Gratitude Friday: Friends

This week, an old dear friend came to visit us with her husband and kids.  Laurie and I met at Sprachenschule, language school, when we had both first  moved to Hamburg, Germany in 1994.  Laurie had come over to live with her new love, Oliver, and I was there with Micha because he had just been promoted to run the German Division of Staples.  Both of us were bewildered and out of our element.  Our morning classes turned into lunch dates. Soon Laurie and I were unpacking her freshly arrived goods from the states and we were laughing about becoming German Hausfrauen.

Laurie always had an incredible eye for antiques, and soon she and Oliver were making trips to Sweden to scout the local markets for cool things to bring back and refinish.  I was the witness at their gorgeous November wedding, at the Witthues Restaurant in the Hirschpark of Blankenese, one of the most beautiful parts of Hamburg.  Micha was the official translator.

A few years later, Claire came to the world, and I would spend Wednesdays at Laurie's house, because Oliver had to work late.  We drank coffee and walked through the streets with the baby carriage.  

We both ended up moving close to each other, us in an apartment in Blankenese and they in a lovely historic home which they completely renovated.  We would walk to each other's house and bring breakfast.  Soon Eliot was born. We made each other cakes, we would dry each other's tears, we coped with all the changes in our foreign lives - together.  

And we both decided to leave Hamburg in 2003.

Me for Italy, and her for Washington.  My last nights in Hamburg were spent at Laurie and Oliver's, talking and eating, helping Claire with her homework.  They are unforgettable moments for me.  I will always remember the taxi which would take me to the airport when I departed for Italy -- I looked out the rear  window and saw Laurie standing in the street, crying.  We had just been through so much together.

So you can imagine what it meant for me to have the family here, even for three short days.  Claire is a leggy, gorgeous 11 year old, and Eliot a bright eyed and animated 8 year old.  We talked late into the night, drank too much wine, ate too much food.  It was heavenly.

Those of you who have been here have seen Laurie's antique picks from Sweden, they dot the rooms and the kitchen.  It was fun for her to see the pieces again.  And of course, I think of her every time I see them.

I am so thankful for this short visit, and that we both have put our time in Hamburg into historic perspective, and realize the growth opportunities it has given us.   We have both grown older, and wiser.  It was a gift, one to be very grateful for. Old dear friends.  Nothing like them.

Please visit more Gratitude Friday Club posts by my friends whose names are in the blogroll to the right.  It always pays to be grateful. Always.

Health Care, Italian Style

Dealing with slippery slope, the synapse-like labyrinth, the unrequited black hole that is Italian bureaucracy means taking everything you know about sensible behavior and tossing it onto the side of the autostrada like a half eaten piece of stale focaccia.

Michael is a German.  That means he is a citizen of the EU. In Italy, this means that if he has lived here for more than five years (he has) and that he has obtained a Permanent Residency Visa (he has) that he has the legal right to access to the Italian national health care system (SSN), no questions asked. That is Italian Law. 

So, it was with great anticipation that we visited our local office which handles health care (ASL22 ) (are you keeping these straight? I hope so) armed with his Permanent Residency Visa, with his German Passport, with his Italian identification card and with this Stato di Familia con Residenza ( a document proving that he lives with within the geographic area covered by ASL22 and costs 76 centissimi at your local commune) to get his Libretto di Medico (the Doctor Card -- this is the card which allows you access to a doctor who then sends you out to wherever you need to go for treatment).

The ASL22 Dude, as I will refer to the guy behind the counter from now on, glanced fleetingly at the pile of documents we placed before him and said, "No.  The law has changed."

The law has changed?  How?

"You need an E121 card from Germany.  Without that, you can have no coverage." He turned and walked away.

Hearts beating quickly after realizing that this was not going to be the no-brainer we thought it would, we went home and started looking in the Internet.  Anytime the Italian Bureaucracy Dudes ask you for something that begins with an E, it means you need to provide a  document which is part of a European Initiative.

E121 is a card which Non Italian EU member retirees moving for the first time to Italy must present at the local ASL to get enrolled in the health care system.

Micha, however, had been in Italy for five years, and is not yet an official German retiree.  

So, E121 does not apply.

We panicked, started looking for private coverage, requesting quotes from companies all over Europe. But Micha smelled a rat.  He started digging around on the internet to find a copy of the law regarding post-five-year-European-Union residents and the Italian health care system.

