Torino e la neve

I'm in Italy! And I'm just really mostly relaxing. I guess coming during the break implies that fewer friends are around, which is unfortunate, but also allows me to just wander around aimlessly by myself, and stay more with my family. Moreover, I've been gifted with an amazing show: snow in Torino! This doesn't happen very often, and also, not as much as this year. Given that I don't have to drive much, snow for me is just a beautiful curtain that gives a magic atmosphere to the city. Two nights ago I walked around taking pictures of some beautiful landmarks, trying to record some of the residual snow on the ground. Here they are, for your enjoyment.
These are the roman 'doors' of the city. In Roman times, Torino (Augusta Taurinorum, at the time) was surrounded by walls, and this was one of the doors to enter.
I took the picture from a skewed angle because I liked the snow on the side, so you can't really see the arches where the chariots and the people used to pass. Here is a front view, without the charming snow, which shows better how impressive the door is. It's amazingly well preserved.
Now, off to another snowy landmark:
This is the 'Mole Antonelliana'. It's the symbol of the city, built by Antonelli starting from 1863. It was initially built to be a synagogue, then the building became various other things, and now it hosts a wonderful museum of the cinema. It's the tallest building in the city, and one of the tallest buildings in brick in Europe. One can take a futuristic elevator and go to almost the top of this building. If the sky is clear, the view of the city and the Alps from there is amazing.
Now, this is not snowy, but it's one of the most beautiful squares in Torino:
It's Piazza San Carlo. The two churches on the back are called 'twin churches', because they look so similar. The beautifully colored lights you see are part of the Christmas lights that are everywhere throughout Torino. They are extremely varied and pretty, and enhance the beauty of some of the most famous streets, churches and squares by night.
This is the statue that's in the middle of the square. It's Emanuele Filiberto, and it's a beautiful bronze statue that now one can admire very well, thanks to the recent creation of a pedestrian area in the whole square.
And this is the Cathedral. Again, only a little snow left in front of it. But I love how it's lit. The famous Shroud with the mysterious image of a body resembling that of Jesus Christ is held in there, and shown only in very special occasions.
At last, speaking about snow, I want to show you two pictures I took from the plane.
These are the Alps, right before landing in Torino:
And these are the much older and rounder mountains seen a little after leaving Berkeley. I think we were somewhere above Idaho, but I'm not exactly sure. If you recognize the spot, let me know. :)
Hopefully you've enjoyed this nightly walk in Torino. I'll have more posts about Torino soon.

Fresh Produce of the Month: pears

Mmmmmmmmmm..... I feel really terrible for not having written on the blog for so long. However, better late than never, I keep believing! And at last, I am on vacation, amazingly enough! I have almost finished the first part of my 'application campaign', and I am waiting to see if at least one of them will lead to some sort of job in the near future. Not a good year to be looking for jobs, but what can one do?

So, as a first post, I really have to write about the roundup of the 'Fresh Produce of the Month: Pears', that was held now months ago! I'm really sorry this is not the fresh produce of the month anymore :( However, the entries were so wonderful that I hope reading about them will still be a joy and inspiration to many!

I received the first entry from my colleague and friend Albert. He does have a blog in Catalan, 'La cova d'en Còdol', but he doesn't publish recipes on it. So he sent me a picture and a recipe for these 'Pears in wine' that you see here.. a very typical Catalan dessert. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1kg Pears (blanquilla)
½ l red wine
1 cinnamon stick
300gr sugar
1 lemon peal

We peal the pears without cutting the tail. In a deep bowl we put first the pears, then the rest of ingredients. We put the bowl in the microwave at high power for 8-10 minutes, we turn the pears and we cook it 5 more minutes. In order to know if they are done just prick the pears with a knife.
Serve warm or cold as desired with the "sauce" of the bowl.

A quick and delicious pear centered recipe comes from Francesca, from 'francescav'. It's a 'Quick strudel with pears and grapes'. I love strudels, my mom used to make a lot of them when I was younger. Francesca is right: they are quick and wonderful! She suggests serving it with ice cream or with a home-made yogurt sauce.




Stuffed pear in orange spice sauce is what Soma from 'ecurry' brings to the table: it's a delicious idea, that involves stuffing a pear with all sorts of nuts and raisin, and cooking it with spices in orange juice. I'm in awe :)




Priya from 'Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes' suggests an 'Orange pear cocktail juice', containing a healthy and refreshing combination of vitamins and fibers! And the color is really pretty. Thanks Priya!












Marta from 'Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare' contributes with a very enticing recipe: 'Risotto con pere speziate e formaggio bleu', a risotto with pears, nutmeg, pistachio nuts, and bleu cheese. This sounds like a wonderful idea, and I'm putting it on my list of recipes to try out!










Aparna from 'My diverse kitchen' bakes a 'Spiced pear galette' , containing pears and black pepper, cinnamon, star anise, and nutmeg. I can imagine how all these spices must contribute to making a really delicious galette!






Sweatha from 'Tasty curry leaf' prepared 'Roasted Pears with sweet cous cous', by stuffing pears with cous cous and apricots and other dried fruit. Another great idea for serving pears, thank you Sweatha!






My dear friend Simona at 'briciole' serves pears with her amazing homemade cheese, in the most famous combination 'Formaggio con le pere'. I have first-mouth experience of Simona's cheese, and I am just amazed at her ability and adventureousness with the art of cheesemaking!





Rachel from 'The Crispy Cook' also combines pears and wine in this 'Poached pears in rioja' , which I'm sure tastes as wonderful as it looks!






The last recipe (simply because it was really late..) is my 'Pear tarte', which I made with a recipe from my Aunt Maria Rosa, a really healthy one, with almost no flour and butter.. I can assure you that the result is mouthwatering even with these healthy ingredients :)





Very well, my dear readers, finally the roundup is up! Now, I have a question instead of an announcement: is there anybody who would like to host the Fresh Produce of the Month for the next month or two? I'm going to be still rather busy for a while and I don't want to have this event die. So if somebody would like to host it, I'd be very happy to pass the torch for a few months. Please let me know by sending an email to chemcookitATgmailDOTcom or by commenting on the blog. I can help you with the announcement and the picture for the logo. In order to continue the series, next month a 'fresh vegetable' should be chosen, and a 'fresh fruit' the month after (that's how I've been alternating the produce up to now). Any ideas, anybody?!?