Agritourismo

After an afternoon of wine tasting, our group headed over to a local agritourismo for a four hour lunch.... Four. Hours. They actually included a little break time so that we could walk around or rest for a bit.

*Who has wine teeth? We do!

*Sleepy boys

Taurasi Wine

Last weekend we went to a festival celebrating Taurasi wine.

*At this enoteca we were taken on a "sensory jouney" of wine. We touched unidentified objects in covered bags, smelled jars of tobacco leaves, dried fruits, coffee, etc., and listened to long explanations in Italian that we did not understand.

*Jake and Tom

*With my wine glass sling, I was ready for anything!

*All that learning made us thirsty

Grilling etc.

*Out on the terrace

*King of the grill

*Thanks for the snazzy raincoat mom!

Internet!

The internet man left an hour ago and we are back in business! Whooooo! Now to recap the month in photos:
MOVING IN
We moved in during a freak rainstorm that delayed the movers for hours.



*hmmm that doesnt look too safe, does it?

*view from out bedroom window

*yup, all of our funiture and boxes came up through our bedroom window on this pully from across the street.

Submarine Ball

Easter

*My lovely husband bought me this beautiful briefcase from my favorite Italian purse store, Coccinelle.

Easter was a rainy, chilly day here. We went to a church in the little town outside of the base for mass. The church was completely full and we ended up standing off to the side. It was sort of a double whammy, not being able to understand what was said and not being able to see anything!! The base chapel offers all different types of religious services so we could have gone to mass on base, but wanted the "authentic" Italian Easter experience. After church we went to one of our favorite restaurants near the base (where the waitor famously shouts at you "what do you want? you want pizza? pasta? what?! They change their dishes daily so there are no menus which tends to cause me to panic order). For easter, the restaurant was doing a special menu of standard Easter dishes. We started with a plate of sliced meats like salami, prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, and vegetables. Next came individual portions of meat lasagna in little baking dishes. A huge portion of lamb and potato followed. Finally, we had the traditional easter pie that is made with candied orage peel and ricotta.

Dinner Party For Three

Yet another night of feasting....

1. Roasted Tomato Bruschetta

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/roasted-tomato-bruschetta-recipe/index.html

*we used shallots instead of scallions and added a tablespoon of raw minced garlic.

2. Champagne Risotto

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/champagne-risotto-recipe/index.html

*this recipe was amazing! Note that the serving size is only for two....

3. Pork chops with marsala and fennel

from Food & Wine Magazine's Quick From Scratch Cookbook