Happy Labor Day - Buon Primo Maggio

I'm almost too late, but the day hasn't quite ended yet.

Happy Labor Day!  Hope you enjoyed the first of May with a little bit of fresh air, even if the weather forecast hasn't been great for Northern Italy.  After almost 15 years in the United States when Labor Day always marked for me the 'end of summer', now it marks for me 'spring is here-summer is coming'.

And what better way to celebrate than to share with you some spring flowers fresh from Stefano's mother's garden here in Valtellina.

Beautiful fluffy pink and gigantic peonies.  How gorgeous they are!

There's plenty more on the huge bush outside where they came from.  The blossoms just seemed to have magically appeared.  There was no sign of them two weeks ago.

Some hot pink rhododendrum blooms.

Lots and lots of round white puffs of petals in the backyard.  I'm not sure what these are called.

And some cheery tulips.

Happy first of May!

Buona Pasqua

It's been a while since I last posted.  What's been going on?  Let's see, work has been consuming most of my time and energy during the work week.  And it won't be letting up for months to come. 

Then I decided enough procrastinating and enrolled myself to the local driving school.  I just have to accept that neither my American nor my Malaysian driver licenses can be converted, and bite the bullet and go through the process to get an Italian license.  So it's twice a week when I attend classes in the evening, and then there's the studying I need to do on my own on the weekends and evenings.  I also have to practice driving stick shift again.  I was 17 the last time I drove with manual gears... ugh!  The most difficult part about the theoretical test is the language.  I struggle during class trying to follow the instructor.  Which means I really need to study on my own in order to stay afloat.  And that's a struggle too.  My dictionary is my new best friend.  If only it can take the test for me!

Well, I'm glad it's the weekend.  And not any weekend.  It's Easter weekend!  There's Easter Sunday followed by Pasquetta of 'little Easter' the day after.  It's a holiday so I won't have to go to work, and although the weather forecast is predicting wet and dreary for Easter Sunday, the sun should be out for Monday.  We don't have any big plans.  Tomorrow we're having lunch in downtown Milan with the Malaysian group.  I'm looking forward to meeting new friends and catching up with old ones.  My expectations for the food are not too high (it's supposed to be Malaysian food) which means I just might be pleasantly surprised.  And for the rest of the weekend we will be with S' family in Valtellina.  We just might get one last ski run in.

Hope you have a wonderful Easter holiday filled with lots of chocolate eggs and bunnies!  Buona Pasqua a tutti!

Capodanno in Puglia

Now where did we leave off? Yes, it was capodanno or New Year's Eve and we were in Puglia. Most of the restaurants were offering il cenone or 'big dinner' for the occasion, which usually meant big crowds, mediocre food, silly hats, entertainment and well, high prices. We weren't really interested. Instead, M invited us to his family home for dinner. We were honored and thrilled.

His parents and younger brother warmly welcomed us to their beautiful home. His mother in typical Pugliese tradition really outdid herself in the kitchen.

We started off with homemade foccaccia with tomatoes and a Pugliese torta filled with olives, onions and anchovies.


An assortment of local fresh cheeses: mozarella, ricotta, stracciatella and I can't remember what else.


Oriecchiete con cime di rape, or 'little ears' pasta with rapa, a local vegetable. This pasta dish is synonymous with the region of Puglia. The pasta was handmade by mum herself.


Dario could not resist a second helping.


Too.much.food...


A second primo or first dish of spaghetti with scampi. Really good. I was already full from the appetizer but this was impossible to resist. Plus, I wouldn't want to offend our hosts!


We were so lucky to be there!


Picture with the family. The stove and sink is actually in a little corner behind the wall on the right of the warm fireplace. It's tiny but obviously works as M's mom kept bringing out delicious food.


We looked up at the clock and realized it was almost midnight! M jumped to action bringing out the firecrackers.


The last couple minutes was a frenzy as the guys tried to figure out how the firecrackers worked while running around trying to decide which terrace to set them off from. The volume on the TV was turned up high so we could hear the countdown.


At the stroke of midnight, the explosion of fireworks went off all around us. It seemed like every family had their own set of fireworks. Some were really LOUD and others quite elaborate and colorful exploding high up in the sky. In the distance we could see the fireworks going off in the neighboring town of Bitonto. I was quite amazed by the display and noise. This went on for quite a bit. Buon anno! Auguri!


We also all had a plate of lenticche or lentils, an Italian tradition to usher in good luck in the new year. Their round shape is reminiscent of coins, so bring in the wealth!


A champagne toast for the new year!


And last but not least, M pulled out his stash of cigars and for a celebratory puff. What a night!

La Befana

Don't hate us, but today was a holiday.

It was a really nice way to ease into the new year at work.

