I Bought a House!

I closed on my new house today! It needs some updates to make it work for me, but the bones of the house seem good. My favorite feature is the Veranda that extends the width of the house. The Veranda will be a lovely dining and relaxing spot. I look forward to making it beautiful!

The property includes an Olive Grove and various fruit trees. I love the land around the house. This feature is both exciting and daunting. The previous owner, Signor Filippo, loved the property and took great care of it. The last few years he has not been able to tend the land so it needs a bit of tender loving care. I hope to give it some love and make it productive. Wish me luck!

(What’s in the Bag on June 6?)

The items in the bag have evolved with the changing season. We are transitioning from Spring to Summer.

Today’s bags were mostly fruit. Orange season is ending but Peaches, Apricots and Cherries are beginning. Angelo also bought the second Watermelon of the season, and tucked in with the Watermelon, were two lovely Zucchini. As always, they are the best quality he could find. The tray of fruit smells wonderful!

The family knows that I enjoy taking pictures and will photograph the most photogenic items, I tell them “si merita una foto” which means “it is worthy of a picture.” Rose’s grandchildren Salvatore and Giorgia now routinely ask me if a particular food item “si merita una photo.” Here are today’s photos:

Angelo made a trip to the local “Pollaio” (“Pollo” is Chicken a “Pollaio” is a Chicken Purveyor.) He referred to the establishment as “Peppe Pollo.” Later, I found out that the store is actually called Polleria Salamone. It is owned and operated by two brothers. Giuseppe and Calogero. Why is it Peppe Pollo? Giuseppe does the cooking and Calogero runs the store. Peppe is a shortened version of Giuseppe. Peppe Pollo translates into Peppe Chicken, so the store is known by the name of the brother who does the cooking. Such is life in a small village.

Rose made Roasted Chicken Thighs and Potatoes today. It was a wonderful meal. The potatoes were roasted Cuffaro Potatoes. (Will provide more on the potatoes in a future post. They are my new favorite variety.)

Rose does not follow a set recipe for the Roasted Chicken. All of the ingredients are combined in a sheet pan. She allows to marinate for 1/2 hour and bakes in the same sheet pan. Oven temperature is 350 degrees for approximately 45 minutes, then she raises the temperature to 375 for the last 15 minutes to caramelize. Here are her ingredients:

We ate every bite! Another fabulous meal!