week-end | Jillian In Italy

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Friday

It’s Friday folks. And I couldn’t be happier about it. Getting into the early morning school routine is always so difficult after a vacation. And the snowy weather the last few days really made me want to cocoon at home with the kids in front of the fire.

During the snowstorm yesterday I made these Oatmeal Raspberry Squares (raspberry variation of these from The Pioneer Woman). They are just so amazingly delicious. And I realize I say that about every recipe I post about on this blog but I just have a talent for finding and trying out recipes that are delectable. Might help that the majority involve large quantities of brown sugar and butter.

These squares are so quick and simple to whip up. In less than 10 minutes prep time they were in the oven baking. And I just want to boast about the fact that I didn’t even try one tiny little piece of these bars when I made them yesterday. My no-sugar-during-the-week rule is still on (5 months) and even though it took every ounce of self-control my body had to offer I made it until today to have a taste (past noon on Friday is considered week-end to me). Yesterday evening I watched my family devour them and ooh and aah about how yummy they were and I sat there, with my jaw tightly clenched, and resisted the urge to shove my face in the pan and polish off the entire thing. Round of applause please.

Another little piece of news is that my Embroidery With Kids craft is on Disney’s Spoonful blog at the moment. Exciting stuff.

I also wanted to share the link for this recipe for Indian Butter Chicken Meatballs. I made it for the family this week and and it was a huge hit, So much flavour and simple to make up beforehand. My kids all said it was one of their favorite meals (ALL of them…it’s a miracle).

Besides going to an Irish Dance Show on Saturday evening, we have a very relaxing and low-key week-end planned. Lots of walks in the woods, pancakes and some puppy-sitting for friends. Hope you all have a lovely week-end!

Tags: Butter Chicken Meatballs, disney spoonful blog, embroidery with kids, photography, raspberry oatmeal squares, week-end

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Categories Creative, Recipes

Montagna e Citta

20 Aug

This past week-end was definitely the hottest of the entire summer so far. It was pushing 40 degrees, humid and the type of weather that makes me want to laze on the couch all day with a fan blowing in my face. But surprisingly enough the heat didn’t stop us from getting out and exploring our local surroundings. We are so fortunate to have so many beautiful spots within such a short drive from our home.

This week-end we decided to do one day of nature (less than an hour drive to our north) and one day of city and culture (less than an hour drive to our south). Besides the heat, being stuck for four hours in traffic due to a cycling race in a small town and the last day of my son’s flu, it was an absolutely lovely week-end.

Bright and early on Saturday morning we headed out to the local mountains for a hike in the woods. We arrived in Maccagno, a small town near the Swiss border on Lago Maggiore, and started our ascent by car up the narrow winding roads to the start destination for our hike. After about 20 minutes we arrived, some of us a slight shade of green, and ready for some fresh mountain air.

We hiked out in the open sun for about half an hour before reaching the nice refreshingly cool forest. We then had about an hour and a half walk up towards Passo Focora where we enjoyed the views of the mountains and lake and ate a very heavy “mountain meal” consisting of local cheeses and polenta with deer stew (to the horror of our kids, “You’re eating bambi?”).

Rusty rest spot in the middle of the woods

We then returned down the mountain to our car that was sitting in the 38 degree sun and rushed (as much as you can down those mountain roads) to the lake for a nice cool swim.

After such a wonderful day in nature we decided to head to Milan on Sunday for some culture and our usual Chinatown visit and meal. When we arrived in Milan it was an absolute ghost town. The streets were empty of people and cars. Apparently everyone flees the city in August due to the construction holidays and the oppressing heat and humidity.

We decided to check out our favorite photography museum (Forma) to see two really beautiful exhibits. One was from Saul Letier and included many photographs of every day life from New York in the 50’s and the other was a collection of photos of gypsy families from Romania and Slovakia by Josef Koudelka. We really enjoyed both exhibits and would recommend anyone living in or near Milan to go check them out.

After the museum we made our way to Chinatown for a quick shop in the Chinese grocery stores and some lunch at our favorite Chinese restautant. On our return home we, of course, headed to the lake for an early evening dip and cool off.