Category Archives: Food

The Town of Assisi, Italy

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….despite being occupied with the wedding we did manage to hire a taxi to take us into the town of Assisi for a few hours

On the day our train arrived in Assisi we were scooped up by family and friends who were already there and we quickly drove through the town and up into the hills to get to the ‘farm’ where we were staying and where the wedding was being held. We got a glimpse of the narrow cobblestone roads and the facade of the Basilica of St. Francis and I knew that we needed to find a window of time to return to the town.

That evening we hired a taxi to take us back into the town, where we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with our newly acquired family from Iran and Germany. It was a beautiful evening and dinner was served outside on the brick patio. The meal took several hours so there was no time to walk around. Besides we had a big day ahead and we needed to get our beauty sleep. Little did I know how important that was going to be. The next day was long and sleep was next to impossible.

On our last day, after the wedding, we woke up to pouring rain. It was a welcome relief from the heat we had been experiencing on this trip. It did, however, put a bit of a damper on the brunch that the newly married couple had planned. Instead of all of us gathering outside in one location we held a couple of brunches inside a two of the cottages. More food. After the wedding I couldn’t even imagine that people would have room for more copious amounts of food. Somehow we managed to indulge in fresh fruit, home baked breads and cakes and platters of cheese and meat.

Later in the day the rain stopped and we hired another taxi and made our way back into Assisi. We stopped in front of Basilica di Santa Chiara. It is dedicated to and contains the remains of Saint Clare of Assisi, a follower of Saint Francis of Assisi and founder of the Order of Poor Ladies, known today as the Order of Saint Clare.

After a quick look inside the basilica we headed out on foot, over the cobblestones, on our mission to find the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. Around every corner we found magnificent views of the countryside and quaint shops. bistros and town squares.

 

Eventually we came upon the basilica. The entrance was patrolled by armed guards and our bags were checked before we were allowed to enter. It is built into the side of a hill and is comprised of two churches known as the Upper Church and the Lower Church, and a crypt where the remains of Saint Francis of Assisi are interred. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs inside the church itself but the courtyard and the grounds and the building itself are beautiful.

In my next post I will finally share the photos of the wedding and discuss the symbolism of a Persian ceremony. Till then, ciao!

 

The Changing Seasons – October 2016

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…..thanks to Cardinal Guzman for hosting Changing Seasons

October has been a month of birthdays in our family and all were special birthdays. We started with my husband’s 65th birthday, then my father’s 90th birthday, my granddaughter’s 1st birthday and my son-in-law’s 40th birthday. October also saw the colours finally change and mostly towards the end of the month. Finally the month ended, as it always does, with Hallowe’en and what a glorious day it was for trick or treating.

In the Hills of Assisi

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….my favourite part of my trip to Italy took place in Assisi

Part 1

I’ve saved the best part of my trip for last. As some of you know my son was married this summer. The family part of the wedding took place in the hills of Assisi. In June, B and A were officially married in the registrars office in London, England and the guests that  attended were mostly friends and work colleagues who lived in England.

In July friends from Canada, England, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy and family from Canada, Germany and Iran came together to celebrate the union of our son and his beautiful bride in a traditional Persian ceremony.

The family stayed in a beautiful hillside resort, Casa Rosa, above the town of Assisi. Originally all the cottages had been farm buildings. The cottage we stayed in was formerly the pig barn and then later the horse stables. The view from our patio was breath taking and the property was surrounded by olive groves, lavender, fruit trees and rosemary.

Our accommodations were very comfortable and you would never have known that some of the cottages previously housed farm animals. We were warned to watch out for scorpions, yellow spiders and asps but we didn’t encounter any of these creatures. We kept looking over the hills in hopes of seeing some wild boars but we didn’t see any them either.

We took a walk along some of the trails that surrounded the farm. The trip out was pretty easy because it was mostly downhill but returning was a little more challenging. We passed numerous pieces of abandoned farm equipment along the way.

On our first evening in Assisi we took a taxi ride into the town of Assisi and had a wonderful meal on the patio of a local restaurant. It was our first real introduction to the family of the bride. We pretty much took over the restaurant for the evening. I tried to take photos of all the entrees that were placed before us but sometimes they were so mouth watering that half the plate was eaten before I remembered about taking photos. All in all it was a great evening and a good start to the wedding festivities that followed the next day.

More about the Persian ceremony in a few days.

Ciao!

My Local Farmers’ Market

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…..buying locally grown, preserved and baked food at the Farmers’ Market in my neighbourhood

This week’s theme for WordPress’ Weekly Photo Challenge is local

Supercrawl in Hamilton, ON

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….last weekend I went to my first art crawl

Since 2009, Hamilton has hosted an art supercrawl that now spreads over 16 city blocks and has gone from a one day event to an entire weekend. It celebrates the diverse art community in the James St. North community in Hamilton. This year it featured numerous art installations, hands on art demonstrations, live bands, street performers, dozens of food trucks, and hundreds of vendors selling jewellery, crafts, paintings, clothing, knitwear and handmade toys. Supercrawl 2016

 

WPC – Morning

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….in Italy, mornings start with a coffee and a sweet

In Florence we found a famous baker from Vienna who made 20 different croissants every morning to serve to his customers. We first discovered his shop late one afternoon, just as they were about to close but they invited us in and made me a special ice coffee. Apparently ice coffee and coffee cream are two things that you don’t normally find in Italy.  I didn’t know this but the baker was more than happy to whip up his own version of ice coffee for me. I also tried to order cream for my husband’s Americano  and the baker was about to top it with whipped cream but I stopped him. It was then that he explained that coffee cream was a German and Viennese thing and in Italy only milk was used in coffee or served black.

