Sweet Power Of An Onion | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

21 May 2013 Leave a Comment

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Garden Design, Italian Food, Kitchen Design Tags: , , , , ,

I had a taste for grilled onions last Sunday. I was harvesting the produce in my small orchard, I thought it would be perfect to grill some of them while pizza was cooking in the wood-burning brick oven. Grilled onions made into a salad sounded perfect, light and powerful for the sunny weather.

BrickOven
(I built this brick oven in a very simple style, but it makes the greatest pizza and bread)

Onion is considered the truffle of the poor, it is a good antibiotic, a natural diuretic, a natural warm up as it produces warmth in the body and contains as many medicinal substances as a whole apothecary could have. It helps against cardiovascular diseases and we all like food believed to be aphrodisiac. Onion and white wine make a perfect potion of positive effect against cold, fever and cough.

Onions fed the builders of the Pyramids, the troops of Alexander the Great and Emperor Nero constantly munched on leeks to clear his throat.

I believe if we take onions away from the kitchen there is no gastronomic art and this was my roasted onion salad last Sunday.

RoastingOnions

On the stove, I grilled the onions first with only olive oil and marine salt. When grill marks formed on both sides, I covered the serving plate with arugula (from my orchard). On top I laid circles of roasted onions, circles of tomatoes (from my orchard), added a few green olives and a citronette emulsion made of lemons (from my orchard), olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. I said “from my orchard” many times, that’s because I am very proud of being a city girl and knowing of how to grow food. To me, it’s about being in control of what I eat.

I cannot make tasty and healthy food any more simple than this.

CipolleArrosto

There was a time when my parents would say “I will leave you on bread and onion!” when my brothers and I did something they didn’t like. With all the good proprieties onions carry, it would have been a nice punishment, but somehow it did not sound so good then.

I am here and always available for consultations if you need to build a brick oven, a kitchen spice garden, or an outdoor kitchen. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinadesigns.wordpress.com

Copyright © 2013 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

ValentinaValentina Cirasola has been in business as an interior designer since 1990 improving people’s life by changing their spaces. Most often she designs kitchens and wine grottos; outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms; great rooms and entertainment rooms. Her deep interest in food led her as an autodidact in the studies of food in history, natural remedies, nutrition and well-being. Finally she wrote two books on Italian regional cuisine and one book on color theory. Get your copy of Valentina’s books on
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

Where Is Your Fire? | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

10 May 2013 4 Comments

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Garden Design, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

Small spaces are challenging, but I never see them as a problem. With a little research work for the right item that matches the measurements of a restrictive area, everything is possible and often one can fit the cutest item in any small space.
barbecue-Sigmafocus

Wall BBQ

Focus, a French company, came up with “Sigmafocus” an elegant wall-mounted BBQ that looks more like a hat hanging on the wall. Made of steel, it opens from the wall and the generous firebowl comes down at your height ready for BBQing any food. The plate on the wall protects the wall from the smoke. It is perfect for garden or balconies and even for apartment living. The same company produces “Diagofocus”, a beautifully designed cylinder and stylish space-saver BBQ.

Diagofocus

Do you live in an apartment? This next solution is a dream. The balcony BBQ mounts on the rail of the balcony as if it was a planter, except that you can cook your favorite vegetables and meats. Check with your landlord, as many apartment managements do not allow any type of BBQ. Price 59.00 Euro, find it here http://www.connox.com/categories/outdoor/barbecue/bbq-bruce-balkonygrill.html

Balcony BBQ

Italians do the Italian things. Hand-painted colorful ceramic BBQ are highly decorative and can be placed anywhere in the garden or patio. Even when not in use for grilling, the grill area can turn into a small counter by covering it with a flat plate, then a wine bottle and glasses can rest on it.
Find it at https://www.facebook.com/romeo.cuomo
There is poetry in something this beautiful !!!

