Elaine's Thoughts on Jambalaya

Jambalaya is a comfort food for me. I have happy memories of eating it as a kid, it reminds me of home, it's easy to cook and can be a very flexible dish. I taught my husband how to make it for me, in case I ever get sick and can't cook it for myself, and it is a frequent go-to when I have people over or get invited to a potluck. I often get asked to share my recipe, which is flattering but also makes me laugh a bit because I don't think I've ever used a recipe to cook jambalaya in my life. I love cookbooks and I look at recipes for inspiration and guidance all the time, but rarely do I follow one to the letter.  

However, I do have a pretty good idea of the ratios I use, and the methods, so I thought I would take some time to write it down. I will also provide a couple of links at the end to recipes that are kind of similar to mine, in case winging it makes you twitchy. Just keep in mind, jambalaya is very forgiving and you can basically tailor it however you want! My favorite is a chicken and sausage jambalaya, but you could use shrimp, duck, or really any combination of proteins you like. I generally chop as I go, but you could just as easily do all the chopping ahead of time if you're worried about time management, and that's how I'm jotting down this recipe. (Fancy term: mis en place.) I put a few notes after the recipe on other things you could do differently. These are compiled from a few years' experience, so there are actually more tips and observations than steps in the recipe!

Please don't be intimidated. The hardest thing about jambalaya is all of the chopping! Once you get that part down, the rest is easy-peasy.

Jambalaya (about 8 servings):

Ingredients:

2lb chicken, cubed

1lb smoked sausage, thinly sliced

olive or peanut oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

2 bell peppers, any color, diced

2 ribs of celery, diced

2 cups long-grain white rice

4-6 cups of water or chicken stock

salt to taste

pepper (about 2 tsp)

red pepper (about 1T)

garlic powder (about 1T)

paprika (about 1tsp)

(Pre-made cajun seasoning ok)

ground thyme (about 1 tsp)

ground oregano (about 1 tsp)

fresh parsley, chopped to yield 3/4 cup, about 1 bunch

Directions:

1. In a large dutch oven or stock pot, cover bottom of pan with one layer of sausage and turn heat to medium-high. Brown the sausage on both sides; if the sausage is lean and not rendering much fat, add oil to the pan when you stir/flip the sausage. Remove sausage from pot and lay on a plate with paper towels to absorb some of the grease. Continue browning the sausage in batches until it is all done. 

2. Season the chicken on all sides with herbs and spices (everything but the parsley) to taste. If you're using stock, be careful of the salt content in this step. 

3. In the same pot you used to brown the sausage, check to see if there's enough oil/grease in the pan in which to brown the chicken. If not, add some. Put your burner on medium and add chicken to the pot the same way you did with the sausage, in a single layer. This helps keep the chicken from steaming and getting tough and rubbery. Brown the chicken on all sides; it should be mostly cooked through but you don't have to cook it all the way at this point. Remove the chicken and drain with the sausage.

4. In the same pot, set the heat to medium or medium-low, throw in all the vegetables and sweat until the onion is translucent. 

5. Add the sausage, chicken, and rice to the pot, stir, and cook on medium heat for about 2 minutes.

6. Just when the rice starts to stick to the bottom of the pot, add in at least 4 cups of your water or stock. If you're ingredients aren't covered, add more water or stock until they are just barely covered, and bring to a boil. 

7. Boil for 3-5 minutes and then stir once to make sure the rice isn't sticking to the bottom of the pot. This also helps scrape up flavors on the bottom of the pot that you got from browning the meats, and make sure it gets integrated into your jambalaya.

8. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes or until rice is done.

9. When the rice is done, remove from heat, uncover, and fold in the fresh parsley. Serve warm.

Notes:

1. On the chicken: You could use a store-bought rotisserie chicken and shred it. Add the chicken to the pot when you add the rice. White or dark meat is okay. I like to mix.

2. On the sausage: Use the best quality smoked sausage you can find. I prefer pork, or a pork blend, but you can also use turkey or chicken sausage. Just know that some kinds of meat render more fat than others. When you're cooking the meat, brown = flavor but burnt means you need to start over! Andouille and tasso are both wonderful in jambalaya, if you can find them. Please don't use kielbasa or chorizo. I mean, you could, but...better just not.

3. On the oil: You can really use any kind of cooking oil you like, but I like olive oil and peanut oil because they have a pretty high smoke point and I generally have large quantities of both on hand anyway. You probably don't need more than a tablespoon or two.

4. On the seasoning: I honestly don't measure things, so I go by sight and smell. I probably use equal amounts of red pepper and garlic powder, and slightly less of each of the others. Those numbers up there are probably a pretty good ballpark for 2lbs of chicken, but I erred on the side of too little rather than too much. If you use Cajun seasoning such as Tony Cachere's (my favorite), Slap Ya Mama (spicier!), or Emeril's, be mindful of salt content as well as spice factor. I like things pretty spicy but when I'm cooking for a crowd I definitely hold back. Typically I will LIBERALLY season one side of the chicken with pre-made stuff, then on the other side I will do everything except salt. Paprika I used mostly for color, but if you used smoked paprika that adds another layer of smoky flavor to the pot! Thyme and oregano are usually included in most pre-made cajun seasonings, but not always. You want a hint of that flavor but not overwhelming. You can substitute fresh herbs during the cooking process for a little more brightness and punch. Other optional items are white pepper, bay leaf, Worcestershire sauce and pre-made hot sauce. Your call.

5. On the liquid: If you use water, amp up the seasoning on your chicken. Taste the jambalaya liquid midway through simmering time to see if it's salty and spicy enough. Remember, you can always add salt later but you can't remove it! If you use stock, particularly store bought stock, be mindful that it will probably carry enough salt for the whole dish. You can use turkey stock (it will be richer) or vegetable stock, if you prefer.  

6. On tomatoes: People from Louisiana have very strong opinions about whether or not to put tomatoes in jambalaya. I think it's more of a New Orleans thing, but you can add in crushed or diced tomatoes or even a can of Rotel if you like. This will add a nice pop of red color. Alternately, you could add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste while you are sweating the vegetables or to the broth. This could help thicken the broth a bit and will add a little depth of flavor and a darker color to the final product, but you don't want to overdo it as too much will make your jambalaya more acidic than you want it to be. 

