Monday, December 5, 2011
Italy catches up with one
Remember Alan's famous drive down the Via Fluongo? Well, so did the Italian police. This week, they sent two traffic tickets for $50 each for driving in, er, places you shouldn't drive. HaHa! At least, Mrs C's other two guest drivers also got tickets.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Thanksgiving in Switzerland
Here we are, back in Zug, for what has become a tradition of making Thanksgiving dinner with Nan in Switzerland. It's actually quite a convenient time to travel abroad because few Americans are doing it and it's also a quiet week at work so taking the three days isn't a problem. And so we arrived Tuesday morning without incident, back to foggy, cold Zug. It's about 32 degrees fahrenheit and damp -- enough to put a chill in your bones. That hasn't stopped us from shopping for our dinner, though, and roasting in the oven is a turkey from Aklin (4.5 kg!) and there are brussel sprouts and romanesco (combo broccoli, cauliflower -- google it!) awaiting preparation. And I brought cornbread stuffing from the states, as well as cranberry sauce.
Actually, there are so many Americans in Zug now (Last night, we tried a new place, the Widder, and there were more American tables than Swiss) that there are quite a few turkeys for sale. That didn't used to be the case. In fact, the supplement to the morning paper had a recipe for Thanksgiving dinner!
There are certain challenges to making Thanksgiving dinner at Nan's, the largest being size. Her oven and dishes are suitable for cooking small amounts, not a 10 lb turkey. Absent a properly sized roasting pan, the turkey is sitting in the broiler pan. We put it breast side up for 10 minutes at 220 and then flipped it over to let the juices from the dark meat penetrate the breast. Hopefully, it will be good as there is a lot of it!
Zug is changing with new shops and lots of new buildings. There are cranes everywhere and the traffic is worse than ever. I took a long walk yesterday past Oberwill along the lake; that, at least, is unchanged.
Post-meal, I am happy to report it was a delicious dinner -- I first put the oven to 220 and then place the bird in breast side up for 10 minutes. Took it out, flipped the bird and lowered the oven to 170. Next time I might do 160 or take the meat out earlier. It went in at 2:30 and I took it out at 4:45. Rested for 20 minutes or so while we finished the sides and the gravy.
Things to bring to Zug next time:
turkey baster
poultry bag?
pine nuts (for brussel sprouts)
pumpkin for pie
Actually, there are so many Americans in Zug now (Last night, we tried a new place, the Widder, and there were more American tables than Swiss) that there are quite a few turkeys for sale. That didn't used to be the case. In fact, the supplement to the morning paper had a recipe for Thanksgiving dinner!
There are certain challenges to making Thanksgiving dinner at Nan's, the largest being size. Her oven and dishes are suitable for cooking small amounts, not a 10 lb turkey. Absent a properly sized roasting pan, the turkey is sitting in the broiler pan. We put it breast side up for 10 minutes at 220 and then flipped it over to let the juices from the dark meat penetrate the breast. Hopefully, it will be good as there is a lot of it!
Zug is changing with new shops and lots of new buildings. There are cranes everywhere and the traffic is worse than ever. I took a long walk yesterday past Oberwill along the lake; that, at least, is unchanged.
Post-meal, I am happy to report it was a delicious dinner -- I first put the oven to 220 and then place the bird in breast side up for 10 minutes. Took it out, flipped the bird and lowered the oven to 170. Next time I might do 160 or take the meat out earlier. It went in at 2:30 and I took it out at 4:45. Rested for 20 minutes or so while we finished the sides and the gravy.
Things to bring to Zug next time:
turkey baster
poultry bag?
pine nuts (for brussel sprouts)
pumpkin for pie
Monday, October 3, 2011
The Solace of Peaceful Places
We have landed at Papelousu once again, the final time of 2011. It is truly amazing to now be watching the ferns we saw incipient in May now browning and crumbling to the ground. A brief summer season here in the NEK, to be sure.
On our way north, we stopped on Long Island to visit with the whole family, including representation from the European branch, Jean Felicien and Claude. We had a memorable dinner on Friday night with three generations of Cattiers all together, young and old. Then, over the weekend there were individual get togethers with sub-branches of the family. Memories new and old were shared and rejuvenated and it was truly a joyous, special opportunity to spend time together. I got to add some new things to Ancestry.com (anyone out there an expert) and need to do more. Always, there is more to do.