Sure enough, he found the clause... that every post-five-year-European-Union-citizen who held the Permanent Residency Certification for Italy has the legal right to be enrolled in the health care system.

Please try to keep this straight. There will be a quiz afterwards.

Our printer cartridge gave out while printing this ridiculously long document out.  Micha went to six stores, including where we bought the very normal, very average HP Deskjet F4180 printer and no one had the cartridge.  This put our return trip to ASL22 on hold while we drove in circles to find the cartridge.  But I digress into another Italian Nightmare -- shopping for necessities other than Food and Wine, specifically things computer related.  Another post.  Another day.

Back to the story.  We finally found the cartridge, printed the document.  This morning we returned to visit the ASL22 Dude.  He sensed our determination and did the only thing an incompetent low level Italian bureaucrat should do at that point - he sent us upstairs. 

We went upstairs to visit Signora Mazzona, the Lady in Charge, who was on the phone trying to solve some Swiss Person's Italian Health Care Horror Story when we arrived.  She looked at our documents, including the Permanent Residence Certification and then said we needed an E121 card.  

We strongly stated that Micha is not retired in the German system, and repeated that Micha is in posssession of the Permanent Residence Certification given only after five years of residence in Italy.  

She then said we needed an E120 card, which is the card given to people who have applied for retiree status and are waiting to hear from the retirement agency of their native EU country. We said no, Micha had not APPLIED for retiree status yet.  

She sighed. This was clearly not what she had in mind this morning.  

We gave her a copy of the law, which we had painfully downloaded from the internet over two days.  Lo and behold, she had the same document sitting on her desk. 

She read.  She blinked.  Oh, she said, you have the Permanent Residence Certification given only after five years of Residency!  I watched Micha's jugular vein. Pa-pump.  Pa-Pump. We bit our tongues and smiled sweetly. Si, we said excitedly, as if she had just split the atom before our very eyes.  

She then proceeded to call downstairs to ASL22 Dude's supervisor and read her the riot act in such a loud tone that it embarrassed us.  

"He has the RIGHT to the system!! WHY ON EARTH DID YOU NOT LOOK AT HIS DOCUMENTS?  WHAT DID YOU SEND HIM UP HERE FOR?  I AM SENDING HIM DOWN AND YOU WILL GIVE HIM THE LIBRETTO DI MEDICO IMMEDIATELY!!!"

We thanked the Signora, and went downstairs.  

By this time, ASL22 Dude's supervisor was on her way upstairs for a formal dressing down.  We walked up to ASL22 Dude's window.  He says, " I'm not giving you anything!  Go back upstairs!" and walked away.  Again.

We went back up stairs, listening to the screeching coming out of Signora Mazzona's office. I opened the door.  Signora Mazzona stopped shouting at the supervisor, turned to me and said, "Yes, what is it?" and I told her that ASL22 Dude had sent us back up.  Why, she asked.  I have no idea, I said.  

She put her hand on her forehead.  I thought she might faint.  ASL Dude's supervisor took the chance to escape, and led us out of  Signora Mazzona's office and calmy walked with us back downstairs, where she printed out a Libretto di Medico for Micha, and said good-bye to us in the nicest of tones.

ASL22 Dude did not even look up.

So there you have it.  Micha has his libretto, ASL22 Dude still has a job for which he is not the slightest bit qualified, his boss took the heat for him, and we are now buddies with the Lady in Charge.  

Studio Ceramic Series: Painting the Bowls

Today I made ceramic high-fire paint, called engobe, to paint the bowls I made this week.  I made  7 different paints:  a soft turquoise, a stronger turquoise, a soft blue, a stronger blue, a rust brown, a soft green, and a white.  This paint is made by mixing grog (fired clay which has been milled to a fine powder) and clay powder.  To this mixture we add oxides  -- chrome, cobalt, iron and copper -- and carbonates (copper and cobalt --- these are the softer colors) and dilute the mixtures with water.  In the picture above, the bowl to the left was painted with cobalt oxide engobe, the next with iron oxide, the third with chrome oxide, and the fourth with copper oxide.

I know, too much information.  

I then carved into the semi hard clay and made some designs.  Each of these bowls requires a different glaze, and these are basically tests.  They first now need to be bisque fired, then glazed, then high fired.  

