A Life, Lived

Travel Tuesdays - Pienza

Friends of ours are in Tuscany and they are posting lots of pics from their travels on their social accounts. Yesterday they were in Pienza and their pics triggered memories of our own visits to Pienza over the years.

It seems many of my Travel Tuesdays posts are triggered rather than actual recent visits these days. SIGH

Whatever. The city of Pienza in Italy is considered one of the most beautiful places in Tuscany. Not far from Siena, in the midst of the famous Val d’Orcia, this UNESCO World Heritage Site enchants above all with its beautiful old town, which is seen as the perfect Renaissance city. During a stroll through the historic center, you will discover countless beautiful attractions, romantic alleys, stop at picturesque squares and experience fantastic views. Excellent restaurants and cozy cafés also ensure a pleasant stay. And not to forget the breathtakingly beautiful surroundings around Pienza which are absolutely worth seeing!

Fencing it in

One of the big battles I had with the garden plot last year was with the deer. The plot is located in a large Provincial park. A large park with a healthy deer population. A healthy deer population comfortable with human presence and with a taste for the finer things in life. They treated the garden plot like an all-you-can eat buffet. Why battle the wild for edible twigs, leaves and berries when there is a supply of fresh vegetation?

We discovered that the deer loved peas, beans, lettuce, spinach and beets. Later in the season we discovered that they loved green tomatoes (this one was particular hard as I had seen the promise of a delicious crop to come in those tomatoes.

The deer did ignore radishes, corn, jalapeno peppers and carrots. They also didn't seem enamoured of RIPE tomatoes (if you were able to nurse some to that stage).

After each new onslaught I'd try to build the fence a little higher.

At first I joked that we were expecting geriatric deer unable to jump more than four feet.

Ha!

These were Olympic level athletes able to leap 6 feet.

I'm not taking chances this year. We have built the fence higher and stronger than last year. The fence is eight feet tall, the posts are placed closer together than they were last year, the wooden posts are thicker and more sturdy than the ones last year. Finally, we used 100s of cable ties in an effort to ensure that weak areas are strengthened.

Don't get me wrong. I believe that nature will win as always. I just hope that the damage done is limited compared to what we experienced last growing season. I'm actually happy top share with the deer, unfortunately their brains aren't developed enough to understand the concept of taking SOME and leaving SOME for others! :-)

Fence building was a four day process.

The first day was easy - I picked up the supplies.

The second day was more challenging - we lugged all of the supplies to the plot. Drove the metal support posts as deep into the ground as we could and put up the first four foot layer of fence.

We rewarded our efforts with our first picnic lunch of the year.

Yesterday was HOT. We split our work in two because we were getting a bit dizzy from the heat. The first part was placing the 8 foot wooden posts. Then we added about half of the second 4 foot layer. When things cooled down later in the day we went back and finished the final layer.

There is still some more to do - it won't happen today because we are getting some work done at the house and it is raining. When the soil dries I'll go and finish things off by tying down any loose spots.

 

Garden Plot - Preparing the Soil

Gardeners know that a lot of work at the beginning yields a highly productive garden throughout the growing season.

Last year it was simple. I raked it deeply, added some sheep manure and mixed it in. We were good to go.

I hit a bit of a wall this year early on.

But first some back story. The plots are located in a provincial park dedicated to preserving rural history from the Victorian era. The park itself is made up of five old farms. The park employed a farmer who tended the farms, the machinery, and the livestock.

Last year he plowed the plots and did a beautiful job.

Unfortunately the farmer retired and in the Ministry's infinite wisdom was not replaced. Instead the position was outsourced.

This is what the soil looked like after it had been 'plowed'.

What a difference. There is no way anything could be planted in THAT!

On Monday I tried to turn the soil with a garden fork. After about 30 minutes and only managing to get about 2 square feet ready to go I gave up.

I found a place in Milton that rented tillers. This was going to be an adventure! I drove to Milton on Tuesday and picked it up.

You might think that tilling would be easy. While it certainly is much easier than trying to prepare the soil manually it was still hard work. Three hours later the soil looked like this:

My arms were 'jelly' well into the evening from the machine vibrations, my back and arm muscles ache, I forgot my hat and sunscreen so I have a bad burn.

Nonetheless, the soil is getting there!

Today as I was driving back from Milton I stopped in at the dump. They were having their annual compost giveaway. It is a great service - they collect brown bag garden material throughout the year, compost it, and then give some of it away to local residents to assist with their gardens. They offer compost in the fall and spring.

Seven 'containers' were filled.

After dinner Paul helped me carry it to the plot and spread it.

Tomorrow we will add 20 bags of composted manure to the mix. At that point the soil will be ready to go.

The next big job will be the fence. :-0

Travel Tuesday - Spencer Smith Park Cherry Blossoms (Burlington)

No, I didn't travel far for this one.

Spencer Smith Park is probably Burlington's premier spot for folks to hang out. It used to be the location of a famous hotel and dance club back in the day. While this may be long gone the magnet still pulls people to the area.

Today, after some back breaking work at the garden plot, I decided to head to the park and view the cherry blossoms. Cherry blossoms might seem an odd mix for Burlington but there is a logical connection - Burlington is twinned with the Japanese city of Itabashi. To celebrate the twinning of the cities this grove was planted. It is a popular spot in the spring with the trees are covered with soft pink blossoms.

Lunch at Eataly

One of Toronto's big anticipated events in the 'before times' was the opening of Eataly.