Sunday morning, we were up at 5am to head to JFK. The roads were empty and time to the airport quick. Once there, they have put into place a transit system that seamlessly takes you from the rental car to the terminals and then on into the city. All in all, our travel to BTV was easy and by a little after 10am we were in our rental Escape headed down the road feeling....tired. :-)
The clouds were low, promising a cold and -- maybe? -- snow. Yikes. We were happy, nonetheless, as cold never scared us and the scenery was so beautiful -- reds and golds and greens muted by the high humidity into a lovely maelstrom of color. Yay, back in Vermont!
And then we were on to favorite fall activities like stopping in Waterbury at Cold Hollow to pick up cider (OMG), cider doughnuts, and cider pumpkin pie. Oh yea, baby. Later on up the road, we hit up a favorite farm stand in Newport for the last Vermont corn, local brussel sprouts, wax beans, and lettuce. What with is up in the freezer at camp, we should be good to go!
We arrived at Camp in the rain -- but who cares, we were here. Ready to relax....Well, not quite. Sunday night was quite the comedy of...something.... After relaxing quite a bit in the afternoon in front of the fire (first of the season) and starting a puzzle, we went into the kitchen to enjoy some re-heated chicken soup Suzy had gotten at Cosco -- YUM. Really, really good and hearty, perfect for an evening meal. While we were eating, we got a phone call from home from our pet sitter who reported that she had smelled gas near our new gas dryer....Oh no. Long story short, we called the gas company, they came, confirmed it was the dryer and turned off that supply. In the meantime, however, while we were having those back and forth phone calls, we discovered that the fireplace in the living room was now sending serious amounts of smoke not up the chimney but into the rest of the house. Hmmm, first fire of the season revealing some problems.....
Dealt with that and then clearly, bed and a good long sleep were in order. And that's just what we did!
On our way north, we stopped on Long Island to visit with the whole family, including representation from the European branch, Jean Felicien and Claude. We had a memorable dinner on Friday night with three generations of Cattiers all together, young and old. Then, over the weekend there were individual get togethers with sub-branches of the family. Memories new and old were shared and rejuvenated and it was truly a joyous, special opportunity to spend time together. I got to add some new things to Ancestry.com (anyone out there an expert) and need to do more. Always, there is more to do.
Sunday morning, we were up at 5am to head to JFK. The roads were empty and time to the airport quick. Once there, they have put into place a transit system that seamlessly takes you from the rental car to the terminals and then on into the city. All in all, our travel to BTV was easy and by a little after 10am we were in our rental Escape headed down the road feeling....tired. :-)
The clouds were low, promising a cold and -- maybe? -- snow. Yikes. We were happy, nonetheless, as cold never scared us and the scenery was so beautiful -- reds and golds and greens muted by the high humidity into a lovely maelstrom of color. Yay, back in Vermont!
And then we were on to favorite fall activities like stopping in Waterbury at Cold Hollow to pick up cider (OMG), cider doughnuts, and cider pumpkin pie. Oh yea, baby. Later on up the road, we hit up a favorite farm stand in Newport for the last Vermont corn, local brussel sprouts, wax beans, and lettuce. What with is up in the freezer at camp, we should be good to go!
We arrived at Camp in the rain -- but who cares, we were here. Ready to relax....Well, not quite. Sunday night was quite the comedy of...something.... After relaxing quite a bit in the afternoon in front of the fire (first of the season) and starting a puzzle, we went into the kitchen to enjoy some re-heated chicken soup Suzy had gotten at Cosco -- YUM. Really, really good and hearty, perfect for an evening meal. While we were eating, we got a phone call from home from our pet sitter who reported that she had smelled gas near our new gas dryer....Oh no. Long story short, we called the gas company, they came, confirmed it was the dryer and turned off that supply. In the meantime, however, while we were having those back and forth phone calls, we discovered that the fireplace in the living room was now sending serious amounts of smoke not up the chimney but into the rest of the house. Hmmm, first fire of the season revealing some problems.....
