A Postcard A Day - Tuesday 10 Jan 2017 T for orzo coffee and Belarus

Good Morning T-Gang!

Everything has gone back to normal here. We have celebrated Three Kings on the 6th (see my previous blog post) and now all the children have gone back to school since yesterday and my clubs have all started up again after the Christmas break. 

Any new year's resolutions? I don't usually make any, but we did start a healthy eating regime. A bit like Paleo but we do eat beans. Anybody doing the Whole30 thing? It's similar to that. Although I'm doing this to feel better, I normally lose weight on this diet. Probably because I cut out sugar and sweet things and alcohol, which makes a lot of difference of course. I have already lost a kilo since the beginning of the year!

My postcard of today arrived yesterday from Belarus.

It shows some sort of memorial park and I was going to look up some info about it on the internet, but now I seem to have lost the card. Can't find it anywhere... Sorry.
The stamp is lovely, with the mushrooms. The date stamps shows it was posted on the 24th but I only received it yesterday.

Some of you might know that Saturday is my baking day. I love baking. I get a lot of my ideas from Fatto in casa da Benedetta, which is an Italian girl who bakes at home and she shows through videos how to do it. Just images, no talking, so very easy to follow. I made this cake, called ciambellone all'orzo. It turned out perfectly. Hurray for Benedetta.

I used caffe d'orzo (orzo coffee) to make this cake. Orzo coffee  is a type of hot drink, originating in Italy. This is what Wikipedia says about it (Just skip this bit if you're not interested): Orzo is a caffeine-free roasted grain beverage made from ground barley (orzo in Italian, from Latin hordeum). It is an espresso-style drink, and when prepared from the roasted barley directly, it can easily be made in typical espresso machines and coffeemakers. In Italy it is widely available in coffee vending machines. Although traditionally considered a coffee substitute for children, it is an increasingly common choice in Italy and other places for those who choose to eschew caffeine for health reasons.

In Italy caffè d'orzo is made in the traditional Italian espresso machines in the cafes. Italian families tend, instead, to make it using an orziera, a special moka pot adapted to barley.

During the II World War and post war times, caffè d'orzo and chicory became the most popular drink in Europe. They were both used as substitutes for coffee, which was expensive and hard to find. In European countries with a very long post war period, like for instance Spain, this image of barley as a cheap surrogate of coffee still remains in the memory of the population. Thus, from having dozens of Spanish producers in the 1950s and being a widely popular drink in the Spanish Mediterranean coast, now Spain only has two roasters of barley. In Italy, instead, there are dozens of roasters making caffè d'orzo and it is a very popular drink. Out of Italy caffè d'orzo is also increasing slowly its consumption as a healthy drink, especially in Germany.

Why didn't I put the orzo in the photograph? I drink it all the time. (I lived in Italy for many years and kept the habit) Hmm I forgot. Now I have to really look for something drink related to be able to join the T-gang today. Elizabeth and Bleubeard host this tea party at Altered Book Lover.
Oh well, I have to improvise:

Sorry I'm not very organized. (I'm writing this in the middle of the night. Perhaps I should just go to bed...)

Happy T-Day everyone,

Have a good week,

Hugs,

Lisca