A Little Blog Modification And WV Trip Continued - The Greenbrier Hotel And Resort

Since my buddy Dave has announced that he is giving up most of his blogging, it got me to thinking about mine. I believe my blog is as they were meant to be - my journal - where I can go back and find recipes, pics, our travels and so on, thus I have no intention of quitting right now or I would miss all of that documentation, plus it gives me something to do.  I have recently been posting every three days but I don’t have many folks stopping by to read quite a few of them and so I had an epiphany.  I can keep writing up my blogs to get the documentation I need but I don’t have to publish all of them but rather just the ones that I think you will find interesting and hopefully about more than just food.

Greenbrier Hotel pic from the web.

Wild Wonderful West Virginia Trip – Fairmont and Morgantown

It’s been seven years since we visited my hometown of Fairmont, WV so we used the 80^th Birthday Party of my cousin’s wife (Ruth) as a good reason to go.  It’s a 450 mile and 7½ hour (plus stops) trip on interstate (I-40, I-81, I-77, I-79) and divided highway (US-19) for the entire trip so pretty easy driving.  This is our trip plan:

	2025 WV Trip
day	Leave	Arrive	Lodging	Activities	Food
1	Greenback, TN	Morgantown, WV	Hotel Morgan	Drive to WV	Colasessano's
2	Morgantown, WV	Fairmont, WV	Hotel Morgan	Ruth BD party	Bourbon Prime-breakfast
3	Morgantown, WV	Fairmont, WV	Hotel Morgan	Tour WVU, visit Dick & Ruth
4	Morgantown, WV	Fairmont, WV	Hotel Morgan	Tour Fairmont, Dick & Ruth
5	Morgantown, WV	White Sulfur Springs, WV	Greenbrier Resort	Drive to Greenbrier
6		White Sulfur Springs, WV	Greenbrier Resort	Bunker tour	Sam Sneads
7		White Sulfur Springs, WV	Greenbrier Resort	Croquet, Lewisburg shopping	The Forum
8	White Sulfur Springs, WV	Greenback, TN		Drive home

Italian Beef Rolled Roast

Bev saw this Italian Beef Eye Of Round Roast the other day at Food City and she decided we should give it a try. 

Delicious Southern Garlic Cream Rigatoni with Shrimp & Beef Then Breakfast

I can’t remember where I got this recipe (Perhaps from Facebook) but I wanted to try it as a way to use our Royal Red Shrimp and easily serve our Friday card group.  I followed the ingredients list but I changed the cooking method quite a bit to keep the steak from over cooking.  The original called for cutting it into bite sized pieces prior to browning it but I browned it first and kept it very rare.

Reverse Sear Tri-tip Roast And Honey Balsamic Carrots

I’ve posted about this before, but I’m doing it again to document my process for future use.  I bought a CAB tri tip from Food City and as usual it had a big fat cap hidden on the bottom side – I know better than to buy roasts from them.

Easy Fish Piccata And Bruschetta, Chicken Parmesan With Italian Corn

Easy Fish Piccata

I had some Pacific Cod filets in the freezer and decided to turn them into a Piccata dish using the recipe for Easy Fish Piccata from “The Mediterranean Dish” as we love lemon, caper sauce.

Spaghetti and Meat, Italian Style And Eliza Swims

It’s been a while since we’ve had spaghetti and meatballs and when Eliza brought her family down it seemed like a good opportunity.  We had some homemade meatballs in the freezer but no Italian sausage so I used TPO (tomato, pepper, onion) from the Wurst Kitchen.  The menu included bread with EVOO & balsamic vinegar, then panzanella, then pasta and finally dessert.

Easy Chicken Milanese alla Florentine & A Delicious Breakfast

I wasn’t trying to keep making Italian but just thought this dish looked delicious and would be perfect for our Friday get together.  The recipe for Easy Chicken Milanese alla Florentine came from the “Ask Chef Dennis” blog and I made several changes to it but the original can be found by clicking on the above link.  Chef Dennis Littley’s comment on the dish – “Chicken MIlanese alla Florentine is a delicious restaurant style dish that is made with a crispy chicken cutlet topped with steamed spinach and sauteed mushrooms, topped with Swiss cheese and served with a creamy white sauce. It's easy to make and oh so delicious.”

Italian Pan fried Halibut with Creamy Lemon Caper Sauce Then Greek Sausage

I had some halibut in the freezer that I wanted to use and after searching my blog, I found a recipe that we had made previously but I didn’t have the sauce ingredients so I adapted my normal lemon, butter sauce for this dish.

Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo Replay And Pinot Grigio Taste Test

Since returning from Italy, we have been having Bruschetta regularly for happy hour and during a recent trip to the Mennonite Market, I bought a bag of Roma tomatoes to use for the tomato mixture so it wouldn’t be as watery – I removed the seeds from the Roma's.  I had six Roma's left and was thinking about another use for them when Bev reminded me of the pasta with fresh tomatoes we had made in the past.  So I did a blog search and found the recipe for Pasta al Pomodoro Crudo and recalled that I had a half box of small shells pasta in the pantry so a meal was born.  I’m posting this dish again to document the recipe using the Roma tomatoes.

Pork Chops On The Griddle, Cucumber Salad, & Another Red Wine Taste Test

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA

Bev wanted fried pork chops like we both grew up eating and I wanted to cook them on the grill griddle so a plan was born using the following recipe.  For sides, Bev wanted cucumber salad using the recipe below and well done broccoli then tossed in butter like she got at the cafeteria she used to lunch at.

Crack Chicken Casserole - Very Good

I try to make cooking for Friday cards pretty simple so one-pot meals and casseroles are usually high on my list.  I saw this recipe for Crack Chicken Casserole on the “Ask Chef Dennis” blog and it seemed to fit the bill.  Dennis says that “Crack Chicken Casserole is creamy, cheesy, and packed with crispy bacon, ranch flavor, and pasta. Pure comfort food baked to perfection.”  I followed the recipe as written.

Crack Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

2 cups rotisserie chicken - shredded

8 oz cream cheese - softened

1 packet ranch dressing mix

10.5 oz cream of chicken soup condensed

1 cup sour cream - full fat

1 cup half and half or whole milk

1½ cups sharp cheddar cheese - shredded

6 slices bacon cooked and crumbled 

8 ounces shell pasta - cooked aldente

2 cups crushed Ritz Townhouse crackers  

4 ounces unsalted butter - melted (1 stick)

½ cup green onions - sliced for garnish

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Cook the shells per the instructions on the package for aldente.

Butter a 9×13-inch baking dish. Set aside until needed.

Add the softened cream cheese, ranch seasoning mix, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and half and half to a medium bowl. Whisk until smooth and creamy.

Trip to Italy Day 29 – The Trip Home And Italy Observations

Both of our flights were good and on time with the only bad part being the long layover in Chicago – by flying on a first class international flight, we had access to the Polaris Club where they was food, drinks, and comfortable chairs all complimentary.  This made the seven-hour layover much more bearable.   

Nearing the end of a very long day.

Dill Pickle Potato Salad And Pinot Noir Taste Test For Father's Day

I grew up eating and loving my mom’s potato salad, Bev learned how to make it, and I still prefer it over all others.  It is simple with potatoes, hard boiled eggs, onion, celery, mayo, mustard, and celery seed (definitely no pickles) and eaten at room temperature after sitting for several hours for the flavors to marry.  However, when I saw the recipe for Dill Pickle Potato Salad  on the “Flavor Of The Moment” blog and knew I liked all of the ingredients, I decided to give it a try.  With the dill, I thought it was somewhat Mediterranean to go with the Greek shrimp for supper.  The trick to enjoying it was to not compare it to mom’s but think of it as an entirely different dish.  Bev made it for us and doubled the recipe as shown below.

Trip to Italy Day 27, 28 – Good-Bye Sorrento and On To The Rome Airport

Bev and I were due to stay in Sorrento for another day but Wende had to leave on May 9 so rather than find transportation for her to the Rome airport and since we had nothing planned for another day, we just all left on Friday although our flight home wasn’t until Sunday.

For our last Sorrento meal, we opted to just go up the street a short way for our second visit to La Lanterna and we all wanted pizza.  We began with our usual of sparkling water and a bottle of good prosecco which made for a pretty busy table.

Pasta Puttanesca And Easy To Eat Open-Faced Burger

We’ve had a Puttanesca Sauce several times on fish and chicken but never on pasta until our final tasting in Sorrento and we loved it so I just had to try making it.  For the fish version, I had adapted recipes from two fellow bloggers and for the pasta version, I adapted that version plus one from “Simply Recipes” to get the one below.  The major difference is that the pasta version has more tomatoes that are cooked down into a marinara-like sauce.

Trip to Italy Day 26 – Sorrento Tasting - Informative & Delicious

We have done a variety of tastings from being at the winemakers dining room table to a large winery but this was our first large group experience where we were bused from Sorrento to the farm – about 25 minutes all uphill, narrow and curvy.

When we arrived at the farm, we were greeted by the dad and two brothers who now run the business.

Connatserville Steak Test, Grill Griddle, & New Windshield

Why Connatserville you ask.  We live in a place that was once all owned by the Connatser family and they, as our neighbors, still own the vast majority of the land, so Connatserville.

