Zombie Run

The Saturday before Halloween the base fitness center put on a Zombie Fun Run. Not as cool as the one in Wichita Falls according to the Joneses, and certainly not as elaborate as the one that my cousin Brian stages in North Carolina, but we still appreciated the opportunity.

Georgie dressed up as Mavis, the vampire teenager from the movie “Hotel Transylvania”. So strange to see her transformed from a platinum blonde to a jet black goth girl with makeup and everything. She wasn’t too excited at first but she got into the spirit as things moved along.

Isaac dressed up as Dusan Basta, the midfielder from Udinese. I love the faux-hawk and eye black, but his attitude could use some adjustment.

 That's better.

Juliet was a black widow in a costume that was recycled from two Halloweens ago. The sleeves were too short and her navel was hanging out all evening, but still dang cute.

Pipe cleaner spider hair clip

My girls

The Joneses were there in their family reunion outfits. Everybody has a number based upon when they were born. Both sides of their family have an insane number of siblings, spouses, and children. When Angela’s mother was staying with us she told our neighbor, Bruna, through Ashley the translator, that she had 56 grandchildren. After getting over her shock, Bruna put a hand pistol to her head and pulled the trigger.

Everyone was issued a flag football get-up and lined up at the start. The zombies were kept in a corral off to the side. They were all young volunteer airmen and civilians who dressed up in torn clothing and macabre makeup. We only ran about one lap around the track before they released the zombies.

At that point we ran onto the grass field and tried to prevent the zombies from pulling our flags. The zombies went after the adults first and then started picking off the older kids. Isaac and Georgie lasted a long time and I think Isaac only sat down because he was tired and not because anyone had pulled his flag.

I was carrying Juliet the whole time and they pretty much ignored us until there were way more zombies than victims. Then they started to swarm us and Juliet almost came unhinged. Imagine being three and having all these creepy-looking people start running after you. I honestly think we could have won if Juliet had not been so scared. I had to stop running and allow them to pull her flag so that she could see that they were just normal people dressed up.

Afterwards there was a costume contest and Juliet won 2^nd place for funniest costume. The women running the contest were great, but they pretty much picked out the winners on the fly based upon what they saw in the crowd. The best costumes were a family with the father as El Guapo and the kids as the Three Amigos. I can’t believe those parents let those kids watch that movie! I specifically remember Steve Martin telling El Guapo, “I’ll pump you so full of lead you could use your #%@$ for a pencil!”

We love Italy, and having the Joneses here is just icing on the cake. Look how happy those people are. Even Landon is smilling! Landon is one of the most unintentionally funny kids ever, which we discovered on our epic trip to Toscana and Liguria. But that’s another blog post…

All in all, the Zombie Run was a great experience and we really appreciated the efforts and enthusiasm of all the fitness staff and volunteers. Even some of the non-European aspects of living here are great.

Halloween Party

Ten years ago we threw a Halloween party at the Pettey cabin in Park City where we lived while I went to medical school. Ashley really outdid herself and we had a great time with several friends, including (if memory serves): Rocky & Michelle, Dan & BriAnn, Gabe & Jessica, Brittany & Brandon, Lindsay & Rob, and others. We had a great dinner at which we announced our pregnancy, watched "The Ring" (I still can't go upstairs in that cabin at night without getting a little freaked out), had a sleepover, and then went sledding the next morning. It was a fantastic party that we have talked about many times and hoped to someday surpass with another blowout Halloween bash.

Thanks to Ashley, I think we have accomplished that this year. On Halloween night, we had several of Isaac and Georgie's classmates from Italian school come over to our house for costumes, games, and all out craziness. We also had several of our American friends come over, park their cars in a big semicircle in our back yard around a bonfire, and hand out candy to the "Trunk or Treaters" as the final event for the kids. The Italians slowly trickled home after that, but the party was far from over. We then had a chili dinner and spent time hanging out either in the house, on the patio, or around the bonfire. It was mass chaos for about four hours straight but we loved every minute of it.

