Barbecue

The Saturday before Easter we were invited, along with the youth group to go to a friend’s land in the country for a barbecue.   It was a beautiful day, sunny and finally feeling like spring.  We caravanned in several cars up to the area of Piana degli Albanesi. The property was on a peninsula out in a  large lake surrounded by hills and mountains.   The owners of the property were already there setting up the picnic tables and food.  The youth group pulled out soccer and volleyballs to take advantage of the nice weather.  Shawn and one of his friends started preparing the coals for the grill, while I went to play volleyball with the girls.   The grilling items were a little different from your normal hamburgers and hotdogs, although they do have them here.   For an appetizer there was bruschetta, grilled bread with a tomato topping.  Then came the sausage and grilled chicken filets, followed by stighioli.  What on earth is stighioli?  Well…….it is a Sicilian delicacy that the Palermitani love. 

It comes wrapped around a large scallion, with lard and parsley also in the center.  We had “stighioli di capra” which loosely translated is goat intestines.  They grill it over hot coals, and then squeeze fresh lemon juice over it and sprinkle with salt while it is still hot.  I tasted my first, last, and only piece of it.  The sad part is that it smells just like spiedies (marinated meat kebabs) when it cooks.  (My dad grew up in New York state and the area he is from is known for a special marinade)  Anyway now I can at least say I tried it.   I didn’t feel quite so bad when the other American girl there didn’t care for it either.   We finished off the meal with salad and a little later after the stomach settled, a sweet.  

We also got a chance to walk around part of the peninsula with some friends to see the lake.  We needed the walk after eating all afternoon.  There were a lot of wildflowers and woods, and it looked a lot like places near our home in the States.  We decided to head back after seeing rainclouds not too far away, and we had to prepare for our Easter service with the youth the next day. 

(Photos include: the view, eating bruschetta, preparing and cooking stighioli, picking wildflowers, us, and the town near the lake)