Italian Ceramic BBQ

In Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from Zeus to give it to the mortals…. Slow food taste so good. Is your fire ready?
If you are looking for something special, I am here to help, just ask. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinadesigns.wordpress.com

Copyright © 2013 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Val:FarfalleStampValentina is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens, cooking and extensive knowledge of food. She designs for USA and Europe’s markets. She loves to remodel homes and gardens. With her many years of experience she is able to cover a wide range of design solutions. She offers design consultations on-line and anywhere in the world through Skype line. Valentina is the author of three books all available on
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

Flavor Of Colors | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

18 Apr 2013 Leave a Comment

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Garden Design, Italian Culture, Italian Food Tags: , , , , ,

Kitchens to me are the quintessential expressions of colors because we can paint the walls with colors of the food to feel the vibrations of health and we can eat in the rainbow, as often I define my gamma of food.
Yes, colors have feelings, expressions and flavors. Once I taught kids a class on “Colors The Simple Way” and asked them to paint the flavor of their favorite color. Even though I didn’t require painting food, I wasn’t surprised to see the different interpretations each kid came up, as they all thought of flavors of food from their countries. (…) The flavors of colors might be different to people in different parts of the world, whether they satisfy a physical need or submit to a cultural requirement. (…) as it reads in my book RED-A Voyage Into Colors.

FAMILY

Ever since I moved to California, I have had the opportunity to grow food in my garden. I opted to plant an orchard instead of temperamental plants. In Europe space is limited and I had never grown food in my life. However, good food, grown and prepared the natural way was my family concept of daily nutrition, just as in any Italian family.
The knowledge of natural food in Italian homes exceeds any nutritional book. Junk food, munching on candies and salty processed food just doesn’t exist in our homes and we have no interest in GMO food, so far from our concept!

Everything changed when I moved to California and a great problem faced me. Food corporations want to corrupt our health by selling corrupted food. I managed to stay very healthy all my life and I intend to continue staying that way. I am not going to be subject to the abuse of corporate food. What did I do? I boycotted all the corporate super markets, I shop at local producers, small food stores and the rest I grow it myself. I had to learn quickly how to grow food and how to become a “urban farmer”.
I am not interested in going out to eat either, unless I know where the restaurant food comes from. Tough luck for them, but in my house, food is natural, the taste is excellent, its color is flavorful and my friends forget to live because my food is so good. Often, I wonder if they come for my food or me!!!

Here it is something you can make and keep in the refrigerator. Give yourself the flavor of Vitamin C, any time you eat.

Dry Peppers Compote
From the Internet, I bought Italian grown seeds of:
Italian Roasters
Italian and Greek Peperoncini
Cherry Peppers
Chichen Itza (this specialty pepper takes the name from a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya civilization)

Preparation:
First with needle and cotton thread sew each pepper on the top part until a necklace is formed (see first photo above). Tight the two ends together, hang it in a full sun area to dry for a week, or longer if there is humidity in the air. Bring it in a dry place at night.

After one week, cut open each pepper, discard the seeds, chop in very small pieces, add salt and leave them to dry on a cloth and in the sun again for 2-3 days, until the salt has drawn all the humidity from the peppers. Bring it in at night.

Peppers Variety Drying

Prepare the condiment:
Chop garlic and Italian parsley both very fine, add capers, and season to taste, no black pepper, some of the peppers might be hot. Mix the condiment with the dry peppers. Fill up a glass jar (no plastic container please) with the compote, cover with extra-virgin olive oil to the top of the jar, close and store it in the refrigerator for a week. Let the flavors marrying before you polished it completely.

How to use the compote:
Put it in sandwiches, eat it as a salsa, spread it over grilled fish or meat, enrich a green salad, or simply eat it with freshly baked crusty bread.

Last year my compote lasted three days, I didn’t even have the chance to take a single picture, but in between all those jars you see in the photo below of my home-grown and home-made food, there is one compote in there too.

Val_In_Her_Paradise copy

Do not hesitate to ask, if you need some information. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinadesigns.wordpress.com

Copyright © 2013 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Val:FarfalleStampValentina Cirasola has been in business as an interior designer since 1990 improving people’s life by changing their spaces. Often people describe her as “the colorist” for a reason. She lives in a colorful world, wrote a book on colors RED-A Voyage Into Colors and loves to color her clients’ environments by creating the unusual. Her deep interest in food led her as an autodidact in the studies of food in history, natural remedies, nutrition and well-being, then finally she wrote two books on Italian regional cuisine. Find Valentina’s three books on
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

Easter Eggs With A Surprise | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

