Dementors, Dead Bunnies, and Deliciousness...

This week at work it's back outside for me! I'm happy whether in the kitchen or in the garden, although the day could have been a bit better if the sun had been shining and there wasn't any weird fogginess that makes me think dementors are coming (oh, Harry Potter is fiction? It isn't in Revanna's world). The morning started off a little sad because when I went to give the bunnies their food I found one dead. It's little eye just staring off into space. Now, don't worry this was neither Howard nor Stern but a new bunny. We got two new female bunnies, they're (or were) white and pretty. For a while I thought there was just one new bunny and she was just really fast at getting around...but then I realized there were two that looked exactly the same. Before I figured out that there were two I named the new "one" Jasmine, when I figured out there was a second one I just couldn't think of a name that fit, I guess I subconsciously knew she was going to last. Poor girl. The worst part was that Guiliano carried her around in an empty soil bag while showing me the work for the day. He was so nonchalant about it.

I was a little nervous about how the day would turn out...dead bunnies and dementors are not really a good start. But it turned out pretty good! Tobey and Michael made us all lunch in the Capana:

Meatballs, rice, salad, fresh bread, and these little fried spinach balls. Let's just say that before lunch my pants were on the loose side and I was wishing I had a belt...after lunch they fit just perfect.

(I realize this picture is terrible. The only person who is actually smiling is Guiliano, who was the only person who wasn't really paying attention when I said "Everyone look over here!". I think they were hungry.)

Oh, and Tobey's Apple Pie for dessert.

Wow. Yum.

Happy 'not so sunny' Sunday!

Here's the view on a 'normal' day!Isn't that crazy!

Oh, yum!

Today was a great day for eating. It started with a trip down to the favorite coffee shop for pastries and espresso. I always choose the croissants with the pastry cream filling, its more like eating dessert for breakfast and they are so delicious. Then it was supposed a trip to the market for fried, stuffed olives, but alas today is a holiday in Italy and the market was closed. This was sad because I haven't had those olives for 7 days and I am feeling a definite hankering. As Plan B we went to the Trout Festival in this cute hillside town. This was a bit of a disappointment because it was really a garage sale that had some farmed fish swimming in a pool. But, I did pick up this little round sweet bread that was drenched in boozy syrup...it was moist, squishy, so sweet, and fantastic.

So, although I got home without my fried olive balls I was happy because I knew a fridge full of Petraia treats and I was getting psyched for a scrumptious lunch!

Pecorini Polenta topped with Sauteed Spinach and Zolfini beans with Tomato. So good....

And supper was only going to be better...

A Petraia duck breast (yes, one of the ones I may have plucked!!), Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Roasted Petraia Asparagus.

The picture didn't really turn out because it was so hot and steamy, although it does have a slightly dream-like look to it...I would have no problem dreaming about succulent duck breast all night, would you?

The night ended with a brownie made by Tobey, it had carmel sauce in it and coarse salt sprinkled on top...oh me, oh my.

It has been a delicious day in Tuscany and the best part is I'm planning on getting tomorrow and doing it all again...

One of Petraia's Kitchens

Petraia has three kitchens, the main one used for service and general cooking, the pastry kitchen, and the breakfast/pasta/butchery kitchen. They are all amazing. It's not often that you find a kitchen that is both functional, esthetically appealing, and has windows!
This is a picture of the main kitchen:
It has a built in fryer and pasta water boiler, nooks and crannys for everthing, a wood burning stove and oven, and awesome 'drawer' fridges, and these are only some of it's good points!

For the past week I have been responsible for lighting and maintaing the wood stove and oven. I've been putting my Boy Scout skills to use, thats right, no wimpy Girl Guides for me, I'm way more hardcore than that.

The stove is easy and the oven is just HOT...like 550F hot. Like my arms have no arm hair left from sticking them in while retrieving the burning coals. Every day when I come home from work I smell like I've been sitting around a camp fire all day...I love it!

While everyone (Susan, Tobey, Michael, and I) are in the kitchen Olive and Hawkley are usually not too hard to find. They lie on the step outside the kitchen's back door waiting for snacks or just the occasional "Aww, Olive, you're such a sweetie!".

Come on, just look at those eyes....awww, Olive, you are such a cutie!

TGIF!!

Okay, here we go...

Yesterday was a very busy day. 17 birds to be plucked, cleaned, butchered, and packaged. Whew! But we did it! It took 12 hours but by golly it happened! Sadly, I missed out on the actual killing part, lucky for you though you don't have to see the pictures! They try and keep it very calm and so only two people are around to kill. But I was there for everything else. Tobey fashioned me a 'dress' out of a garbage bag, it was her first one of the season and it had four arm holes, but it did the job!

Guiliano and Fabio brought us the birds...

And we got to work plucking...

And plucking...

Just for a second try and imagine what I smelled all day...warm, wet, poultry poop. Nice, eh?

It took us quite a few hours just to pluck, the geese were the hardest and very frustrating. But there was some comic relief through the day, like when Tobey, who was gutting, got squirted in the face by the gallbladder, you should have seen the green liquid all over her face! I laughed so hard I almost peed myself...and then got her some paper towel. The geese really reminded us of the swan dress Bjork wore to some red carpet event:
So, we decided we'd give it a try:
The resemblance is astonishing, isn't it? Minus the blood of course.

Some of the ducks had eggs growing in them, which was sad becuase that means there won't be any ducklings, but Susan says that these embryonic eggs are a delicacy:

Aren't they strange? They kinda look like some weird tropical fruit! That's how eggs grow!!Susan used them to make pasta dough and you should have seen the pasta...it was this gorgeous rich, yellow color. While I wasn't too keen on eating the embyronic eggs as is I definately would've eaten the pasta!

It was a long but fun day! I learned alot and it's going to be fun eating some of the birds that we killed. It is so amazing to me, it's such and old fashioned thing to do...I love it!

It's been a long day for Pecos Bill...

4 geese, 4 ducks, 2 guinea hens, a whole bunch of chickens, and 12 hours later Revanna is p-o-o-p-e-d! More tomorrow but here's a quick shot of what's to come:Oh, and just so you know that garbage bag I'm wearing isn't to keep myself clean...that style is all the rage here in Italy, trust me it's all over the runways in Milan.