I am particularly excited about the iron oxide bowl, the orange-brown one.  If this one comes out as I think it might, I will make a series in this design.

I will keep you posted!

Market Day 7.24.09 Acqui Terme

Honey from my neighbor Maria Sciutto,  along with Robiola DOP goat cheese, aged to creamy perfection. 

Perfect zucchini flowers

Roma Tomatoes for making sauce

Greens stand, to the left coriander, to the right portulak

These are two of the sweetest vendors in the whole place.

Portulak, up close and personal.  It is eaten as a salad and resembles a cross between spinach and water cress.

My market booty.

Food shopping takes on a whole new meaning at the farmers' market. I remembered to bring my camera this time, and shoot some of the products and people that make market day so enjoyable.   

The Cooking Couple Does Pizza Margherita

Our kids have struck out on TV once more on Connecticut style... It's Pizza Time....

The Gratitude Friday Club

In the grand scheme of things, being grateful might be small, but it is very important.  I started the idea of posting the things for which I am grateful really for myself -- to get my gratitude out of the world of the nebulous and into concrete words in cyberspace that I could go back to them and read them when times get tough. You all responded with warmth and enthusiasm.  Thank you for that.  And today, I introduce the Gratitude Friday Club, made up of bloggers who want to participate.  If you have contacted me and said you want to actively participate on your blog and I somehow missed linking you up, or if you wish to do so and don't see your name on the blogroll, just leave me a comment with your link -- I will get you right on there.  I don't want anyone to feel compelled to do this, it is just as wonderful if you read and get joy out of the comments of others.  

You just need to write a Friday post about the things you are grateful for, and link it back here to me at Creative Structures.

This week I have gads of stuff to be grateful for. After fighting the bureaucracy and running from office to office, my Permanent Residency Permit to stay in this country arrived.  Whew.  And, although the law has changed concerning foreigners and health coverage, I managed to get my insurance here renewed for another five years-- with the help of some very nice people at the Commune.  They conspired to help me, and I am very grateful.  

I got back on the pottery wheel after more than a year. For so many reasons, I could not work on the wheel -- the extreme weather, the construction which turned the studio into a warehouse, the work, and my own not feeling great or creative.  That's all over.  I am  back at it, and it is wonderful.

We had a wonderful week with our guest Diana who flew home yesterday. Today we get guests from Germany and Great Britain.  The pool and the fried sage leaves await them.

My brother in law lost his mother this week, which was sad.  But she lived to be 90 years old and only suffered one day before passing.  We should all be so lucky.  My sympathy and blessings to the family.

The elderflowers have turned into elderberries and I will be making elderberry soup this week as a dessert, with mascarpone cream.  The markets are so full of gorgeous stuff, if I go there with a 10 euro bill, I come home with enough fantastic produce to last us for days.  

And I slept thru. Twice in a week. That is a record. I do not believe I have done that in many years.  Boy, does good sleep make a huge difference. 

And my friends, I am grateful for every single one of you.  For making me feel like this is a good idea.  

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.

 

Eating Like a King (for Pennies) In Italy Part 2

I have heard of cheap but this is ridiculous.  One kilo of baby zucchini with flowers attached, that would be 2.2 American pounds, for 1 Euro, or $1.40.  I found them at the farmers' market.  We have an area of the market which is strictly dedicated to local farmers who bring their ware.  They do not have to pay any taxes on their income-- they have a special permit and can just bring the things out of their garden, whatever they have, and sell the produce in this one area.  This time of year, going there is such a pleasure!  I am going to try to hit the market after breakfast next Tuesday and bring my camera.  For now, these zucchini photos will have to suffice.

Besides making grilled zucchini, I dipped the flowers in  a batter of flour, milk, egg, salt and pepper, sauteed them in olive oil and made these beautiful snacks for our guests' aperitivo in the evening.

This delicacy, for 4 people, minus the cost of the actual zucchini (which I used for something else) cost me approximately  1 euro, including the olive oil, the eggs and the milk.  And a bit of love and time.  You GOTTA love that!!

Studio Ceramic Series: Behind the Wheel

After what has been a very long hiatus, I finally got behind the pottery wheel yesterday and started working. I am busy making things to fill the oven for a long-overdue bisque firing.  One order is for guests who bid and won three pieces of ceramic artwork during Gina DePalma's Cowgirl Cure Auction to benefit Ovarian Cancer Research.  Two others are for a mixture of muesli bowls, plates, cups, and serving pieces.  

