We've been here for five months now. I don't need a microwave, something to heat leftovers or boil water. Beside the point. I don't need paper towels. We use rags. Paper towels kill trees. I don't need plastic bags, another offense to the environment. I don't need most of the dried spices that sit on my shelf at home. Here I use fresh. I don't need a toaster. I don't need furniture polish. I don't even need air-conditioning--Franco would disagree here--but when the cool breezes blow in around 11:00PM, I'm fine. I don't miss a single item of US food, but then I'm an adaptable sort. Born that way.

quote:

Originally posted by Christine Raffini:
We've been here for five months now. .

Ah the honeymoon stage. But seriously, I didn't miss anything until I hit the wall at a little less than 3 years and then, man oh mighty I was ticked that I couldn't find what I needed.

Christine , you need to add that you are not a real foodie or passionate cook. I don't have a microwave, but I would if I had a family. If you fry something, you can't drain it on a rag. I use about 2 double rolls of paper towels a year. A branch, maybe.
You can use fresh herbs, but not fresh black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, allspice.
I also don't have a toaster other than that flat metal grid for bruschetta. Or A/C but these last days with the humidity, the mosqitos bite me at night, so the fresh breezes and I aren't in the same place.
I am pleased that you are content, and I certainly feel more content than discontent. However, the A/C at the Coop sure felt good today.

True, I have to admit I'm not a foodie. I do love good cooking though. I never fry anything. How did people manage a hundred years ago without paper towels? I suppose they ate the grease. Did they? Okay, open windows. I use some kind of anti-mosquito cream. It seems to work. Any extra bites are treated with bite cream in the morning. I'm okay in the old-fashioned world. I was raised this way after all. We didn't have bite cream then.

>I don't need ... something to heat leftovers or boil water.<

Obviously not a tea drinker, then!:-)

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I'm okay in the old-fashioned world

That's good if it pleases you. I have no problem taking advantage of some of the things that make life a little easier and, in some instances, more pleasant--like window screens so mosquitos don't invade. Also--have great respect for baggies when I am packing things that leak, break, whatever. Paper towels--yes, take trees but don't need washing so save on water and don't put soap scum back into the environment. So--it all comes out in the wash--we each live the way we prefer and enjoy those things we chose. No way is necessarily better or perfect.

Paper towels didn't exist 30 years ago, at least not in Italy, and people used whatever other type of absorbing paper, but most commonly either the brown bread bags (now they have been substituted with white paper that does not absorb as much) or "cartapaglia", which was used by butchers to wrap meats and cold cuts. it was even customarly to use old newspapers, in a time when printing involved lots of lead (not that the inks are particularly healthy...).

Yep I remember my great aunty Clementina, would save every piece of paper that came down the pike! But newspapers were for cotolette and fiori di zucchine etc.

But then we were wiping our butts with the same Gazetta di Parma(diff. day), tidily cut into squares and hung on a string!!

Thank God that's over !!

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Originally posted by bardigiana:
But then we were wiping our butts with the same Gazetta di Parma(diff. day), tidily cut into squares and hung on a string!!

Did it leave any newsprint behind (no pun intended?)

This reminds me of tales my Mom told us about growing up on a little farm in the Dust Bowl. They had a big Sears and Roebuck catalog in the privy, with fewer and fewer pages everyday.

I grew up very simply. We didn't take a newspaper daily but weekly. My mother used brown grocery bags for draining foods, but alas they don't exist here at all.
We had toilet paper, though. Ermm.
I just can't be my mother. She canned through summer heat, made hundreds of jars of vegetables and fruits and preserves. She slaughtered and canned or froze chickens and sides of meat. I dabble at some of that for the pleasure of having things that I know what's in it, but I have not the will to spend all my time scrubbing, ironing, growing food, preserving food, sewing clothes. My mother was also an accomplished artist, but hardly got to touch her work. She never wrote anything but a letter.
I don't have to be my mother. (I am also nicer than my mother, which will say a lot of her character, but then maybe she was depressed and angry all the time. That was a hard life.)

Professoressa, don't know

But one does become a 'privy paper' connoisseur!

