AJ woke wearing the beautiful silver ring he had been given a few days before, he loves it so much and keeps telling us so. He is growing up into such a lovely young man with a special sensitivity and sentimentality about him. As he enters teenage hood, I can honestly say I am very proud of the young man he has become and I love him deeply.
He opened his pressies and cards surrounded by the brightly coloured balloons I had blown up last night. We had bought him many of his favourite foods – cinghiale prosciutto and salamis, chocolate sipper straws, a few sweet treats, cinghiale bruschetta spread, black winter truffles and truffle oil I had bought in France for tonights truffle risotto, and fresh trofie pasta. I had found some wild boar salt and pepper shakers too which he wants to use every day when we return home. The card we bought him was written in Italian so we have no idea what it says, we hope the words are a nice sentiment.
He was so spoiled with love. Packages and cards had arrived from far and wide. The McKenzies sent a card, all of them had written on including little Laynee Rose, and a parcel of the latest Top Gear magazines including a ‘cool wall’ to rate your coolest/not so cool cars on the fridge using magnets – woo hoo for car fans! AJ laughed his head off at Auntie Robby’s poem and the inclusion of ‘I love Australia sickers’ – love you Robby! A huge thanks to Lorenzo for the card and treats (we all enjoyed the maltesers!) and to Toes for the wonderful hand-made/computer generated card, you guys made AJ miss home so much but made him so happy too. Our wonderful friends Jonene, Noel and kids, Trace and Jaden, Francake, Michelle, Paul and boys, Janie, Matt and tribe (loved the ecard – so appropriate), Brad, Vikk and snowboard champions – we love you all. When AJ gets home he will love the Top Gear subscription from Grandma and Papa and Linny and Pete, thanks guys and thanks for the birthday phone calls too from New Zealand and Belfast. Grandma and Grandad in Brissy called as well and caught up on the birthday news. I kept thinking what a lucky boy he is to be surrounded by so many wonderful family and friends. Marg and Rick, your parcel arrived today (gotta love the Italian administration, we had to pay 10.13 euro just to collect the parcel) filled with winter clothes which will be much needed in months to come in Luxembourg and Belgium, thanks for always being so thoughtful, we love you tremendously.
Breakfast today was traditional Italian, bombacremas, and chocolate and vanilla custard filled croissants. On our way to the beach for the afternoon, we stopped for a casual bite at our favourite pizza by the slice shop, ‘Painoteca’, their pizza is so good, we each had 2 slices of Margherita – yum!
The beach was pretty subdued but the water was as clear as a bell and there were no mysterious nibblers to scare me today, thank goodness. We stayed in the water for ages. It was funny today as patches of the water were almost luke warm while others were ice cold. Sometimes one half of our bodies basked in warmth while the other was freezing, it was so strange. AJ settled in to read his new Top Gear mag, JR went for a wander while I enjoyed lying in the warm sun. What a lovely way to spend the day, especially a 13th birthday.
We returned home to prepare the birthday feast. All of AJ’s favourites (minus osso bucco this year as we don’t have a proper oven), plus the surprise dish of black truffle risotto. JR did a wonderful job of the tomato, garlic and basil bruschetta, it was delicious served on a very serious Italian bread, sliced, basted in golden olive oil, sprinkled with salt and baked until crunchy and golden.
AJ was allowed a splash of white wine we had brought with us from Burgundy, JR had been saving it for a special occasion, it was lovely, light and lemony. It was a great marriage with the pork strozzapreti (actually pork trofi as strozzapretti pasta is not made in this region). I cooked this using saffron I had carried in my luggage just for this occasion, and without a recipe, I had to rely on memory and we agreed it was the best I had ever done, despite making do without all the kitchen comforts of home. We enjoyed a nice break before the Grandaddy of dishes, the black winter truffle risotto – WOW! I dropped a few golden drops of truffle infused oil on the top of each serving, adding an extra pungency to the jewels of black truffle throughout the dish. AJ said, “It has such a lovely creaminess of risotto and a subtle hint of truffle, it is perfect”. I love my little foodie. JR went back for seconds. I plated up a small serve, topped it with a few glistening drops of oil, covered it in foil, and delivered it to the owner of Dal Buchaniere restaurant down the street. I gave it to him, pulled off the foil and told him to smell. He said, “Ahh, the tartufo risotto, hmm”. I had told him a few days ago what I was planning to cook for AJ’s birthday, it seemed he remembered. I will go back tomorrow to collect the plate and to find out his verdict.
We were filled to the brim with good food, love and happiness. AJ said, “We didn’t have a birthday cake today, I think this is the first birthday I have had without a cake”. He wasn’t bothered but was just sharing his thoughts on his wonderful day. I left the room and soon returned with candles blazing atop a cioccolato torta, his eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face – as if I would let a birthday pass without a cake to celebrate.
