Saturday, June 30, 2007

Urbino, courgette cake and firejumping on midsummer's eve
































Visiting Na at this time of year inevitably means eating a lot of courgettes. So we were sitting around the kitchen table and Na suddenly wonders out loud whether it would be possible to make a cake out of courgettes. When I tell her I'd just been thinking the same thing, she decided she had to try it. Using her recipe for carrot cake, she went ahead and made a courgette cake. It was full of sultanas, sesame seeds, linseeds and muscovado sugar and it was absolutely delicious!! Not having much taste itself, courgettes are ideal "flavour carriers" as Mr M put it.

We also spent the morning exploring Urbino, and the evening at a big country house that used to be a church where there was a party and bonfire for the feast of San Giovanni. We spent the last hour or so of daylight exploring a country lane near the house before going on to the party. At the party there was a lot of food, a lovely old couple that Na accidentally gave prune juice to after they'd asked for red wine, live music (Mr M's folk band played), folk dancing and fire jumping. I wasn't brave enough to try it, but Na, Mr M and Paul all had a go at jumping over the bonfire, and the kids were at it all night!! I also bought a worm hippopotamus (picture below) made by Sophia (aged 10?), we saw fireflies and went home with the smell of wood smoke in our clothes. What better way could you spend a midsummer's evening?

2 comments:

changapeluda said...

Dag! THem are some loooong thorny thistles they have there and I love those fire pictures and that is the wormiest hippo I ever did see!
Whatsa Muscavado?

Lesley Todd said...

I'm not sure you'd persuade me to jump over a bonfire either but I like the idea of it. Sounds like a magical evening.

I'm really enjoying reading your blog.