Ravioli and Ruth's Birthday

Had a busy week at Tineggiori, the weather has been hot and sometimes humid, the biggest issue in a valley full of trees and living so close to the river is the annual war with the mozzies.

I felt this year that I was finally getting used to them, I was no longer coming out in massive bumps and going demented with the itchiness, I was wrong though, I just forgot about the monsters we get in August!  I have tried just about every solution out there, essential oils, repellents, garlic, burning coffee grounds and much more, the one thing I've learnt is that it's very simple . . . nothing works!

I made some ravioli this week, I love making pasta as it's fun to do and is so cheap to make, it also makes a frugal lunch feel like a restaurant treat

I filled them with ricotta and spinach

I did have a few air bubbles which caused 4 to burst

I served it with cherry tomatoes, lightly fried in olive oil, butter, onions, a dash of red wine vinegar and a side salad of lettuce and grated carrot.

I seem to be on a cooking theme today but it is one of my greatest passions, we had Ruth's birthday yesterday and had a celebratory buffet Italian style, everything was homemade and the ingredients only dented the shopping budget ever so slightly.

We all had a lovely day and there were plenty pickings still available at tea time so we grazed all day with only big effort in the morning, a bit like Christmas Day!

I feel so lucky to have the time to create in the kitchen, especially being able to feed the family on  low financial resources, this past couple of years have been a great lesson in what we need to be happy and what we can do without.

It's a shame life seems to be about a compromise somewhere for most of us, time and less money or money and less time.

I think we made the right choice for us.

I love Creme Brulee 

5 egg yolks, some cream and a little vanilla

I also love Pavlova

5 egg whites, some sugar and a little fruit

Love and Light to all

xxxx

It's about time . . . .

It's been so long since my last blog I can hardly remember what's happened

Andy has spent much of the past 6 months in the UK working to bring in some much needed cash, he's home now, hopefully for good and ready to get on with farming.  I also spent six weeks with my mum, visiting friends and family, doing jigsaws and generally doing her head in! Ooops! I meant keeping her company! 

It's been a hot summer so far and I think we're finally getting used to it, we start very early and eat our main meal at lunchtime, afternoons are spent indoors and keeping out of the sun, a short siesta (half an hour is ideal, anymore and our bodies assume we're there for the night and it's really hard to wake up) and then we're ready for more work.  It feels like we get two days for the price of one :-)

I can't blog today without mentioning the devastating earthquake to hit central Italy earlier this week, it's been on my mind constantly.  I have totally fallen in love with this Country and the people in it. Italians are the kindest, most open and friendly people I have ever come across, nothing is too much trouble and they consistently offer help and friendship with no expectations of anything in return.  I realise this may not be the case in Milan or Rome but in the tiny mountain villages a genuine community spirit still thrives, I cannot imagine going to our small market town and finding nothing but rubble.  I can though imagine the desperate measures needed to get to some of the remote areas, we are not so remote but still need to park up and walk to the house as do many mountain villagers.

Sending Love & Light to all those affected

♥

Making Cheese, without the science

I have had a busy weekend in the kitchen.  Having read many books on the art of good cheese making I am in awe of their skill and knowledge, however, I wanted to have a go at making some basic cheese without buying starters, rennet and speciality equipment.

So, here is my take on home produced cheese . . . 

I started with approx 8 litres of full fat, raw (not always possible) milk poured into my old jam pan, I didn't measure the milk, just poured to a manageable level, I added a jam thermometer, put the flame on low and started to stir . . . . 

It seemed to take an age but I gradually turned the flame higher until the temperature reached 92ºC and turned off the heat.  I left the milk until it cooled to 88ºC and began adding white wine vinegar, one tablespoon at a time, stirring after each spoonful, until the milk began to separate.

When the whey became clearer and took on a greenish hue (I think it took about 10 tablespoons) I left it to set for half an hour.

I removed the curds from the pan into a colander lined with muslin and let it drain for 20 minutes. I then mixed in 2 tsp of salt to taste.

I then lined my steamer pan (holes needed to drain the remaining whey) with clean muslin and added the curds, pressed them firmly into the space and wrapped with the muslin.

I used a very high tech weight system to put pressure on my lovely cheese, a plate, followed by the mortar from my pestle & mortar set and 2 stones from the garden

After 24 hours, here are the results . . . . . 

I made 3 separate batches and they fit one on top of another snuggly in my steamer pan, the taste is light and creamy and the family can't seem to get enough of it . . 

Much love from Tineggiori xxx

A visit to the doctors, Italian style

Three things happened today that made me feel more 'Italian' than English, it started with a trip to the doctors.

