It's the Litttle Things that Matter!

8/26/11 (post by Carol) Years ago, European toilet paper was a topic of derision: too hard, too scratchy. Not so now. Compared to the ultra-soft, squishy American stuff that dissoves in your hand if you manipulate it too much, or which won't even tear off when you want it to, this stuff here in Abruzzo is perfected! Just the right amount of hardness that eliminates all scratchiess, holds together perfectly, and tears off with ease at the perforations! I have no idea how gracious it is to the environment, but it's my preferred product by a long shot !! (See what hapens when you have time on your hands - when you have chosen the inconvience of schedues using public transportation versus the freedom of using your own car!)

The Wedding in Campo di Giove and Pescara Reception

The Wedding: Ilaria/Carlo 8/25/11 (Posted by Carol)

How can I include everything in the description of the wedding we came to Italy to attend?

Festivities began at the bride's house. About an hour before the ceremony, guests arrived to a house replete with every kind of good thing to eat -   finger foods both savory and sweet. When it was time to leave, the bride appeared from upstairs with her father, and greetings and kisses followed with everyone. A line began to form behind them as they went outside where a group of village children waited expectantly for a barage of confetti candy (white sugar-coated almonds) and coins (the favored treat these days) to be showered on the bride from the house by her mother and friends.

In this case, Dora, the bride's mother, tossed out only confetti 3 or 4 times to the disappointed children before showering them with 80 euro coins! It was then the scramble began!

As the bride and her entourage began the walk to the ceremony through the streets of the town, others joined in.

Ilaria, the bride, met up with the groom, Carlo, at the Town Hall where the ceremony was held. They ascended the marble staircase of the Comune (Town Hall) to the balcony overlooking the piazza (square) with as many guests as could fit in the small space, where they were officially married.

Greeted with cheers, the throwing of rice and a toast-for-two, the couple made their way through an obstacle course prepared by their friends (for a joke) and then left for the reception in a black Porsche convertible decorated with flowers.

The guests then boarded the 2 privately-rented pullmans and headed out down 12 miles of  mountain roads to the main road to the reception 1 1/2 hours away at the Regis Hotel just outside Pescara near the Adriatic coast.

The reception was elegant, both the ambiance and the food. Appetizers and desserts were served in the enclosed garden by a lighted fountain. The several white table-clothed serving tables formed the center of the garden, sharing space with a stringed band. Each table was adorned with several large balls of white roses and lit up by either candle light or small white electric lights.

Appetizers and desserts were served in this lovely garden, but the main courseS were served indoors by candlelight: boiled lobster with spaghetti, risotto, fish (called "coda di rospo," rolled in on huge platters, replicating the real fish with a huge mouth and teeth that looked like a barracuda!), and finishing with a salad. The appetizers and desserts were too numerous and too creative to even begin to describe!

Dancing began shortly before the "early" pullman returned guests to Campo di Giove at 2am. I never found out when the "late" pullman left!

As you can imagine, the event in itself was memorable enough, but the remewed connections with my Italian relatives put the "topping" on my own personal "wedding cake." :-)

August 24 Second Day in Italy

We had a quiet day today. In the morning we walked to the town center to visit Sergio and Dora until noon, then returned to the hotel. It was good to catch up with them before their daughter is married tomorrow here in Campo diGiove, after which two chartered buses will take all the Campo diGiove attendees to Pescara for the reception.

Then, I spent far too long on the phone with the British company from whom I rented a WiFi hotspot that will enable us to get on the internet while traveling without incurring the exorbitant Verizon data roaming charges. The tech support person walked me through re-programming the device for use in Italy. They had  mistakenly shipped me a device programmed to work in the UK.

Carol spent time at the pool in the sun on another beautiful day while I attempted, unsuccessfully, to make reservations on the high speed train from Pescara to Milan on Saturday. It seems it's not possible to make reservations and pay online, which is a peculiar situation.  After several calls to the overloaded Trenitalia call center and when I got through a couple of times they said they would call me back because "the system is down," which means they must have a massive backup of calls. I will try again later. In hindsight, I should have made the reservations at Rome's Termini.

I walked a bit in the late afternoon to do some shopping and shake off the 'technology woes,' then had a nice nap before dinner.

Dinner was again plain and simply delicious. Many delicious contorni, then penne pasta, cabbage soup, followed by rosemary-seasoned pork and fried cheese with tomato sauce. 

i really like this simple food because the tastes of the food are so much enhanced, not overwhelmed, by the spices.

Tomorrow we meet at 4:00 pm for the wedding ceremony, then board the bus to Pescara.

August 24 in Campo diGiove

 Our Delta flight from JFK to Rome was late leaving by an hour, but the pilot made up about half the time on the flight. It was a bit bumpy at times, but we survived OK.

We took the regional train to Tiburtina Station, rather than the DaVinci Express to Termini Station. It turns out the train was rerouted a few weeks ago due to a fire or construction or...who knows? S we took the metro to Termini. just a 10 minute ride.

The train WAS on time and 2.5 hours later we were met by Carol's cousin who whisked us the 20 km up the mountain to Campo diGiove. Weather and food are both wonderful at Hotel Abbruzzo. This morning, the sun is about to rise over the Majella mountains, which we can see from our hotel room, surrounding the town.

For dinner we had very simple, but delicios Abbruzzo food. pasta and oil with crushed red pepper, an Abbruzzo folk specialty (Carol's dad always loved it.), veal with a special sauce for secondi and an assortment of local cheeses and fresh fruit, a bottle of Montepulciano and fresh fruit. All  this was accompanied by a delicious buffet selection of contorni...yum! We hadn't eaten since breakfast on the plane.

Will explore Campo diGiove today  on footand generally meander.

Sun's up. Time for breakfast!

Yum Yum Spaghetti Sauce!

I made this sauce without the meatballs a couple of weeks ago and it was excellent. Of course, the real flavor comes from the pork and beef meat that is simmered in the tomato sauce. But the secret ingredient must be the pepperoncini. I've never before seen a sauce recipe calling for that ingredient, but it's good. Of course, like most sauces, it's better the second time.

For a superb spaghetti sauce, try this recipe provided by my son, Mark. We had a Harrington's ham last week and the leftovers were wonderful in this sauce (gravy, if you prefer). Noteworthy is that both the NY Times recipe and Amatriciana recipe originate in Abruzzo, Italy. The family Zappa recipe was from a town within 10 miles (as the crow flies) from my wife's ancestral village in Abruzzo. Is that why I like it so much?