Palmabella's Passions

An old Italian lived alone in New Jersey. He wanted to plant his annual tomato garden, but it was very difficult work, as the ground was hard.

His only son, Vincent, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament:

Dear Vincent,

Love, Papa

A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Pop,

Vinnie

At 4 a.m. the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left.

That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Pop,

Vinnie

Saturday night we were guests at a wonderful summer dinner party at Fiona and Steve's. We began with liver crostini, bacon wrapped shrimp, triple creme French cheese and wine. Then we moved into the dining room. The dramatic table was set with black linens, candles, and lots of floral accents.

Our first course was a crab gazpacho.

Gail brought a marinated veggie salad.

Dinner was a wonderful selection of cold dishes!

Roast pork with caramelized onions

Grilled asparagus wrapped with bacon

Wild rice salad

Grilled tomatoes and portobellas

I made another strawberry tart for dessert.

A tradition at the Altmans: after we finish eating dinner, each person has an English
"cracker" (foil-wrapped cardboard tube containing a tissue paper crown, a joke, and a small gift/prize). You cross arms holding one end of the cracker, while persons on either side are holding other end, forming a chain around the table. At the same time we all pull, they pop, and we retrieve the contents. Then we wear our crowns, read our jokes, and show our prizes. I got a handy-dandy little make-up mirror for a purse.

Here we are just after the "cracker festivities":

Brad and Gail:

Kay and Steve:

Bill and Palma:

Fiona and Herb:

It was a gorgeous evening outside, so after dinner, we sat outside for more wine, honey rum, African liqueur, and Dooley's tastings. Fiona and Steve are were great hosts, as always.

This bridge is on the Old Donner Pass Highway.
It has a spectacular view of Donner Lake and Donner Pass on Route 80.

A bear was walking across Rainbow Bridge ( Old Hwy 40 at Donner Summit,
Truckee) on Saturday when two cars also crossing the bridge scared the bear
into jumping over the edge of the bridge. Somehow the bear caught the ledge and pulled itself to safety. Authorities decided that nothing could be done to help Saturday night so they returned Sunday morning to find the bear sound asleep on the ledge.

After securing a net under the bridge the bear was tranquilized, fell into the net, lowered, then woke up and walked out of the net.

There is a moral to this story you know.

This old bear made a wrong move and found he was hanging by his nails.

Somehow he was able to pull himself up onto the ledge where he saw he was in a very bad, impossible situation and what did he do?

Yep, he took a nap and sure enough the situation took care of itself while he was asleep.

The moral is that when confronted with a bad situation sometimes the best solution is . .

TAKE A NAP!

Different flowers mean different things to different people. Sunflowers and pansies make me smile, and it seems as though they are smiling back. Daffodils mean Springtime, mums mean fall and poinsettias mean Christmas. Roses are to celebrate or for romance, but one of my all time favorite flowers are tulips. During last month's visit to the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, I really enjoyed the tulip display in their conservatory. I hope you'll enjoy it too.

And my FAVORITE of all:

We're packed and ready to go! Here we are in our Palmabella's Italy shirts. We each have six to wear during our first group tour in Umbria. We even have our own logo! Our guests might see this often.

We had a fun "Buon Viaggio" dinner at El Agave in San Diego with Jane, Ken, Casey and Shannon.

Here are my mango shrimp and Brad's mole poblano:

I will leave you with this Italian themed joke:

"This is something to think about when negative people are doing their best to rain on your parade. So remember this story the next time someone who knows nothing and cares less tries to make your life miserable."

A woman was at her hairdresser's getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome with her husband. She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded:

"Rome? Why would anyone want to go there? It's crowded, and hot, and dirty… You're crazy to go to Rome! So, how are you getting there?"

"We're taking Continental," was the reply. "We got a great rate!"

"Continental?" exclaimed the hairdresser. "That's a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they're always late. So, where are you staying in Rome?"

