Pancetta - Plain & Simple

I LOVE pancetta, absolutely love it!

In fact, I could eat pancetta every day of the week,

but hubby insists that would be a bit boring,

so I guess we have to 'ring the changes' occasionally.

But left to me, we'd eat MUCH more pancetta than we do.

Tonight we had pasta, pancetta & broccoli,

courtesy of a recipe posted by our gorgeous

Twitter daughter, Amy, a while back (find her blog here:

http://sunshineandtomatoes.blogspot.it/)

Once the pasta is bubbling away, it's time to 

turn thoughts to cooking the pancetta.

This evening we bottled the first of the

olive oil from our 2013 pressing

and used it for cooking - a little dribbled in the frying

pan & then the pancetta added once it was hot enough.

Quick stir in the frying pan, broccoli & carrots added to the

pasta pan (anything to save on the amount of

washing up to do later) and once the

broccoli is almost cooked, it's added to the 

pancetta for a quick stir.

Pasta & carrots drained & then added to the

frying pan for another quick stir before 

dishing up

Add a sprinkling of grated Grana Padano,

and 'ecco li qua'.......

Another plain, simple but oh so tasty dish

IKEA I Love You!

We were only looking for a kitchen roll holder.

Just a simple chrome/stainless steel freestanding one.

Could we find one anywhere? No. Nothing

to be found locally, nor at MaxiMall in Pontecagnano.

So we ended up at IKEA in Baronissi - no luck there

either (partly down to the fact that the

kitchen displays were being revamped & the choice 

of accessories available was somewhat limited).

But as we wended our way towards the exit 

& through the furniture displays, I spotted

a tall chest of drawers. 

We've been looking for such a chest

for 3 years. Been frustrated more than once

on our fruitless searches for something

of just the right dimensions to fit the space

available in the corner of our bedroom.

And now, new for 2014, was this perfect

HEMNES chest, just begging for us

to buy it.  So we did.....

Fashion Bar

Today's 'illy moment' was taken at

Fashion Bar on Corso Garibaldi in Agropoli.

We started frequenting it on our first joint house hunting

trip in October 2009.

It's on the side of the Corso that catches all the morning sun, 

so it's the ideal place to sit & watch the world go by....

and enjoy that rich, dark illy coffee

February Dawn

I woke at 5.45 am today, which is a little late

compared to some mornings. I could hear the

cinghiale tromping around in the olive grove, 

but it was still too dark to see anything 

other than silhouettes of the surrounding hills & mountains

and the lights of San Marco & Castellabate.

Slowly the dawn began to break, pale & uninteresting at first

Twenty minutes later the colours began to creep across the sky

And within a couple of minutes, the sky seemed full of pink clouds

Breathtaking wherever I looked

But 5 minutes later, the pink had disappeared

And the sun was slowly beginning its ascent beyond the mountain

A new day had begun

Pit Stop

La Torretta is closed, for the second winter holiday,

always taken in the lull between Valentine's Day & Easter.

That means we have to go somewhere else for Saturday lunch.

So we decided to give Pit Stop, just off Piazza Padre Pio,

another visit.

It's nothing special from the outside & rather basic inside,

but it's family run & the family 'live above the shop'.

We last went in November, when La Torretta took its

first winter break. On that visit we both had rabbit stew,

& very good it was too.

No such luck today - there was chicken,

castrato (yes, bull's testicles - we HAVE tried them in the past,

but they are an acquired taste & not one we really wish to acquire),

 spaghetti bianco or gnocchi sorrentina.

We both settled for the gnocchi, with a sprinkling of

parmigiano on top to finish it off.

Not bad for €3,90 a dish, but nowhere near as

good as anything we've had at La Torretta.

Happy Birthday Leila

Leila before she was ours

The black bundle of mischief that came to live with us

whilst I was back in the UK in April 2012 should be

2 years old today.

8 weeks old & finally ours

She should be bounding around, full of energy, disappearing off

up the mountain for hours & coming back with some 'treasure'

she's discovered - pleased as punch with herself.