7. On the rice: I usually rinse my rice before I cook it in jambalaya to get rid of some of the starch. This helps keep the dish from being too sticky. I prefer long-grain or extra-long grain white rice. If you swap in brown rice, you might want more liquid and a slightly longer cooking time. I recently tried out arborio rice in a batch of jambalaya for the first time and that also worked out nicely. For whichever rice you pick, just read the package directions first to make sure you have an idea of how much liquid you need. At this point, I don't even measure my liquids, I just add in enough to barely cover my ingredients and it usually works out okay. If you accidentally have too much, you can always uncover the pot to help cook it off, but then you risk your jambalaya being mushy and your rice being overcooked. It will still TASTE good, just have a less pleasant texture. Some people add rice last, AFTER the liquid has come to a rolling boil. They say the rice cooks better that way and is more likely to be fluffy instead of sticky. I've done it both ways and since I rinse my rice first, I don't worry about that step. I like to throw it in with the veggies and meat first so that it starts absorbing those flavors before it starts absorbing the cooking liquid.

8. Parsley: You could skip adding fresh parsley at the end, but why? It's so fresh and tasty! Instead of adding it straight to the pot, you could set a little dish to the side and add it to the top of each individual serving. I sometimes use green onions as a garnish to jambalaya, too, and if you have them on hand you could add them to your veggie mix. Speaking of which...

9. On the vegetables: My general rule of thumb is equal parts onion to bell pepper to celery. It's hard to go wrong here. I often throw in extra onion because I like onion. Or extra celery to use it up because I hate eating it fresh so I might as well transform it into something I like. Or extra bell peppers because I want to use all three colors for the visual effect. I generally lean toward green bell peppers because red and yellow are a little sweeter. Usually though, I just go with whatever I have on hand. You could also add in green onions, shallots, or purple onions, but purple onions tend to lose their color when you cook with them anyway. You could saute the vegetables instead of sweating them, and they will have more color to them but disappear into the dish in terms of texture. If you want to add okra, add it in about halfway through the cooking process. You don't want it to get too slimy. If you want a little more kick, especially something maybe a little more slow-burning than cayenne, you could add in a couple of minced jalapenos. Or spicier pepper if you want.

10. On garlic: A lot of people add fresh garlic, but I find it easier to use ground. Mostly because I have a tendency to burn it (whoops) and I think it integrates better if you use the powdered kind. It's a matter of personal preference. If you use fresh, I think pressing the garlic will work better than mincing, to release more oil. Add the garlic to the vegetables after they've been sweating a couple of minutes, as it won't take as long and you want to avoid burning it like I do.

11. On shrimp: If you want shrimp jambalaya, add the shrimp toward the end of the cooking process.  They don't take nearly as long to cook as the rice and the last thing you want in your jambalaya is a rubbery shrimp! You could pre-season them but I don't think they really need it if you hit the seasoning right the first go-round.

12: On the cooking method: Supposedly you can do this in the crockpot or in the oven, though I've never tried either method. If you survey a hundred cooks in Louisiana, you'd probably get a different recipe from each, but I'm guessing the vast majority will do it stovetop. For events and such you often see it cooked outside in a big cast iron pot. And by big I mean giant, syrup-making cast iron pot. Those things are epic. If you wanted to make this recipe even easier, don't drain the meat. Just keep adding ingredients and follow the steps.

13: On texture: Steer clear of any recipe that makes jambalaya sound like a soup or stew. It shouldn't be so wet that you need to eat it with a spoon. It is a rice dish with stuff in it.

Recipes:

1. I found this one after I wrote mine, and I'm quite pleased that we had plenty of the same notes. I haven't tried it, but it seems like it would be tasty. Also the author's first name is Emile and he was on a Throwdown with Bobby Flay episode, so it's probably legit. :) http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cajun-chicken-and-sausage-jambalaya-recipe.html 

2. This recipe, originally published by Cooking Light magazine, seems pretty simple, straightforward, and health conscious. It looks to create about half of what my recipe yields.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-sausage-jambalaya-0

Julie Visits Italy

My mom came to visit for nearly three weeks this past fall, and suffice to say, we had a fantastic time. The end.

Oh, who am I kidding? If that was all I had to say, I wouldn't be blogging about it! I haven't said anything hear about it yet for many reasons. Partly because we crammed in so much stuff I didn't know where to start, and partly because between the two of us we took a few thousand photos. I got to introduce her to a few of my friends, and she even went on a couple outings without me. Highlights included a cooking class with Lucas, a long weekend in Rome, a quick visit to the Scrovegni Chapel in Padova, and a gumbo night at home. Also wine. Lots and lots of wine.

The day after she arrived, we visited Marco Mosconi winery as part of a group outing. I knew a few people there, but not many. That didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves! They were actively de-stemming the grapes on the day of our visit, and we also got to see the attic where they dry grapes for Valpolicella and Amarone. The wine was tasty and we particularly enjoyed their recioto, but honestly the price points weren't very wallet friendly, especially compared to some of my other favorite places. Since we were out that direction, we also fit in a visit to the Bonamini olive oil folks and had a delicious lunch in Soave.

Man, if I treat this like a straight-up recap, this is going to be one long blog post! I counted it up once, and I think Mom visited something like twenty cities in a 19-day trip - and that is with me working part-time while she was here! We went to Florence and did a hop-on hop-off bus tour. I would say save your money and just walk, but it was worth it to go on the other side of the river and see the city from that side. Plus, we did get some of the history on the bus ride that we might not have learned otherwise. We elected not to go in any of the museums, but we still saw so many incredible sites/sights that it was a fantastic day. Speaking of views, I also took her to Monte Berico to show off Vicenza and the green-roofed Basilica. We went into the church there and had a grand time poking around, but she particularly fell in love with the mother-children statues in the park across the street.

On another of the closer-to-home days we went to a cooking class. It ended up being a super small class but we still had a fantastic time! I forget what all we made, but it included focaccia and a deliciously simple chicken and sausage stew. I'm glad we had that experience together, because we went to Monselice to visit a castle and eat at the pub enoteca, but the enoteca was closed! Boo! The castle was beautiful and our guide was very knowledgeable, so it was worth the visit. We also trekked up the hill to the Santuario della Siette Chiese - Sanctuary of the Seven Churches. That's another place with a great view. I always get Montagnana and Monselice mixed up, but that's probably because I visited each of them twice within a month of each other, and saw a palio in each town. Unfortunately, there were no races when Mom was here, but I did get her to both cities. We had a great lunch in Montagnana - refreshing salads with combinations of meats and cheeses and fruits on top.

