Thanks, Wegmans!

The Fairfax Wegmans was sooo crowded on Sunday afternoon, that there weren't any shopping carts left! I do believe that the shoppers had time to be there because the Redskins game was scheduled for 8PM.

Of course, I forgot things negotiating through the crowds. At the cheese station, they were sampling Brillat Savarin. Very nice and it seemed like a nice little appetizer before dinner. OK, so now the kids are hooked on a cheese that sells for $23.99/lb! The Wegman's price looks pretty good compared to an online price elsewhere, $17.50 for a 6 oz piece.

Brillat Savarin, petite toast crackers, sauteed shrimp over pasta, and a great salad.

It was a nice end to a busy weekend, that had included two sleepovers, a soccer scrimmage, two Girl Scout activities, field hockey team practice, field hockey tournament in Richmond -- and a big closet clean-out. On Friday night, Cindy and I journeyed to Clifton, to Mary's store, Fil-i-gree. Driving to Clifton at night always feels longer. Mary's store is delighful and gorgeous. It makes me wish I was more of a decorator, but at my roots, I'm a bit of a clean-lined Shaker.

At Olio2go. we've been assembling gift sets for the holidays, including new products.

On Friday night, after yoga, Cindy and I journeyed to Clifton (it always feels longer in the dark) to visit Mary's store, Fil-i-gree for the holiday kick off. Such beautiful stuff. I found it hard to get motivated to decorate as we are hosting neither Thanksgiving nor Christmas.

Recent reads: I didn't make it very far through Siddhartha (CEO's reading assignment, so her father read it). I found Sorrow of War to be stunningly depressing, like a spin through Vietnam with PTSD--only made it 2/3 through before CEO needed to start reading for her assignment. Chronicle of a Death Foretold, was downright light compared to those two. To lighten things up, Anita Diamant's Good Harbor (pleasant, but not at all as enticing as The Red Tent). Ohrbach's Dreaming of Tuscany was delightful. Currently reading: The Paper Moon, by Andrea Camilleri (The Inspector Montalbano Mysteries -- set in Sicily).

Knitting: The cables of the denim-tealish blue of Tahki Donegal Tweed are twisting slowly. It takes a lot of attention. I've had to rip back more than a couple of times. Now I'm starting to wonder if I shouldn't have made it on the next size needles -- both so that it would be a little bigger, and because I'm worried that I may not have enough yarn. I've already looked for more yarn, but this was an Ebay purchase a few years ago, and I can't find more of the same color or dye lot.

A Great Birthday Weekend

Labor Day Weekend was the setting for Tom's ___ Birthday. We're thrilled that Il Fornaio now has a restaurant in Reston. During our California years, we regularly dined at the ocean view Del Mar location, and when traveling around the state at at Carmel, Beverly Hills, and Irvine.

It was a lovely Saturday lunch and we had no problem getting an outside table. The only think missing was the Del Mar view! Tom's brother joined us for our leisurely lunch for five.

Later in the afternoon friends came and we celebrated with our first meal on the new porch. With selections from Wegmans (the sirloin!) and the Burke Farmers Market, our menu consisted of Insalata Caprese, a potato salad capers, red onion, and Zisola extra virgin olive oil (from Olio2go), canteloupe. I can't forget the Rosemary Ciabatta from Wes at The Bread Ovens at Quail Creek Farm.

Throughout the weekend I read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseni. Very well written, but it was so depressing at times that I almost put it down, yet it was so compelling I couldn't stop reading. I'm astounded by the depth of torture in Afghan's bloody history. To call the society "conservative" is to be nice. It's hard to believe that those events could happen in my lifetime. I've knit for afghans for Afghans in the past and it is definitely time to do so again. The next deadline is October 12th!

Truffles, Olive Oil, and More

Scarf picture has nothing to do with Truffles. You'll have to read on down to find out why it is here.

Do you remember your first Truffle? Not the chocolate kind which are surely mighty fine, but the sublime cousin-of-a-mushroom? Mine was at the Fourways Inn, in Bermuda in late March or early April of 1981.

Spring Break with MA was not the raucous kind. We’d already gone to Ft. Lauderdale as Freshmen and Sophomores so Junior Year was time for Bermuda. (We were out of ideas –or money-- by Senior year…)

Last week Olio2go received a case of Selezione Sliced Black Truffles in olive oil. We’ve priced them low, so it is a spectacular treat for anyone not willing or able spend $999 a pound at the local grocery store. Olio2go now has the jarred truffles, truffle salt, and truffle oil. What more could anyone ask?

Oh, what did we do with them? One of us made risotto and the other made scrambled eggs. Go figure! And, the jar still has enough for 2-4 more recipes!

Truffle butter is something we don’t have so I picked up a small container from Wegman’s gourmet butter case, next to the bread. Merchandise can work so well! The D’Artagnan Truffle Butter has lovely black specks of truffle. It’s an inspiration to make something as simple as toast, just to eat more truffle butter. Price about $7 for the equivalent of 1/2 a stick of butter.

