Luke is 18 months old!

Can you believe our little rascal is already 18 months old? We certainly can't but even so, here he is in all his 18 month old glory. He spent his big day celebrating with his favorite food and newest word: pizza! It sounds more like pitsa when we says it, but we get the picture. You will, too, when you see all the ways and places he enjoyed eating his birthday pie, pizza margherita, naturally. He can be such a napolitano sometimes!

Fatto il Nocino

Since my last post about all things edible here in our garden, I realized the walnut tree I had not noticed until now is hanging full of green, unripe nuts that in their hulls look more like small pears than the shell nuts we start seeing around the holidays. I noticed Antonio had cut one in half to check the progress of the nut inside, or so I thought. What he may have been doing was seeing how soft the shells still were. In many regions, Italians make an cordial from the unripe walnuts called nocino (walnuts are called noce). I have never been offered nocino here around Naples, but I read that it is the after-dinner drink of choice in Florence.

At any rate, I decided to try my hand at making some even through I admittedly got a late start. Traditional lore holds that you make nocino with the green walnuts picked on the Feast of St. John the Baptist, which I believe is June 24. Over two weeks late and with no experience, I made a half-batch just to see how it would go. The nuts are a little dicey to quarter at this stage, so a good knife is essential. I used one given to us by Lois Ricci, a friend from Atlanta and an excellent cook and caterer, especially of Italian food. It seemed like I was finally using the knife for its destined purpose.

To these, you add spices like cinnamon sticks, cloves, and lemon peel, and sugar to counter the coming bitterness from the walnuts. This all sits around in your distillate of choice for 40 days. You shake it once or twice a day and watch the neon green colored jar start turning toward the brown-black it will eventually become. I'll spare you a photo of the latter, but Ben described it as a science fair experiment gone horribly wrong. We'll know for sure in another few weeks when I will strain and decant it. Most people recommend mellowing it until Christmas, so we may never even get to taste it if I can't bring it back with us. That may not be a bad thing, though, if you could see the state it is in now.

A Moveable Feast

We enjoying a "stay-cation" as Ben calls it here at home this week. Ben is off work, but we are just taking this time to enjoy our home here and the very welcome cooler temperatures the past few days. There is finally a good breeze blowing again, after several weeks of stifiling heat and humidity.

Luke had his first dental exam yesterday, with all going well and as expected....even the clenched teeth and screaming when the dentist had to actually examine his mouth. He took it all in stride, though, and was rewarded with an afternoon of splashing and napping at the pool.

Today, we have been working around the house. Ben and I went to the garden to pick some fruit and see what's coming in season soon. We found the last of the peaches, two types of plums, huge basil, and of course, lemons. They seem to be available from spring to fall. We will miss being able to just step outside and find this variety of fresh fruit and vegetables. Maybe this will force us to grow a good garden when we move back and find our own little patch of earth to till and plant.

On this one little plot of land, our landlord, Antonio, grows:

• Cherries
• Peaches, both white and yellow
• Figs, green and black
• Black plums, prune and regular
• Oranges
• Tangerines
• Lemons
• Green beans
• White grapes
• Persimmons
• Loquat
• Eggplant
• Tomotoes
• Basil
• Fava beans
• Peppers
• Walnuts
• Winter squash
• Zucchini
• Broccoli
• Broccoli rabe
• Cauliflower
• Friarelli (bitter greens)

I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but you get the picture of the abundance a small home garden can produce. Add the fresh eggs to the mix, and it's a great admonition to eating local, very local!