A Late Summer Grower's Market

The Sunday grower's market in Corrales, NM

Is there a better place to be on an August morning than outdoors at a grower’s market? This is especially true when the sky is blue, the temperature mild, and you are itching to fire up the grill and roast some veggies.

Whether I am at home in New Mexico or somewhere in Europe, I know that the August market will be bursting with the colors, flavors, and scents of the late summer harvest. This is the peak time for melons, peaches, tomatoes, corn, peppers, squash – all of which provide great inspiration for adventures in the kitchen.

Green chile roasting - the scent of late summer in New Mexico

In New Mexico, August is also the time of the chile harvest  – and if you’ve never smelled roasting green chile, tumbling in a basket over an open flame, then you have really missed out! For me, that pungent scent signals two things – that I am definitely home in New Mexico and that fall is just around the corner.

I’m enjoying my last two weeks of summer at home before I head back to Italy for most of September and October. So, for the next two weeks, I’m all about the local markets in New Mexico, including the one I visited last Sunday in the small village of Corrales, not far from my home in Albuquerque.

I did my market shopping to the delightful  sound of live music, in this case a marimba and a steel drum. The chile was roasting, the vendors were cutting slices of peaches and melon for tasting (yum!), and the growers were exclaiming about crops just picked that morning (including some fresh-as-could be purple okra, which I couldn't resist), as well as what the harvest would bring in the upcoming weeks. Shoppers wandered around with colorful market baskets, filling them with even more colorful produce. The atmosphere was festive as the locals enjoyed a mild morning with just the first hint of fall in the air.

variegated purple beans

tiny carrots are so flavorful

multicolored peppers

It’s hard to believe that in a couple of weeks I’ll be wandering the market in Lucca, filling my basket with the fabulous fruits and vegetables of the end-of summer harvest in Italy. Stay tuned – I’ll be posting in real time from Italy in a few weeks and I bet there will be some markets, some festivals, and some adventures in the coming posts.                                                   -post by JB

Fresh Herbs and Brunch on the Patio

My small herb garden

It’s the height of summer and I’m home in New Mexico anticipating my return to Italy in just a few weeks. In the meantime, I’m enjoying my herb garden, my small backyard, cooking some of my favorite summer dishes, and entertaining friends and family.

Last week I had two friends over for brunch and some trip planning. I made a favorite brunch dish – herb-baked eggs with toast. I used fresh herbs from the garden, set a pretty table on the patio, and spent a lovely morning talking travel with friends.

My version of herb-baked eggs is adapted from an Ina Garten recipe. This is more of a French-inspired dish than an Italian one, but hey, I can’t serve frittata every time I have brunch company, can I? You can find Ina's original recipe in her Barefoot in Paris cookbook or just follow this link: https://barefootcontessa.com

The table is set for brunch on the patio.

Fresh herbs for the eggs

I make a few changes to the original recipe, including substituting finely chopped chives (1/2 teaspoon) for the rosemary. I prefer the chive flavor and I find little bits of rosemary too tough for my taste. I increase the fresh thyme to ½ teaspoon and decrease the parsley to 1 teaspoon (too much parsley tastes like grass to me). I also find that the three eggs in the original recipe is too large a serving size, so I use just two eggs in each baking dish. One thing I don’t change – I always use the ½ tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of heavy cream called for in the original recipe. A touch decadent I know, but oh the flavor is worth it! Because I’m eating low carb these days, I also substitute a high-fiber whole wheat bread for the brioche (though in a perfect world I’d go for the brioche!).

Here the eggs are added to the bubbly cream and butter mixture, sprinkled with the herbs and cheese, and are ready for the broiler.

The key to success with this recipe (which is really quite easy) is having all the ingredients prepped before beginning to cook the eggs. It’s especially important to have the eggs cracked and in a dish ready to pour into the hot cream/butter mixture. You definitely don’t want to be breaking eggs at the last minute and you don’t want to use any broken yolks! Also be sure to chop those herbs really finely and use a good sea salt and fresh pepper.

The herbs make the finished dish smell as good as it tastes!

Trust me, your friends will rave about this dish. So invite some friends, fix brunch, and maybe plan a trip of your own.  I’ll be in Lucca in September and October and Judy will join me in mid-October. Want to meet us there?   Two Parts Italy has some Lucca events scheduled: a journaling workshop, a garden walk, and even some help settling into a rental apartment. We'd love to see you in Lucca!

For more information about traveling with us go to:     https://www.twopartsitaly.com/travel-with-us/                                                           -post by JB

Escaping the Summer Heat in Coastal Oregon

As much as I love Italy, I avoid visiting in summer when it’s hot, humid, and crowded. Even though the grapes and lemons are ripening, the days are long, and the Mediterranean is sunny and inviting, I skip Italy in June, July, and August.

