Reflections

I’m taking a bit of a break for a few weeks, finishing up some projects in the US and preparing to return to Italy. That break includes writing, so the next few posts will be mostly photos, few words. But since the photos are of Italy I hope you will enjoy them!

Today - reflections. Sometimes beautiful visions appear when gazing into Italy’s rivers, streams, and even puddles. Here are some of my favorite photos of reflections in Italy.

The town of Monte San Quirico reflected in the River Serchio, just outside of Lucca

Shimmery reflections of the boats in Livorno

Even a bridge full of cars looks interesting reflected in the river Tiber in Rome

Watery reflections in a Venetian Canal

The faint reflection of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence

After the rain the puddles reflect an upside down Lucca

Italy Through Windows

How pretty is this window in the town of Buonconvento?

There is so much to marvel at in Italy - art, language, music, landscape, and architecture for starters. In cities and villages throughout Italy the buildings are part of the beauty. They may be made of brick, stone or elegant marble. The style might be medieval, renaissance, or liberty. The style and materials always seem to combine in artful ways. When it comes to an appreciation of Italian architecture, I am especially drawn to windows.

No doubt this window, in Volterra, was added much later than the original construction.

Sometimes I wander through a town - either at home in Lucca or visiting another spot - and simply gaze at windows. Many are elegant, with lace curtains, pretty shutters, and flower boxes. Some are hung with laundry. Others appear not to have been opened for decades. The ones on ground level often have iron grates, which may be in the form of simple squares or more decorative designs.

This window sits high up in a building along a small alley in Lucca

Some windows are rustic and worn. Each has its own beauty. Sometimes it is even possible to get a glimpse inside, often revealing ceilings with beautiful beams, frescoes, and elegant light fixtures. These two little windows, in Bagno Vignoni (left) and Lucca, make me curious. I’d love to get a peek inside.

A different perspective comes when looking out through a window. The outward view may offer a slice of city street, piazza, garden, landscape, or building. Below are 2 views of Lucca and, on the right, a view from the kitchen window at Agriturismo Cretaiole near Pienza.

In any case, the view from a window always entices me out to get out and explore, to discover what is unseen just beyond the window frame.

Venice - a unique window with an interesting view!

One of my favorite windows in Lucca is not medieval or even Renaissance - it is this Liberty Style window in the former Villa Niemack which today houses Lucca Italian School. Isn’t it stunning ? What a wonderful place to study the Italian language.

Brushing Up on French and Greek

I’m spending some time in the United States right now, enjoying family time and avoiding the heat and humidity of the Italian Summer. While I miss Italy, I’m using this time away to brush up on my French and Greek. Not the languages - I’ve trouble enough trying to improve my Italian - I’m brushing up on French and Greek dining. Fair warning - these pictures may make you hungry!

Toast with goat cheese, raspberries, and a chile infused jam at Meraki, a Greek cafe in Albuquerque, NM

I rarely eat Italian food when I’m in New Mexico (it just doesn’t measure up to the real thing), but I do find myself missing the variety of flavors and the ambiance of European cafes. Lucky for me just a short distance from my New Mexico condo are two cafes, one French and one Greek. These go a long way to satisfying my hunger for a bit of European flavor in New Mexico. And since the kitchen in my New Mexico condo is currently undergoing renovation, I’ve had the perfect (all too perfect perhaps) excuse to eat out.

For a taste of France I visit La Quiche, which serves up beautiful French food, breads, and pastries.

The murals in the dining room transport me to Paris, as do the French accents of the staff. A good cafe au lait and a croissant, or a delicate fruit and cream filled pastry, make for the perfect occasional breakfast treat. If I close my eyes the quiches, omelets, and French-inspired salads carry me straight to Provence.

Meraki, a Greek cafe and market, offers another taste of Europe, both Greece and Italy. The word Meraki has no exact English translation, but in Greek it conveys work that reflects great love and care. That concept is certainly reflected in the quality of their food (fresh, seasonal, and carefully sourced) and in the warm, friendly service. This is a small cafe with a big heart. It may sit in a busy shopping center, but the clean white decor and the interesting flavors provide a hint of blue seas and Greek islands.

My friend Alexa enjoying lunch at Meraki. Just look at all those fresh and colorful ingredients.

This is one of my go-to places for really good coffee. Don’t ask for an artificial sweetener here - or even sugar. The coffees are sweetened with a house made simple syrup. Simply wonderful. For a real treat, pair the coffee with a traditional Greek sweet - Loukoumades. These are Greek style donut holes, drizzled with honey and topped with crushed walnuts and powdered sugar. It’s best to bring a friend or two as this order is big enough to share!

Loukoumades

For a recent breakfast I had the homemade Greek yogurt topped with berries, honey, mint, and a really good house made granola. The yogurt was the best I have ever had - creamy without any sharpness. My friend had an equally delightful toast topped with soft goat cheese, raspberries, and a spicy ancho chile jam - a bit of Greek and New Mexico fusion. How does one say “yum” in Greek ?

Almost too pretty to eat - greek yogurt with berries, granola, and honey.

The sandwiches at Meraki cross over into Italy with ingredients like ciabatta bread, prosciutto, and provolone cheese. In the afternoons and evenings they serve cocktails, wine, bruschetta, and meat/cheese boards along with salads, mussels, and burgers. An evening return is definitely on my list of things to do before I return to Italy next month. After all, I’m still working on my Greek and French!