Dealt with that and then clearly, bed and a good long sleep were in order. And that's just what we did!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Beautiful evening on the Connecticut
{from yesterday}
Hard to believe the week has gone this quickly but it always does in Vermont. Earlier in the week, we joined Hardy to fish a bend of the Connecticut just below Canaan. A beautiful pool with plenty of room for three to fish. We had brought Quimby’s float tubes but after struggling with them a bit, Hardy and I both abandoned them and just waded. Hardy and Alan each had two nice fish – fat rainbows. Alan hooked his in the tongue and it didn’t make it, so we brought it home for breakfast – he pronounced it the best meal all week!
While the first half of the week was sunny and warm, perfect for swimming, the last couple of days have been cloudy, rainy, and cold. Wednesday we headed south to Barre to pick up water bottles that unfortunately hadn’t been delivered to John’s. We remedied that by stopping at Shaw’s for some smaller bottles that will hopefully fit the stand. En route south, we encountered a ferocious storm with torrential rain, lightning, and thunder. One lightning bolt was literally right on us! It was pretty intense.
On our way home, we stopped in Hardwick to have dinner with Roni and Warren at Claire’s, which promised locally sourced vegetables and meats. It was excellent. Left around 10:00pm and made it home by 11:15, ready for bed.
Today, Alan and I investigated the Canadian grocery scene, the first stop being US Customs to find out what we were allowed to bring back into the States. The good news – beef and chicken now okay. The bad – no tomatoes or corn. Boo!
Back at the house, we lunched on yummy pasta from Vine and Table and then Alan and I ventured over to New Hampshire for some driving and fishing. Surveyed Junction Pool and Carr Bridge and found them packed – five fishermen within 15’ of Carr Bridge alone. We thought we were out of luck but decided to check the dam below First Connecticut and found it empty! Yea! Waders on in a flash, we trouped down the trail and headed upstream. Beautiful evening – cool with blue skies, no insect life to be seen but the night was young.
After we found the working floatant (I do have some bottles to discard), we dry flied up and down the stretch, catching one nice rainbow and not seeing much other action. But it was nice to be on the water, fishing together. And the Trident 5 weight is casting beautifully now that we put 5 weight line on it.
Unfortunately, evenings on the Connecticut always end too early when you have to journey back over to Vermont to make dinner, so at 6:30, just when the insect action was starting (something small), we packed up and headed west. A relatively short drive later, we’re about to dine on filets on the grill, corn, ratatouille, and pan-fried potatoes. Oh, and salad – with a tomato from Georgia!
Another excellent day in the North Country.
Hard to believe the week has gone this quickly but it always does in Vermont. Earlier in the week, we joined Hardy to fish a bend of the Connecticut just below Canaan. A beautiful pool with plenty of room for three to fish. We had brought Quimby’s float tubes but after struggling with them a bit, Hardy and I both abandoned them and just waded. Hardy and Alan each had two nice fish – fat rainbows. Alan hooked his in the tongue and it didn’t make it, so we brought it home for breakfast – he pronounced it the best meal all week!
While the first half of the week was sunny and warm, perfect for swimming, the last couple of days have been cloudy, rainy, and cold. Wednesday we headed south to Barre to pick up water bottles that unfortunately hadn’t been delivered to John’s. We remedied that by stopping at Shaw’s for some smaller bottles that will hopefully fit the stand. En route south, we encountered a ferocious storm with torrential rain, lightning, and thunder. One lightning bolt was literally right on us! It was pretty intense.
On our way home, we stopped in Hardwick to have dinner with Roni and Warren at Claire’s, which promised locally sourced vegetables and meats. It was excellent. Left around 10:00pm and made it home by 11:15, ready for bed.
Today, Alan and I investigated the Canadian grocery scene, the first stop being US Customs to find out what we were allowed to bring back into the States. The good news – beef and chicken now okay. The bad – no tomatoes or corn. Boo!
Back at the house, we lunched on yummy pasta from Vine and Table and then Alan and I ventured over to New Hampshire for some driving and fishing. Surveyed Junction Pool and Carr Bridge and found them packed – five fishermen within 15’ of Carr Bridge alone. We thought we were out of luck but decided to check the dam below First Connecticut and found it empty! Yea! Waders on in a flash, we trouped down the trail and headed upstream. Beautiful evening – cool with blue skies, no insect life to be seen but the night was young.
