I heart you

Hello dear readers. Here's a quick post to let you know that I'm still here and I appreciate your visits. I'm currently consumed by planning and preparations for my upcoming wedding. While I'm off on that journey, I'll leave you with a few heart photos from my travels. Enjoy!

Chile ristra at a farmer's market in New Mexico.

San Francisco, where some people leave theirs.

Berry soup on our 2010 Alaska cruise.

Love-ly beach, Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

I'll be back next month!

Stanley Cup survival tips for Vancouver visitors

If you happen to be in Vancouver for #TBEX11, the travel bloggers conference, or you're embarking on your Disney cruise to Alaska, here are a few tips to survive hockey night in Canada.

Hockey is our game. Get used to it.

The Vancouver Canucks have never won the Stanley Cup but came close in 1994 resulting in the now legendary 1994 riots. Vancouver is up against the Boston Bruins, one of the original six teams, who last won the Cup in 1972. The series has a maximum of seven games but ends with the first team to win four.

And in case you're a real newbie, the game is hockey and its grand prize is the Stanley Cup. That's the same Stanley who's Park is on your top ten list of Vancouver attractions. 

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, televised in Canada by CBC, broke its NHL playoff record with a peak audience of 7.8 million. This series is a really big deal.

If you're going to a bar or restaurant or any place that has a television, get there early (by noon, if it's a deciding game). Or go someplace that doesn't have a TV if you're simply looking for a snack and a drink.

Besides the bars and restaurants there are designated free "fan zones" in the downtown core. The crowd sizes have increased and the plan for game three is to close Georgia Street and the Viaduct at 2:00pm. If you're travelling through town, check the local news or Twitter for updates (use the hashtag #canucks). Or join the excitement and watch the game outside on a really big screen.

You'll have a hard time finding a taxi unless you're looking for one as the puck drops at 5:00pm. Or try the TaxiNow app and let us know how it works (thanks to @chickievan for the tip). Public transit will be crowded but a good option. Follow Translink on Twitter for timely updates on bus schedules and road closures.

Don't try to leave downtown immediately following the game unless you're walking. Wait it out, enjoy the crowds. As with all crowds, use your traveller's sense. Watch for pick-pockets, angry or aggressive people, drunk or otherwise altered fans. If Vancouver loses, be careful. While many have said we've matured since 1994, anything can happen. 

Vancouver experienced huge crowds on the downtown streets during the 2010 Winter Olympics without major incidents. It's a great experience, just use your common sense and trust your instincts about fun and danger. Talk to the locals -- we love sharing our city with visitors.

If you're stocking up on bottles of alcohol, get to a liquor store the day before a game, otherwise you're likely to spend a lot of time in a long line waiting to pay. If the street crowds get too large the police could force liquor stores to close early. In BC you can't buy alcohol at a grocery store. And no, you can't legally drink on the street.

Dear Bruins fans, please don't taunt the wild Canucks or you may get yourself arrested. Police don't like taunters. Most Canadians of a certain age fondly remember the Bobby Orr days so a respectful conversation will be warmly welcomed.

Make sure you watch the start of the game to witness a phenomena that has most visitors scratching their heads. Canadians actual sing our national anthem -- with passion. It hasn't always been this way, we were mumblers for a long time. The crazy anthem singing grew up during the Olympics, as seen on this bus. 

All games start at 5:00pm PT. Check Wikipedia for the updated schedule and scores.

Have fun! It's a once in a lifetime experience. 

Disappearing: Dictionary Stands

A hand-crafted wooden stand holding the weight of a giant dictionary is a thing of the past. A reference book that stood in the corner of a public library or a place of reverence in a private residence. Thousands of pages filled with words that enabled meaning, now replaced by Google and predictive text.

Swivel dictionary stand

The dictionary and stand in this photo resided in the master bedroom of my grandmother-in-law, about five feet from her chaise lounge. 

Dictionary cover

Dictionary pages

I suppose an American woman of a certain time and place may have sprawled on the chaise lounge, sipping her sherry, devouring her bootleg copy of Lady Chatterly's Lover, turning a page to discover a peculiarly English word requiring her to swoosh, in her silk pyjamas, to the swivel dictionary stand for illumination.

"Lady Chatterley's Lover" by D.H. Lawrence

Privately printed in Florence, 1928

Have you ever been illuminated by a dictionary?

Easter pastieri

In a previous post I mentioned how pastieri is one of my favourite Easter dishes to make simply because it's so easy. This dish was passed down to me from my Calabrese Nonna Filomena. Other than our family, I've never seen it made by anyone else. 