For many years, I’ve wanted to give Waygu beef a try but rather than just try it, you know, I just had to do a taste test.  

Trip to Italy Day 25 – The Awesome Amalfi Coast - Back By Water

After our stop in Cetara, we headed back west and stopped in the town of Minori for lunch at the Ristorante Giardiniello which was recommended by the tour company owner, Roberto and it has been in business since 1955.  It was very pleasant sitting under the pergola. 

Trip to Italy Day 25 – The Awesome Amalfi Coast - Out

Well, the big day has finally arrived – the major reason for coming to this area is to see the Amalfi Coast and we hired a private tour to do it so we could leave the driving to them and be able to take in the sites.  Our driver, Fabio, picked us up in Sorrento at 8:30am and the journey east began.

The Great Spumante Taste Test

During our Italian trip, we began most restaurant meals with Prosecco and decided we really liked it so now that we are home, we decided a taste test was in order.

Spumante is an Italian word meaning "sparkling" or "foaming," referring to sparkling wines and while in Italy we drank some very good Prosecco and decided it would be our go-to sparkling wine for the future.  The primary white sparkling wines in Italy are Asti Spumante, Prosecco, and Franciacorta.

Trip to Italy Day 24 – Sorrento & La Lanterna

We had no planned event for today except taking in the main Sorrento area which for the girls meant doing a little shopping and for me it meant people watching and having a cold one at the restaurant that had just changed hands and names the previous day.  It was Bar 22 Pizzeria when we ate there Sunday night and now it is Monnalisa Ristorante.

A Mediterranean Meal – Salmon, Asparagus, And Delicious Homemade Panzanella

Eliza and crew came down on Sunday to drop off the items Wende brought home from Italy for us and I opted to make yet another Mediterranean meal.  While I don’t usually think of salmon as a Mediterranean dish, it was on several Italian restaurant menus and I wanted a dish that goes with the Panzanella (tomato and bread salad) that I wanted to serve.  Even though we’ve made several Mediterranean Salmon dishes in the past, I did a little web search and found this recipe for Mediterranean Salmon on the “Cuisine With Me” blog and I liked it as I had the ingredients on hand.

Trip to Italy Day 23 –Early Lunch And Sorrento Cooking Class

Just as with the other kids visits, I arranged for a cooking class, at least one wine tasting, and a town visit or in this case, a town stay.  And for our first full day I was up at six am and ready to start my day.  Bev got up a couple of times and went back to bed and finally got up to stay along with Wende at 10:30 am.  About 11:30, Bev was ready to go get a little food so we went down to the Piazza Tasso (the main square) and ate at the Bar Ercolano.  One of her trip desires was to stay in town and walk down the street to eat at a cafe.

Trip to Italy Day 22 Con’t - Beautiful Sorrento

When getting into Sorrento (pop. 15000), we were told by the apartment hostess to come to the main square (Piazzo Tasso) and let Valeria know we were there, which we did.  Per our request, she had arranged for someone to help with the luggage and valet parking for the car and it all went well.  I took these shots of the busy square while awaiting pickup.

One Pot Spring Pasta Primavera

We interrupt our Italy trip at the three fourths point (with Sorrento to come) to say that we got home on May 11, after a 24 hour day, so I’ll be interspersing the trip with normal posts beginning with this one – can you believe it’s pasta – to use some of our asparagus.  The recipe for One Pot Spring Pasta Primavera is courtesy of the “Flavor Of The Moment” blog and I doubled it (as shown below) to use the full pound of pasta and asparagus and to have leftovers. 

Trip to Italy Day 21 & 22 - Orvieto To Rome Airport To Beautiful Sorrento

After a good nights sleep, on Saturday, mid-morning, our very nice hostess, and owner, Sabrina retrieved our car from the parking garage, helped us load up and sent us on our way.  This is a shot of the owner, Sabrina, on the right and her right hand girl, Rita.

Trip to Italy Day 20 - Orvieto - A Planning Mistake

When we decided to visit Orvieto, I didn’t plan on my being in recovery from a cold and Bev still having one plus a strained ankle so I believed we would be able to walk around some.  However, with those problems and the cramped accommodations, we decided to leave on Sat. afternoon rather than early Sun. morning and spend the night near the Rome airport so it would be more convenient to pick up Wende by 9am Sunday morning.  So, we ate the light Italian breakfast on Friday morning then just hung around the apartment on Friday as there was nothing to see or do within a short walk.  I already knew this from our friends but don’t visit the old walled hill towns unless you are willing and able to walk the hilly streets.

