Come Dine With Me! - Vieni a cenare con me!

We accepted this invitation from our friends, the Guidara family, and had an amazing time! The previous post shows the olive harvesting experience. Now we will share the dinner experience!

But before dinner we harvested a few olives from some ot the Guidara's 300 olive trees.

It required donning "harvesting footwear" then dragging the nets to the orchard where we used small hand-held rakes to shake the olives off the tree. 

The women were called in from the orchard by Nonna Rosita who insisted that each of them took a turn shaping the homemade pasta. She rubbed and warmed up our hands before showing us how to place the small ball of pasta on the knitting needle and roll it into the correct shape. At age 93, this Sicilian born sweetheart has had LOTS of experience making this type of pasta. We asked what the shape is called and chuckled when she told us is called "macaroni". 

Her daughter-in-law, Silvia, cooked up the pasta and served it in a delicious mushroom sauce. Stuffed cabbage rolls and a chicory sauté came next followed by sweet and delectable dessert.  

The Mumfords, Weeds, Boyntons and Sanos considered it a great blessing to experience the hospitality and friendship of...

...the kind and generous Guidara family in their beautiful farm home in the Italian countryside. 

(An interesting side note: As we chatted, Elder Weed, who served in Italy as a young missionary, recalled Silvia's maiden name of Perticaroli to a family he knew when he was here in the early 1970's. She confirmed it and we all celebrated the connection! He told us that he has an old photo of the Perticaroli family. They deduced that Silvia would have been just 2-years-old. What a small world/piccolo mondo it is!)

Olive Oil 101 - An Italian Education

 An invitation from our Italian friends to tour an Olive Oil Processing plant was an opportunity not to be missed!! It was interesting and very educational. 

Olives are harvested from October through December by placing large nets on the ground below the tree and reaching up with vibrating rakes to shake the branches which makes the olives fall into the nets.

Italy is the world's second largest producer of olives. 

Independent olive growers from the area can bring their harvest to this processing plant and take home the oil from their own home-grown olives. First the olives are washed and separated from the stems and leaves.

Then the clean olives bounce their way into the plant...

....and through the grinder until the oil is extruded...

,,,into a large tank for a final clarifying. The acidity level of the oil determines its grade: Extra Virgin oil comes from same-day harvest with an acidity of less than 0.8%. Virgin olive oil is between 0.08 and 2%. The lowest quality is called lampante olive oil which is not edible but can be used as fuel in oil lamps and has an acidity level of higher than 2%.  

Then into the container it goes, ready for transport to kitchens around the world!! Another thing we learned is that the shelf life of olive oil is about 18 months IF it is kept away from its enemies which are....air and light. The experts say that the best place to store olive oil is under the kitchen sink. 

The remnants of the olive is not wasted. The mash is separated and the broken seeds of the olives are dried and packaged as wood stove pellets/fuel. The wet stuff (which looks like brown manure - but is not stinky) is sent to be recycled into bio fuel. You are now graduates of a course on Olive Oil 101! Boun appetito!!  

Villa Borghese

With tickets in hand to the Borghese Art Gallery, we arrived early with the intent of seeing the grounds first. However, it didn't take long to realize that a quick walk around would NOT be sufficient to absorb the immense green spaces, beautiful tree lined pathways, fountains, monuments, and other attractions contained within the 200 acres of this amazing park!    

Into the Galley we went and here are some unforgettable sights from the Bernini collection. We have become big fans of the talented Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680), super star of the art world!!

 

Bernini - "The Rape of Proserpina", 1622. Pluto has a firm grip on her thigh and the stone shows the indentations...wow! 

Bernini - "Apollo and Daphne", 1625. Apollo's limbs from marble in suspended motion. Daphne is morphing to a tree to escape Apollo's touch and her toes are growing fine web-like roots...crazy talent!

Bernini - "David", 1624. How do you chip away at stone to get that rope for his slingshot?! 

Bernini -"Aeneas", the man carrying his father, "Anchises", on his shoulders as they flee from the burning Troy and his baby boy, "Ascanius", clinging to his leg. 1618 - 1619. The detail of the feet on each person was amazing....strong healthy man's feet, chubby baby feet and boney older man's feet...fascinating!

Of course there were many, many other artists featured in the 20 room gallery full of sculptures, paintings, mosaics, etc, etc, but 2 hours was the allotted time of our tickets. Now we could explore the park. A mini-train ride helped us to see some of the vast gardens of the Villa Borghese. Here are just a VERY FEW of the sights we want to remember....

The Aviary.

The Gardens of Diana.

A stroll along tree-lined pathways.

Fountains and meadows.

Something lovely to behold around every turn.  We are so glad to have spent a day at the Villa and Galleria Borghese!!

Friends, Food, Farewell

 

Gatherings like this one happen now and again usally...

...when we are saying "farewell and thanks" for service at the temple. 

This yummy goodbye was for Dale Bowen (on the left) at Break Bar Burger owned by a couple who have begome his close friends during his time in Rome. Those friends served up a delicious four-course Italian feast for all of us. At the end of a very delightful evening, we emotionally sang to Dale, the hymn "God Be With You" followed by the rousing, clapping patriotic Italian fight song "Bella Caio". It was a great evening!