Mix all ingredients together before baking.

In Naples they make something called pastiera, which is completely different from our recipe. Go to the Napoli Unplugged blog for a mouth-watering collection of recipes. The Sicilians make a pastieri but it's a stuffed pastry, which looks fantastic, but still not like ours.

From what I've been told, after immigrating to North America, my Nonna's cooking was greatly influenced by her Neapolitan sister-in-law who was a wonderful cook. Could this be where the name came from? I'm guessing this recipe is a combination of influences of Italian immigrants from other regions, along with the availability of ingredients in a small city at the time they immigrated. 

Whatever the reasons, it's a lovely food tradition that finds its way onto the table at family reunions reminding us of how we're connected.

If you've made pastieri or recognize this dish, please leave me a comment. If you try this for the first time, let me know about it. 

Cut in rectangles and serve cold. Eat with your hands.

The recipe

Pastieri makes an interesting addition to an Easter Brunch. It keeps well in the fridge, making it a good prepare-ahead dish.

• Cook 1 lb (or 500 g) linguini in salted water. Once cooked, rinse in cold water to cool (so it won't cook the eggs when they’re mixed together). Drain well.
• Beat 1 dozen eggs
• Add:

- Ricotta, 1 container (16-ounce or 500 gram)
- Grated cheese, 1 cup or more of parmesan, use romano if you like a stronger cheese
- Italian parsley, chopped, 1 bunch or 1/2 cup (to your liking)
- Black pepper, to taste

• Mix all ingredients together and let rest for about 20 minutes.
• Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan. Press down on the pasta mixture with your hands (to get the air out) and smooth the top.
• Bake at 350°F for 1 hour.
• Remove from oven and cool.
• Serve cold, cut into rectangular pieces. Eat with your hands.

Enjoy!

Earthquake/Terremoto: Fragments from Calabria

Earthquake. Terremoto. It’s in my blood. As far back as I can remember earthquakes have been part of my family’s lore from Calabria, Italy. 

When I first heard of the devastating earthquake in the Abruzzo region of Italy in April 2009, my heart stopped. The first beat it missed was for family and friends who might be in harm’s way. The second beat it missed was for the people who lost everything including their lives. And in place of the third beat my heart missed was a replay of all the stories of terremoto that have passed through many generations before reaching me.
 

In the years following the Abruzzo earthquake there have been equally and more devastating quakes: Haiti, Chile, China. Images of lost lives and landscape circled the globe. Today marks the one-year anniversary of the worst of recent quakes, the death of over 300,000 in Haiti.
 

With each subsequent quake, the fragments of earthquake stories handed down to me surfaced. Here are some of those fragments.
 

Grimaldi in the 1600s
 

In the early 1600s a powerful earthquake destroyed Grimaldi, the Cosentine village of my nonni. In southern Italy, tens of thousands of lives were lost. In Grimaldi, the oral tradition says, only five families survived, including my ancestors. According to the story carried by my Nonna, an old man came to the town and sat on rock. He told the remaining families to rebuild Grimaldi in a new location and they would be saved from future devastation. After this proclamation, the man suddenly disappeared. The story claims that this old man was God (Dio) sent to save them with his message. If you’re from Calabria, who else could it be.

In 1638, the original "Grimaldo" was destroyed by an earthquake, and the town was rebuilt in an area known as “Chiata” (from where the district "'mpedichiati" developed, meaning literally "at Chiata's feet"). In 1639 the rebuilding of the original Grimaldi began ("vecchio Grimaldo").

Source: http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/3165462

The survivors built a new Grimaldi in the shape of a cross. You can still see the basic cross shape, which has bloated with more modern developments. Here’s my photo of Grimaldi in 2008:

February 1783

A hundred years after rebuilding Grimaldi to the specifications of Dio, the people of Grimaldi were saved from the 1783 earthquake that killed over 80,000 Calabresi. 

In 1934, my Nonna Elvira wrote the 1783 earthquake story recited to her by her nonna Caterina (who was really her great-aunt, but that’s another story). What I found interesting from my nonna’s story is that her nonna recited it in Calabrese but because Nonna Elvira hadn’t been taught how to write Calabrese in school, she translated it into Italian. Was that because of Unification (1861) and the introduction of an “official” Italian language? I’d love to hear your wisdom on the demise and resurgence of the written Calabrian language(s).

