Almost 6 Feet Under and Marmelatta di Zucca

They say it was over 1.6 meters in 24 hours, that's 5 ft or a bit more.
It cleared briefly last night but there is more snow on the way.

Our entrance to our flat.


In the neighborhood

Digging his way to to get the chickens

Disappearing chicken coop

The road beyond us toward the garden.

Another Val Chisone extreme weather event.
2 years ago we didn't have any snow or winter and the spring arrived almost a month early. This year we had a fairly normal winter and then we had a very soggy late spring and everything has been arriving very late this year. Now we have a very early winter with record snow.
Latest update. Now it's raining on top of our 6 ft of snow. The rivers are overflowing and they are watching the Po in Torino and all the way down to Rome, where it has been raining non stop whilst we were getting snow. Strange days indeed

So nothing left to do make Pumpkin Jam or Marmellata di Zucca.
Once done, slather some on your favorite tea biscuit or do like Fabrizio's grandmother, and make a sandwich of Pavesini biscotti and dunk them in for tea, or for a more grown up addition, vin santo, marsala or something along those lines.
I actually double this recipe as we have quite a bit of pumpkin and the moment and it made a delicious crostata filling.

Marmellata di Zucca

• 500 g (1+pound) pumpkin or butternut type of solid squash, cut up in medium pieces

• 200 g(1 cup) sugar
  

• zest of one lemon

Other optional additions

• 50 g (1/2 c) toasted walnuts or pecans

• 100 g sultanas or dry cranberries softened in a splash of warm cognac,
  
• Vecchia Romagna, comes to mind

Combine the sugar, lemon zest and pumpkin in a large heavy bottom sauce pan. Gently simmer until soft. I usually smash the mixture after it starts to soften to encourage to break down and cook a little faster. Stir occasionally. Add additional ingredients just before the mixture is done.
Cool completely before storing in the refrigerator.
I never bother to jar it as it usually gets used up rather quickly.

then the sun, the Foehn winds and now our first spring Porcini

Yes I could go on speculating about the weather but all I can really say is that it has been strange indeed. We desperately needed the rain so our lovely risotto rice can flourish this year, and we seemed to get it even if it was torrential for 4 days or so. Then the unrelenting warm winds from the the south battered all life forms as we know them. Everything in the flower boxes and garden looked beat up and parched after 3 days of that. Anyway, now we're back to summer even if it is May and the clusters of song birds are singing in the day and the progression of wildflowers are moving along up here at a bit of altitude.
Although we received substantial rain, the higher peaks across the valley from us were quite white again, but already the sunning is winning and the snow is melting off quickly. In spite of it all, my intrepid mother in law managed to find the first porcini of the season a couple of days ago. We made quick work of it after its moment being photographed and went rather well with some "riso nero" I had prepared. Sweet chewy black or what looks to me, purple rice from our organic grower friends, "Il Frutto Permesso" ( the permitted fruit), made for a satisfying and simple lunch. The sweetness of the rice offset the earthiness of the wild mushroom and whetted my appetite for a few more the forests gifts. Happpy hunting.

And the rain came

And after the rain,
a walk to the top of the hill.
So good to be out in the woods.

"Click Your Heels Three Times......"

There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home......
Fortunately for us we have two homes now. My old stomping grounds for most of my adult life being in Summit County Colorado and more recently here at Bella Baita B&B, above sleepy little Pinasca (Piedmont )Italy.
We clicked our heels 3 times and were transported back to our Italian alps home at Serre Marchetto and discovered that winter had finally come at last.
After a winter with "no snow" from all reports from Fabrizio's parents here at Serre Marchetto, a week before we arrived, it started snowing and has been keeping the water level up ever since.
It's been a hectic couple of months and I haven't been able to post much in the way of blogs. What few faithful readers I have had, I have probably lost, but hope I can entice them back now that I should be back on track soon. I hope to put a few recaps of of some of our cooking classes we did while we were in Colorado and other adventures that we had before getting back to our traditions and festivals here. Easter is this weekend and we've got guests arriving and classes to prepare for, sooo...stay tuned.