wordless Wednesday.
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Out and about in London
Roxi has had quite a number of get togethers with friends in town lately. The latest one was on Sunday, a meeting in Soho with a friend from her old school here in England. While they went their way for a couple of hours, I made my way into Chinatown, a place I’ve not spent a lot of time. Also included below are some pics from our walk back to the train station.
Leicester Square area.
Chinatown. I found some hot sauce I was looking for and a couple of interesting stores that I need to take Roxi to soon.
Nearby Swiss Court, so named in 1991 in celebration of the 700th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation. Those coats of arms belong to the 26 Cantons of Switzerland.
Walking back to the train station, we found The Household Cavalry Museum on Whitehall. I’d like to go there one day. When I walked by this building, I realized there is still so much of London that I haven’t seen!
The Monument to the Women of World War II, Whitehall.
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Ask an Expat: Our version of the first day of school
School books and supplies for five classes.
In recent weeks, I’ve had a number of people ask me about Roxi school, so I thought that was probably a sign that I should do an update…
Roxi’s books arrived on Friday. The larger packet on the right contained her science kit–we haven’t had a minute to open that up yet. It should be interesting! The smaller box on the left held her books.
She started a couple of her classes this weekend. It’s going to take a little getting used to going to school this way. It very much depends on the student being self disciplined, which Roxi is, thankfully.
After doing a English lesson and part of an art lesson, Roxi decided we need to sit down and come up with a schedule for how much she needs to study each day. She wants to finish each cycle of classes (six cycles, five to six courses each) in about half the time it would take her to complete it in regular school. Each semester in regular school is about 18 weeks, so she’s hoping to have her courses and exams completed in nine weeks. It’s an aggressive schedule, to be sure. But if she can do it, she can have the majority of her classes finished before she starts her music school next autumn. Eye on the prize!!
The main concern I have right now is that I need to find a place that can administer Roxi’s exams. If anyone knows of a place in London or the Greater London Area, I’d love to hear about it.
By the way, Roxi needs 26 credits to graduate from the Texas high school system. She received 11.5 credits (she got credit for the high school level classes she took in middle school–yay!), so that means 14.5 to go. She’ll be doing some of the remaining 14.5 credits as dual credit classes (credit for high school and university), including some online songwriting classes through Berklee College of Music.
More impressions to come as we make our way through this program…
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Ain’t no love in the heart of the city
We are a little out of order on the songs for Roxi and Chris’ contemporary music school. This is Week 4′s song–Week 3 is still in production.
Click here for Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City
Roxi – lead + backing vocals and keyboard
Chris – guitars and bass
Mr. DJ – drums and production
Have a great weekend!