It may be different in larger towns and cities but here in our tiny mountain village a trip to the doctors is a social event.  There are no appointments to be had, no receptionist to get past, providing the doctor has turned up and unlocked the door, you're in.  Everyone waits and chats, there is no queue or system, they all seem to know who is next and if someone 'jumps' the non-existent queue, no-one seems to care.  A lady next to us asked if we were the 'Inglese di Tineggiori', once confirmed she went on to talk about the heat, pigs, chickens and ask if we'd seen the fox yet? Thankfully we haven't.

While sitting waiting for my turn (it took two older ladies opposite to tell me when it was), I tried to work out why it felt so different, then I realised what was amusing me, instead of the copious posters and health related information that I was so used to being fed in the doctors waiting rooms of my past, mainly telling me what I was no longer allowed to eat/drink/consume/do, these two pictures were the only ones to decorate the walls . . . . . 

The second thing happened when I came back to the car after a visit to the supermarket only to realise that, after many years of OCDish parking, this is how I had parked the car, a bit too straight and in the space for a true Italian but not bad for an old English bird! 

Finally I didn't scream or even leave the bathroom when I looked down and realised I was sharing my shower with a scorpion!

The weather seems to have finally broken and we're all a lot more comfortable. 

Best Wishes and Much Love to You from Tineggiori ♥

Heatwave

During all the years I spent dreaming about a move abroad I had one vision firmly planted in my mind, it was a vision of a long wooden table full of wonderful food and wine, surrounded by family and friends.  The setting was equally important, it would be outside, with trees and a climbing wisteria casting shadows forming a dappled pattern across the table in the sunshine. The only sounds I'd hear were laughter and crickets.  Can you see it? 

Well I finally have the setting . . . . . 

The reality is somewhat different, whilst I don't want to sound as though I'm complaining, I'm really not, I just found it amusing to realise that the image I nurtured over the years brought the words rose, glasses and coloured to mind :-D

The truth is it's far too hot to sit outside and if you do manage to ignore the copious amounts of sweat leaving your body, you are likely to be plagued by flies, eaten alive by mosquitoes and perhaps bitten by a spider!

I take comfort from the fact that I'm assured by the locals (and the lack of the sound of chainsaws working in the forrest) that this is not 'normal' summer weather for this area, with temperatures in the mid to late 30's and humidity at over 90% they also keep promising that the heatwave is going to break tomorrow, I'm still waiting . . . .

Meanwhile Andy is working in the UK for a few weeks to bring home some much needed cash, I'm a little envious of his weather reports :-)

We are still up and outside by 7am, the tomatoes which we transplanted far too late are finally producing fruit, I'm not sure if they'll ripen so we may be making green tomato chutney come autumn.  We have a bumper harvest of cucumbers and are collecting upto 18 a day 

We've eaten them for breakfast, fed some to the pigs and chickens and made sweet cucumber relish, I'm working on a recipe for cucumber and mint jelly based on a recipe I use for making sweet chili jam.  I'll post recipes and photos later.

The ducklings and bantam chicks are thriving . . . . 

I hope I don't offend anyone with my complaints, we may be short on money and long on heat but this incredible journey has given me not only the skill to be able to distinguish which bug just bit me, but the ability to take great pleasure from the smallest achievements and the realisation that I don't 'need' nearly as much stuff as I thought I did ♥

Much Love from Tineggiori xx

Monkey, Ziggy Sawdust and Charlotte

So much has happened . . . .

Where to start?

It's been so long since my last post and my head is so full of news I can't wait to share.

We're in the middle of a heatwave here in the mountains, the temperature has fluctuated around the mid to late thirties for three weeks and doesn't seem to be going anywhere!  Phew! We're fast learning as hardy Yorkshire folk to get up early and work while the sun is still 'simmering on the back boiler', midday sees a hasty retreat into the casa and cold showers reduce the number of times I wish we could afford air-con.

Lewis, Amelia and Amy have been for a visit, a lot of time was spent by the river in an attempt to keep cool, I think they were all finally a little relieved to get back to the English summer. It was so good to see them, we cried a bit (or in Andy's case, a lot) when they left.

We hatched another batch of chicks at Tineggiori, our first of 7 bantams arrived on day 21, we called him/her monkey, the last came on day 24 and we managed to 'catch the hatch' on video, not a great example of videography but we were surprised by it's late arrival, I've called him/her Charlotte.

We were out and about this morning, transplanting chillies, digging over more planting space and clearing a small paddock ready for our new pigs.

Ruth was on breakfast duty and served us a fantastic plate of homemade bagels with scrambled eggs and prosciutto, they were so much better than the shop bought varieties and reminded me how self sufficiency may mean less money in the bank but is not a compromise on quality of food.  

More news to follow on chicks and pigs.

Much Love from Tineggiori xx