April 14, 2017. Casoli market day

LOCATION:  Housesitting outside of Casoli, Italy in the Abruzzo region

WEATHER:  Sunny and nice. Highs in 60s

 

Today is market day in our town.  Casoli is about 5 miles away, perched atop a high hill.  

It is one of several hill towns that we can see from our backyard.

We walked around the market, full of vendors.  There were a lot of clothing stalls, many of which sell knock-off brands, vegetable and fruit stands, and flower stands.

It was pretty crowded.  The little ladies would stop as they walked so they could do additional hand gestures.  I bought some baby artichokes (10 for $3), onions, garlic and broccoli.  All beautiful.

 

The views from the village looking down in to the valley are pretty.

We did the rest of our grocery shopping at the supermarket.  I could really get used to these prices......$1.50 for a huge block of salami, $1.40 for my favorite wine, $.50/can for George's favorite beer, $.50 for a large jar of pesto, $.30 per package of pasta, $.40 for a big bag of polenta, and  (splurge) a $2.50 bottle of Preseco.  

Back home, I made a panzanella for lunch - Italian bread salad.  It is a great way to use leftover ciabatti bread.  We ate it outside around the pool.  Very nice.

 

In the afternoon, our Ms. Foxie came by.  She likes to tease our dog Gino.  He just goes crazy.  We can't let him out to play with her as she runs away and he tries to follow her by escaping through a hole in the fence.

Our plan for dinner tonight was to buy some grilled calamari at the seafood shop in town.  Our homeowners had told us that on Friday evenings, the shop cooks up seafood to go.  So, we stopped by there to buy some.  We were too early though; the clerk asked us to come back at 6:00.  So, with an hour to kill, we found a little cafe for a jar of wine.  

The seafood shop was selling a lot of the Friday night special.  It turned out to be a mix of calamari, octopus, shrimp, small sardines and other fish.  Really good.

 

The forecast is for rain tomorrow, so George grilled some sausages and bacon for future use.

 

DINNER:  The mixed grill seafood and roasted baby artichokes.  I found a Jamie Oliver recipe for them.  He recommended squeezing lemon juice over them, then topping with grated cheese.  Very tasty!