Judith, I can see why your mother was depressed and angry.. The domestic things we 'dabble in' because they are quaint and charming, or because we want to master a new/old skill, or because they yield superior results can just wear a person down to the bone when you HAVE to do them every day to get by.

We have 3 cherry trees. The first year here, oooo, wasn't I thrilled to have fresh cherries, with plenty left over to make 2-3 litres of cherry ratafiá and a couple litres sotto spirito!?? This year, wasn't I thrilled to make a dozen jars of cherry jam in the 80-90° heat (on two different days 'cause I just couldn't face pitting them all in one go)!?? Plus the too-liquidy cherry pie filling that is still sitting in the back of the fridge and that I am now too scared to look at?

I don't even like jam! I can go a whole year and not eat one bite of jam! But DH and his whole family love jam, and they were visiting, so per forza jam-making was on the agenda. There's still some of the liqueur and the sotto spirito left and I am sorely tempted...

Next year.. let the birds have the cherries!

I'm tired of making 14 meals from scratch every week, maybe 12 when I take into account the odd pizza or 4 Salti paella. (I did make some fried fiori di zucca with buffalo mozzarella and anchovies last night and was glad for the paper toweling, though.)

I'm tired of ironing (or rather, feeling guilty because I don't iron) when I see how wrinkled our clothes are w/o a dryer.

I'm tired of the dusting and the sweeping and vacuuming that I never used to have to do (dirt road, nearby construction, dusty clay soil, French windows, dog...).

I have nothing but admiration for the stamina of my SIL, for example, who teaches school, works in their merceria in the afternoon, and still finds time to iron sheets, God love her. Because sheets must be ironed, right?

When you start out, it's an adventure.. but Judith, I hear you when you say you "have not the will". How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm, now that they've see Pareeeee?

Gimme an email, honey, because I don't mind pitting cherries, which I then pop into plastic bags and freeze!
Let's see: pit cherries, or iron sheets, or poke self in eye with stick?
You are my new best friend.

quote:

Originally posted by bardigiana:
But then we were wiping our butts with the same Gazetta di Parma(diff. day), tidily cut into squares and hung on a string!

Well, at least you didn't have to resort to pumpkin leaves ;-P
On the other hand, the uncle of my granny, in the early 1930's, in the middle of the Parma countryside, installed a solar heater and shower in the far courtyard. This ultramodern luxury only worked in summer, obviously, and was a tiny wooden structure, closed on three sides and with a door on the fourth. it was topped with a big metal barrel that he painted black. Each morning one of the family members would fill the barrell with fresh water from the courtyard pump, by the evening it was hot enough for washing. The water was controlled by a WC-style chain and handle: first a flush to get wet, soap up, another flush to rinse out.

Ladelfina: 14 meals? Really?! I never cooked two meals per day every day in my life. I cook large amounts and warm up, prepare cold meals (especially in the summer) with salads (ok, some salads are like cooking, but at elast don't usually involve a fire), fruits, salumi, cheeses, etc. And often enough the cooked meal is a one dish meal!

My mum still marvels at the fact that I don't own a microwave. I really can't see how it would make life easier for me, even when the kid was little. I still have to cook everything from scratch twice a day. What would I use a microwave for?
But I can't live without Cadburys chocolate and Palmers Cocoa butter cream. Nivea just doesn't do it for me.
Actually, the things that I get sent over from the UK are more to do with the fact that they cost less there than here.
Medicines and kids clothes and shoes cost so much less in the UK, even with the postage.

Judith, OK! Next year.. you're on! The 2-3 liters of jam we have remaining after giving away half will last me probably the rest of my natural life. (and I do have 2 quarts frozen cherries still from 2005).

Alice, you're right that I could cut out some of the work. I guess I just don't like a lot of cold cuts and cheese as a meal (a bit too salty -- I see them more as antipasti or something to have with drinks..). We do like pasta for lunch and I'm not keen on leftover pasta.. but I do make more salads as a contorno in the summer. I try to make as large a quantity as I can, but am sometimes stymied by the small fridge and low-output stove with the bombola. Making four portions of something instead of two means meats and vegetables get slowly boiled rather than sauteed or browned. Now I know why Italian moms and grannies bring out 5 different things (and spend all day in the kitchen).