But there is something about summer that calls out for travel and so, with temperatures at home in New Mexico topping 100 degrees for a week straight, I needed a summer vacation spot. Somewhere with cool temperatures, reasonable prices, and not too far from home. Somewhere like the northwestern United States, specifically the northern coast of Oregon, along the Pacific Ocean. 

The dramatic Oregon coast.

The coast here is rocky, foggy, wild, and wind-swept. The temperatures are cool and the air often damp and misty. But then the mist clears, the sun comes out, the sand warms, and the beaches become playgrounds perfect for walking, kite flying, sand castle building, and playing at water’s edge. The water remains cold, but the kids and dogs don't seem to notice as they run into the waves. At night, people build fires on the beach – and what's better than sipping wine by the fire while listening to the waves break on the beach?.

Seaside, Oregon

Here are some highlights from the four days in late June that I spent exploring the northern Oregon coast.

Sand dunes and beach, Seaside, Oregon

Seaside is a classic family beach town. It has beautiful scenery, long stretches of beach, a 1.5-mile walking path (the “prom”) along the beach, and an arcade-like atmosphere that kids love. There is also a river, perfect for paddle boats and crabbing. The local specialties are fish and chips (with fresh salmon and tuna) and anything made with crab. There are plenty of hotels and condos and also cute cottages to rent at reasonably good prices. Seaside is a great central location for exploring the coast and it's where I chose to stay during my visit.

Trail to the beach through the dunes

Carousel, Seaside

River view, Seaside

Gearhart (a few minutes north of Seaside) was my favorite spot on the northern coast. It’s a small village with charming homes, beautiful beaches (you can drive right to the water's edge at Sunset Beach), a seaside links golf course, a quaint downtown, and not one traffic light. It's also home to, in my estimation, the best bakery on the Oregon coast – the Pacific Way Bakery. I love the character of small, locally owned places like this. The setting is quirky and inviting; the owners friendly. It's a popular place with a steady stream of happy customers. The fresh baked goods – savory vegetable tarts, breads, croissants, coffeecakes, pastries - all look delicious. I would have loved to try them all, but settled on a marionberry scone. Not too sweet, packed with berries, and delicious! Good coffee too. I’d travel all day just for those scones!

Fort Clatsop, deep in the woods outside of Astoria, is a Lewis and Clark expedition campsite. There is an interesting small museum, a true-to-history re-creation of their log cabin campsite, demonstrations about life at the fort, and beautiful walking paths along the river where Lewis and Clark launched their canoes. This is a must for history buffs. A detour to nearby Astoria is worthwhile to see the huge ships enter the mouth of the Columbia River from the Pacific.

Canon Beach, about eight miles south of Seaside, has beautiful scenery, including dramatic Haystack Rock. There are long stretches of white sand beach, great shopping, fine dining, and, as a splurge, lodging at the exquisite Stephanie Inn. Cannon Beach is more upscale (and more expensive) than neighboring Seaside but it's full of art galleries and has a more "adult" vibe.

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon

I couldn’t pass up a stop in the only town on the northern Oregon Coast with an Italian name – the little fishing village of Garibaldi. I was hoping for an interesting history here - Italian settlers, fisherman from Napoli, a tortured love story about an Italian count .... but, as it turns out, the name came from the first postmaster - who wasn't even Italian! The story is that the Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi was a personal hero of the postmaster and so the postmaster named the town Garibaldi. The most Italian thing I found in this work-a-day village were two lone cannoli in the local bakery.

Cape Meares, Oregon

Cape Meares is about an hour south of Seaside and just a few minutes from the tiny village of Oceanside. The cape offers dramatic coastal views, wildlife viewing areas, hiking paths, and an old lighthouse. Up the winding lighthouse steps is the lantern that protected ships along this stretch of coast for many years (now decommissioned). The brief tour gave interesting historical and mechanical perspective about the lighthouse.

Cape Meares Lighthouse

View from Cape Meares

Climbing the lighthouse steps

Roseanna’s Café in Oceanside is a perfect spot for lunch after visiting Cape Meares. The best tables are by the window and have spectacular and often stormy views. The service is friendly and the clam chowder unique for the addition of dill. The marionberry cobbler is served warm a la mode or with a dollop of whipped cream. The cobbler alone makes it worth the drive.

Roseanna's Cafe, Oceanside

A table with a view at Roseanna's

oops - dug in before taking a photo

The northern Oregon coast is a unique part of the United States, a bit of a hidden gem, and well worth a summer visit. Don't forget to try the marionberries!                                    -post by JMB

The rocky coast at Oceanside, Oregon.

