Ci spiace, ma questo articolo è disponibile soltanto in English.
Nel 2003 Rebecca ha iniziato a scrivere dei saggi per il sito Slow Travel, raccontando la sua esperienza di ragazza di città che dagli Stati Uiniti si è trasferita nella campagna umbra.
Le sue riflessioni sono riprodotte qui.
Umbria Slow:
I don’t know if you remember that I’m not much of a fruit eater and tend to prefer what little fruit I eat raw, but I do appreciate the experience of preparation and the satisfaction of making one’s own. My home-made treats tend to be chocolate-based, but the sentiment behind the gift is the same. (I especially relate to the social awkwardness.)
For a peek into how city folk do it, here’s a canning blog written by my friend, Eric (who, I just recently discovered, is a slashfood.com writer!): http://urbanhomeblog.blogspot.com/search/label/canning%20and%20preserving.
I adore you. you say everything I want to say.
What’s the yellow fruit with the berries?
Never a finer compliment, Diana…thank you!
I know it looks like there’s something yellow in the pot, but it’s just a weird color thing that went on while I was trying to snap a picture of a boiling liquid before the steam fogged up the lens. Only strawberries in there!
Hi Rebecca,
What a writer you are! I always love your “stories” – you have such a talent for humorous, flowing prose. Hope all is well with you and your family.
Great link, George! Thanks…and chocolate-based treats are always well received in these parts. Just saying.
Thanks so much, Mary. With two boys under eight, a sense of humor is a must! Things are fine here–we should try to throw together a GTG with the usual suspects this summer!
I may be able to help with the lighting issue. Can you change the white balance on your camera? There should be a tungsten setting, which will neutralize the orange effect.
To George: “It’s like she’s trying to speak to me, I know it. Look, you’re really cute, but I can’t understand what you’re saying. Say the first thing again.”
Very nice post, and you are right: canning is addictive. Beautiful jam, by the way.
I’ll try again. When you go into the menu is there a “White Balance” setting? Can you change it? You may not be able to, depending on which scenario you’ve chosen (landscape, flower, running man, etc.). My “light sensitive” mode is a person in double parentheses. When I’m in that mode, I can go into the menu and change the white balance to the one that looks like a light bulb. When I do that, the image becomes clear, not washed over with orange.
Wait. Hold the phone. Eric, as in Eric Diesel of slashfood and urbanhomeblog?
You think my jam is beautiful.
Sorry, I just need to sit down for a minute.
(Thanks!)
@George: Ok, now we are speaking the same language. I’m going to sit down this weekend and get a little more acquainted with my camera. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Rebecca, as a result of your blog post, reports are coming in from the countryside. Strawberry vines have been spotted winding there way out of their berry patches toward Umbria, their leaves rustling an almost audible sound, that according to one boy in rural California, “sounds like ‘Brigolante’.”
You capture a delicious turn of phrase and culture in your writing. Complimenti!
Reading this made my day! Sitting here in my office I can now smell jam cooking, yum! When I was a teenager and my parents split and my mother moved from the big city of Denver to Bellingham, Washington, she took advantage of all the wild blackberries that fill all the roadside ditches and vacant lots there to start making jam. We went to “U-Pick” farms and put up strawberry and blueberry jam too, and later in the summer made applebutter. Now, maybe I should give it a try…
Well said – as usual! Brava!
Thanks, everyone, for your wonderful comments. Nothing seems to strike a chord in the heart like homemade jam! @Sarah, for pure effort/pleasure ratio, no better way to spend a Sunday :)