Training Trip

June 4, 2016

We are taking the mission office couple with us on our final transfer trip so they can get a better feel for the distances the missionaries have to travel and the challenges of getting supplies and packages to the various areas.  They handle the travel and supplies for the mission.  The logistics for the mission can be fairly daunting since the mission is so large and includes three islands.  We are continually striving to streamline and make everything more efficient.

It takes about five hours to drive to Bari.  Luckily it's a beautiful drive and we see some interesting things along the way.  One of those things is a water bufalo dairy where stopped and got some fresh mozarella di bufala.

Mozarella di Bufala hood party

Watch out for the Water Bufalo

Svevo Castle

Mopping the road in Bari

Bari Duomo

St. Nicholas Cathedral

Statue of St. Nicholas

Designated Sacred Door of St. Nicholas Cathedral

Wedding in St. Nicholas Cathedral

St. Nicholas' Relics

The Tradition Continues

February 3, 2015

It's a tradition that we stop and get mozzarella cheese at a water buffalo dairy on the way to zone conferences in Taranto and Bari.  It's an odd little tradition, but the Assistants love it.  We always take Ritz crackers, a plastic knife, a paper plate, and a roll of paper towels on the trip with us.   There is no place close by to eat the cheese so we have found an overpass a short distance away that provides us with an inconvenient place to eat.  In the summer it shields us from the heat and sometimes provides shelter from inclement weather.  This time it was raining.  We use the hood of the car for a table and huddle around the car to eat.  This is the sort of thing that memories are made of.

Water Buffalo

April 11, 2014

Buffalo mozzarella or Mozzarella di Bufala in Italian is a mozzarella made from the milk of domestic water buffalo.  Cheeses made from buffalo milk are higher in calcium, higher in protein and lower in cholesterol than cow's milk.

Buffalo mozzarella is a fresh, soft, semi-elastic textured cheese.  The process of making pasta filata cheese includes heating the curd to a point where it can be stretched and formed into various shapes. This gives the snowy white mozzarella a mild yet slightly sour taste. The texture is soft, moist and somewhat granular. It is coated with a thin edible rind and brined for up to a week when sold in vacuum-sealed packages.

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One of the senior couples living in Battipaglia has made friends with the owners of a water buffalo dairy.  It is birthing time at the dairy and we got to see several new baby buffalos.  We had some extra time before meeting with the missionaries and took advantage of the time to enjoy the sights and wonders of Italy.  Italy is wonderful! 

Mozzarella di Bufala

Mozarella di Bufala

One of my favorite foods in Italy is Mozarella di Bufala.  It is literally mozarella made from the milk of water buffalo.  Most of the mozarella is made in Napoli (Naples).  As you drive through the Napoli area, you occasionally see a herd of water buffalo and a dairy.  Michael and I love to stop at the plant where they make the cheese and get some fresh cheese.  It's so yummy!