Back in Barcelona

We finished our Mediterranean cruise today.  Two continents, five countries, ten days.  Although I'm sad that portion of the trip is over (it was amazing), I must say that I'm glad not to have access to any more buffets.  I think I gained at least 5 pounds, but I'm sure this week in Barcelona without unlimited food at our disposal will remedy that.

Danilo and all three kids are now napping.  I have wifi access, and the world is good.  Alas, attempts to upload photos from our cruise have been unsuccessful as of yet.  Perhaps the file sizes are too large for this internet connection to handle?

The pictures are so much better than any of my words, but for now, here are some thoughts about some of the places we visited.

MALTA

Limestone city

Wonderful, colorful doors

Amazingly blue water

Bright fishing boats

Aggressive horse buggy tour, tour aborted

TUNIS, TUNISIA

Mosaics

Fragrance, essence, spice

The Medina

Hand-knotted rugs

The detail and color of the doors

Aggressive bartering, firm hold on my wrist

NAPLES, ITALY

Breathtaking Amalfi coast (despite Micah's vomiting episode on tour bus)

Intricately detailed wooden boxes

Perched houses

Friendly people

Lost blanket, lost stroller, found both, but angry tour bus

Lunch overlooking the sea

Pompei preserved bodies (why are my children so macabre?)

Hannah & Olivia jumping and leaping all over the 2000 year old ruins

LA SPEZIA & CINQUE TERRE, ITALY

Five beautiful villages, perched on the cliffs (I want to hike the connecting trails someday!)

Amazing stone churches built straight out of the rock

Colorful, tall houses -- laundry blowing from the windows like flags

Fresh cheese, bread, vegetables, fruit, soap (what more do I need?)

Pizza and gelato twice in one day

ROME, ITALY

Whirlwind 12-hour tour with 3 young kids who failed to appreciate what their eyes were beholding

Saint Peter's, the Vatican, the Coloseum, Trevi Fountain, ruins ruins everywhere

Juxtaposition of ancient and modern

Construction thwarted by ruins unearthed anytime you dig

Gladiators with cigarettes and cell phones

Puppet show at the park (Pucinella)

CORSICA

Napolean

Beautiful green coast, scented air

Medieval strongholds

Craggy rocks

Perfect weather

French with attitude -- no English

Delicious pizza with capers and olives (and more gelatto)

FRENCH RIVIERA (NICE, MONACO, MONTE CARLO, EZE)

Clean, beautiful, elite to excess

Arizona plants (bougainvillea, oleander, succulents, cacti, palm trees) -- but they look so much more amazing against the backdrop of the sea

Fancy cars in Monte Carlo

Changing of the guard at the palace in Monaco

Heaven on the mountain in Eze -- shops, spices, perfume, soap, exotic cliff top garden (can I stay?)

I'll post photos as soon as I can manage it.

Post script:  While I can't seem to upload photos to blogger, I did succeed in uploading some photos to Facebook, so you can go take a look there.  Click here to see some of the photos.

Corsica

Well, last night I retreated to Mexico because Corsica wasn't within reach.  I tackled a taste of Corsica tonight, with some vegetarian alterations, of course.  The two recipes we tried are Eggplant a la Sartenaise and Fiadone (a lemon cheese pie of sorts).  I didn't take any time shortcuts on the Eggplant dish, and it was a project.  The pie was easy-peasy, but I kept thinking it should have been smoother, like a cheesecake (this one is made with ricotta).

Here's the evidence.  Recipes (before my veg alterations) are linked.

Eggplant a la Sartenaise

Fiadone

Maltese Cuisine {for the time-strapped vegetarian}

Let me start off by admitting that this is probably a disgrace, but the truth is I don't have time to follow elaborate recipe instructions.  As my 21-month-old loves to say:  "Come on people!"  As I mentioned in a prior post, here at our house we are working our way through some of the cuisine from the countries we'll visit on our European vacation.  