Here’s an excerpt from Nonna’s translation about the destruction of the many towns around Cosenza during an icy February, and the salvation of the Grimaldesi. The story is over three pages long and reads like a poem or a prayer:

Che terrore, e che gran lutto,
Fra i ghiacci de febraio.
Oh! Iddio, che cosa amara, e che malanno
Mura, e travi, a nostro d’anno
Contrastava cosi forte
Che vidiamo la morte e noi d’avanti
E Cosenza con i tanti
Case e torre del suo valle
Senti quel triste ballo con gran duolo
Ne quel pianto, ne fu solo
Rende, Donnici, e Marano,
Paterno di Pigano, e Mendicino
Cerisano del la vicino
Caroleir, Casello, Franco
Dal cielo era quasi stanco, aveva distrutto
E per questi luoghi tutti
Da vicino, e da lontano
Non ce paesa sano afatto afatto
Ma Grimaldi e tutto sana
Financo da lontano, a da vicino,
Che divina maraviglia
Di quei nostri cittadini
Trovati a quei confini si salvarono
E il miracolo contrarono...

The story lists places destroyed by the earthquake, except Grimaldi “e tutto sana” -- it’s whole. For a crude translation, go to Google translate.

The 1783 earthquake changed the landscape of the south, cracking open its shell and producing hundreds of lakes. The violence of the earthquake itself was not the only killer. Tens of thousands died from malaria in the years following the quake. I like to think that’s partly why we’re short, brown people and not tall blondies. 

1905: Boyhood recollections from Bocchigliero
 

In 1965 my great-uncle Charlie wrote a wonderful memoir. I’m lucky to have a copy, which is one of my cherished possessions. Uncle Charlie was a young boy in Calabria when the earthquakes of the early twentieth century hit. Here’s his 1905 boyhood recollections from Bocchigliero, another of my ancestral villages:

“I can still remember quite vividly the earth tremors in our home town.... Most of the people in our town were ordered to vacate their homes (including us) and we camped out of town in a large orchard for more than three weeks. ...there were many houses in our town with extensive damage....”

Strait of Messina, 1908

On December 28, 1908, a massive earthquake struck Sicily and Calabria. As part of his military service, my Nonno Joe was sent to the earthquake zone to help with the rescue efforts. He earned a medal for rescuing a woman trapped beneath the rubble of her destroyed home. The estimated death toll for this earthquake was as high as 200,000.

Here is Nonno’s medal along with an excerpt of the accompanying paper work: 

Medaglia commemorativa. Terremoto Calabro-Siculo. 28 dicembre 1908.

The Italian video below marks the 100th anniversary of the 1908 earthquake:

These are a few of the earthquake fragments that make up my whole. More to come.

10 things I like about Mexico

A recent trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, was the perfect place to escape from the snow-dusted streets of home. There are lots of things I like about Mexico, particularly when it's winter in Canada. Here are the 10 favourites from my recent trip.

1. Frida Kahlo sells everything

Negra Modelo beer with Frida label

2. The beach is beautiful and not just for beach bunnies

Lunch stop at Zamas

3. Skeletons with boobs

Day of the Dead attraction at a tourista shop

4. Bicycle parking in the jungle

At the Mayan ruins of Coba

5. Iguanas and other animals we don't have at home

Iguana at Tulum

6. Really old and historic stuff like Mayan ruins

Chichen Itza: sculls with Temple of Kukulkan (El Castillo) in the background

7. Real tacos and tequila drinks

Fresh lime margarita with achiote shrimp tacos at Zamas

8. Mariachi music and talavera pottery

Talavera pottery frogs playing mariachi music (use your imagination)

9. Brightly coloured buildings

Valladolid, Yucatan

10. Fresh coconuts. Everywhere.

Our home in Playcar

What are your favourite things about Mexico?

Beauty and death

I was saddened to hear of the construction worker who died of his injuries from falling off the Canada Place sails in Vancouver. I watched the workers in August, appearing as ants against the massive white sail structure they were repairing. I have the greatest respect for workers who could do that kind of job so high off the ground, exposed to the elements, and often in plain view of a crowd of tourists. The photos below show the scale of their work. RIP.

(Click photos to enlarge.)

Mushroom (funghi) memories

I don't know of anyone who has a middle ground position on mushrooms. You either love them or you hate them. I love them.

While digging out dandelions and mushrooms from the garden, thinking I should be making a nice insalata with them, I realized I had no idea how to pick a "safe" mushroom. The backyard mushroom yield reminded me that two years ago we were in Calabria during funghi season.

On our way to Bocchigliero, we stopped for lunch at La Tavernetta, an upscale restaurant outside of Camigliatello Silano, which is a charming ski resort with small shops selling the wonderful old-world foods Nonna Filomena used to make.