After we found the working floatant (I do have some bottles to discard), we dry flied up and down the stretch, catching one nice rainbow and not seeing much other action. But it was nice to be on the water, fishing together. And the Trident 5 weight is casting beautifully now that we put 5 weight line on it.
Unfortunately, evenings on the Connecticut always end too early when you have to journey back over to Vermont to make dinner, so at 6:30, just when the insect action was starting (something small), we packed up and headed west. A relatively short drive later, we’re about to dine on filets on the grill, corn, ratatouille, and pan-fried potatoes. Oh, and salad – with a tomato from Georgia!
Another excellent day in the North Country.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Unknown Pond, Found!
The last couple of years, we have been exploring south of Camp in the Silvio Conte Wilderness Area and surrounding privately owned land. Picnics at the Lewis Pond Overlook and a couple of fishing expeditions later, we are reasonably acquainted with the area. However, one pond had eluded our grasp, despite Alan, Jacques, Bandit and I giving it a real try last fall. But, yesterday, after much climbing and much mud, we found it -- and Unknown Pond was unknown no more.
Having missed the whole month of July, which we never do, we arrived here to spend the first week of August with Mrs. Cattier. Hardy is working this summer as a sous chef at Quimby's, so he was already here. Hardly had I walked in the door than the phone rang! (Pause to watch a heron gliding across a calm Great Averill.) We decided we would hook up Sunday morning and try the Gore Mt road to Unknown, which Hardy had found gated in late June.
He arrived at Camp at 8:30am, bearing breakfast fixings and proceeded to make himself comfortable in the kitchen, whipping up a bacon, onion, potato and egg scramble that was delicious and filling. Later in the day, we sure were grateful for that filling breakfast! Hopped in Hardy's Suburban and rolled down south on 114 to Island Pond and then on to Henshaw Road. Back in the woods, we split off onto Gore Road and then came to the gate -- locked. Bummer.
But Alan was not willing to give up that easily. He had the Garmin and triangulating our position, pronounced triumphantly, "It's only 2.7 miles, guys, and not much elevation gain. Come on!" Never one to pass up an adventure, Hardy and I looked at each other and said "ok!" Now, since we were not anticipating hiking, we weren't exactly outfitted for it -- except for Alan, who has his hiking boots and socks (maybe he had this plan all along?). My choice was Tevas or sneakers without socks (went for the Tevas); Hardy's was Crocs or put on his waders and wading boots -- he went for the latter. And off we went.
An hour and fifteen minutes later, and nowhere near the pond, I looked at Alan and said, "This isn't a 2.7 mile hike." "No," he admitted, "It's not. But we're almost there." Soon after that, we arrived at the logging clearing that signalled the end of the road. A path continued on through muck and grass (Tevas were a good choice). Oh, and did I mention that it has been and continued to be quite steep?
While mucking it up the mountain, Hardy's sharp eyes spotted a whole moose skeleton. No rack but an intact skull and other bones. A little past that, Alan headed right off into the woods. Hardy and I continued on the path until Alan shouted that he had found the pond. Hardy spotted a way through walking through a little creek that was obviously headed for the lake. Creek is probably not the right word -- it was more like a moving bog with earth sucking pools that threatened to consume your whole body. Hardy bounded his way through the mud, even carrying two rods; I was much less graceful but did emerge eventually, to have my faithful heroes prepared to assist me by photographing me staggering out of the brush. Chivalry is dead, ladies and gentlemen!
The pond was kind of anticlimatic. It was low (been dry here) and algae-ridden and had a really muddy bottom. Hardy waded in (had to make some use of those waders) and cast some but couldn't get far enough out to where the fish were. There was an amazing abundance of frogs. Never seen so many in my life. And it was a beautiful place -- very remote, only populated by three cabins. A little reminiscent of Perry Pond, although warmer.
As Hardy and I piddled around the lake, exploring and catching frogs, geek guy Alan fiddled with the GPS. "Hey guys," he announced,"it was 2.7 miles *as the crow flies* -- we did more like 4.1!" Yes, Alan, we did. And we were about to do it again since Hardy had to be at work in like....an hour. Oops.