On one of the days I had to work, my beautiful friend Carolina took Mom to Marostica and Bassano del Grappa. Apparently there's a delightful chocolate shop in Bassano; I've never visited it, but I was lucky enough to sample many of their goodies! I think Mom got a kick out of both places.

I really wanted to take Mom to Lake Garda, but also wanted to visit some place I'd never been before. On a whim, we decided to head to Bardolino. And guess what: there was a wine festival going on! We wandered around and explored the different vendors' wares, and of course sampled some wine and local risotto. There were a surprising number of German and Austrian tourists there. Despite the overcast sky and persistent drizzle, we had a great day. We even walked along the waterfront a significant way, and really enjoyed the thoughtfulness of the bike/walking path. You can pretty much stroll from town to town on that path without a whole lot of elevation change, and it's a nice way to see the lake. We even saw an older fisherman out there throwing nets, and some of the locals stopped to ask if he was catching any fish.

I'm trying to think what all else we got up to. We went to Venice and Murano, and I definitely turned Mom loose in downtown Vicenza by herself one day. She successfully navigated the bus, too, more than once! She also did a walking tour of Vicenza with Lucas on a market day - not as much fun as a pub crawl or wine and cheese tasting, but still probably interesting. We visited Villa Sceriman winery one day, too. Oh and we even picked up pizza and watched an LSU football game! Score! (Ha ha, literally.)

Another day trip we took was to Padova, and I'm so glad we went. I'd only been once or twice before, and always with a purpose. (No, Ikea does not count.) I finally went into St. Anthony's Cathedral and thought it was absolutely breathtaking. Definitely one of the more impressive structures I've visited since I moved to Europe. We also visited the Scrovegni Chapel, which was the point around which our trip revolved. We had a few minutes before our time slot to explore the courtyard and souvenir store. We entered a room with the rest of our group and watched a short video, and then went into the chapel itself. Y'all. It was amazing. Giotto's work is incredible. Our time was limited, as they don't want scads of tourists breathing our toxic air out and contaminating the space too much, so I tried to keep my eyes open the entire time so as not to miss any of the stunning details. Too bad I had to blink from time to time. I also learned that the Star of Bethlehem is sometimes depicted as a shooting start because of Giotto's painting in this chapel. Turns out Haley's comet made an appearance while he was working on this project!

Toward the end of her visit, Mom and I took a long weekend in Rome. We stayed at the great little Fellini hotel, and it was in a great location for exploring. We walked from the train station and settled in before heading off to our free walking tour. Our guide was an older gentleman and architect by trade, and we thoroughly enjoyed his enthusiasm and energy. Our meeting point was the Spanish Steps, and it only took about ten minutes to walk their from our hotel, if that. We walked by too many interesting and important things for me to list them all out, but we ended at the Trevi Fountain (which was still under construction). The front desk guy at the hotel gave us a restaurant recommendation (we ate their twice because we loved it so much!) and we also noticed a flyer for an opera while we were standing at the front desk. The front desk guy made the booking for us, and we got to see La Traviata the next day! It was dinner theater, so our expectations were frankly kind of low. But I should have known in Italy they respect their opera and do it right! It was a small house with a very talented cast, and we enjoyed the intimate setting. I think the last time I saw an opera with my mom was in something like 2005 at the Glimmerglass Summer Festival! Hopefully it's not another decade before we do it again.

Our second day we had tickets to the Vatican, and that was pretty much an all-day affair. It was also pretty rainy that day, so I'm glad we picked an indoor activity. It ended up being a bit more walking (to, at, and from) than we were expecting, but I'm glad we went. It was honestly overwhelming and mind-boggling to behold all of those treasures. There's no way you could ever see and read about everything in there, though that didn't stop us from trying! We also wanted to see the Basilica, but decided to turn left instead of right when we were done (Don't do it! Turn right!) so we literally circumnavigated the entire Vatican on foot. By the time we got to St. Peter's, we were tired and I was also a bit grumpy, so we took some pictures and then made our way back to the room to put our feet up a while before the opera.

On Sunday we went to the Coloseum and Roman Forum, and spent most of the day doing that as well.  I have no idea why, but there were some guys in front of the Coloseum blowing up GIANT white balloons - as big as a small car! They made a very pretty foreground to the Coliseum with the beautiful blue sky above. That's right, we got lucky with the weather and it was great for our outdoor day. Once we were done there, we headed back to "our" part of town and did some more wandering. We wanted to spend a few more minutes at some of the sites we saw on our free walking tour, so we retraced many of our steps but also left plenty room for exploring. One of our favorite finds was actually a little jazz group playing in front of a church - in the middle of a shopping district! We hung out for several songs and got our toes tapping pretty good. I think Mom even bought one of their cds to bring back.

Anywho, that is the abridged version! I guess we had an okay time. Kinda sorta. I wish it could have been longer, but reality called and she had to go back home. Booo! Come again, Mom, any time! xoxoxoxo

Bolzano Christmas Market & Archaeology Museum

Christmas markets are a thing in Europe, particularly in Germany and Austria, but Italy is known for having some great ones as well. Last year, due to a crazy combination of timing, school, Tony's work schedule, and our awesome vacation to Malta, we completely missed out on this entire phenomenon. First world problems, I know. This meant it was very high on my list this year. I thought I'd have more time, but it has a way of slipping away from me these days. Fortunately, we were able to jump on a group trip with Lucas (of Cooking With Lucas fame) and head to Bolzano - the largest and most famous Christmas market in Italy!

Mercatino di Natale, Bolzano Italy

In Italian, a Christmas market is a Mercatino di Natale. I learned that in Bolzano, in the Dolomites of the South Tyrol Province South of Austria, Germany is one of the official languages. It still trips me up to see signs in anything other than English, but as you venture closer to other countries or apparently, provinces with secondary languages, it's even stranger to see multilingual signs. My brain is getting very full of important words like gelato and formaggio, but I managed to make room for another phrase: Christkindlmärkte. Just don't ask me to pronounce it. I know another phrase but hadn't been able to put it to use yet: vin brûlé. That is Italian for mulled wine! (In German: gluhwein.) Never fear, I have now partaken of both the red and white varieties in an official setting! With a bonus tasting of hot apple cider with rum. Yum yum yum.  

