docsconz

This sounds like an incredible experience - but where was the culatello? Craig, Can you give us an idea of the approximate cost pp of a meal like this? It is too late for my upcoming trip, but perhaps in the future

I'm not sure that can be topped. I know I can't

Thanks for resurrecting this thread. I hadn't come across it before. It is fascinating. What was your family food culture when you were growing up? I grew up in a 100% Southern Italian (Sicilian-Neapolitan Brooklyn household in the 60's and 70's. Food was important, although it tended to be somewhat provincial. We generally ate Italian or "American" with occasional Chinese thrown in. Was meal time important? We typically ate as a family, although as I got older most of my siblings were already out of the house. It wsn't uncommon to have the tv on during dinner if an important game was on. Was cooking important? Absolutely. It ws my mother's principal job (and she was damn good at it!), although my father generally shopped for food and planned the menus. What were the penalties for putting elbows on the table? None, although it was discouraged. I don't really remember it being an issue. Who cooked in the family? My mother did the bulk of the cooking, although my father wasn't bad when he needed to. Were restaurant meals common, or for special occassions? We would have occasional restaurant meals for no particular occasion as well as for some special occasions. Did children have a "kiddy table" when guests were over? I come from a large extended family, so "kiddie" tables were and still are common during large family get togethers. Otherwise, no. When did you get that first sip of wine? It was pretty much always available for me to taste, although as a child I generally didn't like it and didn't drink it. Coca Cola was "our wine". I didn't really start to enjoy wine until after college. Was there a pre-meal prayer? Only during major religious holidays. Was there a rotating menu (e.g., meatloaf every Thursday)? While not a "rotating" menu per se', there were some definate patterns. Sunday was the big meal of the week as it was for so many of you. We would typically have pasta with meat in the gravy (meatballs, braciole, pork sausage and sometimes chunks of pork) followed typically by roast chicken and vegetables especially broccoli (with lemon, OO and garlic) or stuffed artichokes. Mondays would frequently be for leftovers. Wednesdays and Fridays were pasta nights with Fridays typically having seafood such as white clam sauce, fresh tuna sauce, crab sauce (my favorite and what I would request on my birthday), shrimp marinara or a meatless sauce such as "marinara" (tomatos, oo, garlic and basil), mafalde with ricotta or aglio-olio. The pasta was usually followed by seafood - usually what flavored the sauce. Saturdays were often either steak or hamburgers. Thursdays we would occasionally have veal or later on chicken cutlets, pork chops or some other meat dish typically with mashed potatoes and some vegetable. Tuesdays were often pizza night. My usual fare when my parents went out for the evening was Swanson's roast turkey tv dinner. I loved the stuffing and the cranberry sauce (my mother didn't make stuffing when she roasted a turkey. The ubiquitous special event meal was lasagna. How much of your family culture is being replicated in your present-day family life? As much as I can given that my wife come's from a very different suburban wasp background. Her answers to these questions would be almost exactly the opposite to mine, except for the "rotating" menu which was probably more uniform than mine. In any case, we eat dinner together as often as possible (almost every night) without a television (even if a big game is on), cook traditionally on occasion (I still cook my mother's clam, tuna and crab (when I can get live blue crabs - not too often) sauces and my wife has picked up other recipes from my mother such as lasagna, cavatelli with broccoli and fusilli with chopped meat sauce), but more often we are cooking either specific recipes or creatively. Our diet is much more varied cuisine and ingredient wise than either of ours was growing up. Food is of major importance in our house. Dinner should not be allowed to get cold unless it was meant to.

I've never heard of winecommune.com. Does anyone have any experience with it? If it is a site with good availability and prices, the combination may be formidible.

Tommy, You really can't go wrong with any of these suggestions. You won't be able to see everything on this trip anyway. Even if you did, you'll want to go back again anyway. I agree, however, with the thought that if you are going to be spending time in Florence and then heading directly to Rome, you would be better off ditching the car on arrival in Florence and taking the train to Rome. It would be a lot less hassle. I would only keep the car (or get it at all) if you were planning on day trips out of Florence. If not, I would say you are better off getting a rail pass and going everywhere by train. Here is a link for train info.

Siena is one of my very favorite places in Italy. Il Campo where they hold the Palio and its Palazzo Publicco are an incredible sight with an incredible ambience. What foodie can resist the "Torre de la Mangia"? In my mind you haven't been to Tuscany if you haven't been to Siena. I would sacrifice one or two days of Rome. While more time is better, a full day in Siena is probably sufficient to get a glimmer of it. Hope this doesn't make things more difficult

Randall, Thanks for coming by and spending some time with us. Your experience with making many different varieties and styles of wine is boundless and includes Rhones, Italians, sparklers, desserts, etc. Is there anything you have yet to do that you are planning as far as varietals or styles? Cheers! docsconz

Thanks d, but I'm getting $470 at today' rate of 1.157. Maybe I'm missing something Currency Converter Mea culpa, I should read these posts more closely before I throw my $.02 in. I missed the "including" part of the drop-off charge. My apologies - I stand corrected

thanks, I'll check it out.