Tonight's meal was inspired (okay, somewhat loosely) by the Island of Malta.  I went with baked macaroni in a pastry case, called Timpana.  Other options all seemed to involve octopus, rabbit and other such "no way" items.  Here's how the Timpana turned out:

Timpana

Here's the original recipe:

Ingredients

1 lb. macaroni

1 lb mixed ground beef and pork

1/2 lb. chicken livers

1 lb. flakey pastry

2 large onions chopped

3 garlic cloves crushed

2 tbsp. tomato paste

4 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

4 eggs lightly beaten

1/2 pound ricotta

salt, pepper

Prepare sauce; saute onion and garlic in margarine.  Add ground meat.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Stir well and cook for about 15 minutes.  Add the tomato paste and cup of beef stock.  Simmer for an hour.  {Yeah, right.  Like I have that kind of simmering time available.}

Fry livers in margarine for 5 minutes.  {Even if I were not vegetarian, there's zero chance I'd cook with livers.}

Boil macaroni until barely tender.  Rinse under cold water.  Mix the cooked meat and tomato mixture into the macaroni.  Add ricotta, beaten eggs, and grated cheese.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Stir well.  

Cover bottom and sides of baking dish with pastry.  Put in a layer of macaroni mixture.  Arrange chicken livers over the macaroni and cover with another layer of macaroni.  Cover with pastry.  

Bake in 375 degree oven for an hour or until the top is brown.  {Not a chance.}  Let stand for half an hour before cutting into squares. 

Here's what I did to the recipe (no offense to Malta):

Ingredients

1 package cheeseburger Hamburger Helper

1 package Morningstar Farms meal starter crumbles

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

2 eggs, beaten

salt, pepper

2 boxes puff pastry cups (6 per box)

Make Hamburger Helper according to directions, but use meal starter crumbles (if you'd rather skip the beef and pork).  Meanwhile, cook the puff pastry cups according to directions.  When the Hamburger Helper is ready, mix in the ricotta, parmesan, eggs, and seasonings.  When the puff pastry is done cooking, fill them right away with the Hamburger Helper mixture and serve.  Now wasn't that easier?  

Like I said, it's probably a disgrace, but the reality is that I work at an office until mid-afternoon, then take care of my kids after picking them up from school and for the rest of the day.  I have an hour (tops) to make dinner.  Then I have three children to bathe and get to sleep, followed by 3-4 hours of more lawyer work.  

And you know what, my Imitation Hamburger Helper Timpana was pretty tasty.  Even the kids ate it up.  

Tomorrow, we conquer the cuisine of Corsica.  

Mother's Day photos

Looking back through my photo files, I couldn't find Mother's Day pictures for every year, but here are some.  I probably need a new hairstyle, don't you think?

2003

2005 (Olivia sporting an old man hairdo.)

2006

2007

2009 (Hannah doesn't like this "toothless" photo)

And here are the attempts for Mother's Day 2010.  That boy won't hold still!

Happy Mother's Day!

Trip Countdown

In case I haven't gushed to you about it yet, we're taking a 10-day Disney cruise in Europe at the end of May, and we're very excited about it.  I've been excited about it for months and felt like I was the only one who was. But now the anticipation is spreading.  I found my 5-year-old Olivia packing her carry on bag this afternoon, and I had to show her the calendar to help her understand what "3 more weeks means."  In the meantime, we have been studying library books and reading what we can find on the internet so that we will be ready to learn and really absorb the experience.

We start in Barcelona, and then head to a bunch of other cool places, including Malta, Tunisia, Italy, France, Corsica, etc.

Each night at dinner, I have been sharing an interesting fact or two about the places we will visit.  For example, did you know that Spain is the largest producer of cork? And that cork is harvested from a type of oak tree without harming the tree?  Pretty cool.  Did you know that mandrake root grows on the island of Corsica?  Did you know that Napoleon was born on the island of Corsica?

I've even been trying my hand at cooking some food from the places we'll visit.  I started with Barcelona.   Here's the "tortilla" (more like an omelet) and bean stew I made.  We'll see what's next.

Easter Photo (okay, week after Easter)

What a challenge to get Micah to hold still.  A smile was too much to ask.  We were feeding him fruit snacks like fishy treats thrown to a sea lion at Sea World.

Fun with Eggs

Here is the Easter handiwork of Hannah and Olivia (with some help from Russian egg coverings from my parents).

And me resting after the egg activity.  Hannah playing with my camera.