Pretzel, speck, & cheese sandwich + Gluhwein

Man, I got started talking about food and drinks and totally distracted myself from where I was going in my story. I think I jumped ahead of myself a bit. Anyway, it took us a little more than two hours to get to Bolzano. I drowsed a bit on the bus, which isn't really surprising since I had nightmares the night before and also took two Benadrylls before we hit the road; better to sleep than have motion sickness! Plus, I have a sore ear and I thought the allergy medication might help relieve some of the pressure. Anyway, the drive seemed easy. I woke up somewhere East of Lake Garda (and recognized exactly where we were, BECAUSE I AM AN AWESOME ADVENTURER!) just in time to see a fantastic monastery built into the hillside. I expected the drive to be a very twisty-curvy one, with lots of up and downs, but it was all highway and pretty straight shooting. Our bus driver did an expert job backing the bus into a spot in a parking garage, and we set off in the freezing cold -2 degree weather (okay, fine, -2 degrees Celsius, but still) to find the Christmas market. We parked about five blocks away and just followed the crowd. The idea was to go to a microbrewery for lunch, but it ended up being really crowded so we settled for street food instead.First order of business: red vin brûlé and a pretzel sammich with cheese and speck. FYI: Speck is a cured meat similar to bacon or prosciutto, and is native to the Tyrol region. That was a darn good pretzel, the best I've had since Oktoberfest in Munich! (Dang. Please don't think I'm an asshole just for having some awesome adventures. After all, I had to wait fourteen months (and one really bad gas station quality pretzel) before experiencing pretzel bliss again.) Next up: that necessary evil, a public bathroom. Surprisingly, for the low price of 70 Euro cents, I went through a turnstile and marched right up to a clean, empty stall, and then washed my hands with soap and hot water. A+, Bolzano, top marks for bathroom quality. 

That right there is a nice steamy mug of gluhwein!

Miniature Train (Photo Credit: http://www.bolzano.net)

After that, we wandered around. The main event happens in Piazza Walther, anchored by the 14th century Assumption of Our Lady Cathedral, with smaller clumps of vendors in other piazzas and scattered throughout the streets of town. It was fairly crowded despite the chill, and it's a great place to people-watch even if you don't feel like buying anything. We saw lots of Christmas ornaments, from hand-carved and laser-cut wooden ones to delicate tatted lace to hand-painted bulbs. There were linens, candles, and lots of local meats and cheeses. We saw kids riding a miniature train - and miniature ponies! I think the horse owners as well as parents are very trusting; the parent would pay, some adult would help the kid onto the pony, and the owner would hand the reins over to the parents for a few minutes and the parent would then guide the animal up and down the street. Everywhere we went, you could find artisan bread and pretzels and sweets, plus did I mention the vin brûlé?! One of my friends had a white hot chocolate that looked delicious, and he said it was amazingly creamy in texture and just the right amount of sweet. I didn't partake of any hot chocolate, white or otherwise, but I did sample some delicious hand rolled truffles. Okay fine, I did more than sample. I gobbled up a traditional dark chocolate (fondente) and a coffee-flavored one, and Mr. Moneybags Husband was paying since I left my cash at home, and he bought two of each so we wouldn't even have to share! I'm pretty sure that's a testament to his generosity, and not selfishness of wanting his own truffle...We saw lots of vendors roasting chestnuts, and smelled some heavenly combination of cinnamon and vanilla and maybe nutmeg? that meant there were candied nuts for sale, too. There were gingerbread and sacher torts, too. Sacher torts are an Austrian chocolate cake with apricot jam or preserves, topped with dark chocolate frosting or ganache, and you can find them all over the Alps. In addition to the Christmas theme, we also saw some vendors with more common goods you'd see in any Italian outdoor market, namely fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers. 

Hand-painted Ornament (Photo Credit: http://www.bolzano.net)

We already did our Christmas shopping for this year, and didn't really see anything that called to us for ourselves or for next year's gifts, so after some browsing (and some more of that delicious wine stuff) we proceeded to the South Tyrol Archaeology Museum. This museum was created specifically to house a pretty fantastic archaeological find: Ötzi – the Iceman. Otzi was discovered in 1991 and it turns out he lived about 5,000 years ago, sometime in between 3350 and 3100 BCE. The museum was very interesting and respectful, and the body is preserved in a special Han Solo cryogenic chamber - very cold, very humid, minus Han Solo - with a little window for viewing. You can read and hear all about the discovery and recovery, as well as view artifacts like his leggings, bearskin cap, and dagger. He also had specially made ember bags and tools. You can't see it, but you can hear all about the food remnants found in his stomach and intestines and cereal grains caught in the fibers of his clothing and pouches. And guess what: Otzi has 61 tattoos! They are positioned to correspond with modern acupuncture lines and were pretty certainly associated with some sort of therapeutic treatment. Brown-eyed Otzi had wavy, shoulder-length brown hair and a beard, was an inch shorter than me with the same size feet, probably weighed less than I do, and died when he was about 45 years old. There is an incredible life-size reproduction/recreation of what Otzi probably looked like, based on all sorts of fancy technology that I'm too ignorant to understand, much less sum up in a blog post. In short: it's way cool. 

Otzi the Iceman (Photo Credit: www.wync.org)

Otzi is important for many reasons; his was the first archaeological dig on a glacier, and as a result of his recovery and radiocarbon-dating methods, the timing of the Copper Age was revised by a thousand years, indicating it started much earlier than we previously thought. Otzi is also special because of the way he was preserved - naturally, in ice, rather than through artificial means or in peat. That means all of the organic materials haven't really been interfered with over time. Also, scientists and archaeologists didn't recognize signs at the initial time of recovery, but due to the nature of wounds, they were able to narrow down his cause of death somewhat. He was discovered on a known traverse/trade route. He had an arrowhead buried in his shoulder, which led to a big blood loss, fractures on his face and skull that occurred within 24 hours of his death, a significant gash on his hand indicating hand-to-hand combat, and a dislocated shoulder. Speculation is that he had some sort of an incident (perhaps a fight?) the day before he died and then went to an area where he felt safe. At some point, he ate a meal, and then within an hour of eating was shot with the arrow and died. The dislocated shoulder could have happened during that fall, or if he tried to rip the arrow from his own body (scientifically plausible). The arrowhead was found, but no remnants of the actual arrow itself, so somebody tried to pull it out at some point. Then, after he died, he must have been covered with snow and then ice very quickly, otherwise the elements and animals might have interfered with his preservation.

