English | In Puglia? ... In Vacanza!

Thanks everyone!

We thank all those who participated in our Give Away. Once again, congratulations to Benjamin who won a one week’s stay in our lamia.

If you are interested in spending a holiday in our Lamia, in beautiful Puglia, you could be lucky because the holiday season has begun 🙂 . On a regular basis we’ll publish offers until the end of the year and if you don’t want to miss any of them, give a like to our Facebook page to stay up to date!

We, Jetty and Giovanni, met for the first time on November 7th. Our first offer is a 10% discount on the rentalfee of the lamia, for every year that has passed since 201?, the year we met for the first time.

The discount is valid for a stay from 15 November 2019 until 30 May 2020 and only if you book Thursday 7 November.

Thursday we will let you know what the discount will be 🙂 .

Do you love fresh home made pasta?

Store bought or fresh home made pasta

Whether it is fresh home made pasta or store bought, pasta is always tasty. In Italy it is a staple food like potatoes in the Netherlands. The word “pasta” comes from the Latin word păstam, which means a combination of flour and water.

The origin of pasta dates back to a long time ago. Some researchers believe that in the thirteenth century it was Marco Polo, who introduced pasta in Italy on his return from one of his trips to China in 1271. Others say that the pasta dates back even further, to the ancient Etruscan civilizations, which produced pasta grinding different cereals and then mixing them with water, a mixture that was later cooked producing a tasty and nutritious food product.

Did you know that by now there are more than 600 different shapes of pasta made all over the world? In Puglia, among the various types, we have the “Orecchiette”. The round and concave shape of this pasta has led to its name, which means “small ears”. In Bari there is a place called “Quartiere delle Orecchiette”. In reality, they are just two narrow streets, where local women are sitting outside preparing the orecchiette by hand, continuing a family tradition.

Challenge yourself

About four years ago I had the pleasure to learn how to make Orecchiette. My teacher was an 80 years young lovely lady. But that wasn’t the first time I made fresh pasta.

In 2015 an Italian friend told me he was able to make a fresh pasta dish within 20 minutes and challenged me to try it too. I accepted the challenge, making the dough was a piece of cake but rolling the dough with a rolling pin took me a lot of time. About 50 minutes later I finally had my pasta on the table. A 30 minute difference. It was a challenge to win! After many doughs, always improving my time, I finally reached the time of 20 minutes 🙂 . At that point, my friend told me he was using a pasta machine, not a rolling pin like I did. From that day on, he called me the queen of pasta 🙂 .

Now, I would like to challenge you: try to make fresh pasta , it’s really fun!

Ostuni – Brindisi: 5 – 6

Brindisi won! Well, actually it was a draw, but my vote for Brindisi was decisive ;-). It means that we will first visit Brindisi during a bike tour 🙂 .

One these days we will go to Brindisi by bike. The tour will take us on country roads leading to the Adriatic Sea. From there we will travel a part of the Via Appia. The Via Appia is one of the first and strategically most important streets of Ancient Rome that connected Brindisi to Rome. The Brindisi column marks the end of the Via Appia.

But there is more to see and visit in the former capital of Italy. The Duomo, the Church of Santa Maria del Casale, the Aragonese Castle, the Monument to the Sailor and much more.

On our way back home we’ll be following country roads again, passing the old Masseria Casignano. And then, after being on the bike for a total of about 60 km, we’ll be back home where our cats will be waiting for us 🙂 .

And Ostuni? You’ll find out soon!

International Street Food arrives at Brindisi

From the traditional Ariccia pork , Neapolitan fried pizza and New York hot dogs to the meat of Australian kangaroo, over 40 chefs are at work during “International Street Food”. “International Street Food” is an international event that in recent months has been touring across Italy and from October 31 to 3 November will make a stop at Brindisi.

During the event, visitors will be able to enjoy a selection of the best regional, national and international dishes. The best Italian and foreign food trucks and stands will take part.

