Vaga-Blog - Volume I - Greve in Chianti (June 4)

THIS ISN'T PORK!

For the first time since we arrived, I am awoken by the sun. Pure, unadulterated sun surrounded by a perfect blue sky. I jump out of bed at 7 am (midnight Chicago time) because you never know if you’ll see it again.

Breakfast each day is a casual buffet of pastries, meat, cheese and fruit. Today Debbie makes omelets and Sam masters the espresso machine. Barry tells me he looks at his wife, Debbie (still no suitcase) for the first few minutes after he wakes up. This morning she said “I’m going to bonk you if you keep staring at me.” Barry and Debbie head off into town (I use that term loosely, as often town is a tabbach and a trattoria) to find new clothes. The airline has graciously offered her 100€ for every day she’s without luggage, which is little comfort to a woman with no toothbrush.

We pack into three cars (two with GPS and one without) and drive 40 miles of switchbacks and hillside paths to Greve in Chianti. Our first stop is an Enotecha, which to me means wine bar. This is a little different, because you purchase a debit card, then use it to buy individual tastes of red wine, white wine, grappa, vinegars and olive oils. We spend a little time sampling wines before we decide to stop for a pasta lunch. Food is good, service is questionable.

On the way home, Joe comments on how full he is. “I can’t believe I’m still full and we’re already talking about eating again.” Yet, somehow, every time a meal is put in front of us, we manage to put it away.

We return to the villa, and Laura gives Xavier and Arlene a lesson in making veal stock. X has worked his way twice through a stock book and admits that his downfall is impatience – when he makes it, he doesn’t let it reduce enough and then doesn’t get the effects he wants. We shame him into promising to be more patient in the future.

Potato babe gives a lesson in making porcini risotto to Denise and Lisa. Everyone likes risotto, yet no one has made it at home. We decide that making risotto from scratch is time consuming, but worth the effort for the finished product.

Laura makes what we all thought was a pork roast, which turns out to be a Veal shoulder. We only had a minute to buy meat before the butcher closed, so we’re thinking something was lost in translation.

We pull together an antipasto plate with roasted vegetables, handmade sausages, roasted peppers and tuna stuffed pepperocino. It’s so pretty you don’t want to eat it, but again we manage to.

Barry and Debbie make tiramisu for the group, and there’s two pieces left over. We raffle them off, and Ed wins both.

Times Tomtom steered us wrong on the way home: 8
Cost of a stamp to send a postcard to the US: 85 cents
Clients who would have eaten pork but didn’t eat veal: 3