A Life, Lived

#virtualsagra Amatriciana

In Italy a sagra is a local festival. While sagras may take the form of historical reenactments most seem to centre around food. A sagra is often dedicated to some specific local food, and the name of the sagra includes that food; the array of gastronomic specialties covered across Italy is amazing: for example, we find Festival delle Sagre astigiane, a Sagra della Rana (frog) at Casteldilago near Arrone, a Sagra della Cipolla (onion) at Cannara, a Sagra della Melanzana ripiena (stuffed eggplant) at Savona, a Sagra della Polenta at Perticara di Novafeltria, a Sagra del Lattarino at Bracciano, a Sagra del Frico at Carpacco-Dignano and so on. Among the most common sagre are those celebrating olive oil, wine, pasta and pastry of various kinds, chestnuts, and cheese.

Last weekend was to be the 50th anniversary of the Sagra all'Amatriciana.

Unfortunately it never took place. The town of Amatrice which made this sauce famous, was destroyed in last week's earthquake.

Many food bloggers participated in a Virtual Sagra over the weekend and made a donation to the Italian Red Cross.

Travel Tuesdays - the Berkshires

Our Last Day in Great Barrington

It is hard to believe that a week ago I was enjoying a mini vacation in the Berkshires!

On our last full day in Great Barrington we hiked up Monument Mountain.

We we made our way back to the parking lot we decided we needed a hamburger for lunch. We had read that the burgers at the Meat Market in Great Barrington were pretty amazing so we headed there.

Yup. That was a good burger. Nancy didn't love hers - but then again, if you take real meat with no additives and good the shit out of it I bet you wouldn't like it either. People who order burgers well done do not deserve burgers . . . well, unless they go to McDonalds.

When we got back to the house it was time to shower and think about what we wanted to do with the rest of the day.

Nancy and Joanne decided to take it easy in the house.

I hopped into the car and headed to Rawson Brook Farms - our favourite goat cheese producers. This was my third visit to the farm. While I was there I had a lovely chat with a guy from Boston who, like me, made a point of always stopping by when he was in the area and loading up on goat cheese. I visited with the goats (the babies as cute as ever) and bought 10 tubs of goat cheese (it freezes well).

My next stop was Berkshire Mountain Distillery. I enjoyed their products when I was in the area in 2013 but in the interim period they had opened a tasting room in Sheffield - a town south of Great Barrington. The GPS took me on an interesting trek through the hills (where I saw the only Donald Trump on my entire sojourn to MA).

I stocked up on a case of rum and headed back to the house.

The rest of the day was relaxing - wandering around the town and napping.

Joanne an I cooked a feast for dinner and we ended the meal with cake to celebrate Nancy's birthday.

Climbing Monument Mountain

My friends Nancy, Joanne, and I have a tradition - for our 50th birthdays we engage in some sort of physical activity design to prove that we are not dead yet. When Nancy turned 50 we climbed a mountain in Stowe, Vermont. When I turned 50 we climbed the campanile in Florence, Italy. This year it was Joanne's turn.

We decided to hike up Monument Mountain which is just outside Great Barrington. Paul and I climbed it when we were in the area in 2013 and I looked forward to climbing it again.

There are more than 3 miles of trails which were well maintained and appropriate ages and abilities. The trail system is a large loop that starts out at the parking lot and goes up to the rocky peaks.

We took the 1.51-mile Indian Monument Trail which took us past more than 300 years of history – the remains of ancient Native American trails, stone walls of former sheep pastures, woods roads, cart paths that brought hemlock bark to tanneries, hearths of charcoal makers, horse-and-carriage pleasure roads, recreational foot paths, and roads traveled by Ford Model T’s.

The trail was steep and rugged - climbing through beautiful forest, past  surprising rocky outcrops, up natural and human-assisted rock stairs.

Along the way we reached the point where the trail split - you could continue on the Indian Mountain Trail or go up the shorter Squaw Peak Trail. We decided on the shorter trail. What followed was proof that shorter is NOT always better. Oh no - this trail, while short, was steep and had you climbing all sorts of rocky outcrops and walking along cliff faces.  It was a work out!

When we got to the top we pretty well had the place to ourselves. We rested, enjoyed the views, and took the obligatory 'we're not dead yet' selfie.

On the way down we found a large rock with an inscription:

This ridge and the cliffs of Monument Mountain were conveyed to the Trustees of Public Reservations by deed bearing date October 19 AD 1899 in fulfillment of a wish of Rosalie Butler that such portions of this mountain might be preserved to the people of Berkshire as a place of free enjoyment for all time.

Well, it may only be 117 years later, and thus short of 'all time', but I can confirm that we enjoyed it immensely.

Photo Hunt - Cloud

This week's Photo Hunt theme is 'cloud'.

Dark clouds gathering over the old Town Hall in Glace Bay, NS.

Peach Salsa

The peaches have been particularly delicious this year - it must be the long, hot summer.

When the first peaches come in I always make this salsa as one of my first kitchen activities. I NEVER make it while they a e out of season - the results frankly suck. If you want flavour wait until you have access to delicious, fresh from the tree peaches and dig in.