I agree, though... a microwave is pointless!


My cooking initiatives are NOT DH's doing, I want to precise. He will eat whatever I put in front of him without complaint. I guess I just miss the variety of inexpensive, relatively healthful 'fast-food' options I was used to, like Thai fresh rolls, burritos and 'wraps', takeout sushi, Chinese stir-frys, falafel and gyros, a nice Indian or Thai curry...

Alice, a friend of ours is living (temporarily, one hopes) in a 'casetta' in the countryside in Puglia and has set up a solar shower system similar to what you describe! But even more "low-tech": he just has a long black tube hanging from the water tank on the roof over the edge of a tettoia and has a plastic soda bottle with holes poked in the bottom as a 'rosetta'! The water comes out quite hot! He has a toilet and sink, thank goodness, and in the winter he showers at his sister's house.

pasta is really a non.cooking food, since it only requires about 20 minutes, sauce included. If you are making a more complex sauce, like a ragù, you can just make a huge pot of it, portion it and place it in the freezer. When you need it, just defrost a portion in a pan and top the pasta. And leftover pata is not that bad. not at all, actually! If you happen to have leftovers you can sutè them ina pan with some oil (it does not have to be a lot, just a few drops to keep it from sticking too much). Do not toss it, let it brown and go nice and crunchy: YUM! Another nice thing you an do with leftover pasta is to prepare some basic frittata mixture with eggs, a handful of Parmigiano and a pinch of salt. Plae half of the egg mixture in a nontstick pan with a few drops of oil, let it solidify a little, add your pasta on top of the eggs, let the half.frittta cook through, remove from the pan, add a few more drops of oil, the rest of the egg mixture, top with the other frittata (pasta side down) and finish off.
Regarding vegetables, you could first steam a good amount of them and sauté tehm uickly with some oil, garlic and red pepper, or in butter and a little milk if you prefer and don't have cholesterol issues. It only requires a few moments, since the vegetables are already cooked (a bit more "al dente" than usual) and most of the work is done in advance.

Alice, by my count you turned on the cooker 5 times in that one messgae. Too much.

Yup, but I cooked for the whole week. That's two full days with no cooker, and one day of intesive cooking and four days of heating up leftovers in five minutes ^___^

When I decide to roast a chick, I roast 2 so that I have food ready for a few days. Then I can take the leftovers and make a chicken salad, chicken wraps, chicken whatever. When we BBQ on Sundays, we BBQ loads of extras including veggies, pork, chicken, turkey for use during the week. I also steam a bunch of veggies like Alice write and then use them in different ways durring the week. Like Alice, I cook one day heavily (maybe an hour or two) and the rest of the week it is basically heating up.

Whenever there is a sale on large pieces of pork or chick or tukey breasts, I buy it, divide into smaller units (1 meal size) coat with a maridade or dry rub and then put into bags and vacum pack them. Throw in the freezer and when I want to use them, put them in the refrigerator the night before. When they are thawed, heat a grill pan, throw them on, cook for a few minutes on each side and dinner is served.

Also roasts are great "cook now eat later" foods. My granny makes a very simple milanese style "wet" veal roast (on the fire,m not in the oven). Once the roast is done, she removes the fat (she uses it to make roast potatoes ) and uses the sticky bits to make a delicious gravy with a bit of water and a teaspoon of potato starch. Part of the raost is eaten on the day meal (she usually makes this roast on Sunday), the leftovers are coated with the gravy and saved for the next day or two.

Cristina, that's a great idea: the marinating/seasoning before vacuum-packing...

I left my FoodSavr™ with a friend back in the US (hey! Remember? I can "do without it"! ). I have been thinking of picking up a new one here, because they can't be beat for freezing stuff: no freezer burn! Also would work great with bulk amounts of cheeses like Art showed us..

I have been using our little DeLonghi toaster oven for chicken, but you're right.. I could justify heating up the "big oven" if I cook 2 or 3 at a time..

Thanks guys...
doesn't get me any closer to a fresh roll, tho'