Adventures with Pizza

If you thought an American barbecue was fun, just wait until you get invited to your first authentic Italian pizza party!  On Saturday the 22^nd our good neighbor Maurizio invited Angie, Michael and I to his annual pizza and pool party, held here at our home at Casa la Vite. Every year his party is well attended by his many friends and neighbors.  Maurizio makes schiacciata (ski-CHOT-a), a flat bread made from pizza dough, and several types of pizza, all of it from scratch, right down to making his own dough.  Maurizio (left), Lorenzo (center), and our friend and landlady Donatella join forces in making a huge pile of dough in a big tub.

Many hands are required when it comes to making the dough!  Once made it has to sit a couple of hours, then kneaded again and allowed to rise a couple more hours before it can be used.

Once the dough is ready, Lorenzo shows off his style shaping the schiacciata and topping it with olive oil and salt. 

Then it is slid into the oven.  This is the heart of the action – Maurizio has a traditional, brick lined, wood fired forno (oven).  His custom made forno is built outside, right onto the front of his apartment and can cook several schiacciatas or pizzas at one time.

Angie and Donatella supervise the inspection of the schiacciatas before they are delivered to the guests.

Once the first batch of schiacciatas is ready, Maurizio issues the call to come and get it.

Although the first schiacciata is quickly cut apart and eaten plain, Maurizio deftly slices the next batch of loaves open lengthwise, making giant sandwiches which are filled with mortadella or prosciutto (Italian hams).  These are then cut into small sandwiches and stacked up for the guests. 

At long last it is time for the pizza.  Our friend and landlord Andrea gets into the action and helps out with the cooking.  Several types of pizzas are made; traditional Margherita pizzas which are pomodoro (tomato) sauce with mozzarella cheese, Prosciutto pizzas (Margherita with prosciutto), and Napoli (made with anchovies and capers).  They all taste great!!

When an Italian man throws a good pizza party, his friends know how to show their appreciation!!

Michael joins us in Italy!!

Wednesday June 19, 2013 - Montepulciano
Our son Michael arrived Monday the 17^th and after a down day poolside under the Tuscan Sun we fired up the Saturn for a road trip to Montepulciano.  There are many wonderful, authentic medieval hill towns in Tuscany, but Montepulciano counts among my favorites because of its fun, friendly vibe – that and the fact that it is renown for its food and outstanding wines!!  It didn’t take Mike long to find one of the major town highlights.

The truth is, a stroll through the streets of Montepulciano is a traveling feast of wine tasting, cheese sampling, and savoring any number of delicious spreads on soft Tuscan bread.  Not to mention the taste testing of olive oil!  And as you wander from shop to shop you pass through some of the most beautiful medieval architecture imaginable.

That extends to the churches too.  The beautiful cathedral of St. Augustine was built in 1285 and renovated in the 15th century by Michelozzo.  Its doorway is capped with an elaborate carved portal featuring the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus flanked by St. John and St. Augustine.

Like other medieval Tuscan towns, Montepulciano preserves the treasure of its history and architecture by ensuring it is a “well lived in” town.  Its inhabitants are its caretakers, and the town shows that they go about their lives today just like they have for  hundreds of years.

Perched on a hilltop, Montepulciano is surrounded by beautiful countryside.  It overlooks a breathtaking array of vineyards and olive groves.

Suffice it to say, there are numerous great ristorantes to choose from and the selections for dinning are limited only by your own imagination.

Thursday June 20, 2013 - Florence

The next day Mike and I spent the morning browsing around Florence.  Our first stop was to Piazza Santa Croce to visit the Basilica di Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross).   Santa Croce was completed in 1385 and is the largest Franciscan church in the world. 

The highlight of our visit at Santa Croce was our guided tour up the four levels of scaffolding over the high alter to see the recently restored frescoes.  No pictures of the frescoes were allowed, but our English speaking tour guide did a great job of showing us the fine restoration work and gave us meaningful explanations of the stories behind the frescoes.   We were able to photo other frescoes down from the floor level.

And also Michelangelo’s tomb, which is one of many tombs and graves inside the church.

We left Santa Croce and cut through Piazza Signoria, right past the fountain of Neptune.

And paused on the Ponte Vecchio on our way to lunch.  For once the “Old Bridge” was not choked with masses of people, just the usual crowds. 

We had lunch on the Arno River at the aptly named Golden View Ristorante.  Its views of the Ponte Vecchio Bridge and the river are amazing, as is the food.  It’s the best seafood restaurant in Florence; both my swordfish and Mike’s mixed seafood pasta were excellent, ending our afternoon on a very high note!