Whoa. So, um, yeah. Sorry to get all gruesome in the middle of a happy Christmas post. But it was fascinating!

Chocolate, Nut, & Marzipan Vendors at the Bolzano Christmas Market

My favorite alley of decorations! Giant pretzels!

Anyway, after we visited the museum, we did a few cloverleaf loops through the city and visited some of the smaller piazzas, one of which was specifically devoted to artisans. That square had wooden games, jewelry, felted wool clothes & ornaments, glassware, and all sorts of other cool handmade stuff. The town of Bolzano also has plenty of non-Christmas shopping available, everything from H&M and Aldo and Sephora to Armani and hand-cobbled shoes. I was quite impressed with the decorations around the entire city. Each street had hanging decorations, either lights or ornaments or some such. I saw innertubes twisted and painted like pretzels, bouncy balls painted like ornaments, singing angels, whispy white paper swirls, and lots of red and gold. Many of the trees were decorated with lights and ornaments too, including one giant potted olive tree with red boxes hung throughout. Even buildings were decked out with lights and 3D ornaments on the walls. All afternoon we were pleasantly taunted (if such a phrase isn't an oxymoron) by whispers of live brass music. It was hard to pin down a location or even a direction for the music, but we finally found it coming from a third-story balcony. The song they were playing when we honed in on the band? Feliz Navidad. Because of course.

Hopfen & Co. Brewery. Go there.

Around 3pm, we made our way to the Bozner Bier Hopfen & Co Brewery. It's in an 800-year old building and features Tyrolean and Italian cuisine, plus of course beer! (Birra in Italian, Bier in German, see why my brain is so fulllll?) Still stuffed from my pretzel sandwich, I settled for a radler and an endive salad with black olives, sundried tomatoes, and goat cheese. I was not disappointed. Tony went for a dark beer, a dunkel, and goulash with bacon beer dumplings. He loved the lager, which even I enjoyed despite not generally being a fan of dark beers, and REALLY liked the goulash. The bacon beer dumplings were a little heavy, though tasty. We sat and visited with a few of our friends, and then we split the vanilla gelato with hot raspberry sauce. And the angels rejoiced. I don't know what kind of witchcraft went into the creation of that ice cream or the sauce, but it was amazing! If I ever go back to Bolzano, I would eat there again in a heartbeat.

We spent a few final minutes meandering through town as we made our way back to the bus, snapping pictures and purchasing our truffles, and then headed home. I hereby deem our first Christmas market outing a tremendous success!

Yummy, yummy chocolate! Bonus tidbit: 'Chiave' is Italian for 'key'

Catch-Up

Oh noooooo, I fell off the blogging wagon! It's not New Year's, so I'm not calling this a resolution, but I would like to get back on track. Sometimes that first step is the hardest, so for today I'm just jotting down a list (bullets: a blogger's lazy tool) of topics I'd like to backfill, plus a couple of upcoming events & outings I want to hit on as well.

a) Halloween Party & Costumes
b) Thanksgiving/Tuscany
c) Venice Hotel & Shopping
d) Work
e) Holiday Plans
f) Bolzano Christmas Market
g) Haircut
h) Books I've Read in the 2nd half of 2015
i) Mom visiting Italy - probably multiple posts!

Also, I rode my bike to work today. This is technically the first time I've done that, though I've ridden my bike to the base several times before. Funnily enough, I didn't really plan to bike to work. Originally I thought I would bike in today, and then leave the bike at work and have my husband pick me up so we could go grocery shopping together and I wouldn't have to bike home in the dark. Then I would ride the bus to work in the morning and bike home when I finish work at 1300. But I worked out at home this morning and was generally feeling a little lazy, so I decided to ride the bus. Generally the bus passes my house going in the direction of work at 17 minutes past the hour and at 47 minutes past the hour. To start work on the hour, I need to catch the xx17 bus. Since it's Italy, I always check the bus schedule before I leave though, just to make sure. Usually the buses are pretty reliable, but you never know. And sometimes they change it up seasonally or there's a random Italian holiday or something else impacting the schedule. And I don't know if it's because today is a holiday (Feast of the Immaculate Conception) or just because it was close to when things shut down for lunch and riposo, but sure enough, there wasn't a bus at a convenient time for me. And I couldn't even catch an early one and hang out on the base before hand, since I waited a few minutes too long to catch the schedule! Argh! As my Grampa says, "It's alright, as long as you say 'oops.'" OOPS. So, back to Plan A. I quickly changed clothes & shoes, added work attire to my backpack, pumped up my bike tires, and hit the road. I think it's about 4.5 miles to work, but I've never really verified that. Anyway, I checked my watch at 1211, before I pumped up the tires, and then I checked it again when I got to work and took off my helmet in my office, at 1235. I think I made great time!

And now I need a nap.

Palio #2: Monselice

My aunt recently came to visit from South Africa, and I wanted to try to give her a fantastic and authentic Italian experience in the limited free time we shared together. That's how we found ourselves taking a short road trip with another friend to the town of Monselice to experience their horse race called "quintana." Giostra della Quintana is, in short, a joust. Of course, we had no clue what we were in for when we hit the road, but that didn't stop us from having a wonderful day at the track and wandering around the town.

Monselice Castello

It took about 40-45 minutes to get to Monselice from Vicenza; it was an easy drive and tolls were less than five euro each way. You can see the hill with its tower before you can see the town proper, so we definitely knew we were heading the right direction long before we got there. Sometimes driving in Italy can be stressful, so affirmations like giant, easily-identifiable hills are a boon. We didn't exactly know where to go in town, so the vague plan was to arrive, look for the town center, and park somewhere close. That's generally a good plan, provided you don't accidentally stray into a residents only traffic zone, and it worked for us. When we arrived, we saw lots of people walking about in medieval costumes, so we knew we were close to the right spot. We started venturing away from that area of town and quickly found ourselves along a river in a residential neighborhood, so we stopped and asked for directions from a local. Twice. Thank goodness my aunt speaks better Italian than I do! We ended up just nabbing a great parking spot (for free!) along the river, and walking five or ten minutes into town, following the general flow of foot traffic.