He opened his pressies and cards surrounded by the brightly coloured balloons I had blown up last night. We had bought him many of his favourite foods – cinghiale prosciutto and salamis, chocolate sipper straws, a few sweet treats, cinghiale bruschetta spread, black winter truffles and truffle oil I had bought in France for tonights truffle risotto, and fresh trofie pasta. I had found some wild boar salt and pepper shakers too which he wants to use every day when we return home. The card we bought him was written in Italian so we have no idea what it says, we hope the words are a nice sentiment.
He was so spoiled with love. Packages and cards had arrived from far and wide. The McKenzies sent a card, all of them had written on including little Laynee Rose, and a parcel of the latest Top Gear magazines including a ‘cool wall’ to rate your coolest/not so cool cars on the fridge using magnets – woo hoo for car fans! AJ laughed his head off at Auntie Robby’s poem and the inclusion of ‘I love Australia sickers’ – love you Robby! A huge thanks to Lorenzo for the card and treats (we all enjoyed the maltesers!) and to Toes for the wonderful hand-made/computer generated card, you guys made AJ miss home so much but made him so happy too. Our wonderful friends Jonene, Noel and kids, Trace and Jaden, Francake, Michelle, Paul and boys, Janie, Matt and tribe (loved the ecard – so appropriate), Brad, Vikk and snowboard champions – we love you all. When AJ gets home he will love the Top Gear subscription from Grandma and Papa and Linny and Pete, thanks guys and thanks for the birthday phone calls too from New Zealand and Belfast. Grandma and Grandad in Brissy called as well and caught up on the birthday news. I kept thinking what a lucky boy he is to be surrounded by so many wonderful family and friends. Marg and Rick, your parcel arrived today (gotta love the Italian administration, we had to pay 10.13 euro just to collect the parcel) filled with winter clothes which will be much needed in months to come in Luxembourg and Belgium, thanks for always being so thoughtful, we love you tremendously.
Breakfast today was traditional Italian, bombacremas, and chocolate and vanilla custard filled croissants. On our way to the beach for the afternoon, we stopped for a casual bite at our favourite pizza by the slice shop, ‘Painoteca’, their pizza is so good, we each had 2 slices of Margherita – yum!
The beach was pretty subdued but the water was as clear as a bell and there were no mysterious nibblers to scare me today, thank goodness. We stayed in the water for ages. It was funny today as patches of the water were almost luke warm while others were ice cold. Sometimes one half of our bodies basked in warmth while the other was freezing, it was so strange. AJ settled in to read his new Top Gear mag, JR went for a wander while I enjoyed lying in the warm sun. What a lovely way to spend the day, especially a 13th birthday.
We returned home to prepare the birthday feast. All of AJ’s favourites (minus osso bucco this year as we don’t have a proper oven), plus the surprise dish of black truffle risotto. JR did a wonderful job of the tomato, garlic and basil bruschetta, it was delicious served on a very serious Italian bread, sliced, basted in golden olive oil, sprinkled with salt and baked until crunchy and golden.
AJ was allowed a splash of white wine we had brought with us from Burgundy, JR had been saving it for a special occasion, it was lovely, light and lemony. It was a great marriage with the pork strozzapreti (actually pork trofi as strozzapretti pasta is not made in this region). I cooked this using saffron I had carried in my luggage just for this occasion, and without a recipe, I had to rely on memory and we agreed it was the best I had ever done, despite making do without all the kitchen comforts of home. We enjoyed a nice break before the Grandaddy of dishes, the black winter truffle risotto – WOW! I dropped a few golden drops of truffle infused oil on the top of each serving, adding an extra pungency to the jewels of black truffle throughout the dish. AJ said, “It has such a lovely creaminess of risotto and a subtle hint of truffle, it is perfect”. I love my little foodie. JR went back for seconds. I plated up a small serve, topped it with a few glistening drops of oil, covered it in foil, and delivered it to the owner of Dal Buchaniere restaurant down the street. I gave it to him, pulled off the foil and told him to smell. He said, “Ahh, the tartufo risotto, hmm”. I had told him a few days ago what I was planning to cook for AJ’s birthday, it seemed he remembered. I will go back tomorrow to collect the plate and to find out his verdict.
We were filled to the brim with good food, love and happiness. AJ said, “We didn’t have a birthday cake today, I think this is the first birthday I have had without a cake”. He wasn’t bothered but was just sharing his thoughts on his wonderful day. I left the room and soon returned with candles blazing atop a cioccolato torta, his eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face – as if I would let a birthday pass without a cake to celebrate.
We ended the day with the family tournament of balloon tennis which had us rolling with laughter. Happy birthday AJ, I hope you had a ball. X
