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| 19 Sep 2006 10:47:59 pm |
 Ode to Mushrooms |
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September 17, 2006: Away from the madness of il Palio d'Asti, we escape to the small town of Cisteria d'Asti, were we discover the magic of all things "FUNGI"!! The delightful osterie e locali tipici called Ristorante Garibaldi was the setting for a 6 course mushroom extravaganza... from fungi fritto to tagliatelli con fungi, to fungi grill.... porcini mushrooms are in season and we are the big winners! Thanks to Dario for the well planned road trip.
The perfect way to spend any Sunday  |
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Posted By : John
| Category : News |  Comments[100] |  Trackbacks [0]
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| 12 Sep 2006 01:02:07 am |
| Food Heaven: FESTIVAL DELLE SAGRE |
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September 9, 2006: Let's play word association... I'll say Asti and you say.... Spumanti... probably. Wrong! You need to say food fest from now on because on the weekend before the Palio di Asti, the town center turns into the biggest outdoor restaurant I have ever seen. The festival is a grand celebration of the local cuisine in the Asti region of Piedmonte (located about 40 km SE of Torino). Each town around Asti has it's own unique food and traditions and each of them, 47 in total, set up a mini restaurant in the Campo where you can test the goods and drink the local wine. Let me tell you... everything looks and smells magnificent... from Bagna Calda to Polenta con fungi, to fritto misto de carne, to Gnocchi alla cunichese, to canoli... buonissimo! Big Chris, Lisa and myself met Jan and Dario and an Asti insider, Eliana. Eliana mapped us an attack strategy that had us maneuvering in true Italian style from antipasti to primo (pasta) to secondo (meat) to dolce (dessert). One problem... too much food! The wheels fell off the wagon at the second primo dish and then a numbing coma of food bliss sweep over us as we found some empty chairs, illegally uncorked a nice bottle of vino, and commenced the digestion phase including moaning, belly rubbing and people watching. Dario and Lisa gained absolute hero status by fighting an Italian mob for 45 minutes to grap 5 fresh canolo. Words cannot properly describe this Piedmonte version of the Silcian classic...
I won't try... buy the ticket now and see you next year! |
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Posted By : John
| Category : News | Comments[93] | Trackbacks [0]
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| 04 Sep 2006 11:25:01 pm |
| Sagra del Peperone (Pepper Festival) |
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| September 3, 2006: Who knew that the little village of Carmagnola, Italy would explode into a colorful festival celebrating everyones favorite vegetable... the pepper! For 10 days in September, Carmagnola (about 30 km south of Torino) celebrates the peperone or pepper harvist with food, entertainment, a carnival and the highlight... a Ferrari Exhibition. The Italian Ferrari Club sponsors a time trail track for anyone with a Ferrari and all the collectors bring their babies to Carmagnola to show them off in a parade and make their best Shumacher impression. Big Chris, Lisa and I made the short trip down on a perfect sunny day to enjoy the festival and admire the Ferrari's (50 + on hand). Although definitely not the momma of Italian summer festivals... it was enough to stuff my pepper and a good excuse to enjoy a lazy Sunday in the sun! |
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Posted By : John
| Category : News | Comments[96] | Trackbacks [0]
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| 01 Sep 2006 04:04:14 pm |
| The Donut has Landed! |
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| August 24, 2006: Chris Greenwood, aka the Donut, aka Big Chris, aka CG, aka the Gainsville Grapper, aka the Porn King, aka Big Love, aka the Russian Trumphet.... has landed in Italy! God save the queen. |
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Posted By : John
| Category : News | Comments[90] | Trackbacks [0]
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| 01 Sep 2006 04:01:12 pm |
| London's Calling |
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| August 24 to 27, 2006: Needing a quick stop off at a English speaking county and also missing our Swedish friends Mattias and Tina Hammarqvist (on assignment in London), we jumped on Ryan Scareways and hit the curry capital of Europe. Tina and Mattias' place is great and they are starting to see the joys of assignment living (free baby!). Thursday was spent catching up over a fish and chips and then Friday was hit the British Muesum. The BM is really excellent and on par with the Met in NYC and the Louvre in Paris. We met Big Chris, who was there as a stop over to his vacation in Torino with us. That evening we hit a posh curry with the whole gang + our friend Mike and Christine then off to Tiger Tiger (cheesy brit nightclub). Saturday was for football as we went to "the Valley" and watched Charton beat Bolton. You may ask... who the hell are Charton and Bolton and believe me... I asked the same question several time. After the inevitable Micheal Bolton jokes we discoved they are 2 mid-level Premier League Teams. In the end, game was great! That night we hit Mexican in Inslington and wrapped up an excellent weekend. Thanks to Tina and Mattias for the hospitality and we hope we have earned a spot in a least the "B" friend group! |
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Posted By : John
| Category : News | Comments[96] | Trackbacks [0]
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