Outside the Pub Enoteca Il Castello

One of the first things we saw once we walked into the town was a piazza, and bordering the piazza was a tower, clock, castle, and tourist information office. Bingo! We popped into the tourist office to obtain directions to the horse race and determine if there was anything else interesting or worthwhile to see while we were in town. I have no idea why more people don't know of this city, because it is home to a fantastically refurbished castle dating back to the 11th century, a pilgrimage of seven churches, two towers, and at least one really great restaurant. (There are probably more delicious restaurants, but we liked this one so much we ate there for lunch and came back for dinner!) We scoped out the castle tour schedule and then hit up the Pub/Enoteca Il Castello for lunch. And why is it called Pub/Enoteca Il Castello, you  might ask? Because it is located directly under the castle, has a secret passage connecting to the castle, and is owned by the city. A wonderful lady named Sabrina co-manages it with her husband. The inside is decorated with art, statues, pottery, and weaponry and the outside features a wonderful courtyard and seasonal flowers. Of course, since it was so nice we chose to sit a fuori, outside. We were intrigued by their extremely well-priced wine list, which is broken down by region and features some very local varietals, and asked about the possibility of a wine-tasting. The pub was slammed for lunch (always a good sign) so they suggested we come back in the early evening if we wanted to do that. Spoiler alert: we did. Two of us chose to have papardelle with wild boar ragu, and my aunt had crepes stuffed with ricotta and mushrooms. I drank a spritz and the others enjoyed some Prosecco, and then we were off to the races!

We walked for 10-15 minutes through the town to the foot of the hill, where we paid ten euro and sat in the bleachers with our backs to the sun to enjoy the spectacle. We had to pass through a gaggle of folks in costume to purchase our tickets, so we knew there would be a parade to kick everything off. Knowing Italy, we didn't think they would start on time, but they actually started five minutes early! Each of the nine communes of Monselice is represented by an animal or other symbol, and has its own colors. A representative troop from each commune marched in, accompanied by drums and/or buglers, and took their places in the opposite bleachers. They must have been broiling, what with all the velvet and brocade and facing directly into the sun! Unfortunately, the racing took for-eh-ver to start because various possibly important people needed to give welcome speeches. And then a cute kid read a presumably cute poem. I picked out a stanza about each commune, praising their speed, agility, horses, pretty colors, etc. People clapped. It was nice. More speeches. Blah blah blobbity blah, get to the good stuff! Finally, after no kidding an hour, the announcer started introducing the horses and riders and explaining the race.

A rider uses his joust to spear a suspended ring

Each commune had two riders, for a total of 18. I know this because all eighteen of them were introduced one at a time and each completed a lap around the track. See note above re: for-eh-ver. They would be pitted against each other two at a time with the task of spearing three impossibly small orange rings while racing around the track. Each rider would enter his respective outer side of the track when a two-minute warning bell rang. When that bell sounded, the competitors had two minutes to collect their spears, enter the inner track ring, and take position. They got a 30-second warning and a 5-second warning. Once the five-second warning sounded, they could begin racing the horses, but they couldn't cross the starting line with the rings until the official start bell sounded. We only saw one false start, which I thought was pretty impressive. The riders did one full lap before starting to collect their rings on the end of their jousting spear, and the rider who got three rings before the other won the heat. I think we stayed for five races, and the times ranged from 52-56 seconds, so you can understand the dirt track was not all that large. After each race a team of men wearing blue jeans, white button-down shirts, and baseball caps came out to rake the track, especially in the curves where we saw more than one horse stumble, but once everything kicked off there was a race every 5-6 minutes. So if you ever want to attend this event, know that you can pretty much skip the first hour and not miss much, but once it starts things move fairly quickly. Still, with so many riders it could take a couple hours to finish all the racing. This event was not nearly as big as the Palio of Montagnana, but equally well-organized. I'm glad I got to experience the two different styles of racing, and would recommend them both to anyone. Both events were very kid-friendly, too.

Because of our desire to see more of the town (and the fact that bleachers just aren't very comfortable), we left after only a few races. We headed back to the tourist shop to steal some of their very pretty brochures and then went to the Castello of Monselice, sometimes called the Castello Cini after one of its modern owners. We paid eight euro for an hour-long tour, and lucked out because we, along with one very lovely Canadian lady, wound up on an English-speaking tour for us instead of stuck with a group of 30 Italian-speakers. So we basically got a private tour of one of the most beautifully renovated castles I've ever seen, and our guide was exceptionally knowledgeable. It turns out he is an Italian who works for an American company out of Verona, and only works in Monselice on the weekends after putting in a regular five-day workweek. Art is his passion, and he joked about there not being much money in art, allora. For every question we asked, he was able to give us a detailed answer, and I was really impressed with his kindness and professionalism even though we could see he was just about dead on his feet. (At the end of the tour, our Canadian friend told him to start a six-day work schedule and take some time off.)

The castle consists of three main buildings (plus the bonus pub on the street below), connected but built across the span of several centuries. Unfortunately, the castle was bombed, left in shambles, and abandoned for a significant period of time so much of the layout, room purposing, and furnishing is speculation. That did not deter from the experience whatsoever. The first building we entered was set up as a weapons museum, and we learned one of the first rooms was likely used as sort of an armory and mudroom for local soldiers, who apparently had a crappy life back in the teen-hundreds. Poor blokes. We learned a lot about crossbows and suits of armor before moving on. We breezed through a courtyard and then walked up some stairs and then a ramp to the [European] first floor. As it turns out, the ramp was so visitors could ride their horses directly to the guest quarters and living space, hand off their animals to servants to be stabled, and enter the house without bothering with the peons on the ground floor. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the interior, and I was a good girl and followed the rules, but let me just tell you this place was stunning. There were tapestries on the walls, giant windows, tiny beds, heavy cupboards and wardrobes, and beautiful examples of glass, pottery, and other art. We also learned about some special chimneys very specific to not just the region, but this town. I commented earlier in the tour that I thought it was unusual to see so many round chimneys, and only one that was squared-off. Turns out the round chimneys housed smaller regular chimneys underneath, with a void in between. In medieval times, residents filled that void with sand, to retain the heat from the fireplace even once the fire was out. Brilliant! 