 This is from the table on the veranda where I’m sitting to type this in the unseasonably warm weather. 

Trip to Italy Day 18 & 19 - Our Last Day In Castellina And Heading To Orvieto

Day 18 was packing day for us and while I was pretty much well, Bev was still feeling a little rough – the silver lining was that we watched the complete Taylor Sheridan series “Landman” starring Billy Bob Thorton and much of “Tulsa King” starring Sylvester Stallone - so, we flew a few thousand miles and spent more than a few thousand dollars to watch shows we were unlikely to watch at home – duh.

Bev took a few pics around the farmhouse before we left.

Trip to Italy Day 16 & 17 - A Day In Castellina Then Goodbye

Since Rhett & Beth joined us after cruising across the Atlantic and spending time in France and England they were ready for an easy day before flying home so they just kicked around in Castellina for the day – they had been gone for 24 Days.  We made reservations for them at the Squarcialupi Taverne (Castellina’s best restaurant) while Beverly continued to convalesce and I stayed with her.  Unfortunately, our dream trip has turned into the trip from hell for her with a chest cold and a sprained ankle and she’s talking about wanting to just go home.

They ate on the taverne veranda overlooking the countryside - the black rooster on the bottle indicates good wine.

Trip to Italy Day 14 & 15 – Cooking Class In Volterra and Return to Florence

The plan for this day was to go to Agriturismo Biologico Diacceroni  near Volterra (75 minute drive) for a pasta and pizza cooking class but since Bev needed to stay off her sprained ankle, I stayed home with her and Rhett and Beth went to the class.  They both took the pasta class.  Here is a shot of the place that I borrowed from the web.

Trip to Italy Day 12 & 13 - So Long Siena and Kathy & Keith and Hello Montepulciano Wine Tasting

After spending most of the day in Siena and having lunch, Kathy and Keith hopped a bus for the Rome airport and Beverly, Rhett, and Beth came to the farmhouse.  With Bev and I still ailing, Beth and Rhett went into Castellina for supper at the I Grani di Squarchialupi (The Grains Of Squarchialupi) – a fresh pasta restaurant.  Their menu has the usual courses: Appetizers, pasta, main course with side dishes, and dessert and unless you are really hungry it's best to just share each course.

Trip to Italy Day 10 & 11 - Agriturismo (Farmhouse) Rocca and On To Siena

The morning of Apr. 22. Kathy, Bev, and Keith made a return trip to Rocca so Keith could meet them and try their wines since he missed our cooking class .  Then Kathy and Keith packed for home and along with Bev, they headed off to Siena to meet up with son Rhett and DIL Beth who were coming in from England.  Kathy and Keith would head for Rome and home after a couple days in Siena and Rhett and Beth would come back to the farmhouse in Castellina.  I was still too sick to go but they ended up with a really nice three BR apartment that overlooked Siena’s Piazza Del Campo ( main public square).  Overhead pic borrowed from the web. 

Trip to Italy Day 9 – Wine Tasting With Lunch And I Can’t Believe I Got Sick

This was one of our usual days with a light breakfast in the apartment then a wine tasting with lunch in yet another Tuscan Wine Region - San Gimignano – where white wines reign made from the Vernaccia grape vs. the Sangiovese grapes used in most Tuscan red wines.  The winery we chose was Il Colombaio Santa Chiara which is located about 3 miles south of the small town of San Gimignano.  The buildings of the winery were originally the San Donato Parish with its parsonage.  The winery was started by one man in the 1950's and now it is run by his three sons. 

A week or so before our trip to Italy, I got the Norovirus then Bev got it and just recovered a couple of days before we left for Italy and now I have a bad cold that has cost me the opportunity to participate in today’s wine tasting and the ability to go to the one city that I wanted to visit – Siena.

Trip to Italy Day 8 - Birthday and Easter Lunch At Il Cantuccio

As mentioned in the previous post we went back to Il Cantuccio Restaurant and Wine Bar in Castellina for Beverly’s birthday and our Easter Dinner. Il Cantuccio means "the nook."

Here are some shots of the restaurant which is small like the others we’ve been in.  They have seating inside the restaurant, outside, and across the street in their wine bar.

Trip to Italy Day 7– Florence Tour

On Saturday we all slept in and then prepared for the trip to Tuscany's capital, Florence for a guided tour on what was finally a pretty day.  Since I can’t do long distance walking and we were having trouble figuring out how to get to Florence, we just decided that I would drive them to a place to meet the guide, come back to Castellina then go back and pick them up – about a 50 minute trip each way.  I had mentioned before that the terrain reminded me of WV and here are a couple of shots showing that from the road to Florence and the road to the farmhouse where we are staying.