Aperitivo

Aperitivo - one of my favorite Italian words. There really isn't a perfect English equivalent because aperitivo is more than just a drink, less than a meal, and fundamentally different than the American happy hour. Aperitivo is a wonderful part of the Italian culture - a social interlude between late afternoon and the evening meal (which typically isn't eaten until around 8 or 9 p.m.). 

Aperitivo at Bar San Michele, Lucca

Aperitivo time is around 6:30 or 7 p.m. and serves as a transition - a relaxing end to the day, a chance to connect with friends, and a slow meander toward dinner. We are not talking about a drink ordered at dinner and sipped while waiting for the meal to arrive. The aperitivo is an event all its own that most often occurs al bar (at the bar) before going to a restaurant to eat or before heading home for dinner. Italian bars are chameleons - the same bar that serves morning coffee becomes the perfect place for the evening aperitivo. How practical!

Piazza Cittadella, Lucca.

The Italian aperitivo consists of a glass of wine or a mixed drink plus a small appetizer. Traditional aperitivo drinks are on the lighter side - a prosecco or a glass of wine, a negroni (campari, vermouth, soda) or an aperol spritz. Most of the time small snacks arrive alongside the drinks. These may be as simple as a dish of peanuts or potato chips or may be as complex as a small buffet with bruschetta, miniature panini, or other savories. I've noticed the heartier offerings tend to start later in the evening, though this varies from bar to bar. 

 The bright orange drinks that everyone seems to be sipping on warm summer evenings in Italy are called aperol spritz. Aperol is a bitter made from oranges, herbs, and roots. It has a relatively low alcohol content (11 percent) which makes it perfect as an early evening drink. While the recipe for aperol itself is a secret, the spritz recipe is well known - mix 2 parts aperol with 3 parts prosecco and a splash of soda. Pour over ice and add a slice of orange. Simple! The slight bitterness may take a bit of getting used to, but after the first sip a spritz has a pleasing and refreshing taste. It's a typical aperitivo drink, made even better when sitting outside in a beautiful Italian piazza, with the sound of Italian chatter in the background, talking with friends or watching the theater of daily life in Italy.

Aperitivo in Piazza San Francesco, Lucca.

Luckily, aperitivo is an Italian tradition that can easily be recreated at home. If you come to my house on a summer evening I'll be serving aperol spritz on the back patio, along with my favorite marinated cheese. There may even be Italian music playing in the background. Head on over - let's have an aperitivo insieme (together).                                -post by JMB

Bologna for Beginners: The Historic Center

Fresco, Church of the Crucifix, Santo Stefano

Bologna is not one of the major tourist destinations in Italy, at least not for Americans, which is both a shame (because it's fabulous) and a blessing (because it remains less crowded than Rome, Florence, and Venice and moves at a decidedly slower pace). Many of the guide books skip over it or give it barely a mention and yet my Italian friends love this city and visit often. Add to that the region's reputation as la pancia (the stomach) of Italy with a unique and fabulous cuisine and I had to check it out for myself. And so, with a long weekend to spend, I headed to Bologna with few expectations other than exploring, wandering, and sampling good food.

It didn't take long for me to become enamored with this city - the beautiful pale red hues of the buildings and roof tops, the large medieval plazas ringed with architectural masterpieces, the cafe/bars offering perfect seats for watching the action, the bustling markets, those unique and stunning porticos, the churches, the art, and - oh yes, the food. In short, what is there to like about Bologna? Everything!

Bologna is just 35 minutes from Florence by train, but don't be tempted to "do" Bologna as a day trip. It is well worth spending several days in this beautiful city, so find a good B&B and settle in to explore. I was delighted with my stay at the B&B Palazzo Trevi on Via Frassinago. This is a warm and friendly place gracefully run by owners Consuela and Francesco. The rooms are comfortable and pretty, the breakfasts bountiful, and the location superb. Ask the owners for restaurant recommendations - they know the best spots in this neighborhood!

B&B Palazzo Trevi

Breakfast terrace at the B&B

Breakfast Buffet B&B Palazzo Trevi

It's impossible to see everything Bologna has to offer in a few short days. It's best to map out top priorities and then schedule in lots of time for strolling the arcaded streets, sipping a morning cappuccino or an afternoon drink on a pretty piazza, and just watching and wandering.

A good starting point is a walk around the historic center, which is full of medieval buildings, towers, and piazzas. A pausa (break) for coffee at Bar Vittorio on Piazza Maggiore provides a view across across the piazza to the Basilica of San Petronio with its incomplete facade (bottom half marble, top half rough brick). Across the way is Palazzo d'Accursio and the clock tower. Built in the 1300s, this building now serves as the town hall.