Our guests included Daniela & Giovanni (Tomaso & Emma), Cesco & Redenta (Daniela's parents), Tim & Morgan (Adayla, Tally, Ryann, Xanthy, & bun in the oven), Tann & Angela (Samantha, Payton, Landon, Jacquelyn), Jeff & Beth (Jack, Morgan, Connor), Marienele (Destiny, Lana, Kalla - Gary was studying), Paul & Julia (Vivien, Clara), Doug & Jen (Mary, Katie), Kevin & Jana (Morgan, Colton, Ella), Jason & Diane (Peyton, Dylan), Steve & Kate (Brennan), Ben & Charlotte (Luke), Greg & Megan (Yorba - Verna stayed at home), Ashley, Christeen, and probably some other people that I am forgetting.

Ashley carved a pumpkin as Jack from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" as part of the decor.

Isaac dressed up as an Udinese soccer player. In the background are Jack & Connor.

Tally and Adayla dressed up as an Oompa Loompa and Violet Beauregard. These 9 & 7 year old girls speak fluent Mandarin, climbed the Eiffel Tower with our kids playing "Rock, Paper, Scissors" in multiple languages, and are more well-behaved and charming than you can imagine. I would like to reserve one of them for Isaac in the future if possible.

Morgan and Xanthy dressed up as an Everlasting Gobstopper and an Oompa Loompa. Tim was Willy Wonka and Ryann was a golden ticket. You can see their Great Britain license plate in the background. They drove all the way from Mildenhall, north of London, to visit us and tour around Italy.

Adayla with Juliet, dressed up as a black widow, and Morgan as a princess.

And this sadistic fellow is Giovanni, our great friend and Daniela's husband.

Angela at her van staging an Altus reunion with Kate and Brennan.

The famous Daniela with her daughter Emma. Daniela was once the drummer in a rock band and still has her drums in a make-shift music studio in her dad's old barn/garage building that is right next to her house. Her band had this poetic, inspirational name when it first formed. Then the lead singer ran off with the guitarist's fiancee and they changed the name of the band to an impertative telling the former lead singer what to do and where to go. You would never think that of this bubbly, hyper-extroverted, Down Syndrome blogger supermom. But you would be wrong.

Emma was a fan of the American tradition of gorging on candy.

Not sure if Megan is making a face for the picture or if Giovanni has her scared for her life. Megan is dressed up as Bullwinkle the moose and Yorba was Rocky the squirrel. We were eating Halloween candy last night and I thought, "I didn't even know they still made 'Krackel' and 'Mr. Goodbar'. Who the heck brought those to the party?" Apparently Megan and Greg did.

Beth handing out candy to I think Morgan (the other one) and Colton

Isaac with his buddy Antonio from his class.

Giovanni with one of the Italian moms.

This is the mother of Mattia, a boy in Georgie's class.

More moms of the Italian classmates. The one on the left is Ginevra's mom, a girl from Georgie's class.

The always adorable Kalla.

Georgie as Mavis, a vampire teenager, along with Morgan, Lana, and Ginevra.

Same girls only now you can see Morgan & Ginevra. Three American girls that all speak Italian and one Italian girl. Very cool.

Another mom getting into the spirit. Most Italians came as classic Halloween chartacters: witches, ghosts, vampires, skeletons, etc.

Or devils. Can't imagine why religions would be opposed to this holiday. Not sure who these kids are, but I think the one in back dressed up as Georgie...

Juliet hanging out with Jack.

Ashley, one of my pediatric colleagues.

Kate and Brennan.

I love this picture. Not because my eyes are closed, but because this was my favorite moment of the night. Megan and I were speaking in Italian with Cesco, Daniela's father. My costume is lame but very practical, since I built and maintained the bonfire for most of the evening. I bought those suspenders and jeans in Forks, WA, during our 2001 EB Trek charity bike ride. Not only did we invent the blog before it even existed (ebtrek.org), but we discovered the magic of that small northern logging town long before some hack made it the setting for her preteen soap opera.

Cesco is probably my favorite Italian conversationalist. He speaks very clearly and at just the right pace. He knows all kinds of history of this region and used to belong to a "gang" here. Not the drug running kind, more like the soccer playing and town reputation-defending type. And he has the best stories. In the picture he is telling me a story about one time when his gang got into a fight with a rival gang and they beat the tar out of each other with long, light sticks that they found in the woods. Hilarious.

