{"id":326,"date":"2008-09-18T14:04:39","date_gmt":"2008-09-18T14:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marialiberati.com\/blog2\/?p=326"},"modified":"2008-09-18T14:04:39","modified_gmt":"2008-09-18T14:04:39","slug":"abruzzo-a-quick-guide-to-my-favorite-spots-in-the-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marialiberati.com\/freshsite\/2008\/09\/18\/abruzzo-a-quick-guide-to-my-favorite-spots-in-the-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Abruzzo- a quick guide to my favorite spots-in the mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pallotte_cacio_e_uova.jpg\"<\/a>\"tagliacozzo-02.jpg\"<\/a>\"tagliacozzo-1.jpg\"<\/a>\u00a0So hopefully you are following me along on this trip to Abruzzo..and now to the mountains.\u00a0My favorite little ‘citta d’arte’ in the mountains is Tagliacozzo.\u00a0 It is neatly tucked away in the mountains of Abruzzo. Big enough to have a main piazza with some great coffee bars and ristorante and even a few boutiques but small enough not to have any fast food resturants or shopping malls or any franchises. It is a well known resort and refuge for many Romans.. it is not far from Rome, not too expensive, quiet..not touristy except for the locals…-the perfect spot.
\nAnd,\u00a0 it is really a little city filled with art from the monasery\u00a0of St.\u00a0Francis that has old frescoes on the wall that date back to the middle ages, to the convent and church of St Cosmas & Damian. The cloistered nuns\u00a0there make these wonderful pastries for sale on Sundays.But you have to know the proper procedure to buy them. Cloistered nuns can not be seen by anyone in the outside world, it is a bit of an experience. And when you have completed your purchase, you feel like you have accomplished a great feat.
\nWalking up the high hill in the old part of Tagliacozzo to the convent, ringing the old bell outside the door to find a lazy susan that opens up with just a peep hole and a voice\u00a0asks what you want (in Italian of course). You must tell her that \u00a0you want ‘dolce’ sweets. She will ask\u00a0“how many”\u00a0and you will then tell her an even amount (10,12,24). She will tell you the cost. You put your money on the lazy susan and turn it around so the nun receives it. Out comes a beautifully wrapped package with your little cookies and cakes and your change. You have just made a business transaction without seeing the cloistered nun. A heavenly experience awaits when you bite into the\u00a0tasty morsel!
\nBut there is more to Tagliacozzo then the churches. The summer’s film festival provides some interesting entertainment.\u00a0 And now to the food, of course, I told you I get hungry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 on these trips to the mountains- If you walk along the main street in the little town there is a little ‘forno’ or pizza oven. it is just marked FORNO.,.. ah\u00a0\u00a0my favorite pizza..thin not too doughy just right especially if you time your arrival for when the pizza is coming out of the oven.
\nThen there is the beautiful view and the crisp air. Whether you choose to stay down into the center\u00a0of the town or go up to the top known as ‘piccolo svizzera’\u00a0 (little Switzerland) for how much it resembles Switzerland-green rolling hills high up in the mountains.
\nMy family originated from this town and I can’t help but being brought back to a time when all I knew of Tagliacozzo were the pictures that were passed around the Sunday dinner table. My grandfather would always end Sunday dinner with memories of Tagliacozzo and he would always have the photo of the sign with the town’s name on it. The sign is still there, it still looks the same as when my grandfather first showed it to me from a photo.
\nThis magical little kingdom, or at least from my\u00a0eyes as a 4 yr old, it always looked like that-castles and mountains and beautiful art. Could that be my fascination with this beautiful town or is it that wide eyed wonder of a little 4 yr old who still remembers the\u00a0 stories of her grandfather telling\u00a0 (what seemed like)strange tales\u00a0of a far away land. Oh how that intrigued me so much so that I knew in my heart one day I was going to get there and get there I did ..
\nPecorino D’Abruzzo is one of the specialty cheese made by the farmers there from \u00a0sheep\u00a0 We used to make this at our family’s vineyard in Tagliacozzo. Here is a traditional recipe from Abruzzo.\u00a0 Although you won’t be able to find this specific type\u00a0of Pecorino from Abruzzo unless you are there, you can find Pecorino almost anywhere now.
\nPalotto Cacio e Uova<\/strong>
\nFor 4 people
\n8 ounces of plain bread crumbs
\n2 tsps of freshly chopped parsley
\n2 chopped garlic cloves
\n5 eggs
\n2 tblsps extra virgin olive oil
\n1\/2 cup freshly grated pecorino cheese
\nPlace bread crumbs, pecorino cheese, and eggs in a bowl. Blend with wooden spoon. Add in chopped garlic and parsley, blend well. heat olive oil in saute pan. Roll\u00a0 mixture into the size of small meatballs and fry till crispy. Place on paper towels to drain. Serve with a tomato sugo (sauce)\u00a0or plain.
\nHere is a link to the podcast \u00a0you might enjoy from my \u00a0latest radio interview \u00a0on my travels in Italy:
\nhttp:\/\/tinyurl.com\/3f9nvw<\/a>
\nFor more great recipes, get your copy of the bestselling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at https:\/\/www.marialiberati.com<\/a>
\nFollow me on twittter at http:\/\/twitter.com\/marialiberati<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0So hopefully you are following me along on this trip to Abruzzo..and now to the mountains.\u00a0My favorite little ‘citta d’arte’ in the mountains is Tagliacozzo.\u00a0 It is neatly tucked away…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,27,7,57,11,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abruzzo","category-caro-diariodear-diary","category-cucina","category-features","category-recipes","category-tagliacozzo"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marialiberati.com\/freshsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marialiberati.com\/freshsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marialiberati.com\/freshsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marialiberati.com\/freshsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marialiberati.com\/freshsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marialiberati.com\/freshsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marialiberati.com\/freshsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marialiberati.com\/freshsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marialiberati.com\/freshsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}