People often tell me that they would love to learn how to use the pottery wheel.  It is so intriguing.  The reality is that the only way to learn how to throw pots well is practice and patience.   It  takes time and concentration.  One must be able to clear one's mind.   If your mind is too busy when you work on the pottery wheel, the piece will go off-center because you are not focused enough.

It takes a centered mind to throw a centered pot.

The next phase is cleaning the bottoms, removing any excess, and painting with engobe, which is a mixture of grog, quartz, a bit of clay, coloring oxides and water.   Then they will dry for a couple of days and it will be time for the first firing, during which I will mix the glazes to prepare for the second firing.

A Midsummer Dream

Diana helping me clean the sardines and anchovies

Preparation for the Pasta Salad

Fresh Anchovies waiting to be cleaned

Roasted Peppers filled with Anchovies

The last of the sardines before they got scarfed down!

Our friends, Mara and Enrico

Diana, our friend and guest from Berkley. 

Our main course was roasted chicken with rosemary and garlic,  and a pasta salad Caprese, made with mozzarella, tomatoes and basil. 

Mara and Enrico brought these amazing gelato treats called "Dopo Cena" from Visconti, our very favorite Gelato shop in Acqui.

Good friends, good food, good wine.  Balmy temperatures, no humidity, an afternoon swimming and lazying around by the pool, followed by a slow food, slow moving dinner.  

It just does not get any better than this!

By the way, if you want to come and stay in this part of  Piemonte but would prefer an apartment over a hotel or B&B, my friends Enrico and Mara have the perfect place.

Here is where you will find the details...

One more thing.  Gratitude Friday is a resounding success, thanks to you!  I will be putting up the new Gratitude Friday blog roll this week. If you would like to participate on your blog, post the things you are grateful for on Friday, and link it back here to Creative Structures. The more gratitude that we put out there, the more the Universe will open doors to our own personal contentment.  

Happy Sunday, everyone!

 

Gratitude Friday

Friday will be dedicated to giving thanks for the things that bless life in so many ways.  By doing this, I am hoping to inspire others that, despite immediate circumstances and difficulties, there are things happening around us that are good and enrich our lives which we need to be acutely aware of.  Being grateful makes everything so much easier, even the burdens.  In fact sometimes the burdens are there to open the door to new opportunities -- and we are better for having gone through rough patches.

If you would like to participate in Gratitude Friday, you can do it in two ways:   either post a comment here with something you are grateful for in your life, or write a blog post yourself on your blog, and link it back to me.  I will track the participating blogs and make a blogroll of the participants.

Sometimes we can think of dozens of things to be grateful for, sometimes finding just one is an achievement. It is not about quantity.  

Today, I am grateful:

for this great, rich cup of coffee which is helping me wake up after a difficult night.

for our guest and friend Diana who has flown here from the West Coast by herself to relax and  just be --it is her second visit and it is wonderful to have her here.

that after a long dry spell, my creative energy and motivation is coming back and I want to feel clay in my hands once more.

for the unbelievable peaches and plums which are coming in  in droves right now!

that despite some difficult personal moments this week, I am feeling a strong sense of myself.

for the three yoga work outs I did this week and for having the pool to dive into afterwards!  What luxury!

so.... what are you  grateful for?  Tell us!!

Insalata Nizzarda

Last night was another "wine tour" evening, and I decided on a different salad.  This is a variation on a traditional Nicoise Salad, or Insalata Nizzarda as it's called in  Italian.  I did not use potatoes as we also had a main pasta course.  This salad was composed of steamed artichoke hearts, tuna fish, more of the those yellow string beans, tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, capers and chives.  I mixed a fast dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard and a touch of honey, salt and pepper.   It was a perfect salad for a hot evening, and we served it with a local chardonnay and grissini on the side.  

Dinner 13.7.09

Yellow String Bean Salad

Our guests went on a wine tour with Micha yesterday.  While they were away, I prepared a light dinner.  We have learned that after a wine tour, people don't want to really go out anymore.  They don't want to have to sit through a long dinner, and they might have indulged too much in the afternoon to drive safely.  So we include a light dinner in the tour now.  

