Keep your Feet in the Street

This is totally crazy!

We are here, in Jacksonville. We're staying at the Hampton Inn, Deerwood Park, which is just like every other Hampton, which is to say just fine. There is wireless in the room so I can write this while Kathryn is still asleep. Amazing that this is the last night we'll spend with her for quite a while. Ken and I have already been to the "fitness center" and put in our 30 minutes on the 2 treadmills there. There's some wind picking up right now and it's been raining lightly all morning. Fay is still off shore which leaves us on the western side for now. More rough weather is expected later today.

At 9:30 we are supposed to go to the dorm for Kathryn to meet her roommate and finish unpacking. Coming over yesterday for "drop and go" worked out great! We beat the storm here so the drive was smooth and it was just comfortably warm and breezy instead of the typical blazing, oppressively hot for all the unloading. All the kids look in a bit of a daze but the constant smiles and excitement of the returning students is contagious to the newbies.

We made our first shopping foray to Bed Bath and Beyond for a full length mirror, trash basket, etc. Today we will hit Wal Mart for a fan and cleaning supplies. They have to clean their own bathrooms--That's a good laugh!

Luckily I had asked on chowhound.com for restaurant ideas and there were some good suggestions. Turned out Bamboo Creek is a short walk from this hotel and we enjoyed the dim sum there (something we do not have in Tallahassee). I also enjoyed a martini!

Ken is in the shower and I am next. Ready for the adventures today--standing in many lines, probably, and watching my little girl become a college woman right before my eyes.

It was my turn to have our book group meet here this month. We read a terrific novel, "The Girls" by Lori Lansens. (Brenda BGE suggested this one to me)

The book has a strong Slovakian theme so I researched the food from that area. Plascinta are crepe-like pancakes--actually a little heavier than crepes. Usually they are served rolled with jam inside but what I did was fill them with local fresh blackberries, plain yogurt and a bit of honey. I also made a fritatta (nothing Slovakian about that) with spinach, bacon and lots of carmelized onions. We had a nice green salad which included arugala and grape tomatoes , I got at the farmer's market and some cheeses and pumpernickel bread. The star of the meal was the apple strudel, tough.

I used a recipe from Cooks Illustrated Magazine which used filo dough--so much easier than making the dough. I used less butter than the redipe called for and a little bit more apples. I was suspicious about using butter bread crumbs in the filling but it really worked to keep the liquid runnineww under control. Using half Granny Smiths and half Golden Delicious worked well for flavor and sweetness. The strudel somehow disappeared completely!

We drank a few mimosas and tons of coffee and had a wonderful long discussion about the book. Really only one of our group didn't love it.

Happy birthday to my friend Rosen, if he's reading this.

I have been enjoying cooking in my own, well-functioning kitchen since I've been back. This is not a fancy kitchen--we have laminate counter tops, for god's sake, and, except the refrigerator, which I hate (that's another story) these are all the original appliances. We moved in 20 years ago and everything's still kickin'.

Last night we made a little informal dinner party for our good friend, slow-traveler, almost Italian citizen, Lyn. Her husband Antonio brought a beautiful, bountiful, platter of fresh-from-the-garden, grilled veggies and another of fabulous Italian cheeses. The big hit was a little "bar" of something called cotognata which they brought home from Ascoli Piceno. It is dried apples and quince pressed together. Eating it with the sharp Italian pecorino was a real treat! I love those uniquely Italian flavor combos. We drank Prosecco with all of this.

Our first course was fettuccine with gorgonzola, pesto and sundried tomatoes. I had been thinking about trying it for a few days and I think it really worked. the simple pino grigio worked well with the richness of the sauce. Luckily I didn't make to much--just one pound of pasta for the 8 of us was perfect.

For the main course, we had another fuller-bodied white wine which Anthony had fro Ascoli. It was great with the grouper I put on the grill. I had made some lemon infused olive oil earlier this week and used it to season the fish. Our friend Tandy made a huge salad which we ate with the fish and this foccacia which I had fun making in the afternoon:

I used one dough for two kinds--one with onions and cherry tomatoes and the other with just grated parmesean cheese.

For dessert I did the Bluberry Coconut Tart from Dolce Italiano, page 150. If the Sunday Slow Bakers missed this one you've go to go back and try it. It was absolutely fabulous. We are in our last week or two of the local blueberry season and they are just yummy! I love feeling the connection to Gina through the recipes.

After some coffee we all flopped on the couch! Anthony was the first one asleep (so, what's new?) I was really feeling staisfied with the whole meal!

I just wanted to put up a few photos from my last week in Acqui. Taking them was really easy. Snap shots are my style but you almost can't help but get gorgeous results with the subject matter.

Here's the window of the fresh pasta shop,where I totally enjoyed watching the machines churning out the wonderful looking, local style ravioli "al plin":

The Bollente, in the center of town, is a natural hot spring which spews hot water and has been since Roman times. Someone could sit there all day and take pictures. In the mornings people come there and fill up containers to use the water for cleaning and for some, for drinking. It has a particularly sulfurish smell--I couldn't imagine drinking it.

Here it is at night.

One more shot, of beautiful Acqui, from the public garden near the archeological museum.

Looking back at my pictures reminds me of how really pretty the town is.

Actually, this cake was the first thing I baked from Gina's book. I love the citrusy bright flavor and the polenta texture.

I used the "instant" polenta from our Fresh Market. My friend Cecelia tried to make regular polenta from this stuff and we both agreed it was awful, but for baking, it's great.

The cake took longer to bake by about 15 minutes than the recipe says. After two 5 minute additions I kind of forgot about it so maybe it was ready a little sooner. It was drier this time than the last.

I used an orange slice and lemon balm leaves from my garden to garnish and I served it with cinnamon whipped cream and strong coffee.

It's had to believe the Sunday Slow Bakers are finished with Dolce Italiano! I plan to go back and try some of the recipes I missed while in Italy.