"We'll be at a charming hotel near Piazza Farnese. It is a great location by the Campo dei Fiori and an easy walk to Piazza Navonna, the Pantheon, and Travestere."

"Don't go any further. I know that area. Everybody thinks it's going be something special, but it's really a dump. The piazza is noisy, you can't sleep at night, and the rooms are so small."

"We're also going to go to see the Vatican and maybe get to see the Pope."

"That's rich," laughed the hairdresser. "You and a million other people trying to see him. He'll look the size of an ant."

"Well, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You're going to need it."

A month later, the woman came in for a haircut. The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome.

"It was wonderful," explained the woman. "Not only were we on time in one of Continental's brand new planes, but it was overbooked, and they bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot."

"And the hotel was great! They'd just finished a $7 million remodeling job, and now it's a jewel, the finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner's suite at no extra charge!"

"Well," muttered the hairdresser, "that's all well and good, but I know you didn't get to see the Pope."

"Well, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder, and explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors, and if I'd be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me."

"Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand! I knelt down and he actually spoke a few words to me."

Now the hairdresser was amazed. "Oh, really! What'd he say?" she asked.

He said: "Dio Mio! Who fu*ked up your hair?"

My book club read Julie and Julia last month. In general, we all enjoyed the book. The "f-word" was used liberally in Julie's blog. That didn't bother me when reading, except to think, "I wouldn't write that way". The rest of the group wanted to know how it was for a "food blogger" to read it. If truth be known, I was a little jealous. It seemed that Julie developed quite a following in a year, as measured by number of comments. She didn't even post photos of the recipes. I thought about how much time I spend blogging, when it is "just a recipe". I enjoyed the sections about Julia's life in Paris, and of course I zeroed in on both of the women's relationships with their husbands. The biggest turn-off in the book was Julie's housekeeping. The descriptions of cat hair, maggots, and stacks of greasy pots and pans really grossed me out. YUCK! I also thought her husband was a SAINT! She really did whine a lot!

I remember watching Julia Child on television as a child. She had quite a big presence and a distinct voice and laugh. I vaguely remember she looked like she enjoyed cooking and eating.

I first saw the movie with Brad last weekend. We both laughed, and I cried when Julie completed her project and went to see the Julia display at the museum, leaving butter. I LOVED Stanley Tucci as Paul, and enjoyed their romance and the sweet scenes between them. I loved Julia's sister's wedding scene, Julia showing up the male chefs, and really forgot I was watching the incredible Meryl Streep. She WAS Julia! I really liked The movie's Julie character, and had so much more empathy for her than I had in the book.

I watched the movie again last night with my book club. I enjoyed it just as much the second time around, and noticed a few things that I had missed the first time. Is there anything Meryl can't do? She looked pretty good with those onions and the omelette.

What a fabulous passion for food!

After the movie, Brad told me I was the "olive oil on his bruschetta", and the "breath of his life". This Francophobe is now going to read, My Life in France.

My book club came over to see my movie of our Italy trip. We began with champagne, ham-gruyere palmiers and parmesan -paprika crackers.

Dinner was simple and easy. We had a huge green salad with lettuce, arugula, peppers, red onion, tomatoes (which I picked out of mine), croutons, and grilled chicken breasts with a pomegranate vinaigrette. We had a simple tortellini salad with tomatoes, basil and mozzarella, and garlic bread.

We tried to compile a list of all the books we've read in the past 2 1/2 years. We came up with 26 or so, and wrote them down. We watched my Umbria movie. For dessert, we had a fig jam-marscapone tart, and everyone got a jar of Fig-Amaretto jam to take home. We decided we needed a name. We became the Fig Jam Tarts!

Next month we will discuss The Glassblower of Murano by Marina Fiorato. Whoo Hoo, we are going back to Italy!

This month, I have been busy, but managed to find time to read four books, three of which I thoroughly enjoyed. Being active in two book clubs keeps me reading too.