That afternoon we enjoyed our beverages and some of the best pastries we’ve ever tasted. As we were leaving the owners of the cafe encouraged us to come back for breakfast so that we could try some of their special croissants.

A couple of days later we took them up on their offer and stopped for breakfast before heading out to the leather market down the street. Sure enough there were numerous croissants to choose from. I decided on the most unusual looking one. It was completely black because it was made from ash and it was filled with prunes. It was absolutely delicious and complemented my cappuccino. The only downside was that it left black flecks between my teeth that were difficult to remove.

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For more ‘morning’ photos check out WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge

Share Your World 2016 – Week 17

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….thanks Cee for more great questions

When writing by hand do you prefer to use a pencil or pen?

As I was writing with a pencil today, I decided that I prefer to write with a pencil. I like how it flows smoothly over the paper and doesn’t smudge like ink does.

What’s your choice: jigsaw, word, maze or numeric puzzles?

I used to love jigsaw puzzles but now my puzzle of choice is numeric. I can’t pass up a Sudoku puzzle when I see them in the newspaper or magazines.

Do you prefer long hair or short hair for yourself?

I definitely prefer medium length hair. I saw a photo taken about 10 years ago when my hair was very short and I instantly went ‘yuk’.

List five or more of your favourite blogs.

  1. Cee’s Photography https://ceenphotography.com/2016/04/28/cees-black-white-photo-challenge-hiding-or-camouflaged/
  2. Life In-between  https://lifeinbetween.me/2016/04/28/the-rusty-old-bridge-in-watercolor/
  3. Jill’s Art Journal https://artjillkuhn.wordpress.com/2016/04/28/creative-play/
  4. My Guilty Pleasures  https://mygulitypleasures.wordpress.com/2016/04/25/big-girl-trying-to-be-a-bit-smaller/#comment-41729
  5. Curious to the Max  https://judithwesterfield.com/2016/04/26/frankly-freddie-parenthetically-speaking-2/
  6. My Life Lived Full https://mylifelivedfull.wordpress.com/2016/04/27/w-washington-dc/
  7. The Year of Living Non-judgementally  https://annkoplow.wordpress.com/2016/04/28/day-1214-relationship-managers/

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for time spent with my daughters. On Saturday my oldest daughter and her wife came to the house to sort out some financial issues with their financial planner (my husband) and we enjoyed a wonderful lunch together. My daughter also helped me put together a dresser that I bought months ago. Earlier in the day my husband and I went for a very long walk. With the nice weather we’ve been inundated with midges so K made us coverings for our mouths and noses so we wouldn’t breathe them in. Luckily it was a bit cooler when we headed out so we didn’t have to use them very often. My neighbours were right when they said we looked like a couple of bandits.

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On Sunday we drove to Hamilton and watched our son-in-law race in his first go-cart race. The baby didn’t seem to mind the noise or the smelly fumes.

After the race we were treated to a wonderful dinner of BBQ steak and grilled vegetables back at the house. My husband and I are still on our weight loss journey together and a meal like that makes it very easy to stay on program. So far I’ve lost 13 pounds and my husband is down 17.

This week I’m looking forward to do more painting. I’ve redone a couple of paintings I started two weeks ago and have started two more. I’m also looking forward to more success on the scales this week.

WPC – Dinnertime

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….our granddaughter’s first BBQ dinner at our place

Today was a glorious sunny warm day. When our daughter said she was dropping off the dog for a few hours and then would be back around suppertime we decided to have dinner together. We spent the afternoon pulling out the garden furniture and cleaning it up. I went shopping for food and my husband prepared the charcoal fire and the food to go on it. I set the table and prepared the salad. By the time dinner was ready the temperature dropped a bit so we put on our sweaters and enjoyed our first outdoor meal this spring.

For more dinnertime photos check out WPC site.

Share Your World 2016 -Week 14

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….thanks Cee for some great questions this week

If you could hire someone to help you, would it be with cleaning, cooking, or yard work?

Hands down, I’d want someone to help me with the cleaning. I’d love to have someone clean the bathrooms, wash the floors, dust and vacuum. We already have a family of young boys who cut our grass once a week and we love to dabble in the garden. My husband is an excellent cook and he loves cooking for me and for family and friends. I don’t mind cooking either.

What makes you laugh the most?

A good joke, a funny movie and watching my granddaughter feeding herself.P1000868

What was your favorite food when you were a child?

I loved food and was definitely not a fussy eater. It may sound odd but I loved creamed spinach and my dad made a tasty spaghetti with ground beef and peas in a brown gravy. When I was about 11 or 12  my mom learned how to make a real spaghetti meat sauce with tomatoes and that quickly became a favourite meal for me. Truth be told I don’t think I had one favourite food. I loved cabbage rolls, chicken a la king, chicken pot pie, homemade burgers, fruit torts with whipped cream, ice cream and most cakes and cookies.

List at least five favorite flowers or plants.

I love the following flowers: sunflowers, tulips, Peruvian lilies, irises, carnations, roses, daisy mums and Gerber daisies.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for some beautiful weather last week before winter returned. I enjoyed a wonderful day with the family in Hamilton on the weekend, despite the blizzard we had to drive home in. I’m grateful that I didn’t break any bones when I slipped on the ice when I was going down the concrete steps in front of my house on Monday. Earlier in the day all of the snow on the sidewalks and pathways had melted but there were a few wet patches that froze later in the evening and that’s what caught me by surprise when I took the dog out for one last walk that night. Thank goodness for strong bones and a good amount of padding.

I’m also grateful for the support from my husband on our weight loss journey. He’s lost 10 pounds and I’m down 8 1/2. There are 96 days left before the wedding. If I can lose 1 pound every four days I should be able to lose another 24 pounds but I can’t think that far ahead. One day at a time.

Cheers!