This party was the realization of a vision that Ashley and I had before we even received this assignment. We wanted to assimilate, at least somewhat, into the Italian culture, have our kids go to Italian schools, make Italian friends, partake in their traditions and share with them ours. Mission accomplished, thanks to a lot of hard work on Ashley's part and our huge group of American friends that feel the same way.

The other day Daniela and Giovanni popped in with Tomaso and Emma for a glass of water during the middle of their hiking excursion. Giovanni informed us that next year he would like to bring his car down and decorate it for the Trunk or Treat, if we would like him to, because he had so much fun and thought it was such a fantastic night for all of the kids. I guess we are doing it again next year!

Juliet's Birthday

Rewind three months to Juliet's birthday, July 29th, 2013. Ashley made her breakfast to order, of course, but I think that I ended up eating most of it.

Ashley had invited everyone to Lake Barcis without realizing that it was the first day of the month-long Italian summer vacation. Nor did we have any type of reservation. No picnic tables were available, but thankfully we were able to find an open grill and set all of our food on the stone walls around it.

[Ashley has now taken over this post due to my procrastination.] Here's Juliet with one of her best friends, Megan.  Megan and her husband Greg took Juliet on a private date to get Gelato for her birthday.  They're so good to our kids.

Pinata time.  This one was a booger to get open.  

I made these tiny Totoros (from the movie My Neighbor Totoro) out of fondant.  I sliced little rounds off of large marshmallows to make the white tummy and melted chocolate for the eyes and decorations.  Joey was pretty impressed.  After several hours of waiting to be eaten in the warm sun, all the frosting melted but I think you still get the idea.

Here's Juliet licking frosting off of Joey's fingers.  I love her tan skin here.

Here the girls are playing in the park that lies above the river beds, saying goodbye as the last people trickle home.  These are our friends Julia and Paul's cute little girls, Vivien and Clara.

When we got home Juliet opened her presents. 

Georgie picked out this slap bracelet watch for her at a street stall in Rome.  She paid for it with her own money and was really excited to give it to  her.

Isaac made her the pink bracelet at Italian summer camp.  I found the puppy, that looks just like Megan and Greg's new puppy, Verna, at a store.  Juliet, of course, named it Verna too.  She loves it.

When our family went to a friends birthday party a few weeks prior (The Stuarts), Joey noticed how much Juliet and Georgie both loved playing with Morgan's new music box.  He came home and ordered one for both of them immediately.  They keep treasures in them now and we hear the music playing from time to time.

Happy 3rd Birthday Juliet.

Love,
Daddy & Mommy

A First Time for Everything

Juliet Cuts Her Hair

When Juliet woke up from her nap yesterday there was something funny going on with her hair.  A huge mass sort of clumping on the side of her head.  I reached to smooth it out and...

 ...well, the huge mass came out in my hand.  I found the tale tale sign of scissors lying on her bedroom floor.  What a joy.  She had been trying to cut out her rubber band.  In the end, it was all my idea turned hers.  I had given her hair a trim that morning and we played "beauty parlor" to keep her in the mood.  I kept thinking to myself, "She is liking this too much...what do you bet she cuts her own hair after this." To be sure I hid the scissors deep in the bathroom drawer, inside a box.  Obviously, that didn't stop her.

She looks just beautiful!  

We're so proud of our mullet haired (only on the left side) daughter...so proud!  We can kind of cover it up fairly well right now by parting it far over on the right side (a comb over if you will).  YOu almost can't tell.  But when it starts growing out, then we'll have problems.  Just in time for you all to see her at Christmas!  Yay!

Una Ricetta: Mushroom Crespelle (and Mushrooms over Mashed Potatoes)

Mushroom Crespelle

Last month was mushroom season her in Northern Italy.  It's short lived and a GREAT BIG deal.  My favorite part, even more than eating the stuff, is seeing the older folks from our town walking out of the woods with baskets full of mushrooms or completely empty, embarking on the hunt.  Driving down the mountain road from the base to our house you'll see empty cars parked at every small entrance into the woods dotted along the way.  They are all out hunting...it's so cool!    I hunted with a friend last year but we didn't know what we were doing, obviously, and found, maybe, 10 mushrooms.  This year I gave up and bought a crate of these cremini mushrooms at the Sacile Food and Wine Festival instead:

