Pictures on Picasa
Being written in haste - took a long time to process all the photos, etc. from a big Wednesday.
Got the day off to a good start by going for a short run, waking up early so I could be done well before our 8 am plan to leave. Siena is the first excursion that unites all 16 of us.
Last thing to do was pour sauce over the chicken, stick it in the oven, taste test the risotto with Ethan for done-ness, and cut the bread.
To my amazement, things pretty much were done at roughly the same time, and at 8:20, I was able to call the rest of the family in for the dinner. Mike had remembered to open the Brunellos we picked up in Montalcini several hours before, so they were ready for us to enjoy.
All credit to Ethan for doing a superb job with that risotto, and everything else came out pretty good.
Being written in haste - took a long time to process all the photos, etc. from a big Wednesday.
Got the day off to a good start by going for a short run, waking up early so I could be done well before our 8 am plan to leave. Siena is the first excursion that unites all 16 of us.
Brian (Steve and Debbie's son) surprised Lara and I by riding in the car with us. Fun discussion with him about movies, science fiction, life on other planets, time travel, etc.
Once we parked (I *love* this Fiat, BTW) ... we walked to a large open air market that teemed with shopping opportunities. However, I was thwarted by camera problems and couldn't get the camera to take photos. Because I've not yet studied the camera in detail, it took me a looooooong time to get back to taking photos, and even then I think I did not have the autofocus set up properly.
From the market, we took a "shortcut" thru a valley separating our area from the cathedral. It was a fantastic walk down a stairway into the valley below, and then we were able to get a series of escalators back up to the other side at the base of the duomo. Yours truly, being good and anticipating dinner, took the stairs (pats self on back).
Marta and Wally were very kind and treated us to the tour of the cathedral as a gift. Words can't do justice to the cathedral, so look at the photos on picasa. All I can say is that the sheer density of decor and splendor was overwhelming. Learning, in the course of the tour, that much of this splendor was simply for rich families to show their status and wealth, took a little of the awe out the experience :-)
We were on our feet for a looooooong time with much climbing of stairs and walking, and after a very nice lunch (pasta with crunchy bacon in a cheesy cream sauce - magnifico!), drove home.
Upon arriving home, I promptly passed out in front of the computer, and then had my boneheaded moment of the day when I woke up. Walked into the kitchen and saw it was 5:30 -- great, two hours to get things ready. I started the broth for the risotto (24 cups for 16 people!) and then moved to washing/chopping. After a few minutes, Marta, Wally and Lara came in and offered to help, and I *let* them wash and chop, but I objected that I had plenty of time and all was under control. After more time, Marta pressed me about whether I needed more help, and I pointed out it was only 5:30 when *she* then pointed out that the clock was stuck on 5:30 and that it was actually 6:20. Gulp!
They finished what could be done at that point in time, while I internally panicked. Fortunately, Debbie came in and I put her to work sauteeing egg-washed/floured chicken breast scallopine as I did them, and then poor Ethan offered to help and I talked him thru the process of making risotto from scratch. (Somewhere, Dick is smiling; it was 24 years ago that he first made risotto con funghi for me and then coached me thru my first attempt in the strictest Italian chef manner.)
With Debbie on chicken saute duty and Ethan on risotto duty, I got the green beans in (using mint/basil instead of dill, which NO ITALIAN SUPERMARKET SEEMS TO HAVE! While I like the dill better, the mint/basil mix was an inspired alternative, if I do say so myself.)
Upon arriving home, I promptly passed out in front of the computer, and then had my boneheaded moment of the day when I woke up. Walked into the kitchen and saw it was 5:30 -- great, two hours to get things ready. I started the broth for the risotto (24 cups for 16 people!) and then moved to washing/chopping. After a few minutes, Marta, Wally and Lara came in and offered to help, and I *let* them wash and chop, but I objected that I had plenty of time and all was under control. After more time, Marta pressed me about whether I needed more help, and I pointed out it was only 5:30 when *she* then pointed out that the clock was stuck on 5:30 and that it was actually 6:20. Gulp!
They finished what could be done at that point in time, while I internally panicked. Fortunately, Debbie came in and I put her to work sauteeing egg-washed/floured chicken breast scallopine as I did them, and then poor Ethan offered to help and I talked him thru the process of making risotto from scratch. (Somewhere, Dick is smiling; it was 24 years ago that he first made risotto con funghi for me and then coached me thru my first attempt in the strictest Italian chef manner.)
With Debbie on chicken saute duty and Ethan on risotto duty, I got the green beans in (using mint/basil instead of dill, which NO ITALIAN SUPERMARKET SEEMS TO HAVE! While I like the dill better, the mint/basil mix was an inspired alternative, if I do say so myself.)
With the beans in, I then switched my attention to making the chicken stock/lemon sauce for the Chicken Francese. Lisa, who happened along, took care of grating the parmesan and making the salad, God bless her.
Last thing to do was pour sauce over the chicken, stick it in the oven, taste test the risotto with Ethan for done-ness, and cut the bread.
To my amazement, things pretty much were done at roughly the same time, and at 8:20, I was able to call the rest of the family in for the dinner. Mike had remembered to open the Brunellos we picked up in Montalcini several hours before, so they were ready for us to enjoy.
All credit to Ethan for doing a superb job with that risotto, and everything else came out pretty good.
A very tired, happy-to-have-avoided-disaster moi had a couple glasses of wine and soaked up just how beautiful it was that this family was in Italy together (minus Kryssie's Amanda and Matt, Marta's Matt and family). I think that had to be my moment of grace for the day - really taking in that we were here, that they'd all made the time/commitment to be there, and that I'd been invited along too. Wow.
So what was basically a great day ended with one of my most favorite relaxing activities of all: cards! Brian was shuffling a deck and looking a little restless, so I asked him if he knew how to play Gin, and taught him. We got started, then Debbie joined in and the three of us went in search of a table and light. Brian picked it right up, and then Steve, Erica and Alyssa joined in and we switched to "I doubt it" aka "Bulls---". Much laughing as people were exposed in baldfaced lies and attempts to put down more cards than they said they were putting down, and damn if Alyssa didn't have the best poker face and played the game perfectly, innocently laying her last card down without any of us noticing, sweetly calling out after Brian played that "Did you notice that I laid down my last card?" Scary, to be honest. Don't play poker with that girl, Jim.
So, moment of grace: taking in the reality of this family gathering and how blessed we are to be able to do this. Boneheaded moment: the never-changing 5:30 pm clock - perfect for an eternal optimist like me.
So what was basically a great day ended with one of my most favorite relaxing activities of all: cards! Brian was shuffling a deck and looking a little restless, so I asked him if he knew how to play Gin, and taught him. We got started, then Debbie joined in and the three of us went in search of a table and light. Brian picked it right up, and then Steve, Erica and Alyssa joined in and we switched to "I doubt it" aka "Bulls---". Much laughing as people were exposed in baldfaced lies and attempts to put down more cards than they said they were putting down, and damn if Alyssa didn't have the best poker face and played the game perfectly, innocently laying her last card down without any of us noticing, sweetly calling out after Brian played that "Did you notice that I laid down my last card?" Scary, to be honest. Don't play poker with that girl, Jim.
So, moment of grace: taking in the reality of this family gathering and how blessed we are to be able to do this. Boneheaded moment: the never-changing 5:30 pm clock - perfect for an eternal optimist like me.
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