Apple Pie alla Bolognese

Yesterday was a perfect day.

We were up early, made breakfast and ate as a family. Ada went down for her nap and I updated her baby book, picked up around the house, got ready for my class, and got her up (what? I have to wake you up from naps now?) to head off to the Bologna Center.

I love riding through the city with Ada. She likes it too. She holds onto my thumbs like they're little handlebars, and kicks her legs.  As I peddle I sing and babble back while she rings the bell and leans back to look at me as if to say, "Mom, this may be the greatest thing we do together."

Mikey and I did the baby hand off/switch, I scurried up the stairs to class and sat down for an hour and thirty minutes. The minutes flew by. I'm so excited for this class. My teacher is a tall Italian woman with big, curly hair (looser curls, but still frizzy), round, clear-framed glasses, lots of jewelry and even more personality. Yesterday she wore a checkered shirt and a corduroy vest. (I'm telling you I've never seen an Italian woman not dressed well and looking completely put together.) I hope I can soak up as much language as I can.

After class Ada and I rode home. She giggled and rang the bell as we bumped along the cobble stones. We got home and shared leftovers (zucchini, potato and tomato gratin) and she went down for her afternoon nap.

Then I painted. I have three paintings in the works. I was happy with what I did yesterday. I painted a tiny far away city. It's been so long since I've painted like this. I'm loving, loving, loving it. Ada slept for two and a half hours.

Mikey came home early. After he had a nap (while Ada and I dropped by the grocery store), we spent a bit of time cleaning up the backyard and playing outside as a family. I started dinner and left those two to hang outside. Soon Mikey knocked on the window and held up Ada. She was stripped down to her diaper and apparently slipping all over the freshly-mopped back porch. Mikey brought her in, wiped her off and reintroduced her to friction.

We had simple meal of BLT's (well, really PLT's -- pancetta, lettuce and tomato) and fruit for dinner.
And after dinner I taught Ada the proper way to roll out pie crust and keep it from breaking apart. Though we live in Italy, we can still carry on with feasting on fall harvests like Americans. I started prepping my apples. Cinnamon, a bit of sugar, nutmeg to taste, three tablespoons of flour should do it . . . even while just mixing the filling together my kitchen started to smell like Autumn.

I put Ada to bed and then finished prepping and chilling before I baked a beautiful All-American Apple Pie alla Bolognese.

Mikey and I shared a quarter of it with some vanilla gelato on top (we're still in Italy, after all) and talked about how great life is when you manage time well and put the important stuff first. Like warm apple pies. :)