I spent that evening, after finishing the dinner dishes, washing these bad boys, and preparing them to make Mushrooms over Mashed Potatoes, a recipe I came up with last year during mushroom season with Georgie, my mashed potato lover, as my inspiration.  It turned out so yummy!  The secret to making the mushrooms taste so much like meat was in the Worcestershire sauce and a spoonful of really good tomato paste.  Saute 2 shallots and a small onion in a skillet first, then after a few minutes of softening those, add loads and loads of medium chopped mushrooms along with your worcestershire and tomato paste.  After the water cooks down from the mushrooms toss in a generous splash of red wine if you have it.  If not, no biggie!  Add some herbs (I like thyme and rosemary), and also some salt and pepper to taste.  After that, toss in a generous cup or two of broth, depending on how saucy you want your mushrooms.  Reserve a 1/4 cup or so of broth to mix with flour to add to your mushrooms to thicken the sauce.  When its to the consistency and saltiness that you want,  serve it over mashed potatoes!  In the same week we ate this, cream of mushroom soup, and a mushroom, kale, butternut squash, bechamel and brown rice layered concoction.  Ha!  Mushroom Overload (never!)   Just when we thought we were done my neighbor delivered these:

  A full bucket of mushrooms that she found in the woods behind our house!  At which point I learned that we didn't need to have mushroom overload the week before because mushrooms are freezable...oops...didn't know that.  She sautees hers in the way she prefers for risotto and then puts them in small bags in the freezer to eat throughout the winter.  I did that with one portion and am making Mushroom risotto tonight.  Super convenient!  

 With the other half of the mushrooms she delivered I made Mushroom Crespelle.  Crespelle means crepe in Italian, something more commonly used here with vegetable fillings, cream sauces and cheese rather than with Nutella and fruit.  I've never had a bad Crespelle here in Italy.  Joey and I both feel that Crespelle are the safest bet to order at an Italian restaurant.  They are always blow-you-away, fatteningly delicious.  Risotto...meah...hit or miss (mostly miss for me) and pastas are usually good but don't always blow you away.  Crespelle blows you away, every time.  This is an Italian Recipe that I picked from an Italian cookbook that I love.  I chose it because it is lighter than restaurant versions, has little cheese and doesn't use a bechamel sauce.  They are definitely on the drier side but still really, really yummy.

Basic Italian Crespelle or Crepe
3/4 c unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 t salt
2 lg eggs
1 c milk (I used almond milk, no problem)
1 T unsalted butter

Whisk the dry ingredients together well.  Beat the eggs in a seperate bowl with a fork.  Add the milk to the eggs.  Slowly pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients, whisking until the batter is smooth and free of lumps.

Bake in a greased flat pan or crepe pan over medium heat as you would crepes.  Layer them between sheets of plastic wrap as they cool.  If you lay them on top of each other they may stick together.

Mushroom Crespelle
5 T unsalted butter, divided
1 medium onion
1 1/4 pounds white button mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
Salt and freshly grd pepper to taste
1/2 c dry white wine
2 T minced fresh parsley leaves
1/4 c heavy cream
1 c freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, divided
1 recipe Crespelle

Heat 2 T butter ina large skillet.  Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent.  Add the mushrooms and raise the heat to medium high.  Cook, stirring often, until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms turn golden brown, about 8 minutes more.

Season the mushrooms with salt and pepper to taste.  Add the wine and simmerunitil the alcohol aroma evaporates, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the parsley and cream.  Simmer until the cream reduces and thickens.  1-2 minutes.  Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl.  Stir in 3/4 cup of the cheese and adjust the seasonings.

Preheat the oven to 450' F.  Use 1 T butter to grease a 13X9 " baking dish.  Lay 1 crespelle on a work surface and spread with 2 T filling and sprinkle with a small about of cheese.  Fold the left edge over the filling and roll up.  Place it, seam side down, in the baking dish.  Repeat this process with the remaining crespelle and filling.  The crespelle should fit in a single layer.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the crespelle.  Cut the remaining 2 T butter into small pieces and dot the crespelle with them.

Bake until golden brown and bubbling, about 12 minutes.  Serve immediately!