Italy celebrated epifania or epiphany, commemorating the visit of the tre magi or the three wise men to the baby Jesus.

Now what does this have to do with the old witch-like woman figure below?


She is La Befana, who delivers gifts to the Italian children on the night before Epihany, similar to Santa's job. She shows up in the night riding a broomstick and covered in soot from entering through the chimney, and then fills their stockings with caramelle or candy and gifts, or a lump of coal if they've been bad.

One legend has it that the wise men had knocked on her door asking for directions to baby Jesus. They invited her to join them in the search, but she declined. Later, she changed her mind and tried to find the baby, but could not find him. She continues searching till this day, leaving candy and gifts to children.

I'm thinking I deserved a visit. I may no longer be a child but shouldn't there be a credit for all the la befana candy I didn't get? ;-)

This Christmas

This is a sweet poem of a little boy and his tiger friend.


Click to view larger.

I hope you all have a blessed Christmas with your loved ones. Stay warm and safe. And don't forget to give a hug to your favorite person.

Holiday Party

We had our annual company holiday party on Sunday. This year it was held at an agriturismo farm called La Barcella, in the outskirts of Milan, about 1/2 hour from where we live. It was surrounded by farmland so it really felt like we were in the middle of nowhere.

The food was good, which is not always the case at events like these. The appetizers included a very tasty selection of affetati or cold cuts, pancetta or bacon wrapped asparagus, various little savoury pastries and many more. I quickly lost count, but there were supposed to be 6 appetizers. Needless to say, I was already full before the primi or first dishes arrived. I forgot to take pictures of the rest of the food but they were all surprisingly good.

As always, there was an animatore or entertainer who kept the kids busy with fun games. But this year, there was one also for the adults. She called people up to participate in various contests and games like, guess the different sounds. It reminded me of the variety shows that I'd see on tv on Sundays. I found it all rather annoying but I might have been in the minority. There was also a lucky draw with several buoni or gift certificates up for grabs, but lady luck wasn't on my side this time.

One of the highlights was meeting the triplets again. See their proud father, S, being super-dad with two in his arms? The last time I saw them, they were newborns at the hospital two summers ago. How they've grown.

There were lots of children around, and amazingly, quite a number more on their way in the early part of the new year. Everyone was excited of course when Babbo Natale or Santa showed up to hand out gifts.

Il Ponte dell'Immacolata

Next will be a short work week and we're all looking forward to it.

Monday, Dec. 7, is St Ambrogio Day, celebrating Milan's patron saint - Saint Ambrogio, of course.

Tuesday, Dec. 8, is the Feast of Immaculate Conception, a national holiday.

And that's about all I know about that. Which isn't much. But what I do know is that I don't have to go to work. La la la!

At first we thought of making use of the glorious 4 day weekend and going off on a trip somewhere. It's only a few hours drive to the Italian Riviera, or what about visitng the Christmas markets in Switzerland or Austria?

But the reality is that we have lots of chores to take care off around the house. Like cleaning. And organizing. And going shopping to complete the living room, chairs for the dining room, etc, etc... And for S, there is the alarm system to finish putting up, the lighting fixture to install... And that tree we got last night at Ikea? We still need to rescue it from the garage where we left it, and then it needs decorating.

And so this long weekend/ponte (bridge, as Italians love to call their long weekends) we will be in the neighborhood.

Oh, and the Fiera Artigiana makes its annual appearance starting this weekend. I first visited it during my first visit to Milan back in 2005 (wow, has it really been 4 years already?) and it's always fun. Lots and lots of booths in halls divided by the different regions in Italy, and then there's also the 'Mondo' (world) region. It's always fun to wander around looking at different crafts and products, sample delicacies, and not forgetting a stop at the Sicilia area for my favorite arancinis. Word of advice, try to visit in the morning or on weekdays to avoid the crazy crowds.

Let me leave you with a picture from our island getaway just a few weeks ago. These two were my friends' 4-year-old kids - they were so cute playing together hand-in-hand the whole time. The beach, sand, and the waves... it's the opposite of the weather here but doesn't that just conjure up the beautiful image of holiday?

Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American peeps!

I am missing the holiday here. No turkey, no pumpkin pie, no green bean casserole. Instead, it's another day at work. I know I can make my own Thanksgiving here but I have as usual a host of excuses: we just got back, I'm too tired, I don't know where to find a whole turkey, I don't have a whole day to cook a proper turkey dinner... Well, it's too late now but next year I can aspire to cook a real Thanksgiving dinner, ok?

I hope you guys are enjoying the day with your friends and family. This year, I'm thankful for my family, good health, great friends. In addition this year, I have my new husband to be thankful for. He's always sweet and makes me laugh, and he puts up with my silliness. I'm thankful. ;-)