Special Edition for Francophiles

Many years ago while we were living in Germany, some friends told us of a place in the Southwest of France where they had gone for a “Foie Gras weekend.”  It was a B&B and you learned all about how the geese were raised; how their livers were harvested, cooked and preserved; and you got to do a lot of eating and drinking as well as cooking and helping with the process of making foie gras.  They also went on a truffle hunt.  Years after the recommendation from the friends, Cindy found the card with the contact information and started dialing (email and Websites were very rare in those days).  After several tries, the phone was answered by a French woman who was happy to switch to English after some pleasantries and questions in French. 

It turned out that she had stopped doing the “Foie Gras weekends” some years ago – this was 1991 and Cindy had had the card since about 1984, so no wonder -  but she had just recently returned to her home and had opened again as a B&B.  She was amazed at how long Cindy had hung onto her card and simply said, “We must meet.”  So meet we did, about 3 weeks later – our friends Brent and Kari joined us in Bordeaux and we drove 2+ hours and found “La Borderie” in the tiny village of Chavagnac.

We were greeted by the loveliest woman, Daniéle Delpeuch, who welcomed us to her home.  We had a wonderful weekend with her -  she cooked, Brent and I cleaned, we all shopped, and the food was grand. Over the many years we have known her we have helped her start a movement in France called Cuisinières du Monde (women cooks of the world), and we have met her all over the place in the intervening twenty-five years.

It was rather mindboggling this morning when Cindy jumped up from the table with her New York Times saying Daniéle, Daniéle - and showed me this article.  We are so excited for her and hope that the movie will have lots of play in the USA.  It might even give us a chance to see her once again.  Thought you might enjoy this.  Cindy and William

Cruisin'

On all of our previous cruises we have made sure that we are at the port of departure several days before the sailing.  It helps with jetlag and with my desire not to worry about getting to the ship on time.  You can appreciate that I was a bit concerned when we decided to visit our friends in Milan and then fly from Milan to Athens the same day as the ship was scheduled to depart.  We spent the night at the Malpensa Sheraton so as to eliminate the variable of Italian traffic, and I must say that it was a lovely stay since we were upgraded to a large suite and had access to their Club Lounge.

The next morning our Aegean Airline flight – no, I had never heard of it either - was scheduled to depart at 11 am so we were near the gate by ten and sure enough, there was a plane waiting.  The flight was just lovely and they actually provided a real lunch with wine in economy class.  The plane was spotless, the crew delightful, and we landed a bit early.  We grabbed our luggage - which much to our surprise came out first - hopped in a taxi and we were at the ship at 3:30.  Piece of cake!

We have cruised with Silversea before so we knew that it would be enjoyable but we were not prepared for being upgraded to a very large suite, 760 square feet of luxury.  We had a living room and a dining room, a huge terrace, a walk-in closet, a marble toilet and bath with Jacuzzi, and a big bed with grand linens.  We were happy campers.  Since we were a bit hungry we called for some snacks and Champagne and within minutes our cabin attendant was at the door with a bottle of Champagne and plates of beautifully presented little appetizers that included crab claws, caviar and lamb meatballs.  Wow!  This is an all-inclusive ship so there is no tipping, all the booze is included in the price of the ticket, and they do not skimp on the quality of anything.  Most enjoyable.  Our imbibing was interrupted by the security drill, and we certainly noticed that they take this very seriously these days (as compared to previous cruises where they went through the motions but not with such thoroughness).  I suppose that’s the only good result from the Costa Concordia disaster last winter – if something had gone wrong on this trip, it appeared that everyone would have known exactly what to do. 

Our first port of call was Monemvasia, Greece, an eighth-century walled city that was a stronghold of the Byzantine Empire.  The city has been preserved well and is a delight to see from a distance.  Up close, not so much. It is a city that mostly goes up and the walkways are very narrow, and with three ships in the little port getting around was impossible.   (PS from Cindy:  The real problem was the crowds – had there been some breathing room we would have found the town to be delightful, very old and very quaint.)

AND THAT IS AS FAR AS I GOT FOR SEVEN DAYS!!!

I swear I don’t know where the time went, but all of a sudden we were being told that we had to vacate our suite at 8 am the next day, and for me the cruise was just starting to get really cool.  It was a blur of activities and excitement that has convinced me to only cruise again with all-inclusive ships.  I really loved the idea of ordering things and never having to show your card or sign a chit.   I mean, really, when you watched old movies with Cary Grant on ocean liners did you ever see anyone having to sign for anything?  Besides, I avoided writer’s cramp.

We did get into a routine which involved sleeping late, exercising for forty minutes, espresso on the pool deck, cleaning up and heading to shore for more walking wherever we were, back to the ship for a late lunch, a nap, another 40 minutes of exercise, cleaning up again, then cocktails, dinner, dancing, drinks, bed.  What a joy.  We got up early only once, to make sure we were on deck for our entry into the harbor of Valetta, Malta. Wow, what a sight.  Our friend Kari had lived there for a while as a kid and told us it would be well worth the effort and it was.  There were forts, churches, castles, towers, cliff top gardens, sheer walls of rock, all of it spectacular and almost too much to take in at once.  Therefore we went back to bed for another hour or so.