29 Mar 2013 8 Comments

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Easter Decorations, Holiday Decorations, Italian Food, Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

uova-di-pasqua
uova_di_pasqua2

It wasn’t too long ago when my father brought home every year a huge, decadent dark chocolate Easter egg for my brothers and me, at least it seems not that long. Sometimes he won the egg with a raffle at his office, but often he bought it at the pastry shop. Italian pastry shops, café and delicatessen stores beautifully display Easter eggs wrapped in cheerfully colored cellophane and contrasting colored aluminum foil. Chocolatiers free their imagination when making Easter eggs in all shapes and sizes, some are even human size and all conceal a surprise. The expensive tall and large chocolate eggs conceal something valuable even gold or silver items from jewelry to knickknacks. The gift inside each chocolate egg is a reminder that the egg is a symbol of rebirth, fertility, the renewing of nature in the spring coming out from under the snow or cold weather and in the Christian world it also symbolizes the resurrection of Christ.

The modern custom of decorating Easter eggs has roots in ancient Egypt, Greece, Persia and even China. Vernal Equinox or else called Spring Equinox marks the Sun crossing directly over the Earth’s equator in the Northern Hemisphere. For thousands of years this event marked the beginning of a new year, thus it was celebrated with gifts of colored eggs and with a variety of rituals to welcome spring.

Painted With Rubber Bands

Colors have a meaning in every culture and every custom, even in decorated Easter eggs, their brilliant mixed colors in general symbolize Spring and the light of Sun, but some specific colors have a deeper meaning or carry a particular message.
Red symbolizes Christ’s blood. The legend says that Mary Magdalene made a joyful announcement to the apostles when she discovered that Christ’s tomb was empty. Incredulous Peter challenged her by saying that he would believe the news if the eggs she carried in the basket would turn red colors. So it happened.
Red eggs are very popular in Greece, while green eggs are popular in Germany and Austria. In the Eastern Europe people prefer eggs decorated with geometric designs in blue and white or red and white; in Armenia often eggs are decorated with religious effigies of Madonna and Christ and in America I see every colors, every designs and everything in between.

I do not remember not having placed at least one Fabergé egg in each of my client’s house. They are highly valuable and lend themselves well to any décor, just as the first platinum Fabergé egg decorated Tzarina Maria’s quarters at her palace, an exquisite gift Tzar Alexander commissioned just for her. Her platinum egg had a surprise in it too. Inside the platinum egg there was a golden egg, which in turn inside contained a chick and a miniature of her imperial crown.

Fabergé_Eggs

Last year I was in Germany around this time and saw this amazing tree Mr. Volker arranges in his front yard every year with over 10,000 papier mâché eggs, while in Berlin giant Easter eggs were on display in the street. One really feels the arrival of spring and the rebirth of the spirit!

MrVolker

Germany Prepares For Easter

Ancient Romans said: “omne vivum ex ovo” – all the living beings originated from the egg, but does anyone know the relation between Easter and bunnies? Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinadesigns.wordpress.com

Copyright © 2013 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Val Working2Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior since 1990, specializing in kitchen, bath, wine cellar, and outdoor kitchen designs. Often people describe her as “the colorist” as she loves to color her clients’ world and loves to create the unusual. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. Author of three published books, the latest RED – A Voyage Into Colors is on the subject of colors.
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

I Adore Fruit | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

08 Feb 2013 2 Comments

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Eating Fruit Tags: , , , ,

I translated from Italian language this piece I found on my Facebook about why and how we should eat fruit. It has valuable information, the author Valdo Vaccaro will be thrilled to know I reposted it and translated it in English for the convenience of my readers.

“We think that eating fruits means buy, peel, slice it and bring it to the mouth, but it is not so simple and trivial. It is important to know how and when to eat fruit.
So what is the correct way to eat fruit?
The first rule is not to eat fruit at the end of a meal, but always on an empty stomach. Learning to eat lot of fruits in the right way, will play a fundamental role in the detoxification of the body system and put at your disposal an enormous amount of useful energy to lose any overweight and improve all the body functions.

The Most Important Human Food
If you eat two slices of bread and then a piece of fruit, you will ruin a perfect mechanism. The fruit portion is ready to go directly into the small intestine, in the duodenum, but is prevented from taking that path as those slices of bread retain the fruit in the stomach, thus the entire meal is transformed into a loaded bolus of acid fermentation. You should definitely eat fruit separately or at least before meals and not at the end.