The first was The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger. You've all heard the premise or at least seen trailers for the movie. The book is based on a fascinating concept of traveling in time, and meeting one's future spouse when you are an adult, and she is a child. When their paths cross as two adults, she knows him, but he "hasn't met her yet" in his present. I agree with most reviews that the idea is better than the way the author builds a relationship between the main characters. Their courtship and marriage seems to be based a lot on constant sex, but I may be jaded, as most of the client couples I see fall into the opposite category, of very infrequent sex. They are too busy fighting. I didn't feel the book's characters were happy in their relationship, and the 6 miscarriages through the middle of the book were hard for me to read. I have no desire to see the movie.

DELIGHTFUL! Now THIS was a happy marriage. I loved reading about Julia Child's life, marriage, travels, struggles writing her classic cookbook, and gusto for food! It ALMOST makes me want to go to Paris.

I really enjoyed this chick lit book. It got me out of France and back to Italy, and was a combination of a mystery, romance and historical fiction. The story is about a modern day glass artist, who after a divorce, returns to Venice to work on Murano, and learn the truth of her ancestor who was the greatest glass artist in the 17th century. The heroine learns of old jealousies and treason. She must find out what really happened. This book flips back and forth from the past to the present, and the author does a wonderful job of smoothing those transitions perfectly. Every once in a while I also like a happy ending (even if it was predictible).

Right now I'm in the middle of this newest Donna Leon mystery. I guess, I can't quite leave Venice. I love Commissario Guido Brunetti and his family. This book deals with illegal transporting of garbage, environmental issues, corruption, and of course, murder.

This is also the first book I have read on my iPhone Kindle. I was afraid it would eat up my battery, especially because I usually charge my phone at bedtime, and that is also when I like to read. It is not at all a problem. It is great for travel too. Brad read this on my iPhone while we were in Italy.

Next month I look forward to reading: (along with my book clubs'choices)

The 8th Confession by James Patterson
Finger Licken' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

The pastor asked if anyone in the congregationa would like to express praise for answered prayers.

A lady stood and walked to the podium.

She said, "I have a Praise. Two months ago, my husband Tom had a terrible bicycle wreck and his scrotum was completely crushed. The pain was excruciating and the doctors didn't know if they could help him."

You could hear a muffled gasp from the men in the congregation as they imagined the pain that poor Tom must have experienced."Tom was unable to hold me or the children," she went on, "and every move caused him terrible pain.

We prayed as the doctors performed a delicate operation, and it turned out they were able to piece together the crushed remnants of Tom's scrotum, and wrap wire around it to hold it in place."

Again, the men in the congregation were unnerved and squirmed uncomfortably as they imagined the horrible surgery performed on Tom.

"Now," she announced in a quavering voice, "thank the Lord, Tom is out of the hospital and the doctors say that with time, his scrotum should recover completely." All the men sighed with relief.

The pastor rose and tentatively asked if anyone else had something to say. A man stood up and walked slowly to the podium.

He said, "I'm Tom."

The entire congregation held its breath.

"I just want to tell my wife that the word is sternum. "

September brought golden light and sunflowers.

October brings pumpkins and leaves (to remind us that the REST of the country has these colors outside!).

I recently did a new wall grouping of photos in my kitchen. One of the first things people notice among all the bright colors, clutter, and Italian ceramics in my kitchen are the large letters above my kitchen table spelling out a big "Buon Appetito".

Under the "BUON" is a new grouping of chef photos in bright green (yes, I painted them) frames. The three large (8x10) stars of this area are me with Top Chef's renown head judge, and chef/owner of Craft Restaurants, Tom Colicchio, Fabio Viviani's thank you photo for my taralli, and Fabio and I at Cafe Firenze.