We also stopped in Catania, Palermo, and Sorrento but they are blurs and only served to take us away from our relaxing ship. All in all it was just marvelous with the possible exception of the fact that we both lost weight on the cruise, which isn’t supposed to happen so perhaps I didn’t have as much fun as I thought!!  (PS from Cindy:  We’re not sick; it’s just that we got so much exercise, particularly by dancing every night.)

Perhaps we’ll get our act together and do more on the cruise with our photos, but not for a few days.  Much to do here to batten down the hatches before the impending storms.  Ciao for now,  Cindy and Wm.

The Lakes of Northern Italy

Departing Bergamo turned out to be the most difficult part of our journey to Lago d’Orta.  Getting directions from a person in Italy has many challenges.  You can be sure that whomever you ask does not have the latest information on road closures, traffic conditions, diversions due to construction or even a sense of which direction you should take to get to your requested city. Instead, you can only be sure that they will be confident and self-assured in giving you directions, regardless of whether they know what they are doing or not.  Thus our frustration in departing beautiful Bergamo.

Once we drove around the entire perimeter of the city, Cindy finally noticed a sign that took us in the direction we wanted.  I had decided to take the “blue” roads on the map, toll free, as opposed to the “green” fast roads with tolls. I am stupid!  We have lived in Italy, we have driven in Italy and we - I - should know better, as Cindy reminded me when we hit our twenty-fifth roundabout in six kilometers.  (From CCE:  to be fair, I told him multiple times before we left Bergamo that back roads were not a good idea.  Smirk.  But I did not insist, so off we went.)  We were behind enormous trucks almost the entire time, thus taking away the views I had thought we would have on the smaller roads.  Instead of taking less than two hours it took more than three and only the last twenty minutes were fun driving with beautiful views.

When we finally reached our hotel on the lake in downtown Pettenenasco I was weary and couldn’t wait to change and walk around the lake.  The weather was very cool and sunless, a condition that would continue every day of our stay, but we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the lake and the glorious fresh air for which these lakes are known.  Upon our return we had a Campari Corretto, Campari on the rocks and procecco, a lovely sparkling wine.  Most refreshing and perfect for our pre-nap apperitivi.

Our dinner that night in the hotel was very disappointing.  We had a lovely table overlooking the lake and the menu held great promise, but the food was tired, over treated and over thought.  They were trying to be cute instead of focusing on the simple preparations that have made Italian cuisine so wonderful for so long.  We ended the evening sitting on our balcony enjoying the foggy night over glasses of Vecchia Romagna.

For the next several days we had pretty much the same routine, up by nine, walking and running around the lake, breakfast just before they closed at ten and then back out to explore the little city and the large lake.  It was glorious, tranquil and refreshing.  Our dear friends Bob and Mary, who work in Milan, joined us for the last two nights and we found a great little pizzeria/restaurant which did things right and we had great meals with good wines at great prices.  It was a ma and pa operation where ma waited on the customers and pa made all the food, especially the great pizzas, and at the end of the dinner she came around with complimentary glasses of Limoncello and a plate of cookies.  On our second night she just delivered the bottle and left it with us so as to save her time on any refills!

We are now at the Sheraton Malpensa (airport) and tomorrow we depart for Athens to pick up the cruise.  It has been a lovely vacation and we are well rested and ready for the next half of our vacation from retirement.  Here are a few photos from the lake.  Ciao, Cindy and William

Lakefront Pheasant

Town Church and Tower

Fanciful Lakeside Sculpture

A Tale of Two Cities

We have just spent an enchanting three days in Bergamo, Italy.  The city is about an hour east-northeast of Malpensa, the international airport of Milan.  Bergamo is really two cities - one very, very old and surrounded by walls that were built in the late 1500s - built on the hill above the newer city.  Time is relative there since the newer city is still six or seven hundred years old!  Everyone makes a beeline for the old city which is very beautiful and laid out in the old medieval style with narrow cobblestone streets and large squares, dotted with churches, towers and cool buildings.  We took the funicular to the old town and spent a most enjoyable day wandering around, but we came to really appreciate the lower city, which is where our hotel was located.

We spent hours wandering around and popping into churches and music halls, gardens and parks, bars and cafes and soaking in the breathtaking beauty of the fall in Northern Italy.  There is a part of the lower town that has the remnants of beautiful old homes, many that had their own gardens that are now run by the city. We found one entrance to an old estate that had lovely murals on the vaulted wooden ceilings.  I tried to get some photos, which don’t do them justice, but I’ve added them to the end of this narrative.