View from the upper courtyard in the Monselice Castello

Upper Courtyard in the Monselice Castello

After visiting the upper floors, we made our way across the courtyard to one of the other sections of the castle. It housed a chapel and a room with a hearth so enormous that historians think it was probably a kitchen. However, an alternate theory is that it was used as a forge for weaponry, considering the castle's defensive history. Nothing in that room was younger than 500 years old. Mind: boggled. The castle was owned by the town but now I understand it is owned by a regional museum authority or some such. Interestingly, 58% of the world heritage sites are located in Italy. Our guide carped that because Italians are surrounded by so much beauty and history, they have become complacent about maintaining them and delinquent in advertising them. Hence me stumbling across such surprises when I randomly venture out for the day. Why does no one know about these places? They are amazing! Anyway, rant over, tour pretty much over.

One of the seven chapels

After the tour, we continued walking uphill and peeked at the grounds of a private villa and into the Church of San Giustinia (St. Justina) which is also known as the Old Cathedral of Monselice. Continuing uphill, we walked past the Santuario Giubilare della Siete Chiese, or the Jubilee Shrine of the Seven Churches. There are seven chapels built into the hill, each one representing one of the major basilicas of Rome. They were constructed in the 1600s after a papal dispensation which basically said that a pilgrimage to these chapels was the same, and thus worthy of the same indulgences as a visit to the basilicas of Rome. Pretty good deal considering the status of travel in those days and the distance to Rome from the town. Each little church has a painting of its counterpart in Rome, and the seventh church also houses some pretty important and macabre relics. The seventh church is adjacent to another villa, across from which lead two sets of stairs. The first steps lead to an arched wall, and there were many people (mostly young folks) hanging out on the wall and steps enjoying the weather and the view of the town below. The second set of steps lead to the top of the Colle della Rocca, where there's another defensive tower. You can walk up there and climb the tower, but they let in the last visitors at 1800 and we got there around 1810. Boo. Oh well, we still enjoyed the walk and view. 

After scoping out the santuario, we headed back down the hill. We were thinking of doing wine tasting and having munchies at the castle Pub/Enoteca again, but were all pretty hungry so decided to have dinner as well. The establishment was far quieter than on our first visit, and we snagged a primo table outside. We started off by tasting a Serprino and a frizzante rose; I enjoyed the rose more and the other ladies preferred the Serprino, and they both worked out nicely with our meat and cheese platters. We decided to skip the whites and go straight for dinner and reds. For dinner, I ordered gnocchi with duck ragu, my aunt ordered veal ossobucco, and my friend ordered boar goulash with polenta. I think we were all very happy with our choices (I definitely was!) but my friend said the goulash tasted exactly the same as the boar ragu from our papardelle lunch. Still delicious, but basically the same meal only with polenta instead of noodles. Allora. We tasted a Merlot, a Merlot blend, a Rosso Riserva, and a Valpolicella. We all preferred different wines, and my favorite (surprise surprise) was the Valpolicella. I also got some tiramisu for dessert, and it was probably the lightest and fluffiest I've had since I moved to Italy. I ogled some of the other plates and desserts as they came out of the kitchen, and they all looked fantastic. Maybe next time I will order the mushroom and pumpkin lasagna, because I got a waft of it and it smelled delicious.

Another great adventure for the record books. Next time, I will climb to the tower when it's open, properly look inside each of the chapels, and do some more exploring around the town. I'll probably eat at the same restaurant though. Why try a new place when I've got a winner with unexplored menu options, amiright?

***

Here are some more pictures from the interior of the castle, which I did not take since I'm not allowed. Here is the original source: Monselice Castello

Armory Museum in the Monselice Castello

Interior room of the Monselice Castello

Interior Room and Chimney in the Monselice Castello

Montagnana Medieval Fest and Palio

Last year, on the weekend of my birthday I went to the historic Venice Regatta with a mixed group of new and old friends. We wandered around the city and then staked out prime real estate on one of the canals to watch the gondola races. My friends surprised me with a little fruit tart to celebrate, and they even remembered to bring/light a candle and sang to me! I was really touched.

This year was just as nice. The actual day of my birthday, I went to a friend's house and made a pot of jambalaya. If you know me,  you know that is probably my number one comfort food. Cooking it and eating it and sharing it with friends are all pretty much guaranteed to make me happy. I walked in to find a "Happy Birthday" banner, and for dessert they treated me to a delicious strawberry mousse dessert with balls of white chocolate on top to decorate. Heh, balls. I tell you, Italians have cornered the market on coffee and desserts: the coffee is dark and delicious and the desserts aren't tooth-cloyingly sweet. We played a few games and drank a fair amount of wine, and it was the perfect low-key evening.

The next day, a Sunday, I met one of my old friends (who I considered a new friend last year) and another new friend, and we carpooled to the beautiful city of Montagnana to experience its medieval market, parade, and palio. The definition of "il palio" is a banner or cloth awarded to the winner of a certain competition. However, over time the term has been associated so strongly with traditional horse races that in common usage, Palio will generally be used to refer to the race itself. If you've seen the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace" (with Daniel Craig, who is my favorite Bond) then you might remember the opening scene which featured a horse race in Siena. That is the holy grail of Palios and is uber expensive even for horrible standing-room-only space. The horses and their bareback riders, proudly representing their neighborhoods, race around the main town square with crowds on either side, and they make hairpin turns and it's all very exciting and intense. 

Instead of forking out the big bucks to stand outside all day and fight crowds for smelly port-a-potties, we decided to experience what I call "Palio Light." I'd never been to Montagnana, but when we heard they had an entire medieval festival featuring a palio, we decided to make it happen. I understand ten communities participate in this palio every year, and I believe Montagnana always plays host, probably because they have such a fantastic venue. Montagnana is only about 45 minutes away, and it's another gem of a city. It has a very well-preserved wall and castle that you can't miss when driving into the town, and seemed very clean. When I first heard we would be moving to Italy, that's the kind of town I envisioned, and it did not disappoint. Well, other than signage. We easily found a parking spot but there were no signs toward the parade or palio. We did ask someone and got the scoop, and as it turns out it was pretty obvious in the end so we didn't need signs after all. Still, it would have been nice to eliminate some of the uncertainty from the get-go.