Suffice it to say, walking down and out went faster than going up and in (as it always does).
And that is the story of how Unknown Pond became known.
Having missed the whole month of July, which we never do, we arrived here to spend the first week of August with Mrs. Cattier. Hardy is working this summer as a sous chef at Quimby's, so he was already here. Hardly had I walked in the door than the phone rang! (Pause to watch a heron gliding across a calm Great Averill.) We decided we would hook up Sunday morning and try the Gore Mt road to Unknown, which Hardy had found gated in late June.
He arrived at Camp at 8:30am, bearing breakfast fixings and proceeded to make himself comfortable in the kitchen, whipping up a bacon, onion, potato and egg scramble that was delicious and filling. Later in the day, we sure were grateful for that filling breakfast! Hopped in Hardy's Suburban and rolled down south on 114 to Island Pond and then on to Henshaw Road. Back in the woods, we split off onto Gore Road and then came to the gate -- locked. Bummer.
But Alan was not willing to give up that easily. He had the Garmin and triangulating our position, pronounced triumphantly, "It's only 2.7 miles, guys, and not much elevation gain. Come on!" Never one to pass up an adventure, Hardy and I looked at each other and said "ok!" Now, since we were not anticipating hiking, we weren't exactly outfitted for it -- except for Alan, who has his hiking boots and socks (maybe he had this plan all along?). My choice was Tevas or sneakers without socks (went for the Tevas); Hardy's was Crocs or put on his waders and wading boots -- he went for the latter. And off we went.
An hour and fifteen minutes later, and nowhere near the pond, I looked at Alan and said, "This isn't a 2.7 mile hike." "No," he admitted, "It's not. But we're almost there." Soon after that, we arrived at the logging clearing that signalled the end of the road. A path continued on through muck and grass (Tevas were a good choice). Oh, and did I mention that it has been and continued to be quite steep?
While mucking it up the mountain, Hardy's sharp eyes spotted a whole moose skeleton. No rack but an intact skull and other bones. A little past that, Alan headed right off into the woods. Hardy and I continued on the path until Alan shouted that he had found the pond. Hardy spotted a way through walking through a little creek that was obviously headed for the lake. Creek is probably not the right word -- it was more like a moving bog with earth sucking pools that threatened to consume your whole body. Hardy bounded his way through the mud, even carrying two rods; I was much less graceful but did emerge eventually, to have my faithful heroes prepared to assist me by photographing me staggering out of the brush. Chivalry is dead, ladies and gentlemen!
The pond was kind of anticlimatic. It was low (been dry here) and algae-ridden and had a really muddy bottom. Hardy waded in (had to make some use of those waders) and cast some but couldn't get far enough out to where the fish were. There was an amazing abundance of frogs. Never seen so many in my life. And it was a beautiful place -- very remote, only populated by three cabins. A little reminiscent of Perry Pond, although warmer.
As Hardy and I piddled around the lake, exploring and catching frogs, geek guy Alan fiddled with the GPS. "Hey guys," he announced,"it was 2.7 miles *as the crow flies* -- we did more like 4.1!" Yes, Alan, we did. And we were about to do it again since Hardy had to be at work in like....an hour. Oops.
Suffice it to say, walking down and out went faster than going up and in (as it always does).
And that is the story of how Unknown Pond became known.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Volterra
Yesterday, we wandered further afield than we had before and travelled about an hour and a half south to the hilltop town of Volterra, which 2,000 years ago was one of the most important Etruscan cities and today is a major stop for Twilight fans, retracing Edward and Bella's trip to see the Volturi in New Moon.
Volterra is a hilly city, set high (1700 f) above the plains. We got there around lunchtime and had excellent fare at Enteco Del Duca. Alan had boar two ways -- cured like a ham and also tagliatelle with boar ragu. Marianne had an excellent ricotta omelette with funghi and I had pasta with oxtail sauce. After lunch, Marianne settled down with a Herald Tribune for a cup of tea and we went exploring, higher and higher, until we were almost at the top of the hill, at the Acropolis ruins.