This time I made three summer dishes:  a lentil salad with red and yellow peppers, pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil and mascarpone, and string bean salad.  The idea for the string bean salad came yesterday morning when our neighbor gave us a huge bag of yellow string beans he had just picked.  

It was a beautiful balmy evening, filled with wonderful company and interesting conversation.  The kind of evening you want to capture and hold on to.  

Here is the recipe for the string bean salad:

one pound of fresh string beans, ends snapped and cut in half

one red onion, very thinly sliced

handful tarragon

red pepper corns

half cup cubed pancetta (smoked variety)

Dressing:

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

2 tablespoons honey

quarter cup olive oil

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Juice and rind of one orange

sea salt to taste

Fry the pancetta in a bit of olive oil.  Let cool. 

Boil the beans until tender.  Rinse in cold water.

Mix the dressing ingredients together. 

Toss the pancetta, onions, red peppercorns and the beans together.

Add the dressing and toss well.  

Prepare this at least an hour in advance to let the flavors blend, and then serve at room temperature.

Buon Appetito!

ITALIAN BLOGGERS STRIKE

It will be the first strike of bloggers ever.
On July 14, 2009, Italian bloggers will muzzle themselves in the Web as well as in Piazza Navona in Rome, at 7PM where they will meet to protest against an Italian government bill (the Alfano decree) introducing a number of new rules which will limit the freedom of expression in Italian internet.The so-called "obligation to rectify" imposed to the manager of an information site (blogs, social networks such as Facebook, Twitter etc) clearly appears to
be a pretext. In fact such imposition, in termsof bureaucratization of the net-work and of very heavy penalties for users, shall make of the new decree an internet-killer.
The practical effects shall be to cause the independent sites and blogs tocease or materially reduce their publications. The apparent intent of introducing criteria of responsibility hides the attempt to make life difficult or impossible for bloggers and users of shared sites (for example: You Tube...)
The fact is that bloggers are already entirely liable, from a penal standpoint,in the event of crimes such as insults, defamation etc: there is no need tointroduce unbearable penalties for "citizen-journalists" who do not intend tosubmit themselves to the bureaucracy and the burdens contemplated in theAlfano decree.
The plurality of information, regardless of the media, internet, newspapers,radio and tv networks etc, is a fundamental right of men and citizens, onwhich democracy and freedom are based. The Alfano decree is an attack to the freedom of all media, from the major newspapers to the smallest blog.For this reason we invite all Italian blogs and sites to a day of silence, in the
day in which newspapers and tv networks will also remain silent. It is a message of all operators in the media world, who jointly shout to the political world: "we don not want to be gagged".
We therefore invite all citizens with a blog or a site to publish this logo and mantain it for the entire day of July 14 next.
Defending the press, the tv and radio networks, the journalists and the Web,we firmly defend the basic freedom of information and the future of our democracy.

Alessandro Gilioli
Guido Scorza
Enzo Di Frenna

To participate or for more information- go toDiritto alla Rete

If you don't speak out- you can be silenced- Freedom of Speech is our right.




Trovi altre fotografie come questa suDiritto alla Rete

Read more:http://divinacucina.blogspot.com/2009/07/italy-strike-against-ddl-alfano-speak.html#ixzz0LDksdPKu&C

Zucchini Muffins

Zucchini Muffins served this morning with focaccia, coppa di Parma and mellon, fresh fruit and berry salad, insalata Caprese, yogurt and muesli

This is the time of year when everyone in Italy is trying to figure out new ways to use zucchini.  A few years ago, when I planted twenty plants, I would find that whatever I had forgotten to pick or had not seen the day before had developed into a football or basketball by the next day.  In Gina DePalma's book Dolce Italiano there is a fantastic recipe for zucchini and olive oil cake. I have made it several times and it's always a huge hit.  This time, I decided to make a slightly different recipe for zucchini muffins.

3 cups grated zucchini/corgettes

2/3 cup melted butter

1 1/3 cups sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons baking soda

pinch salt

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ground

1/2 cup nuts ( I used hazelnuts)

1/2 cup raisins

Preheat your oven to 175 C or 350 F

In your mixer bowl, mix together sugar, eggs and vanilla

Add zucchini, butter, and mix at low speed.  Sprinkle over this mixture the salt and baking soda.