Casa la Vite, our First Month – June 2, 2013

It seems amazing that it’s already been a month since we moved out of Florence and into the countryside living of Casa la Vite (casa-la-VEET-a;  “House of the Vine”).  

Our time in our new apartment, set in the outskirts of the small town of Impruneta, has been a welcome respite from the burgeoning tourist population of Florence; and truth be told, we got out of Dodge none too soon.  We realized we'd made the right decision the moment we turned off SR69 and onto the private road that winds its way back to our apartment inside the renovated farm house in which we live.

This last month has ranged from balancing the slow pace of country living with the hustle and bustle of  moving in, then packing up for a 5 day road trip to Alsace France, then going on various excursions with Teresa during the 8 days she was here (see previous posts). Ultimately however there is no shaking the profound sense of idyllic peace and tranquility in which we are immersed; living in the middle of vineyards and olive groves sort of does that to you….

We are reminded of the tangible nature of this harmony every day; every evening ends with the cooing of doves and every new day dawns with the cackle of pheasants, nature’s own, all natural alternative to the rooster.

Our landlords, Andrea and Donatella, epitomize the spirit of Italian warmth and hospitality, and take every measure to ensure our stay is enjoyable.  They both speak English and have very quickly become counted among those we call our friends here.

The apartment they have provided us is bright and cheery, its large windows spill sunlight into every room.  Our main entertaining area has our kitchen, dining table and couch.

Both bedrooms are spacious with plenty of closets

It’s the loft, though, that is Angie’s favorite room; it offers a quiet retreat for reading, checking emails, or watching a movie on TV. 

And the swimming pool is perfect for a relaxing swim or lying out under the Tuscan Sun – 

or for serving a poolside dinner.  Tonight we had salad, BBQ chicken and roasted potatoes and carrots. 

But it is the breathtaking scenery that dominates your senses here, especially when you step outside the front door – because then you are in it.

We are blessed that over the next two months we will continue to have family and friends come to visit and stay with us.  After that we will spend our time here through November traveling Tuscany, hiking, and enjoying both the vineyard and olive harvests, however, whether we were here a week, a month, or an entire summer, our stay at Casa la Vite will surely be a memorable one.

For more information about Casa la Vite you can go to http://casalavite.com/
or you can email Donatella directly at dona.zolfanelli@alice.it

Italy Remembers a Memorial Day for Americans

Two by two they flutter in the breeze.  Thousands upon thousands of them side by side, their bright, cheery colors contrasting starkly against somber green and white backgrounds.  Little flags, one American, one Italian, two of them for each of the 4,402 white crosses planted neatly row by row.  One flag celebrates the country where a fallen soldier was born, the other memorializes where he died.  

Angie and I spent our Memorial Day morning at the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial.  It is located between Florence and our little town of Impruneta, and is the smaller of the two U.S. Military cemeteries in Italy that are the final resting place for many American soldiers killed in Italy during WWII.  Additionally, both cemeteries also have huge memorial tablets to recognize the unrecovered soldiers and airmen Missing In Action, and the sailors either lost at sea or buried at sea during the Italian campaign.

The Florence American Cemetery and Memorial is a beautiful, well kept, well run facility.  It is immediately obvious to any visitor that the American and Italian administration and the American volunteer helpers take great pride in preserving this legacy and keeping the grounds pristine. 

The hour long service was replete with the customary speeches, honor guards, and salutes;

And there was also a sizable contingent attending from the American VFW in Vicenza (west of Venice) who traveled down to represent American Vets currently stationed in or retired and living in Italy; 

However, the real focus of the day was all about the service and sacrifice of the thousands of Americans who died in Italy during WWII. 

Today’s Memorial ceremony was very moving; it was inspiring to see the American flag raised and our National Anthem played on foreign soil, soil that so many Americans fought and died for.  It was also touching so see that the Italians have not forgotten.  They have remembered who set them free from the tyranny of Fascism, and they actively honor them still.

It is estimated almost 30,000 American military personnel died during the Italian campaign of WWII.  So many Americans have sacrificed in service to their county, so many different times in our history, that it is sometimes easy for us to lose track of the incalculable cost of freedom: 

Wars fought by American  Soldiers	When	Soldiers Killed
American Revolutionary War	1775–1783	~25,000
War of 1812	1812–1815	~15,000
Civil War: total	1861–1865	~625,000
World War I	1917–1918	116,516
World War II	1941–1945	405,399
Korean War	1950–1953	36,518
Vietnam War	1955–1975	58,209
Gulf War	1990–1991	294
Iraq War	2003–2011	4487
Afghanistan	2001–present	2,031
Several statistics provided by The Oxford Companion to American Military History
(Oxford University Press)
Gulf-Iraq-Afghanistan statistics provided by DOD