Food fiends who have visited one of Eataly’s 40 other locations worldwide have been counting down the days until the beloved brand arrives in Canada. Eataly Toronto does not disappoint with its three-storey, 50,000-square-foot space dedicated to Italian cuisine. I was one of those fiends having beem to Eataly outposts in Torino, Bologna, Rome, and New York.

In addition to aisles of both local and imported products (+10,000, including close to 100 varieties of extra virgin olive oil from producers that exclusively harvest in Italy), there’s an array of fresh produce, seafood, cheese and meat to shop for. In addition there are multiple restaurants scattered throughout the space.

When Eataly first opened I was super busy at work so my only visits were in between work activities. The restaurants were so busy that it was near impossible to get a table earlier than 9:30 at night.

Then the pandemic happened and everything shut down.

There was a brief period when patios opened up in Toronto and Eataly set up a large outdoor eating area. We secured reservations and headed in to the city. Traffic came to a complete stop - apparently the main highway into the city was closed. Then the rain started. Even if we could get into the city we had no interest in eating lunch in the pouring rain.

We finally made it in for a meal a couple of weeks ago eating at La Pizza & La Pasta which is their pizza and pasta restaurant (duh). Because we had been anticipating this for such a long time I was worried that all of that pent up anticipation would be crushed by a less than stellar meal. Happily this was NOT the case.

Now before I talk about the food some context is needed. At the time of our reservations were had a number of friends visiting Rome. Their social feeds were full of pics of the seasonal foods that they were eating as well as some classic Roman dishes.

For example - in Rome right now artichokes are in season and chefs prepare them in a variety of ways. When I was there in March 2019 one of my favourite ways to eat them was fried - the outer leaves turned crispy by the hot oil and the inner part of the artichoke soft and delicious.

One of the appetizer specials when we were at at La Pizza & La Pasta was fried artichokes which were served with a lemon aioli. Done!

It was challenging deciding on my main course because there were so many wonderfully sounding choices. However, so many of our friends in Rome had been enjoying one of the classic Roman pasta dishes - Cacio e Pepe (pasta served with a cheese sauce and black pepper) that I decided to try that to see if the chefs made it properly. This is a simple dish with no fancy ingredients - pasta, grated cheese, pepper and pasta water. NO butter, garlic, olive oil, cream or any of the other things i have seen North American chef's add.

At Eataly they did it right.

After eating that big bowl of pure comfort I didn't really want dessert however Paul was determined to have some limoncello and tiramisu so I had an espresso (Jerry was driving so no more alcohol for me) and fried sweetened ricotta balls (Castagnole). The espresso was the only disappointment of the entire meal - it wasn't nearly as hot as it should have been (likely the first pull of the day). The castagnole were amazing - light, fluffy and dazzling in their simplicity. The contrast between the fluffy filling and the crisp crust was wonderful.

This was a wonderful meal. We won't be joining all of our friends and travelling to Rome any time soon but our lunch at Eataly was a good culinary substitute!

Chicken Fonda

Years ago when I was a kid my mom's aunt came to stay for a bit. She offered to cook dinner one night and placed a mouthwatering chicken meal on the table. It was so loved that mom asked her for the recipe and it was soon a regular on the DeQuetteville table. Over the years it was lost but it still existed in mouthwatering memories. A few weeks ago I turned to google and a recipe popped up.

I have no idea if this was the exact recipe that Aunt Mary made but it sure smelled similar. When I tasted the finished product it was as if I was taken back to a simpler time.

This recipe looks a bit odd - who would think of combining mustard, honey, and curry powder?

Looking at it as an adult I am a bit shocked that we liked it since we were the house that bland loved.

Loved it we did so I encourage you to give it a try.

Of yes, about the name. Apparently the actor Henry Fonda (I had to add in the actor bit because no one under the age of 50 knows who the heck Henry Fonda was) was quite a cook and this was his signature dish.

There you go - two recommendations for this one.

Enjoy!

Chicken Fonda

3 lbs chicken, cut in parts ( or your favorite parts)
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup prepared mustard
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon salt

Mix milk, melted butter, mustard, honey, curry powder and salt in bowl until you get a thorough blend.

Roll chicken parts in this mixture, making sure each piece is well coated.

Place coated pieces in roasting pan and put in preheated 350 degrees oven.

During cooking, baste chicken several times with mixture from roasting pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, until pieces are golden brown and juices run clear

Cuteness Overload

Jake and Lucca having a nap.

Travel Tuesday - Venice

We have a lot of friends who are making up for two years of no travel right now. Five sets of friends are in Venice right now and the pics theya re posting to Facebook have me thinking of the times we have been there over the years.

I've been lucky enough to have been in Venice on six separate occasions and would loev to go back again - no matter how many times you are in the city there is always something you've not seen before.

Here are some pics from previous trips.

Indoor Cats

Our two are a bit like this.

Time to Garden

Well, in lieu of the last post, perhaps not immediately.

Nonetheless, we signed the lease and paid for the garden plot last weekend. We take possession of 'our' land on Sunday.

For the next six months we'll be 'farming' this:

Seeds are bought.

I have also bought onion 'sets' and planting fingerling potatoes to try something new (although I think the soil is going to prove too heavy for them).

We will buy tomato and jalapeno pepper plants from a local farmer.

Last year I didn't take the warnings from the experienced gardeners about hungry deer seriously.

I will not make that mistake again.

This year I won't wait until AFTER they have treated the tender seedlings as a buffet to build a fence. I have one all planned out, drawn to scale on graph paper.

Don't ever say that I refuse to learn from my stupid mistakes!

I've also mapped out the plot. Mind you, I seem to have repeated potatoes twice so we'll either plant a few more rows of something or just spread other things out a bit.

The next 6 months will be busy!