“International Street Food” is expected in the period from October 31 to November 3, 2019, at the following times: 31 October from 18:00 to 24:00, and 1, 2 and 3 November from 12:00 to 24:00. The location is Piazza Santa Teresa, chosen for its central location and the stunning views of the harbor.

Source: brindisioggi.it

I hope there will be a Dutch stand too with “Hollandse Nieuwe” (new Dutch herring) . This raw herring is eaten on bread or as a snack accompanied by chopped onions.

This is the reaction of Emanuela after seeing a video of how the Dutch eat their herring 🙂 .

If you who want to try the delicious “cucina Pugliese” during a stay in beautiful Puglia: there is still time to participate in our Give Away where you have a chance of winning a free one week stay in our lamia! If you want to give it a go, hop over to the page where you can participate. We wish you good luck!

The focaccia has won!!!

As you might remember, we asked you on facebook what you would prefer to cook “live” if this was possible: Greek yogurt bread or Focaccia.

70% of the votes went to the focaccia. So now it’s time to start organising our “live cooking” event during which you can participate 🙂

First of all the date and time. Saturday 9 november at 9:30 AM we’ll meet online and start preparing our dough. For the dough you’ll need the following ingredients: flour (I’ll be using Maiorca e Senatore Cappelli), salt, dry yeast and water. Beside that you’ll be needing a kitchen scale and a big bowl.

Than, at 6:30 PM, we’ll meet again. This time for finishing and baking the focaccia. Make sure you’ll have all the ingredients at home that you want to use as a condiment for your focaccia. Ours will be simple: tomato sauce, scamorza cheese, origano and a bit of olive oil.

I hope you’ll join us in your kitchen! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask them as a comment here below.

Greek yogurt bread

Here is, on request, the recipe for the Greek yogurt bread.

Ingredients for a small bread:

200 grams of Senatore Capelli flour
50 grams of whole grain Maiorca flour
100 grams of full fat Greek yogurt
100 grams of lukewarm water
1 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of honey
2 grams of dry yeast

How to prepare the loaf:

Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and knead, for about 10 minutes, until you have an elastic dough.
Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest until the dough has doubles in size and you see “bubbles” on top.
Knead the dough again for about 3 minutes and after that put in a bakingform. Cover again and let it rest for about 30 minutes, you’ll see the “bubbles” again.
Meanwhile heat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Bake the bread in about 20 minutes. Your bread is cooked wehen you hear a hollow sound when tapping the bottom of the bread.
Take out of the oven and let it cool on a rack.

Buon pranzo tutti!!!!

The focaccia makes its comeback

While the temperature in Puglia during daytime is still like summer in the Netherlands, around 20-25 degrees Celsius, the nights are getting a bit colder.

Autumn is the season in which our homemade focaccia makes his comeback on the menu. It is the time our oven starts working more hours. From Greek yogurt bread and chocolate chip cookies to lasagne they all find there way to our oven 🙂 . Did you know that our rental lamia is also equiped with an oven? So when you’re staying with us you can, for example, prepare your focaccia at home.

Our favorite focaccia is a simple one: a dough made with Maiorca and Senatore Capelli flour and topped with tomato sause, grated smoked scamorza , origano and a little bit of olive oil. Simple but o so delicious! What is your favorite focaccia? Have you ever made your own focaccia from scratch? If not, would you like to learn how to make a focaccia? We will be happy to show you how to prepare a delicious focaccia at home.

Grab your chance on winning a free stay in our lamia and who knows, we might be preparing a focaccia together 🙂 .

Nordic Walking on the beach of Penna Grossa

Maybe you know that Jetty has about 20 years of experience as a fitness trainer/personal trainer. The love for her former job has not disappeared.