There was lots more to explore but time was ticking away so we picked up Marianne and Alan retrieved the car from its spot five floors down into the mountain and we were on our way. We took a different route back through some true Tuscan countryside of rolling hills dotted with Cyprus trees.
Back at the house, Alan had a swim and then we made lamb chops, cauliflower, flageolet, and salad for dinner.
The pool beckons, so I will sign off.
Volterra is a hilly city, set high (1700 f) above the plains. We got there around lunchtime and had excellent fare at Enteco Del Duca. Alan had boar two ways -- cured like a ham and also tagliatelle with boar ragu. Marianne had an excellent ricotta omelette with funghi and I had pasta with oxtail sauce. After lunch, Marianne settled down with a Herald Tribune for a cup of tea and we went exploring, higher and higher, until we were almost at the top of the hill, at the Acropolis ruins.
There was lots more to explore but time was ticking away so we picked up Marianne and Alan retrieved the car from its spot five floors down into the mountain and we were on our way. We took a different route back through some true Tuscan countryside of rolling hills dotted with Cyprus trees.
Back at the house, Alan had a swim and then we made lamb chops, cauliflower, flageolet, and salad for dinner.
The pool beckons, so I will sign off.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Bag number two -- found!
Got the call last night that Alan's bag had been, at last, found. It is now awaiting us at the Pisa airport as we didn't want to trust to the courier services to find this remote place, which is locked behind a closed gate. At least we will fly back with two bags, same number we started out with.
We've done quite a bit the last two days. Thursday morning, we headed off for Forte dei Marmi (which means marble), a resort town on the beach. It's quite a lovely town and we enjoyed walking out the pier to watch the swimmers. Beach access is controlled -- for between seven and fifty euros, you can have your own cabana (all named) and lounge chair or seating area, in addition to access to the water. Not too many people were swimming; surprisingly, there were waves enough for the surfers out there. But I don't think the boys of Hawaii are in any danger.
Returning from Forte dei Marmi, we stopped by the Pisa airport to drop Bess and Sarah at the train station and to swap back the larger car for our small BMW. At that time, there was no word on Alan's bag. Back at the house, it was time for a swim, with ominous clouds lurking overhead. Several times it has seemed like it just had to rain based on the clouds, wind, and smell, but it never has. Too bad -- it's pretty hazy.
Friday we started the day with a swim and sun session -- Alan and I are getting quite brown. Then, we headed out to a local vineyard, Colle Verde, that had fantastic views, even on a cloudy day. Alan and I took an olive oil and wine production tour and then joined Marianne for a tasting. Christina, our local host, was knowledgeable and personable. Our visit was cut short by the need to get Marianne to her hair appointment at 4pm but overall, highly recommended.
Last night was the culinary highlight of the trip so far, a trip just down the road to La Cecca. Lovely outdoor dining area, excellent service, and wonderful food. All for a good price.
We've done quite a bit the last two days. Thursday morning, we headed off for Forte dei Marmi (which means marble), a resort town on the beach. It's quite a lovely town and we enjoyed walking out the pier to watch the swimmers. Beach access is controlled -- for between seven and fifty euros, you can have your own cabana (all named) and lounge chair or seating area, in addition to access to the water. Not too many people were swimming; surprisingly, there were waves enough for the surfers out there. But I don't think the boys of Hawaii are in any danger.
Returning from Forte dei Marmi, we stopped by the Pisa airport to drop Bess and Sarah at the train station and to swap back the larger car for our small BMW. At that time, there was no word on Alan's bag. Back at the house, it was time for a swim, with ominous clouds lurking overhead. Several times it has seemed like it just had to rain based on the clouds, wind, and smell, but it never has. Too bad -- it's pretty hazy.
Friday we started the day with a swim and sun session -- Alan and I are getting quite brown. Then, we headed out to a local vineyard, Colle Verde, that had fantastic views, even on a cloudy day. Alan and I took an olive oil and wine production tour and then joined Marianne for a tasting. Christina, our local host, was knowledgeable and personable. Our visit was cut short by the need to get Marianne to her hair appointment at 4pm but overall, highly recommended.
Last night was the culinary highlight of the trip so far, a trip just down the road to La Cecca. Lovely outdoor dining area, excellent service, and wonderful food. All for a good price.
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