Basilica of San Petronio

Palazzo d'Accursio

After pausa, it's just a few steps across the piazza into the courtyard of the Palazzo d'Accursio and a few more to visit the interior of the Basilica of San Petronio with its richly decorated side chapels, beautiful stained glass windows, canopied altar with ornate crucifix, and lovely artwork. There is also an interesting meridian line from the 1600s set into the floor, which provides an accurate way of marking the days of the year. There is a 2-euro photography fee in this church - pay the fee and get a colored armband or risk getting scolded for taking photos without one. At the end of the afternoon, a return to Piazza Maggiore is perfect for a glass of wine or an aperol spritz and more people watching.

Altar, San Petronio

Fresco, San Petronio

Side chapel with beautiful windows

Just around the corner is Piazza Nettuno, with the famous Fountain of Neptune. The fountain is currently being restored and is hidden by scaffolding. It is possible to schedule an appointment to go inside the scaffolding for a peek but this must be arranged ahead of time. Two fascinating buildings enclose this piazza. First is the Palazzo Re Enzo, built in the 1200s. It has a gorgeous central courtyard, impressive stairways, an arcaded upper floor and an interesting history.

Courtyard, Palazzo Re Enzo, Bologna.

The second is the Bibliotecca Salaborsa, another medieval building, now the main public library and community center. It's worth stepping inside to see the unique architecture and ceiling and to get a sense of the vibrant community feel of this building, which is used by locals of all ages as a place to work, study, read, and meet. The basement houses a timeline showing the uses of the building over it's long history, as well as some Roman ruins.

Interior, Biblioteca Salaborsa

Quadrilatero market display

Fruits and Veggies Via Pescherie

Piazza Maggiore leads right into Via Pescherie, the heart of the Quadrilatero, or old market. The street is narrow, crowded, and filled with salumeria (delis), fruit and vegetable stands, cheese shops, fish stalls, and lots of opportunities to dine on local specialties. 

The two towers portrayed by Pio Panfili, 1767.

Fanning out from Piazza Maggiore at the center, it's easy to spot the two towers that are the symbol of Bologna. Torre degli Asinelli (highest of the two and higher than the more famous leaning tower in Pisa) and the shorter Torre Garisenda, which has a more dramatic lean. The Asinelli's wooden interior steps are currently closed for restoration, scheduled to reopen in summer 2017.  

The Biblioteca dell'Archiginnasio is just a bit behind the Basilica San Petronio in Piazza Galvani. This building was the first central seat of the University of Bologna, in the 1500s. It housed the study of medicine, law, and arts. The building is set around a central courtyard, has broad staircases to the classrooms on the upper floors, and contains a famous anatomy classroom. The family crests of students, with names and countries of origin, line the walls. With a building this imposing, the students were bound to take their studies seriously. If only the university where I taught for many years were this beautiful!

Family Crests Biblioteca dell'Archiginnasio

Lecturer's Podium Anatomy Classroom

No beginner's guide to Bologna is complete without some dining recommendations. After just four days I'm hardly an expert in Bolognese dining, but I did find some favorites:

Osteria Santa Caterina is known for it's salumi platters.

Osteria Santa Caterina is a bit out of the center in the area around the Porta Saragozza, located near, and recommended by, the innkeepers at B&B Palazzo Trevi. This is a small, cozy neighborhood place with outstanding food and wine. They have a variety of salumi platters, delicious soups, tortellini in a rich brodo (broth), terrific lasagna, and the absolute best eggplant parmesan I have ever tasted. 

A morning cappuccino and a torta di mele (apple tart) at Pasticceria Gamberini.

Pasticceria Gamberini sits under a portico on Via Ugo Bassi and has lovely pastries and cakes. It's a pleasant place to have a morning coffee and a pezzo dolce (sweet pastry). They have a beautiful array of pastries, cannoli, miniature tarts and sweets, and bite-size savories. They also have takeout panini and tremezzini (those triangular sandwiches) to go - perfect for a picnic lunch. 

A local Lambrusco wine at Ristorante "da Nello"

Ristorante "da Nello" is just off Piazza Nettuno, on Via Montegrappa. The food here is traditional, including pastas, fish, and meats. The flavors are authentic and delicious, the menu varied, the wine list good, and the waiters friendly. On a warm night, the outside dining area is delightful. 

In four days I've barely scratched the surface of Bologna. I am already looking forward to a return trip in the near future!                       -post by JB

Contacts:  

B&B Palazzo Trevi Via Frassinago, 32.   www.palazzotrevi.it