The best idea I’ve had about this Christmas was to not invite anyone. After last year I fancied Christmas for us, with the food that we like. With no nerves, no stupid conversations at the table, having waited for the guests who were always late- my time was not important, right? Last year’s Christmas with the family left me pissed off, tired and frustrated.

I did ask my mum a few weeks ago if they’d come over, especially after the September flood has left Stronie looking like a warzone, but mum declined. So we had a lovely, relaxed Christmas, just Florek, Iza and me. And the cats. In terms of tradition I only made barszcz with uszka- yes, this year I could be bothered. On Christmas eve there were 2 courses, after barszcz I served some panfried plaice and prawns, clementine pie for dessert.

On Christmas Day we fancied steaks, so we had steaks. There were no fussy, ungrateful vegetarians to waste time on ( have you made the pastry from scratch? Have I ****, for you???!!). And then on Boxing Day the guests arrived! Yes, but guests unrelated to us, not those we felt we should invite, but those we were excited to celebrate with. Lara, Sergio and Ilan, Steve, Ale and Lydia. All arrived with food and wine. Steve made panettone from scratch. All great bunch to dine with, they loved my barszcz, turkey has flown off the plates and Ilan was disappointed he couldn’t have thirds. Port was a hit and we taught Sergio to say “wanker”. 🙂 Ale was surprised to find out why the work “anticipo” makes me giggle. Festive Italian lunch that finished …at 7pm.

Izzie said it was the best Christmas ever. I’m sure Nintendo DS had something to do with it. x

There is so much to learn, but I’m really enjoying the process! Last Sunday, finally dry with lovely spells of sunshine during an otherwise very wet autumn, we have taken out the nets the previous owner has left behind and for the first time ever took down the ripe olives from our few trees. We only have 9 trees, some of them very heavy with fruit, some had barely any, so we only ended up with 12kg of olives, which all fitted in a big Esselunga bag. That same afternoon we took it down to a local frantoio in Torre, which was closed, but two lovely blokes who were there said we could drop them off and come pick up our oil 2 days later.

Sergio and Lara, who have around 100 trees had a really impressive harvest.

On Tuesday afternoon, having picked up Izzie and Ilan from school we stopped at the frantoio. It was open and busy and the smell in there was astonishing! I wish it could be bottled and preserved! It was like a freshly cut grass, but oily, olive like super fresh scent. Lovely community feel in there too, people come over with their harvest, all chat and look inside, in spite of the sign Ingresso Vietato.

So, we brought home a small can of fresh, cloudy olive oil, some of which was made with our olives. It cost 6 euro to have it made. I baked a small sourdough with pecans to go with it and it was an absolute treat.

We keep learning new things. My project for next spring is a small veggie garden under the olive trees, which will have to be well planned, as we need to flatten out some of the big slope we have. Then I will give all the olive trees a decent cut, I hope if we look after them, they will be more productive.

Tons of happiness nevertheless.

Out of 3 dishes I have made with that chunk of cinghiale, the last one was excellent. I decided to mince the remaining meat I had leftover from Sunday. I purchased a small, silly looking mincer especially for that purpose, it was hard work, but I got there in the end. All of the veggies from the sauce went in, plus some soaked porcini and also some cup mushrooms and onions that I had fried, there is always space for more flavour. It needed no extra seasoning. This filling went into some very sexy pierogi, that were finished off with crispy guanciale ( excellent idea, taken my cholesterol levels) and enjoyed thoroughly by all three of us.

That done and finished I will shelve my cinghiale ambitions for the time being, I will happily enjoy it cooked by someone else.

Summer has finished so abruptly this year, it felt like somebody switched off the light at the beginning of September. Lots of rain immediately followed, the pool got covered over a month ago, jackets were taken out. Nectarines disappeared from Esselunga, but there are plums, wonderful dark purple plums, which which I have baked a couple of times and shared the cake with the neighbours.

A breath of fresh air in terms of my sourdough baking. I neglected my starter a bit and it become unattractive in looks and smell, so I made a new starter from scratch and also decided to reduce the bread recipe by half and bake smaller loaves regularly, without wasting too much. I now tend to take the starter out of the fridge in the morning, get it warmed up and bubbly at room temperature, prepare the bread in the evening, leave to rise on the worktop overnight and bake it first thing in the morning while getting ready for school. This morning’s loaf is a beauty;

It was enjoyed with some canned tuna, avocado and tomatoes.

I should also mention that we have finally gotten around to testing our blood, Florek and I and we both have high cholesterol. It’s very annoying, as I really don’t think I cook unhealthily. Yes, we love cheese, but do we eat too much of it? Butter and full fat milk, yes, all the way, but in moderation, I think! And yet the numbers were ugly. I have started my daily pilates again, something must be done ( but butter stays!!).

With the help of Lau I have bought a chunk of wild boar meat( kinder in terms of cholesterol than regular pork), divided it in half and got cooking. The first batch was turned into cinghiale ragu, I used the recipe from youtube. It wasn’t a revelation, it must be said. We all ate it, but all agreed that my other, traditional ragu is much more exciting on the plate.

Last night after defrosting the other part of the meat I cooked it in the slow cooker, without recipe this time, following my instinct. Served in its own sauce with kluski slaskie and a lovely roasted beetroot salad. Again, nice, ok, not mind blowing in anyway. The roasted cinghiale Nadia treated us to a few weeks ago was the kind of plate to aim for. Still, I have some left for Wednesday lunch time, Steve will come over and help us chop up the mimosa tree that has fallen last weekend.

And the next weekend it will be time for our first ever olive harvest! Even if we get a bottle or 2 of olive oil from those few trees we have here- still, we’re doing it!