Memories of Ireland abound at this time of year, and I find myself craving Irish Soda Bread. First, what we have here, is often “better” than the bread in Ireland. Perhaps if I’d been brought up on real Irish bread, I’d have a greater appreciation for the bread on Irish soil. That said, I have a recipe that’s pretty good, second only to that found at Kell’s in Seattle or Portland. Whole Foods Irish Soda Bread was pretty dismal. Great Harvest’s was pretty good. I still have a quart of buttermilk in the fridge to make some. What’s a good one? It needs to be firm, slightly sweet with a good balance of raisins and caraway seeds.

I will commend Whole Foods on their gelato offerings—the best we’ve shared since Florence.

Recent Olio2go olive oil tastings included Tenuta di Nozzole from Tuscany. It’s another great Tuscan. We also tasted a yet-unnamed oil from Marche. We’re looking forward to their name and packaging.

I’ve just finished reading Stolen Figs and Other Adventures in Calabria by Mark Rotella. It was a very pleasant travelogue through one of Italy’s less-traveled regions.

I finally finished the Koigu Scarf. The pattern is based on an odd-number of stitches and on every row, simply Knit the first stitch and then continue across with Yarn Over, Knit 2 together until the end. Turn and repeat. Mine is in a colorway I’ll call eggplant or aubergine as that is the dominant color.

Last Saturday, we finally made it to 2Amys for pizza. The four of us went for lunch. It’s so noisy that it’s a bit difficult to carry on a conversation. The pizza was great. I wonder if there’s a time when it is any quieter? While at 2Amys a Bucknell classmate, Jill, stopped by our table on the way out. It was nice to see her and to begin talking about our reunion in June. After leaving the restaurant, we took a stroll to the National Cathedral. It’s an architectural wonder, but it doesn’t quite have the character (and tombs!) of cathedrals in Europe.

Paula and I attended the International Wine & Food Show at the Reagan Building last weekend. The crowd was overwhelming!

After a lovely St. Patrick's Day, Katie and I took one last roll down the ski slopes at Bryce yesterday. Someone remind me to buy gear in the fall! The drive was a little longer than anticipated, but it was a great last day. I love Spring skiing!

The Valentine's Day Snow Day

Two Wednesdays in a row! It's almost like being a kid in Upstate/Central NY. That said, I wouldn't mind being up there for the historic snowfall, reminiscent of the Blizzard of '66 and the snow of 1993. It's getting there that's the problem. For the fun of it, I keep checking the Syracuse.com website, and occassionally, even the forum for Cortland County.

Guess who turned 15 since the last update? Carly! She's off to a good start on her 3rd quarter grades, which is a good thing. We're looking forward to lacrosse tryouts, eventhough she broke a piece of Hardiplank siding last weekend with her lacrosse skills. She's signed up for a field hockey camp at William and Mary this summer.

We had a few friends over for dinner last Saturday night, and once again, we included an Olive Oil Tasting--all extra virgin from Olio2go, of course. The tasting table featured: Gourmet Sardinia Fruttato, Titone DOP, Vittorio Cassini Classico, Olio Beato, and Santisi Novello 2006. Our guests could appreciate the freshness of Santisi, the smoothness of Cassini, and the intensity of Fruttato. Titone was the overall favorite, and I used that for the field greens salad--along with splashes of white balsamic vinegar and red wine vinegar--one clove of garlic.

Our appetizers included a selection of olives (thanks to Wegman's olive bar), marinated mozarella balls (my own creation), peppery cheeses, bread and crackers.

The salad was served as a separate course along with bread from Wegman's and one of their gourmet/European/restaurant butters.

The main course was Tom's specialty --an unnamed pasta dish with chicken, red and yellow bell peppers, and mushrooms in a reduced red pepper cream sauce. Yum.

For dessert, we had another tasting, although unintended it turned out to be fun. I had two chocolate desserts from Trader Joe's the Chocolate Ganache and the Chocolate Decadence. It turned out that everyone wanted a small slice of each, for comparison tasting! I'm not sure we had a clear winner, as both were devoured.

In the world of olive oil, we've had a challenging learning experience in the process of importing. It's been a long journey and the arrival of San Macario Novello continues to be ....imminent. We've had a very helpful customs agent, been held up by Homeland Security, and continue to wait. It left the port in La Spezia, Italy on January 9th. Our pallet arrived at the port of NY on January 25 (I think), and there's been a long wait for release due to the extra inspections. We'll never know what in the container caused the VACIS exam or the complete unpacking of the container.

I hope to spend part of this snow day working on the Constant Contact announcement for the arrival of San Macario, and also working on pages for Olio2go's new web site. Launching soon!

There hasn't been much time for knitting lately, although I finished a scarf on Tuesday morning and wore it the same day. I bought the yarn when Maureen and I journeyed to Uniquities in Vienna on December 30.

Send me an email if you want to know about H e a d L i c e , attitudes about lice, facts about lice, and how to use olive oil to treat lice. Good readings: the Harvard School of Public Health guidance, the American Academy of Pediatrics position, and Virginia School Health Guidelines. It's always helpful to know your own school district's policy. I hope I don't have to speak with any of you on this topic again!

The books: I keep scaning the travel books and am ready for a return to Italy. I'm also continuing to read the Donna Leon mysteries set in Venice. The current book on my nightstand is Death at La Fenice. Before that, I finished Dressed for Death.

It's a good day to bake bread.....and read!

Happy Snow! Happy Valentine's Day... L.