There are folks who enjoy this salsa with nacho chips. I tend to use it as an accompaniment with grilled meats. When I made this it was to serve with a grilled, honey-brined turkey breast roast. It is also wonderful with grilled salmon, pork,  and chicken.

Recipes like this are flexible - want it hotter . . .add more jalapeno. What more crunch, throw in some red pepper. Like moe acid . . . more lime juice. You get it.

I suggest you whip some up while peaches are still available.

Peach Salsa

4- 5 fresh, ripe peaches (washed & diced)
1 bunch of cilantro chopped
1/2 red onion diced
1 small jalapeño diced
juice from one lime
salt to taste
Pinch of Sugar

MIX IT ALL UP! … that’s it!!!!

Life

Today has been a depressing day.

It might be because I'm weary from work but things just suck today.

A friend buried her son today. My heart breaks for her. I have no children so I can't imagine the devastation that comes from having your child die young.

It is sort of odd, we've never met in person. I 'met' Kayte through my blog. We've communicated electronically for more than 5 years now. She has been a constant in my life. Today I couldn't stop thinking of her, Mark, and Matt.

It is a tricky twist of the internet that you can form these connections and have a more rich life as a result.

We have also had some bad news about Paul's mom. She took a bad fall the other night and was rushed to the hospital. It appears her brain tumour is back, larger and more aggressive than before.

It doesn't look good.

The family is gathering.

I was away for work when he found out. We spoke on the phone and I could tell he was hurting. It was so hard to be away when the one you love is feeling lost and without hope.

Paul's voice, when we spoke on the phone last night, cut me to shreds. It hurt not to be there to comfort him in person.

Today I had to be at the office in the morning. I left at noon and came home.

Paul rushed to the door and we had a huge hug.

After lunch I was exhausted and we went upstairs for a nap. Paul curled up next to me like a child and just held on.

It was good to be there for him. Sure I have a hell of a lot of crap to do for work but frankly what really is more important?

Then there was the horrific earthquake in Italy. The pictures of people being saved from the rubble have brought tears to my eyes.

Really. Today just sucked.

I'm not sure tomorrow is gonna be a whole lot better but at least Paul and I are together, arm in arm, facing the shit that gets tossed our way . . . that is what love is. You feel better equipped to face the winds that buffet you when you are arm in arm with your partner in crime.

Cookies

Sadly the worker foolishly believes the banker.

The immigrant is the one making the cookies.

Shame the Behaviour . . .

Great Barrington Getaway

The Annual Meeting is such a long week of work that by the end of it I confess to not being much good for anything. For the past few years I have hopped into a car with my friends Nancy and Joanne and headed off somewhere to decompress. We generally have a weekend of relaxation - eating, drinking,  shopping, giggles, and maybe, just maybe, a hike thrown in for good measure (anything to say we were not slugs for the entire time).

This year we ended up in Great Barrington in the heart of the Berkshires.

It is about a 6 hour drive from home but we extended it  . . . inadvertently by me choosing a bad line at the border and by plan when we pulled off at Syracuse for what was are billed to be the best chicken wings in the world. Those wings were pretty yummy but more research is needed prior to my being able to support that claim.

We found the house we had rented with no difficulty and everything was as expected.

Once we were settled in we popped into town for provisions - largely wine, bread, cheese, meats, chips, cookies, ice cream, coffee, and coffee cream.

We did buy that bag of lettuce but really that is just so we feel better about our poor food choices.

Rather than go out we sat around drinking, nibbling, and watching TV. I think the theme for the weekend is sipping and grazing.

Yesterday started with good intentions. We were going to go to the outlet mall nearby and then climb monument mountain.

I did pop out to the bakery early in the morning.

When I got back into the town I visited the Farmer's Market.

Of course, rather than stop up on vegetables and fruits I bought a pie, bagels, and scones. LOL

When I got back to the house everyone was ready to head out. We wandered around the outlet all for a few hours (and I hopefully  . . . or in a delusional state . . . bought some clothing a few sizes smaller . . . :-) particularly given the provisions we had purchased so far this weekend).

On the way back we stopped in Stockbridge where there was an outdoor art show. Parking was a nightmare and we parked a million miles away but on the flip side, I made my FitBit step goal. The art show had some nice stuff, some crap, some stuff that just wasn't 'me', and some stuff that was 'what were they thinking?'. I bought a large piece of garden art which barely fit in the car - getting that home should be a treat.

Stockbridge had some gorgeous old homes from the late 1770s and early 180os. I'd certainly go bakc and wander about on a NON art show weekend.

We passed monument mountain on the way home - without stopping. In our defense it was quite hot. We were tired. We were hungry. I needed a nap. We decided it might be better to slay the mountain Sunday morning. We figured we'd head back to Great Barrington, have some lunch, have a nap, and spend the rest of the day wandering the town.

Well, we had lunch.

(do not judge, I only ate half of my grinder - what they call submarine sandwiches here in the NE)

I napped . . . boy did I nap! I woke up at 5:30 and most of the shops closed at 6:00.

We changed our plans again - in full grazing mode, we hung around the house reading, watching TV, eating and drinking.

It means a BUSY Sunday but surely we are up to that challenge?

:-)