Archive | Sicily

picking blood oranges in Sicily

February 12, 2014 at 3:11 pm

Our friend Lorrie owns a beautiful farm about 20 minutes from us, and she’s been telling us for ages to come bring the kids, pet the horses, and pick some oranges. Last Saturday we were down to our last blood orange, and so we decided to re-stock by picking our own!

The outing started with a dazzlingly beautiful drive. We drank in the view: lush green fields of artichokes and oranges, fields of neon yellow flowers and new almond blossoms, bubble gum-pink and cerulean-blue homes set like jewels in green velvet, and snowy Mt Etna presiding over it all. I took a deep breath and relaxed.

Once on the farm, we picnicked… or rather the kids ran to the swings and so we attempted to feed them as they swung! Messy but successful. Later we picked oranges and then visited the many animals on Lorrie’s farm: horses, dogs, chickens, goats, and a gigantic pig. Such a beautiful afternoon in our rural island home!

“Soooo bloody!” says Lena.

Gil kept himself busy taking out every orange we put in and throwing each with all his strength about 6 inches away.

I love the sunkissed look of a blood orange!

Finding ladybugs for Lena to admire and Gil to… maul.

Feeding the goats! We all want our own someday so that (among other reasons) we can make our own goat cheese instead of buying it almost every week. (We all LOVE goat cheese.) However, a friend told me that goat cheese starts to smell like dirty goats when you’re around them a lot… so am I willing to give up my love of goat cheese in order to own a few goats? Well… I think so!

Would you ever like to have goats? Or chickens?

26 :: in animals, Sicily, weekend

6/52 (and a walk around our Italian town)

February 10, 2014 at 3:34 pm

The 52 Project: a portrait of my children once a week & every week in 2014.

Lena: She’s such an acrobat these days! Her light, strong little body is figuring out how to do so many amazing things… which is part terrifying and part amazing. The phrase I hear most frequently is: “Yook, Mama, yook what I can do!” (Also, “What time is it? What does that mean?” and “Can we make something yummy in the kitchen?”)

Gil: I finished his sweater yesterday just in time for him to wear it to church! I’m so proud of it. Be warned: you might be seeing a lot of it between now and warm weather.

——–

I had kind of a frazzled morning. (Snacks! Coloring! Screaming! Nap time! Reading! Clean up! Tears! Laundry! Repeat!) When we finally decided to go on a walk and headed down the hill, I felt like a fresh breeze blew through me. I felt light and strong as I munched an apple and let the weight of the stroller carry itself down the hill under my hand. Crisp air filled my lungs, and suddenly everything seemed sharper and brighter as my mind took in the sights and sounds: the bustling piazza, the old men walking in and out of the municipal buildings, the farm trucks filled with produce harvested that morning, the glittering beauty of Mt Etna rising in the distance.

“We live in Italy,” I realized with a jolt. “Live here. Not just visiting.”

And so I started taking pictures as we bought produce, snacked on bread sticks and pizza from our favorite panificio, and played on the playground. Later we added artichokes, balsamic, basil, sausages, arancini, and wine to the stroller basket. We shall eat well tonight in celebration of living in Italy!

My stroller is as big as a Fiat!

Prettiest house (and potted plants) on the street.

A view of the castle outside our house as we round the corner for home.

And home sweet home. Oh Italy, we love you!

14 :: in 52 project, Italy, Sicily

a weekend in the Madonie Mountains of Sicily

January 22, 2014 at 4:07 pm

We took this trip over a month ago, but somehow in the rush of Christmas and the new year, I haven’t had a chance to post the photos yet! Our weekend trip to the mountains was so beautiful, though, and we had a wonderful time with my mom, who was visiting for 10 days. I literally found my new favorite place in Sicily and really hope we get a chance to go back!

The Madonie Mountains are in north-central Sicily, and they are particularly famous for the beautiful hilltop mountain towns (like the one in the first photo). I was reading The Stone Boudoir, a memoir about Sicily’s mountain towns including several in the Madonie Mountains. The hills literally were alive for me that weekend as I absorbed vistas, streets, and foods in real life and through the pages of my book.

We stayed in an agriturismo (farm stay) because we wanted to enjoy the fruits of the region. The Slow Food movement originated nearby, and our host proudly told us that all but a few of the things we ate were from “kilometer zero,” or were harvested/gathered 0 kilometers away. We loved that agriturismo, and so if you visit, be sure to check out Casale Magherita.

A little fall foliage in December!

We also visited one of the five most famous mountain towns in the region. This one was called Castelbuono and is the largest of the five. We explored the castle, wandered through the streets, and ate an amazing lunch at Ristorante Palazzaccio.

View of Castelbuono from its castle.

Lena and my mom admiring a huge presepe (Nativity scene).

I really liked all the clean laundry, I guess…

We sampled traditional Christmas sweet bread (panetonne) with a spread made from manna, the dried sap of the ash tree for which the region is also famous.

Salute! Cheers!

Even more wonderful (and challenging) than visiting a mountain town with two small children was an incredible and verrrrry long hike we took during our visit with an Italian outdoors group. Photos from the hike coming soon!

7 :: in agriturismo, family, Italy, pretty places, Sicily, travel

our first getaway without the kids!

January 8, 2014 at 3:51 pm

When my mom was visiting in early December, Elliott and I went away by ourselves for 24 hours. This is the first night we have ever spent away from our kids together. I blame that on living overseas! Please don’t do as we did; prioritize this and get away with your spouse whenever you can!

