Italy

We're about to dump quite a few pictures on you.

Byrne spent a glorious few weeks in Italy this summer (Charlotte's summer adventures are coming soon!).

She took a cooking class. She visited a farmers market. She toured a winery and an olive... oilery? In other words, it was magic.

Olive man and his olive friends at a market in Puglia

Cucumbers, I was told

Fresh almonds! They're commonly eaten on ice, on the beach in southern Italy. Once you crack open the green, outer skin, there's another layer of thin, white, bitter skin, and at last, the almond. Tastes almondy, but less strong. Its what I imagine an acorn would taste like.

Capers! We bought some packed in salt (pictured here) and are canning them in vinegar ourselves.

A condiment ketchup sized chocolate espresso. Why don't they have these in the US?!

Lemons the size of our heads (literally)

One of many cannolis

Calzone "with salad"

Mr. Crabs

Buon appetito!

Stone Fruit Lattice Pie

So guess what. We made a lattice-top pie! And it was so easy!

(Easy as pie?)

Note: You must simultaneously drink chocolate milk out
of a mason jar while whisking the egg wash.

Stone Fruit Lattice Pie

Crust:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces

4-6 tablespoons cold water

Filling: 

7-10 sliced stone fruits (we used white peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Mix the flour, salt, and sugar together in a medium bowl.

2. Add the butter and combine, using a pastry cutter, two knives, or a food processor, until the largest pieces of butter are pea-sized.

3. Add the water, one tablespoon at a time, and form the dough into a ball.

4. Divide the dough into two flat disks. Put plastic wrap over the dough and refrigerate for 1 hour. 

5. Meanwhile, cut up the fruit and mix with the brown sugar and lemon. 

6. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit. Once the dough has been refrigerated, roll out the disks and place one into the pie plate. Trim the edges and, if desired, crimp the edges. Put the filling in the pie.
7. Cut the remaining rolled-out dough into strips. We used this guide to help us through the lattice top, and it was very helpful.
8. Optional: Whisk one egg and brush onto the lattice top. Sprinkle with sugar.
9. Bake the pie for 55 minutes or until the crust is golden and the fruit is soft and bubbly.

Miracle Fruit

Hi, we haven't written in awhile.

Because we're hooked on drugs...

Miracle Berry drugs, that is.

Don't worry. They're safe. They're little tablets made from dehydrated berries grown in an exotic place. Pop a pill, rub it on your tongue, and suddenly sour things taste sweet!

We found these here. 

We read more about them here.

We bought them here.

Here's the original line-up of food we were going to taste... 

But we went into a frenzied rush looking for random food to taste, and here's what our table looked like afterwards. 

In the end, citrus (especially lemon) had the most drastic and appealing change. Other favorites were strawberries, pinot grigio (ahem.. not that we tried that), pineapple and vinegar. 

Happy summer!