Once you enter the historic part of the town, there's a small square but you're basically forced onto streets which all lead to the main plaza in front of (surprise) a large church. There were vendors lining the square, and there were a bunch of games set up for kids in the center. Stilts, pillow jousts, bean bag toss, etc. We walked the length of the main street and turned around to explore all the vendors and the square a bit more. When we learned the parade would circle the plaza before continuing down the main drag, we decided to sit and have appetizers and aperitivi. We thought we only had a few minutes before the parade began, and we saw a nearly continuous stream of people in medieval costumes streaming by, but as it turns out we had to wait a little more than an hour. The website said the parade began at 2 and the horse race would start at 3, but the times were off by an hour. Oh darn, sitting at an outdoor cafe in a beautiful cobblestoned plaza and people-watching while sipping cocktails, how awful. 

We really lucked out with our seats. There was a very kind American woman one table over, and we eavesdropped as she explained to another tourist about the parade route and horse race. She noticed us listening and we chatted for a few minutes about the various activities of the day. When the parade started, we had a fantastic view of all the participants as they walked down the last street of the plaza; they turned back onto the main drag right in front of us with the church serving as a backdrop. Their organization really impressed us (again, except for lack of signage and the confusion about start times). The parade kicked off right at 3, and they did a good job of separating the drum and bugle groups from each other by putting flag twirlers, townspeople, and horse riders in between them. There was even a group of monks and someone wearing a pope costume. Okay fine, it may have been a bishop or cardinal but he still wore a very tall and fancy hat and waved with a graceful benediction. He even stopped to bless some children, so I'm thinking this might have been an actual group of churchpeople. We saw donkeys and goats, men in stockades whose arms must have been very tired by the end of the parade, carts full of children which reminded me of clown cars, bakers, florists, and a group of camp followers who dressed pretty provocatively, if you catch my drift. Once the parade passed us, we all followed it outside the wall to what I suppose used to be a moat. 

For nine euro, you could sit on the moat embankment and have your back to the castle wall. For thirteen euro you could have an undesignated seat in the bleachers with your back to the road. We paid the extra four euros for bleacher seating, which was probably a good call since we didn't have a blanket to sit on or anything, and we mostly had our backs to the sun. We wound up at the far end of the moat and got to watch the tail end of the parade again as all the marchers had to make a giant cloverleaf loop to enter the moat and march to their spots. There was a pretty good delay between the end of the parade and the beginning of the races, but it wasn't a big deal. We were warned that there would be many false starts once the horse racing started, and when we saw the course we understood why. The "track" was a long and very skinny oval, requiring the horses to make tight turns in the corners. The jockeys all ride bareback, and there are no starting gates and no ground crew to help place the horses in starting position. Basically they all approach an invisible line and when they're all lined up and facing the correct position, the race starts. We understood there would be two heats of five horses, with the top three winners competing against each other in a third heat. Each race consisted of two laps, and we were far from the grandstand but directly across from the post where the horses make their last turn. The horses and riders entered the moat at the first post and completed a short lap. At this point, the three of us oohed and ahhed over the horses and jockeys, and picked a pony for which to cheer. My horse was one of the first ones out, and he seemed pretty spirited, which is why I picked him to root for, plus he was trimmed in beautiful forest green. After many false starts, the horses were finally off! 

The races happened very quickly. And on the first lap, two of the jockeys fell off their horses right in front of us! I didn't see the whole thing happen, but I think coming out of the turn they may have bumped into each other a little bit. One of the jockeys popped up and hopped over the fence very quickly in order to get out of the way of the other horses, but the other one was pretty slow to recover. He did eventually get up and move out of the way though, so I don't think he was hurt very badly, fortunately. The two riderless horses continued racing! By the time that jockey was up and moving, the horses were back for their final turn. My horse was in the lead, but it was a close race! We couldn't really see the finish line, and I'm pretty sure my guy won, but it was definitely a close finish. He may have given up the lead at the last second, or he may have just slowed down after crossing the finish "line" in order to make the turn for his victory lap. Either way, it was very exciting.

It wasn't long before the next race started, and it was carried out in much the same fashion as the first one. A jockey fell at the far end of the course on the last lap, and he had to be escorted out by ambulance. I hope he's alright. His horse kept running in circles until finally someone came out to catch and calm it. 

After the first two palio heats, there was a break so the horses and riders could all rest up a bit. During this time, there were some more festivities to watch. There was a funny sort of foot race where a bunch of guys representing the communities lined up on the track just the same as the horses, and they complete one lap, barefoot and carrying colorful banners. The dude with the green banner came in first, and his cheering squad went wild. I'm pretty sure he earned some very intense bragging rights. Next, many of the drum and bugle groups marched back onto the field and there was a pretty epic flag-twirling display. Each group was showing off simultaneously and while the drum beats were all in the same tempo, there were various musical flourishes happening up and down the field. We had a great view of three groups, and a pretty good view of two more, but have no clue what happened at the far end of the moat. Who cares, the groups in front of us were great! One group put a little kid out front for a big solo from the get-go, and that eight-year old kid rocked it. I kind of love how men in Italy are unashamed to twirl flags, and it is a very serious activity. Meanwhile, the group in front of us sent out a group of guys for flag tossing and choreographed double-flag twirling. Then another fellow stepped out to twirl and toss four flags at once. Trust me, it was very impressive.

We decided not to wait for the last race, so we skipped out after the drum and flag show was over. I feel like I experienced a true palio, and I didn't have to fight the crowds or pay exorbitant sums of money to do it, either. I will definitely look for this event next year and mark it on my calendar. Meanwhile, I hear there's another Palio in Monselice on September 20th. My aunt is in town and I think I will try to convince her to come check it out with me. [Obviously I did not post this before September 20th. Spoiler alert: we went to Monselice and it was fantastic. Expect a blog post about it soon-ish.]

P.S. This is definitely a kid-friendly event, so if you're on the fence worrying about your little ones, you should go!