Laundry Day in Italy

When I am in the United States I rarely give much thought to laundry. From hamper to washing machine and on to dryer it’s an easy, uncomplicated task. Not so when I am in Italy. First, I need to be sure that no other appliance is in use when I run the washing machine. The electric circuits simply can’t handle the washing machine running at the same time as the oven, dishwasher, or hair dryer. I learned this the hard way when I once tried to blow dry my hair while doing a load of laundry. Picture me taking out the power in mine plus several adjoining apartments. Lesson learned!

Laundry or art ?

Next, drying times can be much longer in humid Italy (especially compared to my former home in the dry climate of New Mexico). In the winter, hanging things near (or over) the radiators speeds things up. But when the weather is warm and damp, and heat not in use, a pair of jeans can take a long time to dry. It helps to have access to “solar powered” drying (ie, sunshine on a terrace or a window line).

In a country with few clothes dryers, laundry hanging from a window line is a common sight. It always makes me smile.

Next, there are space concerns. My apartment in Lucca is small with no outdoor space. And being on the ground floor means that I don’t have a window high above the street with a clothes line. Setting up a drying rack inside takes up a lot of space and is only big enough for some clothes or towels, and not many at any one time. Hanging sheets to dry is nearly impossible. I now take my bed linens to the lavanderia where they wash, dry, press, and fold them. They return to me wrapped in paper and soft as can be. A touch extravagant but worth it!

Laundry day in the Cinque Terre.

Clothes and linen drying outside is a common sight in Italy (although some historic districts ban this practice). To me, there is something delightful about seeing colorful laundry hung up to dry on a line. It is quintessentially Italian. I often make up theories about the residents of a building based on their laundry - the orange worker’s pants, the individually hung socks, the unabashedly public hanging of “tighty whiteys”, the pretty dresses, the colorful linens, the baby clothes. They all say something about the lives if the people doing the wash. Over the past year I’ve even seen rows of blue surgical masks hung out to dry. Somehow all of these scenes seem like art, or prayer flags, to me.

I’m spending a couple of months visiting my family in the United States right now. I miss those neatly pressed and folded sheets from the lavanderia and the sight of laundry hanging from balconies. I wonder what my neighbors would think if I hung my laundry from my window here in Albuquerque? No doubt the HOA would not be amused.

Color coordinated laundry

A Summer Luncheon: Poached Salmon with Wasabi Sauce

June is a fickle month - sometimes barely reaching spring time temperatures and other times bringing hot summer weather a bit too early. But when the calendar flips to July, then summer begins in earnest. In Italy, that means hot and humid weather. In New Mexico, where I am spending the summer visiting family, the weather is hot but dry with occasional stormy, cloudy days. No matter where I find myself in summer, the hot weather means I do my bread baking early in the morning and look for cool, refreshing things to cook for meals. It also means the herbs in my “garden” (really just a collection of pots on my patio) are ready to incorporate into many dishes. It’s always more fun if the meal is shared with friends, so summer time entertaining is always on my July calendar.

One dish I often cook when in the US, but rarely make when I’m in Italy, is salmon. I’ve grilled it, baked it, pan fried it, breaded and deep fried it. Once I baked 5 whole, fresh caught Alaskan salmon to feed 50 people at a co-workers wedding (the salmon were caught in Alaska by her brother and shipped on ice to New Mexico). That was fun! But rarely is a whole salmon on the menu - usually I’m cooking individual salmon pieces, medium thickness and about 6 ounces each. In the US that often means a bag of frozen salmon from Costco is in my freezer.

One thing I had never tried (before this week) was poaching salmon. Poached salmon - it just sounds elegant, doesn’t it? Best of all, it can be poached early in the day, chilled, and served cold. That makes it perfect for a summer-time luncheon. Cold salmon calls for a brightly flavored sauce, so to go with my poached salmon experiment I made a wasabi mayonnaise. For my luncheon I added a salad (brought by my guest) and some sourdough bread. To finish the lunch, some sweets from a local bakery added a perfect finish. What a nice way to welcome summer! My adventure in poaching salmon turned out nicely and I think it is destined to become one of my favorite summer time meals.

The poached salmon makes a beautiful presentation when garnished with lemon slices and fresh chives.

Recipes

Poached Salmon

Salmon pieces are cooked in a flavorful poaching liquid of wine, lemon juice, chives

Poaching liquid: Combine 1/2 cup white wine (I used some leftover Prosecco that was almost flat), 1 cup water, 2 lemon slices, a small bunch of chives (rough chopped), 1/4 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of black pepper in a deep pan. Bring to a slow boil.

Slip salmon pieces (thicker pieces, not very thin filets, about 6 oz each) into the poaching liquid, reduce heat, simmer about 10 minutes or until just cooked through. If the poaching liquid is not quite deep enough to completely cover the salmon, then turn them over mid-way through cooking, gently so as not to break them). Remove salmon from liquid, peel off the skin, and chill.

Ingredients for the wasabi mayonnaise. I used bunching onions fresh from the garden, but scallions will work nicely too.

Wasabi Mayonnaise

1/2 cup Best Foods mayonnaise

2 1/2 Tablespoons wasabi paste (this amount gives mild heat, use more or less to taste)

1 Tablespoon finely chopped bunching onions or scallions

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving to allow the flavor to develop.

To serve : plate the chilled salmon on top of lettuce leaves, garnish with lemon slices and whole chives, and serve with wasabi mayonnaise on the side.