hathor

Thanks for taking the time to post the olive pressing/molino pics. And including the yield of oil. We have some trees at the Tower and I just don't think its enough to bother pressing, but enough to cure. I also like Big Daddy!! Some cats just "got it'', if you know what i mean!

So, to go back on-topic: can we safely say that the article is dumb? In the sense that is was 'dumbed down', maybe played for laughs? And that this is a serious subject that would merits from serious discussion?

Ciao Judith Umbria! I totally agree with you about 'at home' food, and restaurant food. Sometimes I feel as if the menus are government issued...they can be very, very similar. Glad you had success with that squash...it was just too starchy for my taste. Don't tell anyone, but I don't like chick peas either!

CarrotTop and KitchenMom, you are both making excellent, well thought and well written points. KitchenMom, I didn't mean that I had seen the light and found the one true path. I was lucky, my son loves vegetables and fruit, always has. I have a personal mission, not sure that is the right word, but I want people to eat their meals together. I just think it leads to an incredible bonding and healthier overall eating habits. Even if its canned spaghetti and twinkies, its a shared experience. My "sainted son" (where is the ironic ikon?) always hated fish. He would eat anything that came in a shell, but hated anything with fins. He was never required to eat the fish I served. I made sure there was plenty of vegetables or other things that he liked and that was that. Now, he's 21 and he's been eating...fish! He remarked this summer, "Gee mom, it's lighter than meat and I don't feel so stuffed. And it does taste good.' So, to the parents of white food only children, and genetically pre-disposed to finnicky-ness, I council patience. Can you imagine telling a mother she needs a patience???? Do I win a prize for understatement?? HUH???

I'd vote for the deep South in the US. However, you forgot about Southern Italians!

Dehydrate if you want some crunch. Check out the "Ideas in Food" blog, they have lots of different takes on ribbons, and glasses etc.

I'm right with you on the pots and pans! Lots of terra cotta, clay pots just make everything taste better. Except for when you need high heat...! That is a tragedy that you say your market is dying, is there just not enough local traffic to keep it going? The variety of ingredients that you have available is amazing to me. My choices here in the hinterlands are far more restricted.

Depressing. Depressing. Depressing. How's this for a radical theory: If you make tasty, seasoned food, including vegetables, and then eat them yourself...while eating with them your child, you just might have a chance at developing a child's palate that thinks vegetables and fruit are delicious. And you won't have to lie about it.

Here's my chicken oyster story: Our son was about 7 and we sometimes went to a neighborhood French restaurant, Chez Jacqueline. The first time we brought Curtis, predictably, he ordered steak. Then, to our horror, he asked for ....ketchup! Eric, the personable, handsome, gregarious, did I mention cute? waiter proceeded to extol the virtues of Bernaise sauce. After that, there was no turning back, Curtis trusted anything that Eric told him. The next time we went, Eric told him where and how to find the chicken oyster. Curtis thought Eric was a god. Chicken oysters go to the fastest in our house, there is absolutely no honor among thieves!

Molto E, thanks for taking the time and effort to chronicle your experience. Well done! Like Docsconz, I can't wait until these chefs journey east so I can taste their cuisine. Their generosity is inspiring. Mrbigjas: nice shout out for American cheese!!

Beautiful description of your cooking style, Judy. It can be daunting, and scary, and tricky to cook in this style. You can't 'cover up' any boo-boos. That whole 'less is more' philosophy can be far more challenging that you might suspect. I love the photo of your much loved and used pots. New pots are worse than new shoes!

I've had good luck making a batch of saba. A friend gave me some quinces and I was good to go! Cool bit of info about 'gobbi'. I keep turning my guests on cardoons....maybe I can get a gig with the cardoon promotion society!

Elie, that's a gorgeous meal! Kevin, your dinner looks pretty spectacular as well. Love the soup idea...I'm thinking cardoons... Saltless bread is an acquired taste. I hated it for the first 5 years....now, I kinda like it. Kinda. It has its place...the best bread for crostini or bruschetta, but to sit down and just eat a slice plain...you may need to be born here. Still messing with the grill, bistecca con tartuffo bianco.

Looks like you had an absolutey wonderful time! We've encountered that martini/vermouth thing too...it always catches me by surprise. You'd think I'd have figured it out by now, but I'm not the martini drinker in the family. The other bad news about the zolfini beans is that there is no other bean like it. Honestly. I'd love to get Rancho Gordo's take on it...he's the bean maestro. It is the tastiest bean I've ever encountered. Apparently, the only solution is to come back!! (and visit Umbria, of course!)

You have punch in the morning??? Hats off to you! My family loves to tell the story of the time I drank 2 glasses of punch, staggering home and sang fractured Christmas carols....

I've seen hare in the woods around here....and they are big enough that you go, "Whoa!! What the h*ll was that???" as it hops away. Lunch included a grilled chicken...or pollo alla brace...or polo allo ferro. Grilling meats is a core prepartion in both Umbria and Tuscany. This one was particularly tasty. You know when the taste matches expectations?

Now, THIS is gonna be fun!! Happy blogging, Judy. May your dial up be fast and reliable! For those of you who who have high speed internet, that works even when its rainy, or windy, you have no idea how 'challenging' Italian internet is!! Judy, can you explain more about the oil cooperative? Farmers contribute their olives, and do they only get their olive oil back? Does it get combined? What is the government role in the cooperatives? Or is it only at the commune level?

Pontormo, that chestnut soup sounds like sin in a bowl! I think chestnut soup might be a nice start to a Thanksgiving dinner.... Last night there was some sort of festa going on in Perugia, and the marroni were 3 kg for 5 euro. That's a lot of marroni.... I still have tons in my kitchen. Parmigiana rind update: No photos, my camera was mis-behaving. There is a restaurant outside of Bologna, "Il Sole Antica Locanda del Trebbo" that features a parmigiana soup, and that's what I wanted to make. So, the chopped up rinds went into a strong chicken brodo, slow cooked for 4-5 hours, ran the soft rinds thru the blender and voila`, parmigiana soup! It is delicious, cheesey, and restorative tasting. You know how some soups just are comforting and make you feel better? Ok, now I'm a convert to parm rinds! Bonus: the whole house smelled like a grilled cheese sandwich...Marlena, you would have loved it! Thanks guys!! edit for p.s.: I served it garnished with a few drops of good quality balsmic vinegar. The real stuff.

MattyB, where are you? Montreal?

First the picture of Martha scared me. And normally, I don't scare easily. Then I looked at the risotto recipes, and they were mostly by Rachel Ray. ....hmmmmm..... Not very inventive, or interesting, or engaging.

Well, who knew? Thanks god...the day was nearly over and I hadn't learned anything new!! Grazie mille, ragazzi! p.s. I burned a whole pot of zolfino beans this afternoon, and now I'm too depressed to go downstairs and make dinner. ....just needed to share my woes with people who would understand... Husband is unsympathetic....he's whining something about being hungry....

Very nice blog, Franci! Why do you suppose the recipe you were given says to blanch in lemon juice and flour? Lemon juice, I understand, but why flour? Odd, don't you think?

40 liters??? And I was whinging about 5 liters??? Thanks for the link, Franci.

Woo-hoo! Having Divina around this month will be a treat!! I don't think I'll be able to concentrate until I have a bistecca florentine...I keep thinking about juicy red, bloody steak...... Nice soup Kevin! This should be a very fun month!