Also sharing the wall of honor are photos of Palma with Executive Chef Matt Seeber, of Craftsteak, Las Vegas; Executive Chef Carlos Buscaglia of Fiamma, at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas; Iron Chef, Cat Cora; Salvatore Denaro of Il Bacco Felice, Foligno, Italy; and Chef/owner Alessio Liberatore from Taverna dei Fori Imperali in Rome. I had one more spot, so up went a photo of me with Editor in Chief, Barbara Fairchild, of Buon Appetit magazine. I spend a lot of time at this spot, as my laptop lives on my kitchen desk, and these photos make me smile. Stop by and see them for yourself. I will need a new blank wall to add more chefs soon!

I believe if you experience great food, you should honor the hard work and skills of the chefs who created the dishes you love, and gave you a memorable dining experience. Tell your friends, support their restaurants, buy their cookbooks, and learn something from them. They work SO hard to get where they are. Honor them by spreading the word!

Who would I love to have on my wall? Of course, Gina DePalma, Mario Batali, Giada, Bobby Flay, Tyler Florence, Jamie Oliver, Lidia Bastianich, Rick Bayless, Hubert Keller, Michael Mina, Joel Robuchon, Nancy Silverton, oh, the list just goes on and on!

Last week, I was tagged by my friend Sandi, of Whistlestop Cafe Cooking, to find seven blue things around my house. This was a challenge! My house has tons of color, but none of them seem to be blue. Here is what I did find:

Blue water in my pool

Blue gorgonzola

A blue and yellow bowl of lemons

I love blue hydrangias, but it is too hot in my yard!

There is some blue in my casita bath

And my "counts as two" photo of Brad's blue glasses, and my favorite blue eyes!

Since this has already gone around my "bloggerhood", I am not going to tag anyone, but if you have not been tagged, and are reading this, show us your blues! I'm hoping for lots of blue Greek scenes from Jerry!

Slow Travel friends from New Jersey, Kim and Chris, spent a sunny weekend in Palm Desert, so we had a few ST friends over for a pot luck dinner on Saturday. These were our "party favor" cookies:

Ingredients
1 pkg. (8oz.) cream cheese (room temp)
1 cup real butter (room temp)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
2 cups flour (all purpose)
1/2 tsp. vanilla flavoring or your favorite

Directions
Cream cheese, butter, sugars and flavoring in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.
Gradually add flour and mix well.
Refrigerate several hours or overnight. (Very important step)
Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness on lightly floured surface. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350º for 8 to 10 minutes.(the edges should be lightly browned)
Cool for 2 minutes and transfer cookies to a cooling rack.
Decorate as desired when cookies have cooled completely. I used royal icing.

I made the cookies, and froze them (before icing), about three weeks ago. They are much easier to ice, when they are still frozen (less likely to break off a delicate petal!).
I put them in individual bags, filled a large tray, and they became party favors. (Bags at Sur la Table)

We had a wonderful evening with our neighbors, Diana and Walt, and another couple, Cindy and Don at their home one street behind us. Appetizers included spicy pecans (recipe below), endive with blue cheese spread and bruschetta with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.

Dinner was fabulous! Walt did his annual magic with a grilled, butterflied leg of lamb. His marinade is really to die for, and I have no idea how he makes it. I only know it has become an annual event! We also had spinach salad with strawberries and pecans, asparagus, and a bulgar salad. YUM!

Dessert was also great. Diana made a light and fluffy lemon souffle. She topped it with fresh raspberries, and a raspberry puree. It was a perfect ending to a delicious dinner.

Here are Diana and Brad:

Cindy and Don

and Palma and Walt

The spiced pecans Diana served were so addictive, I had to make some the next morning! They are fabulous. I rarely use my cumin, but might have to stock up to make lots of these for the holidays.

Saralyn's Spiced Pecans

1 lb. pecan halves
6 T. butter
1 T. and 1 t. ground cumin
3/4 t. cayenne
1/4 c. sugar
3 t. salt

Preheat oven to 350
Place pecans in a bowl. Melt butter, and add cumin and cayenne. Pour over pecans. Add sugar and salt. Toss pecans well, and spread them in a large baking pan. Bake 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.