See my previous message, up about 3 from here-- cheap car rentals!! All taxes and insurance included in the rates!! I have personally used them, so it is for real. Thanks Menton1! I'm getting a quote of EUR 406.00, including the one-way drop off charge of EUR 46.00. My travel agent gave me a quote of approx. $500.00. With the exchange rate it seems that I would still be saving a few bucks! When you're in NY I'll treat you two a dog and a soda ay Gray's Papaya. Last I saw the reference rate as seen here was $1.14 to the Euro which would put your rate with Nova at about $515.28. What you will actually pay because of the credit card or other exchange cut is even higher. From a purely financial point of view, the travel agent is cheaper. Another difference I've found today is that the quoted rate for Auto Europe includes theft and CDW with zero deductible. You have to pay extra with Nova for that deductible.

Tommy, There is little to no benefit IMO in driving from Tuscany to Rome unless you will be stopping along the way. That is probably not realistic with a fairly tight schedule unless you had a specific destination in mind. Tuscany, however, is great to have a car with which to get around. Driving in Rome is anarchy. The Vespas are like gnats - they come out of nowhere and are rather pesky. I have done it and survived, but I wouldn't rush to do it again Why the xxxx's in your itinerary? :

I agree that most if not all zins are better young, but my point on this wine is that it is in no way past peak. I failed to mention that the bottle I had was a 375ml bottle, which if anything would "age" faster than a 750ml bottle. I have had older zins and while they often lose their fruity character, some of them do age reasonably well.

Cleo, It sounds as if you were lucky to get out when you did. One blackout a year is more than enough for me Seriously, I'm sure that must have been a nightmare for travelers the same way it was in the recent NE US blackout.

I recently dined there and was not blown away. My comments are on this thread.

I think so. The wine was full of fruit and supple tannins. It tasted of well-baked chocolate cherry bread with a nice long finish. While I think it still has a lot of life left in it, I can't imagine it getting better. The wine is comprised of 80% zinfandel, 2% mataro (mourvedre), 15% petite syrah and 1% grenache from Dry Creek Valley. It was bottled with 14.9% alcohol.

Did you need a reservation to tour Malpighi? If so, how far in advance did you make yours and how did you do it? Additionally, a question for anyone with an opinion on the matter - Is there a "best" time (e.g early morning or afternoon) to visit an aceitificio balsamico or caseificio di Parmagianno? Those are two things I want to do while at the Gaidella. Does anyone know of any good prosciutto or culatello producers in that area?

Nice post and welcome to egullet! You certainly whet my appetite as I will be there for a few days in November. I will be staying at the Villa Gaidella too.

While not as outstanding as it seems you hoped it would be, I still have to marvel at the price. Was that really 42Euros for all of that (I realize the portions were small, but it still takes a lot of work if not ingredients)?

Tommy, I agree with Joseph - no car in the cities (the roads are pure anarchy), but do have a car in the Tuscan countryside. We rented a villa just outside of Siena for two weeks. It was wonderful and even economical compared to a hotel. It was fun to be able to cook the local produce and meats and also to be able to explore various restaurants around Tuscany. If you want to visit wineries and I do recommend doing so, it is best to make appointments ahead of time.Stephen Hobley's A Traveller's wine Guide to Italy and Carla Capalbo's The food Lover's Companion to Tuscany are good sources for winery contacts as well as other food products such as the pecorino cheese from Cugusi between pienza and Montepulciano. In fact go to Montepulciano, have lunch at La Grotta across from the lovely San Biagio church and try the wines at Avignonesi, especially the vin santo, which may be the finest dessert wine I've ever had. I'll be in Italy with my son in early November. I can't wait. By the way - Do you speak Italian? Unless you speak it very well, I suggest using English for most business transactions.

Great thread. I've always wanted to make mozzarella and ricotta. Mozarella di bufala can't be beat. I'll be spending a couple of days at a bufala farm in Campania in November. Hopefully, I'll pick up some tips there. The Woodstock water buffalo farm is not too far from where I live. Maybe I'll have to check it out

Thanks for the nice comments on the cider and sorry for those of you who missed it. We made and brought down 5 gallons and brought home about half that. There were so many good things, it was impossible to try everything. I was so stuffed I didn't even taste that amazing Murano jello. It was fun making the cider on Saturday. We went out and got about 2.5 bushels of some of the best North Country (New York that is) apples (mcCouns, Macs, galas, golden supremes and cortlands0 and pressed them in our cider press on Saturday. It was a perfect day to do it. While the cider wasn't hard, I am tempted to make some. Any thoughts on technique?

Yum! I can't wait to get back to Chicago.

For FF it really doesn't look bad. I think I would even try it if I found myself needing to stop ata FF joint for some reason. It looks as if it has real vegetables and real (not processed) chicken on it. While it was a long time ago, my very first job was at a BK in Brooklyn, NY. Yes, except for the fried foods, everything was "flame-broiled" There was no liquid smoke then. I don't know if they use it now, but I'm not sure I would make that assumption. The FF industry is bad enough as it is without having to add even more wood to the fire As far as Rick Bayless - it doesn't seem like a good career move, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Pardon my ignorance, but what are "pumpkin ales"?

Shorten the time or keep a meat thermometer such as a Polder electronic thermometer to monitor the ongoing temp. of course that only gives the temp in one location. I have been burned by that .