La Tavernetta specializes in local foods including fungi Silani. We savoured shaved porcini in olive oil while watching gigantic mushrooms being brought into the restaurant's kitchen.

After a very expensive but fabulous lunch, we returned to the winding road and forests of the Sila. We kept seeing guys smoking cigarettes, leaning against their trucks with a scale and basket on the ground. They were waiting to buy the haul from mushroom harvesters.

We decided to make our own trek into the forest in search of prized mushrooms. It was easy pickings rummaging though leaves and around tree roots. Sadly we had no idea what was edible and what was poisonous. I wished my Uncle Nick was with us.

For me, Uncle Nick is synonymous with mushrooms. One of my fondest childhood food memory is eating his amazing marinated mushrooms. Sadly, Uncle Nick died last month. I will never know his secret and I'm sure I'll never taste mushrooms like that again.

Happy Birthday Nonno

Although my Nonno Tony lived into his nineties, he didn't make it as far as today, which marks his 99th birthday. Ninety-nine years.

His mother carried him during the time of cholera epidemics in southern Italy. She was later taken by the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic.

Italy, as a country, was only 50 years old. As was Italian as the official language, an adaptation of the Tuscan dialect, and the language of Dante.

In 1911, L'Inferno, an adaptation of Dante's Inferno was the first full-length Italian feature film ever made. It was a silent film, which wasn't shown in Nonno's town. When he was born, there was no electricity in town. Today, you can watch the YouTube version on your phone.

The world has seen much change since the days of Nonno's youth and life in his small Calabrese town. Today I remember his journey and his life.

What I did on my summer vacation

I've neglected this blog for far too long. If you've come back, I thank you so much for your patience. Now that fall is approaching I will dedicate more time to keeping up to date. In the meantime here are some snippets of things I've seen or done over the past four months, or "what I did on my summer vacation."

On the outskirts of El Paso, I fell in love with fresh fruit popsicles at Flautas y Paleteria Tepalca in Canutillo, Texas. When I say fresh, mmmm, I can't come close to describing how deliciously orgasmic they were. Take a look at the pinons in the creamsicle below; then I went back for mango. This was an unusual discovery due to road work on the Interstate but it will now be a regular stop on my trips to that part of the US.

I saw a sonoran gopher snake and heard coyotes howl in the desert of southern New Mexico.

I found a metal tray decorated with actual hotel stickers. Not a replica. Not massed produced. The real deal. Looks like someone had a better summer vacation than I did, 60 years ago.

I discovered more treasures amongst the wonderful things that were once my Nonna Elvira's. Here's a carefully preserved stencil that she used as a pattern for her cutwork linens.

On a quick trip to Nelson, BC and a lovely walk along the lake, I came across a playground for adults fitted with outdoor fitness equipment. Best of all, t's FREE.

In Vancouver, the BC Place stadium roof deflated and the new retractable roof is under construction.

In keeping with the roof theme, the Canada Place (convention centre) roof is being "rehabilitated." Looks like a hazardous job.

I went to Alaska and saw humpback whales bubble net feeding. A humbling experience.

And, finally, while the weather is still nice, this is my favourite coffee place.

While I'm having my coffee please leave a comment letting me know what you'd like to hear more about.

Ciao.

Canada Day 2010

To honour Canada Day I listened to slam poet Shane Koyczan's "We Are More," which millions heard during the opening ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. Shane has joined the ranks of hockey and beer commercials in expressing the sentiment of what it means to be Canadian.

Here's an excerpt:

we are cultures strung together

then woven into a tapestry

and the design

is what makes us more

than the sum total of our history

A small part of my tapestry:

Listen to "We Are More" by Shane Koyczan.

Read more of Shane's poem at the Vancouver Sun.

In case you missed it, here's my Canada Day post from 2009.

Anniversary

Nonno Joe & Nonna Filomena married in Bocchigliero (Calabria, Italy) on May 1, 1915. I've been thinking about them a lot as my own parents pass wedding milestones. Here's an excerpt from their wedding registration:

"L'anno millenovecento quindici, il giorno primo del mese

di maggio, alle ore pomeridiane quattro e minuti venti,

in Bocchigliero, nella casa posta in Vico Manca."

Check out this family portrait from their 50th wedding anniversary in Canada.

While Nonno & Nonna are long departed, their descendants gather annually for a cousins' party. The family portrait -- now trying to contain over 100 cousins -- is a staple of the party.