For this reason she is organizing a Nordic Walking walk, for the members of the group “Cuciniamo!” and for our guests, on the beach of Penna Grossa. Not sure how to do Nordic Walking? Don’t worry, Jetty will help you learn the right technique. She has Nordic Walking poles for 15 people, so the only thing you need to bring is yourself.

The walk will start on October 20 at 9:30 am at the Penna Grossa car park and will end around 10:30 am.

If you know other people who want to participate, you can invite them to become a member of the group. To book use the form below or send a message to Jetty on Whatsapp 3270912079.

P.S.: Time passes quickly, October 31 is the last day to have a chance to win a stay in our lamia.

The spring of winter has begun

With the days getting shorter and the nights getting longer, you know that autumn has arrived. The temperature drops, even in the beautiful Puglia. But fortunately Puglia is not only beautiful in spring and summer, but also in autumn and winter.

The spring of winter is a beautiful season to be out in the open. How about a walk along the sea with family or friends? And then, after coming home from your walk, enjoying a cup of hot soup while sitting on the couch with the wood stove on? Yes, autumn is really a beautiful season, perhaps the most beautiful of the four seasons 😉

The colors we associate with autumn are deep gold, orange and dark red. Orange like carrot and sweet potato soup*, full of flavors with seasonal products.

If you are our guest during these months, Jetty will be happy to prepare this soup for you. But for those who want to make it at home here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of butter
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 tablespoon of curry powder
250 grams of carrots, peeled and cut into pieces
250 grams of sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
750 ml chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 sweet, peeled and chopped apple
1 tablespoon of honey
black pepper

Preparation:

In a pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onionpieces and cook, stirring frequently, until they are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Do not brown. Add the curry powder and cook another minute.
Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and cook slowly for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes and carrots are cooked.
Blend the soup with an immersion blender until it is smooth and creamy.
Season to taste with salt and pepper if necessary.

P. S .: did you know that you can win a stay in our lamia this month?

*Source: onceuponachef.com

So what?

What do you have to do to get a chance on winning a week in our lamia?

As you know by now, we’re giving away to one lucky person, a week’s stay for 2 people in our lamia. If you win, it will be you to decide when to come to our beautiful Puglia in the period between November 15, 2019 and May 30, 2020. The one week’s stay is free, only the electricity and gas costs are paid by the winner.

Now watch the video in which we tell you what you have to do to get a chance on winning a week in our lamia.

Enter now, in the form below, your name and your e-mail and accept the terms and conditions* before you hit the “ENTER” button.

1 winner
Prize:
Un soggiorno di una settimana per 2 persone nella nostra lamia

Ended

After hitting “ENTER” button, you’ll see a link which you can share among your friends, and if they decide to participate, using your link, your chance on winning will increase.

You will receive an email confirming your participation in the Give away. The email contains the same link, which you can use for sharing with your friends.

You can participate until 11.45pm on October 31st 2019. On November 1st 2019 we will announce the winner’s name on our website and on social media.

If you have questions, feel free to write them below as a comment.

The only thing left to say is:

Good Luck!!!

* Terms and Conditions:

We are giving the winner a one-week stay for two persons in our lamia.
The winner will be randomly selected from all those who have entered their name and email address in the form generated by Simple Giveaways (https://www.wpsimplegiveaways.com/);
The Simple Giveaways plug-in will randomly choose the winner’s name on 1 November 2019 at 6 p.m.;
The one-week stay for two persons is free. The costs of electricity and gas are payable by the winner
The stay of a week is of choice in the period from November 15, 2019 and up to May 30, 2020;
The winner will receive an email (also check the spam folder) to which he must reply within 2 weeks after receiving, indicating that he has read and accepted the terms and conditions. Furthermore, the selected time period should be mentioned. The selected time period can not be changed. A copy of an identity document must be added.
The e-mail address is only required to participate in the Give away and after the winner has been selected, the system deletes all other entered e-mails;
The free stay of one week for two people cannot be converted into money;
The free stay of one week for two people cannot be transferred to third parties.