Our three evening meals were about as different as you could imagine in one city, despite the fact that each restaurant was ‘typical’ Italian.  The first night we found a little hole in the wall that advertised fresh porcini. This is the mushroom season and we couldn’t resist sharing a plate of the freshest porcini lightly cooked with butter and garlic and tossed with fresh fettuccine. What a delight!  We had started with two salads, mine with fresh pears, crisp speck (bacon), arugula and fresh ricotta. Cindy had the fresh grilled vegetables with melted cheese, a specialty of the region. The wine was delicious, a local white that at only five euros for a half-liter was quite the bargain.

The next night we went to a restaurant that featured the foods from the Italian Alps.  My goodness do they know how to cook.  The portions were enormous and delicious, which accounted for the constant stream of locals coming in to dine.  We had panzarotti filled with cheese and ham, pappardelle with porcini and then the best lamb chops I’ve had for a very, very long time. The owner came and talked with us and talked with us and talked with us, but he was interesting and it was good to learn more about the food and wine and his love for Thailand, go figure.  At the end of the meal we were presented with a plate of the most delicious little fruit tarts.  Quite the evening.

Our penultimate night was spent in a large underground pizza joint/restaurant that was just buzzing with excitement and lots of noise.  A menu item of zucchini flowers stuffed with cheese and deep-fried drew us there, but of course that season is over.  We stayed anyway.  As soon as we were seated a waiter came by to pour us a complimentary glass of Prosecco, a local sparkling wine.  I then heard a little kid yelling OPA and turned by instinct to see this yellow haired boy looking right at me.  He wasn’t one of our grandkids, but he was cute enough to qualify!  We had a dinner that gets mixed reviews since there were some items that just didn’t cut it.  The starters were the best:  Local prosciutto with fresh mozzarella burrata was just wonderful, as was Cindy’s pasta, ravioli Bergamo style, filled with cheese and topped with sage, butter and crisp bacon.  I ordered the mixed grill, which wasn’t really that good, but the service, was excellent and the wine was cheap.

All in all it was the best of times and we shall always cherish our brief interlude in Bergamo.  We are now in a lovely hotel overlooking Lago d’Orta and things look promising.  More later.   Ciao, Cindy and Wm

View from the Street, Garden in Rear

Captivating Murals

Vibrant Colors

Folkloric Themes

Blake's Birthday Bash

Last weekend we had the pleasure of arranging some fun meals for our youngest grandson, Blake, who was turning eight. Blake and his parents Megan and David flew in for a long weekend, first spending a day in DC touring the museums and monuments and then coming to our house for two nights.  Now you might think that all we had to do was grill some hot dogs and hamburgers; I mean the kid is only eight years old.  However, Blake is simply not like any eight-year-old that you, or we, have ever met.

He was very specific in his meal requests:  He wanted Angulas (baby eels) and he wanted Escargot.  That was it, no cake or sweet anything, just a big plate of angulas with an eight on it, and a big helping of snails.  Luckily we knew his requests early enough to be able to shop for his favorite foods, which wasn’t easy - but hey, he’s a grandkid.  Since there were adults who would be eating, we also had some normal food.  I had deboned a nice leg of lamb and it was in the fridge smothered in Greek yogurt, garlic and mint and Cindy had made her special Tart Tatin, so we would not go hungry.

The day of the birthday dinner I made escargot po’boys.  Megan had purchased some really fresh Italian bread and I cut the entire loaf in half the long way. Using my fingers I scooped out the bread from the lower half and put it aside. I then filled the cavity with a mixture of garlicky mayo, spicy mustard and Cindy’s famous coleslaw.  On top of that I heaped mounds of escargot that I had just cooked with lots of butter, garlic and chopped parsley.  I then covered that with the bread that I had scooped out and pressed it all down nicely before adding even more escargot and then topping it with the other half of the loaf.  I cut it all into five pieces and we had at it.  The little darling did me proud and not only finished his piece but helped with others that couldn’t finish. It was a messy, drippy, tasty lunch washed down with copious amounts of French white.

Hours later Blake was ready for his party so we got things organized for the angulas, which really only requires olive oil, garlic, hot chili peppers and the angulas.  I heated a cast iron skillet until it was almost glowing and added the olive oil, pepper and garlic. Just as the garlic started to brown I turned off the heat, added the angulas and almost immediately transferred them to a terra cotta bowl and presented it to Blake with a wooden fork (traditional) and a big “eight” candle. The kid was in heaven and we were all just delighted to see him enjoy something so very much.

The rest of the meal seemed a bit anticlimactic since the party was over, but we did enjoy roasting that big slab of lamb, which we served with browned potatoes, a big salad, and Cypriot eggplant.  Cindy’s tart was delicious, especially served with our own homemade crème fraiche.  Just another weekend at Casa Embee.

We are off on Sunday for two weeks in Europe. One in the lake county of Italy then to Athens for a cruise.  If we have fun, I’ll write.   Ciao, Wm

Eight and Experienced

Let's see how Opa did with these baby's

Pure Pleasure

Cypriot Eggplant

Roasted Potatoes and Rosemary

Cindy's Famous Tart Tatin