But she's not, she's lying peacefully under a young olive tree

in the garden....and living in our hearts always

Happy Birthday Leila, we miss you

Grey Skies

After seriously warm sunny days over the weekend, 

today has been a complete contrast - grey clouds, with no sign of

the sun at all

But, despite the grey skies, the sea still managed to

be a shade of turquoise, rather than slate grey.

We went to Ogliastro Marina beach to scavenge for 

bamboo as kindling for the fire....well, hubby did...

I took my camera and captured a 'pic of the day'

at Lido Sirena....

And She's Back

At the beginning of the month I wrote about

my 'Twitter sister' disappearing & breaking off

all contact with me 

http://cilentofairytales.blogspot.it/2014/02/shes-gone.html

On Valentine's day she suddenly reappeared in my

TL & proceeded to issue a warning about

unsolicited DMs & naming one particular guy

who had 'played her'. 

I retweeted her tweets as I'm a firm believer

in 'naming & shaming'.

It then became apparent that she'd opened a new

Twitter account & was being very selective about

who she followed or asked to follow her.

I was not invited, but it was obvious that 

she was watching my TL as she retweeted &

favourited several of my tweets over the weekend.

She did eventually follow me on Sunday evening, but

I didn't follow back & after about 45 minutes

she unfollowed me.

Then yesterday morning I e-mailed her, just to say

that I'd told her right from the start that I thought

the guy in question 'was an arse', told her I

missed her & sent her a virtual hug.

I didn't expect a reply, but I got one & she

asked me to follow her back, which I did......

but I'm still not sure how I really feel about

being 'dropped'

A Valentine's Day Memento

We got engaged on Valentine's Day, way back in 1982,

so we ALWAYS make an effort to celebrate it.

Today I decided I'd like to celebrate by

taking a picnic to the beach, so we

headed south & ended up at the

pebble beach on the edge of Pioppi.

The sky was an incredible shade of blue,

the sea was that glacial turquoise you only 

see in Winter & although it was a little breezy,

the warm sun meant we didn't need our jackets.

We munched on prosciutto cotto, mozzarella,

pomodorini, pane & patatine as we listened to

the waves kissing the shore.

In all, it was sheer bliss.

As we were about to leave, I decided to hunt

for a pebble to take home as a memento......

How perfect was this? 

Chocolate Heaven

Today we found 'chocolate heaven' - it's at

the Cilento Outlet Village, Eboli.

We'd stopped off on our way back from

Pontecagnano. Hubby had bagged a

bargain pair of Diesel jeans for €70 and

he'd already spotted Varesino directly opposite

Luxury Mall Fashion Outlet & he was

hankering after a hot chocolate.....

not my 'cup of tea' at all

As soon as we opened the shop door we were

hit by the unmistakable smell of Lindt chocolate

The world renowned Lindt Easter Bunny

We quickly established that I could have a

caffè goloso (which came with a

Lindor choccie & a chocolate spoon)

& hubby ordered a cioccolato fondente

Caffè goloso, Lindor & a chocolate spoon

Cioccolato fondente

We had the place to ourselves & I, of course, was like a big kid -
out came the camera & I ran around taking photos
& licking my lips at everything on display.....

Pick 'n' mix galore

Valentine's Day display

Mini eggs, mini eggs & yet more mini eggs

Siamo Residenti

10th February 2010

It's 8 days since we'd met Nicola, the 'maresciallo' from

the Polizia Municipale as we were on our way 

into town in Mouse. He was driving up the 

mountain as we were driving down & he stopped, 

wound his window down, said 'Buongiorno'

& told us he had some questions:

1. Had we applied for residency?

2. Did we live here?

3. All year round? 

4. Were we free tomorrow morning?

We answered 'yes' to all 4 and were told to visit his office 

any time between 8.30 am & 12 noon the next morning,

bringing our passports with us.

So the next morning, accompanied by our friends Silvia & Angelo

(to act as translators if we didn't understand any of

the proceedings), we turned up at Nicola's office, to find it 

locked. It was 10.45 & we were told by Annabile in the Anagrafe 

that Nicola had gone to an on site meeting that had been arranged 

days ago but might be back at any moment....or then

again, he might not be back for a couple of hours.