In a seperate bowl, mix the cinnamon, nutmeg and flour.  Add this, with the mixer at a low/medum speed, spoonful by spoonful to the zucchini/egg mixture.

Fold the nuts and raisins into the batter by hand.

Fill a buttered and floured muffin tin.  This recipe makes 12 muffins. 

Buon Appitito.

Ten Graditudes

Today I am grateful for so much, it is almost overwhelming for me to think about.  When we look around at our lives, it is so easy to see the tedious and forget the magical.  Let's take a moment to step back and to focus on the blessings which are showered on us from every direction by a Spirit borne of love.

I am so grateful, today, that my brother in law Rick Litts had a clear colonscopy.  He is recovering from rectal cancer and received a clean bill of health yesterday.

I am so grateful, today, that my friend Gina DePalma, chef and author, received the news that her CT scan is completely clear.  She is an ovarian cancer survivor.

I am so grateful, today, that my mother, a breast cancer survivor, received a clean bill of health from her doctor this week and that her blood pressure is perfect.  

I am so grateful, today, that my current guests have enjoyed a week of warm, beautiful weather, that they have slept well and fully relaxed.

I am so grateful, today, that I feel good, that I have gotten healthy sleep, and that I am strong enough to do the work and task at hand.

I am so grateful, today, that I have good food to eat and a roof over my head.  

I am so grateful, today, that I have a partner with whom I share this interesting life, someone who interests me and challenges me, someone who I love and who loves me.

I am so grateful, today, for the friends that give me support and cheer me on.  I am especially grateful today for my friends Nancy Greer, who knows me better than I know myself, and my friend Megan McCaffrey who is constantly pushing me forward with her positive energy.

I am grateful, today, that I got all my personal laundry done because there are going to be a ton of sheets to do tomorrow!  :)

I am grateful, today, for every beautiful breeze I felt, for every flower I observed, for the blueness of the sky and the warmth of the sun.

Please, in your comments, tell us all something that you are grateful for, today!  Share your gratitude here and let's be grateful -- for each other.

Diana and Micha by Julia and Jay

copyright Julia Russell  www.juliarussel.com

My friend and guest Julia Russell's photo of Micha and I.  I really, really love this photo because of its humanity.  It feels--like us.  Thank you Julia, it's beautiful.  In our slightly aging selves, the love shines through.

Wait, wait.... didn't Jay  take this one??  

More Breakfast Treats

Piemontese Goat Cheese

Homemade German Wholegrain Bread with Raisins and Hazelnuts

Puff Pastry Treats with Almonds, Lavender and Peach Jam

Morning Mood

Strawberries with Balsamico and Mint

Peaches filled with Hazelnuts, Brown Sugar and Lavender

Watermelon with Coppa di Parma

In the early morning, the mist of the light rain passes, the fog lifts, the sun streams through, and the inspiration to prepare something beautiful and delicious once again stirs...

To have guests who appreciate this kind of inspiration is priceless.

Have a beautiful, inspiring, delicious day.

Focaccia Fundamentals

Walk into any panificio in this country and you will find one of the country's most beloved bread products, focaccia, a wonderful, slightly oily flat bread which is  surprisingly simple to make if you have a few simple ingredients and a little time.

Focaccia with Sage, Red Onions and Pink Peppercorns

(250 degrees Celcius)

3.5 cups flour 

1 cup warm water

1 package dry yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon salt

In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Wait a few minutes until it starts to foam.

With the mixer set on low, slowly add the flour.  Mix the salt with 2 tablespoons of water and throw that in as well.

Add the olive oil and mix until the dough becomes a unified ball.  

Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead until smooth.  Cover on all sides with olive oil, place in a bowl covered with saran wrap and let it sit for an hour in a warm spot.  (I did a double recipe)

After an hour, the dough should have doubled in size.  Turn it back out onto a  floured suface and punch down.

I divided the double recipe into four equal pieces.  I made one for arriving guests this evening, one is in the fridge to be baked for breakfast, and two went into the freezer.

Place on an oiled baking sheet.  Push the dough from the center to the outer edges.  No rolling allowed.  Then poke it all over with a fork and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Place a bowl of water at the bottom of a preheated 250 degree Celcius oven.  Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

I topped this one with red onions, sage, olive oil, coarse salt and pink peppercorns.

Light, airy, delicious.  Buon Appetito!