People Make Mistakes And Then Blame Fruit
I hear complains like “Every time I eat watermelon I feel like burping”, or “If I eat a banana I run to the bathroom,” and other similar amenities, that would never be said if we paid more attentions. It is necessary that in its path down the stomach, fruit doesn’t find undigested food of previous meals and excessively prolonged digestions. These factors will rotten fruit and everything in the stomach, creating gas and intestinal swelling.

Oranges Offering

There Is No Acidifying Fruit
White hair, hair loss, nervous crisis, dark circles under the eyes and other such things would not happen if we learn to consume our food elective in the right way, that is with a free stomach. There is no fruit in the world able to acidify the body, not even lemons and oranges. To the contrary they are the best there is to alkalize our system and avoid the use of antacids, which are extremely expensive in terms of enzymes and internal energy.

The Secret Of Beauty And Health
According to the World Food greatest scholar of all time Dr. Herbert Shelton, if you learn the correct way to nourish yourself with fruit, you will automatically have at your disposal the secret of beauty, longevity, health, energy, happiness while maintaining a constant weight.

Packages, Bottles And Cans
If you feel like drinking a juice, don’t ever get pasteurized juice in cans and bottles, the taste might be similar or even identical to that of the fruit, but totally devoid of nutrients. The heat of the pasteurizing process makes an authentic massacre of vitamins and micronutrients and the addition of any synthetic vitamins make juices even more poisonous.
In any case consuming fruit as it is, would be the best solution, since even during blending process the quality gets lost, especially if consumption doesn’t happen immediately. The squeezed juice needs to be drunk slowly and in small sips, using mouth muscles and saliva, in other words, chew your juice rather than swallowing it.

Three Days Only Fruit
To clean up the body you can always opt for a semi-fasting 3-day fruit only diet. Just consume only fruit and fresh juice from morning to evening for 3 days and you will see your friends and family’s reaction, who will notice how much radiant health your face emanates!

TRAVEL

What Is The Best Fruit?
Kiwi is small but powerful and concentrated; it has a good source of potassium, magnesium, vitamin E and fiber. The content of vitamin-C in a kiwi is double than in the orange.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away. That is very true. Although it is low in vitamin-C apple contains antioxidants and flavonoids, which, like ascorbic acid, lower the risk of colon cancer and heart disease.
Strawberries are the protective fruit, powered as anti-oxidants and specific action against those free radicals that cause vascular blockages and inflammations. Orange’s protective action is the best. This is alternative, sweet and natural medicine. A handful of oranges a day clears colds and rhinitis, lower cholesterol, prevent and dissolve kidney stones and eliminates the risk of bowel cancer.
Watermelon is the best thing to satisfy thirst. Made of 92% water, watermelon is nature packaged with a giant dose of glutathione to give a charge to the immune system. It is also a source of lycopene, the highest anti-oxidant and anti-cancer found in nature. In watermelon there are vitamin C, potassium and a lot of valuable biological water to recount our stagnant bodily water. Melons are considered its best and delicious cousins, strictly not to mix with other food.
Guava and papaya deserve the scepter for vitamin-C, being by far the fruit that contain the largest quantity of vitamin-C. Guava is also rich in vegetable fiber, which is essential to prevent constipation. Papaya also contains carotene, which is useful for the eyes, and the famous papain, great for aiding digestion.
(…)

Fructose And Sucrose
Fresh juice means fructose, it has nothing to do with common sucrose, which is authentic poison and also it has nothing to do with synthetic fructose, also negative for the health. Natural fructose is only found in fresh fruits and uncooked honey, mixed with natural glucose, which is its isomer (made by the same basic elements but with different chemical properties, due to structural and molecular diversity). The fructose is formed in the inversion of sucrose by hydrolysis; it has higher sweetening power than sucrose. Fructose is indicated for diabetics, but sucrose is not.

concord_grape_variety

Grape Juice
The best source of natural sugar for children is definitely found in fresh grape juice, dates and figs are the second sources of natural fructose. To obtain the juice from sun-dried figs and dates, slice these fruits and place them in a bowl filled with distilled water. Cover and let it steep overnight. The next day, squeeze the water out of the fruits and drink the juice”.♢

