Stefano de Pieri: April 2011

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

A funny story about my brother; Sergio.

This was a story told over dinner last Sunday night, by my friend Angelo. It’s a funny story and has nothing to do with Easter but it was discussed over dinner on Easter Sunday and it involved my brother Sergio who was dining with us as well.

Sergio is cooking in his kitchen in Italy and is cooking for a whole bunch of desperate people, he loves to entertain. His house is a crossroad of Australians, Americans and Italians and many others who stop by to enjoy a bowl of pasta with him and enjoy his hospitality. This chap goes up to my brother and Sergio asks him, “What do you do?”, having never seen this bloke before, such is the nature of the place, of our house in Italy, people come and go. The bloke said “I’m a musician” and my brother said, “I’m a musician too!” "Oh", then my brother said, “What kind of music do you play?” The fella says “I’m in a band.” My brother is a classical musician and is not familiar with many bands and not attuned to modern music but asked the guy "What band are you in?" The fella replied “I play in a band called “Crowded House” My brother thinks a little bit and this didn’t register because it’s not part of his culture. My brother replies quite solemnly, ”I have a crowded house too!”
Still to this day, my brother does not understand why we laugh so much!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A story from my past that fits with the spirit of Easter

This is a country story about kind heartedness and people with no pretence and fits with the spirit of Easter.

Hot summer night in Wentworth

I am busting for a cigarette, I am not a habitual smoker. I have a little bit of tobacco in my car and all of the shops are shut, so I go to the pub and there is one single drinker at the bar. I go up to the barman and asked if he had any cigarette papers and he said he usually has some and began fossicking around on a shelf above his head. He does this for a while and can’t find any. So he turns to the drinker who is staring into his pot of beer and says to him, “Give your cigarette papers to this guy”, The drinker quite kindly obliges, and pulls out his packet of Drum and pulls out his cigarettes and leaves the papers and hands me over the packet. I said “Well that is very kind of you. What are you going to do? “The guy says “I’ve got plenty in the car. No worries.” I say “Can I buy you a beer “and put money on the bar. The bloke said “No no, you don’t have to do that” and he insists I take the money back. I thanked him again, walking away greatly relieved. As I was doing this, the bloke said ”You could cook a meal for me sometime!” I said, “I’ll do that.” He hasn’t turned up as yet.

My miracle of Easter!

My daughter; Claudia, was spreading Easter eggs around the garden, taking her cousins to search for the eggs. They did this with the great enthusiasm of little children. They fossicked around the garden in the dark which was illuminated by garden lights. Lucca, (6 years old0 thought that he felt something funny in a pot plant, that didn’t feel like an Easter egg. He dug it out and there it was, the precious ring, which has a lot of nostalgic and sentimental value to my wife who had lost it, last Thursday. He came into the kitchen with the egg and the ring and there was a huge explosion of joy! Everyone proclaimed this to be a miracle of Easter! This ring has huge sentimental value to my wife, we all rejoiced and still have a smile in our heart. We wondered how it ended up in the pot plant and what mysterious forces moved, to allow a child to find it.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Great news, the Cafe/Bakery is open over Easter!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Our delicious Hot Cross buns- get in early to avoid disappointment!

These beautiful artisian Hot Cross buns sell out very quickly. To make sure you don't miss out, come in early or

phone us for an order. 03 50 213 627

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Recipe for a gourmet seafood breakfast

We managed to get this photo just before Steve Jacobs polished it off!

Here is the recipe:

4 free range eggs,
1 skinned, diced ripe tomato
1 dollop of butter
2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
6 yabbie tails - cooked and chopped
Pinch of Murray River Salt and black pepper, freshly ground
Pinch of flat leaf parsley

Beat the eggs lightly with seasoning. In a non stick pan melt butter and
oil.Add tomatoes and cook a little. Add chopped yabbies and eggs. With a
rubber spatula scramble the eggs very rapidly until just cooked - the
residual heat can do the rest.

Place on good toasted bread and scatter parsley leaves over the dish.

Buon appetito!