We decided to head for the nearest bar & grab a coffee

then hang around the piazza outside the church for a

while - although it was February, it was a bright

sunny day & there was plenty of warmth in that sun.

After an hour, we were just resigning ourselves to

the fact that Nicola probably wasn't going to return any time

soon, when his car came up the street. We followed him

into his office & the first 3 questions he'd asked us

yesterday were repeated, copies of our passports taken,

a couple of forms filled out, duly signed & stamped

and then he said he'd be sending the forms off to 

Rome & it could take up to 3 months to hear anything more. 

Silvia argued that this couldn't possibly be right, 

so we all trundled round the corner to 

Annibale's office where Nicola argued his case,

Silvia argued hers & Annabile basically told Nicola

not to be so officious - if we came back the following week,

with €10, we would get our Carte d'Identita`.

So we did.....

Fusilli Cilentan Style

 We'd been invited to the Russo's for New Year's Day,

with the promise that Maria would show us 

how to make traditional Cilentan fusilli,

or 'macaron' to give it it's dialect name.

Ready to begin

Hubby was the one to be doing the 'practical' - I was,

as usual, armed with my camera to record the proceedings

(besides, I didn't want hubby discover that I may actually

have a talent for cooking).

Egg & olive oil begin to be mixed

The 'messy bit'

Kneading before resting

Let fusilli making commence

Success with the first attempt

'Macaron' ready to cook

Pic Of The Day

Yesterday was almost springlike.

The sky was that crisp, clear blue you

only seem to get in the Mediterranean

& the sea was a wonderful shade of turquoise

all the way to the horizon.

The light was perfect for taking photos,

and yet my favourite shot was this one....

Chiuso per l'inverno

I just love the symmetry of it

A Time To Gather Golden Moments

After what seems like 'forever', we finally had

a sunset worth capturing on camera

Rays diffused by clouds

Sheer brilliance

Clouds gather

Captured in close up

Kissing the horizon

About to bid farewell

Turning to dusk

She's Gone

We 'hit it off' right from the first moment

we followed each other on Twitter....

she was a 'Mini Me', my 'Twitter sister'.

We didn't stop at tweeting each other; we

swapped e-mail addresses, both joined

Google+ so we could chat when we

took a much needed TL break & more

recently I finally gave in and joined Facebook

and we friended each other on there too.

We supported each other when we were down

or having problems, shared photos of special

moments that we didn't share with

anyone else. We were looking forward

to a 'tweep meet', when my schedule on

a trip back to the UK allowed.

And then, this morning, she closed her

Twitter account, blocked me on Facebook, 

sent me a very short e-mail & disappeared.

Just like that, she's gone....

and I'm going to miss her like hell

'Cheat's' Dinner

It has to be said that you really can't

beat a good, wholesome, homemade ragù.....

or can you?

The last time we called in at Carrefour in Pontecagnano,

they were promoting a range they'd just begun to stock,

Terre d'Italia. Hubby spotted it first and as soon

as I saw the jars of Tuscan ragù di cinghiale,

my eyes lit up - it's my favourite dish ever!

They also make ragù di lepre & ragù di cervo...

we grabbed jar of the cinghiale & the cervo

and then trawled the pasta aisle for the 

right kind to accompany them 

(it HAS to be pappardelle - the ragù sticks to the

broad ribbons beautifully).

I guess this is what you could call Italian 'fast food' - 

simply empty the jar into a pan, heat & stir, add

the boiled pasta, stir until coated and then serve.

Add a sprinkling of parmigiano reggiano & pepe nero

and 'ecco li qua'....

My Favourite Shot From January

As those of you who follow me on Twitter know,

I love taking photos of the sunsets - we are so lucky to be 

able to just step out of the front door to capture

some truly breathtaking ones.

I try to post one most evenings, but there

are some days when Mother Nature conspires

against me.

January has been one of those months when the

spectacular sunsets have been few & far between;

I think I've posted only about half a dozen to 

my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cilento_fairy/

However, my real passion - the sea - has produced

one of those shots that made me smile

hugely when I saw the result....

Original shot, taken with my Canon EOS 600D

Final crop & published shot