We had planned this for awhile, but when it actually came time to leave my [amazing, incredible, and very brave] mom with our kids, I was nervous. We were leaving her with two small children with a manual transmission car in a foreign country. (I told you she was brave!) For these reasons, we decided we wouldn’t go too far. From the picture above (taken from our kitchen window), you can see Nicolosi, which is about 30 minutes away.

We stopped in a natural reserve (Monti Rossi) for a long hike, and then we checked into our B&B in Nicolosi and spent the rest of our time there exploring the stylish mountain town, sipping mai tais (yep) and cappuccinos, and eating rustic, authentic Sicilian food. Here are a few of my favorite photos!

We visited two restaurants while we were in Nicolosi: 1877 for dinner and Antico Orto di Limoni for lunch. Both of them were built in converted wine presses from the 1800s!

Colors of Sicily: green pistachio cornetto, blood red orange juice, and creamy white cappuccino.

We both did a lot of reading and writing during our 24 hours away. (In the photo above, Elliott is working on his book after we finished lunch.) I thought we would also do a lot of sleeping — no nursing babies or frightened toddlers! — but I still woke up multiple times in the night! And woke up at 7am and couldn’t go back to sleep! Now how is that fair?!

I did miss Lena and Gil, but I knew they were in wonderful hands and savored long hours of quiet and freedom with Elliott. I have dreams of leaving the kids with their grandparents in a few years to go on an epic vacation with Elliott — visiting the Galapagos and hiking to Machu Picchu is at the top of my list — so I guess I better start training up for that now!

Have you ever left your kids for a getaway with your spouse? Was it a success or a flop?

44 :: in husband, motherhood, Mt Etna, Sicily

our last Christmas in Sicily

December 26, 2013 at 4:54 pm

Christmas Eve

Honestly, it gives me some joy to say “our last” here because we love and miss our family so much! You know how wonderful it is to be with all your loved ones for the holidays. We sent heaps of emails and spent hours video chatting with our family on Christmas Day, but it still isn’t the same as sitting around the dinner table or going to the candlelight service or enjoying Christmas morning together.

Therefore, in answer to my family’s requests that they see as much of our Christmas as I can, I took photos all day long! I know they’re going to love seeing them here. Elliott and I knew our children were getting gifts from their grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, and uncles, so we chose to keep things very simple and just gave them each a Sicilian Christmas ornament. We also spent our Christmas cooking, reading by the fire, and going on a wonderful hike into the valley below our house.

Here are a few photos from our Christmas!

Elliott has been tending fires in our fireplace almost every day that he’s home this winter. He often banks the fire at night and coaxes the still-warm coals to life in the morning. I totally love this about him.

Gil’s up and the fire’s lit, so Lena is choosing the first present to open!

Love how Gil is admiring Lena’s new-found destructive tendencies here. “Get it, sista.”

Reading the letters on the package before opening it up.

New books from Marmee and Grampa! My favorite is Extra Yarn, a beautifully illustrated picture book about a girl who knits and knits… so you know the knitter in me just loves it!

Speaking of knitting, this was my favorite present: a set of interchangeable knitting needles that I’ve been dreaming about for a year. Elliott and the kids, meanwhile, enjoy his new bath pillow. This man and his baths!

Thank you, GG and Great-Grampie!

The members of the nativity quake in their sandals once again…

Lena’s new lacing cards from Auntie Eden and Uncle Charlie were an immediate hit. I love to see her being crafty…

… so we’ll work on technique later!

He melts my heart about 492 times a day.

OK, 493 times a day!

While Gil napped, Lena and I made cinnamon rolls. I used Elliott’s mom’s recipe at his request, and thankfully they turned out fairly similar to the Christmas morning breakfast he grew up loving. As of 3pm on Dec 26th, all 25 rolls have been eaten, so I guess he liked them!

Taking a break to read some of our new books by the fireplace. While they read, I was enjoying this cookbook… just as delicious as it looks.

When Gil woke up from his morning nap, we took a walk into town, where we found our town’s nativity scene. Maybe it was made by local school children? The sign says, “Christ is born for us. Come, let us adore.”

We hiked down into the valley and came across our farmer friend’s dogs. They’re all so sweet… and there are so many of them…

Picnic lunch.

Our children and our Sicilian town on Christmas Day.

We returned home to video chat with family (which was unfortunately right after the kids’ naps and they cried the whole time… sigh) and open a few more more presents. Gil eats wrapping paper as Lena plays her current favorite game while wearing my new Weekender bag like a “packpack”: “So… I’m gonna go to fool [school]. I gotta catch da bus. Oh no… da pigeon is driving da bus!!!”

She completely fell in love with this learning game from Auntie Em while I made our Christmas dinner.

And our Christmas dinner was the infamous lamb, of course. Elliott declared it “a triumph, my dear”… whew! I had a harder time eating the lamb that I’d expected. There were not very many steps in between seeing that lamb hanging in the butcher shop and eating it myself!

We burned slim beeswax candles that we bought three Christmases ago in Jerusalem; we met there for our first married Christmas when Elliott was on a yearlong solo assignment in Egypt. So much to be thankful for this Christmas, including the fact that we are together, even if our extended family is far away.

After the kids were in bed, Elliott and I spent awhile reading the story of Jesus’ birth from Luke and praying by the fire. I have been thinking a great deal this Advent season about how Jesus became poor, humbling himself to a fragile human embryo, a messy birth process, a cold and rustic world. For us these days, Christmas is all about comfort — family, gifts, food, firelight — but there was very little comfort that first Christmas. I am so grateful for the sacrifice Jesus made so that we have both immediate and eternal comfort to enjoy.

What are you most grateful for this Christmas?