Marla relaxed with Peggy as we prepared to depart our now beloved Bella Baita. As they were smiling for the camera, Dan snuck the Scrabble Game to the car:) Actually, Marla willingly let us borrow the game with the condition that we would mail it back...which Peggy heartily agreed to, and somehow I will end up being the one to follow through. How does that happen???
On our 90 minute windy, not windy (since there were nearly 850 roundabouts) drive, we arrived in a Barolo village called Monteforte D' Alba just after the Marco Polo Festival. He was born here, and so they celebrated his Asian influence...and it turns out this is the exact town where we ate last year, just before tasting at our low toothed, organic grower, who had the sideways bicycle seat to simplify the vine pruning process.
Arriving at Alessandro's Casa Ressia, we enjoyed a picnic lunch just prior to more Scrabble. 358/346...Dan enjoyed the 3 euro Barbera d' Alba, more than the game result...local grape products are simply excellent....
As we prepared to continue our reunion tour, Alessandro made reservations for Trattoria Risorgimento in Treiso where we enjoyed a meal last year. We ate indoors last night, and the food continued to excel. As did our conversation with Dan...he talked about his wrestling memories, his psychology of who waitresses look at, and his friendships/relationships/ladies of interest etc... Antipasti included a variety of oil soaked, grilled eggplant slices, some nearly pickled zucchini and asparagus and leafy green spinach quiche...and one itty bitty quarter of a cherry tomato:)
The single most memorable appetizer from a variety of restaurants last year, and a repeat last night, was the sliced veal (like roast beef) smothered in tasty mustardy mayonnaise...and of course, the somewhat less itty bitty HALF of a cherry tomato:)
Then what we came for...homemade pasta...of 3 different varieties. First was Danny's ricotta cheese and asparagus filled raviolis cooked in butter and sage. Yes, it was as tasty as it sounds...
My "lasagna" was named as a result of the large noodles, but it was more like tagliatelli sized noodles with a tomato, olive and parmesan cheese sauce. The olives were the tiniest, tastiest, explode in your mouth almost kalamata-ish yummies.
Peggy had the tiny raviolis with a meat and tomato filling, covered in parmesan. This too was light, tasty and a perfect complement to the local Dolcetto D' Alba recommended because it was produced by our host!
We could not eat our own full meals, so we split the meat course. Rabbit was sauteed with roasted potatoes, yellow and red peppers, and grilled, brown sugar coated carrots. Sooooo delicious I even ate some silly wabbit...but the yumminess superseded my photo speed, and thus we caught only some spilled remnant.
Two identical desserts of strawberries and home made vanilla gelato were barely enough for Dan. He needed his own, and was over protective as he prevented mom from any tasting bites, commenting that Dana Cook warned him of the worldwide mom strategy of no for a dessert order, but yes for a dessert eat. Notice Dan's left hand in defensive block mode, while his right hand and spoon are prepared for attack!
We finished the evening back at the Casa Ressia, where Alessandro left out some Moscato Grappa for us to sip while we had our last match of Scrabble for the day. You may ask, why another photo of their scorecard? Up until the last move, as you might notice on the far right, mom was in the lead with 222, I struggled to have 185 and Dan was at 172. Just then, with no tiles left and his last move, he asked where the bathroom was...with a wink in his eye. Then he said how do you spell L-A-T-R-I-N-E...His last move, a bingo, was worth 71 points, plus the remaining tiles I and his sweet mom had, and his greatest reversal victory was in hand! He ended with 253, the mom at 216 and the dad languishing in last at 181...really? Really! Dan slept great last night!
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