Written by: Valdo Vaccaro
Translated by: Valentina Cirasola

Ciliege

“Life is a bowl of cherry”. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinadesigns.wordpress.com

Val:FarfalleStampValentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens, cooking and extensive knowledge of food. She operates in the USA and Europe. She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn unattractive spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms and entertainment rooms. Check out her books on
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

Brown Food, Yes or Not? | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

22 Jan 2013 14 Comments

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Design, Italian Food, Kitchen Design Tags: , , , , ,

In decorating, black is for grounding the room, white is for transitioning between one color to another such are usually trims and doors, red is for uplifting energy in a dull environment, green for calming and each of the rest of the colors in the rainbow have a dedicated function, but brown has never been a color that delight in kitchen décor.

Brown in cooking is a totally different matter. Cooking something brown is not that appealing, unless we talk about chocolate in the darkest form of brown, sweet, crunchy, luscious, decadent and even with a hint of salt. Brown breads and brown beers fall in the good brown category that give nutrition and pleasure, but brown steaks don’t. Meat at a fresh state starts with a bright red coloration and by the time is cooked, it should be pinkish inside to retain all the juices and flavors, but never too brown, risking to get a shoe sole.

Brown sauces sold in bottles are full of artificial ingredients and so much sodium. Aside from upsetting someone here who likes that stuff, I would say that brown sauces are good to stain food without personality. Fresh food do not need to be corrupted with brown or any other color sauces. It is clear I don’t agree with people who believe the best food is brown. However there are a few of the brown food I eat all the time: mushrooms, whole-wheat pasta, lentil, truffle and nuts. It is important to combine complementary color schemes when serving dark food – “the eyes want to take part of the feast too” – therefore if it appeals to the eyes it will appeal to the stomach. That’s a fact. Use bright color plates to make the brown food come alive, but don’t forget bright condiments as well.

Enjoy a couple of my simple recipes and colors.

Funghi Trifolati (sautéed)
Use any kind of mushrooms, but mostly crumini, the common dark button mushrooms. Wash them very quickly in cold water, pat dry, cut in half. In a skillet warm up olive oil and garlic, when the garlic is golden, throw in all the cut mushrooms, sauté until they have shrunk a little. Season it with salt, pepper or chili pepper. Add a hand full of fresh chopped Italian parsley. Serve with meat or fish and a robust wine.

Lentil Andalusia Style
For this dish I use dry lentils. Before putting lentils in the boiling water, make sure there are no small rocks inside the bag, as often happens. Boil them in salted water for about 15 minutes and season if necessary with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, chop finely the center core of celery because is tender and more digestible and 1 -2 oranges in small bite sizes. Plate the lentils, add both ingredients on top and a swirl of olive oil.

It cannot be any easier than this! The food in my slide show are all in my books. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinadesigns.wordpress.com

Val:FarfalleStampValentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking. She especially loves to design all those rooms with a “make me feel good” tag attached, such as kitchens and wine grottos, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms and entertainment rooms. She is a public speaker and a mentor. She is also the author of two Italian regional cuisine books and a book on colors, all available here in this site on the Books page and on
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

In Company Of Port | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

18 Dec 2012 Leave a Comment

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Dinner Table Design, Holiday Decorations Tags: , , , ,

Don’t you love this month of parties, celebrations, tasting unusual food and fun drinks? I love it and the people who know me, also know I don’t need an excuse to eat and drink. Life is for living, not deprivations. After dinner drinks seems to be one of my favorite part of a dinner. Especially in this cold time of the year ending a dinner with a port warms up the hands and revives the soul.

Port Sippers

Port aged in oak barrels is a kind of sweet wine, with lot of body and high alcohol content.
Port originated in Oporto, Portugal is a fortified wine made from grapes grown in the Douro valley. Portuguese law allows only this wine to be called Port, just like the French keep strict laws on Champagne and Cognac producers, or Italians are very protective of their Grappa, Parmigiano and many products that took years to perfect.

The new age of Port now includes a dry white specialty and the medium body Port, both can be served before dinner as an apéritif and chilled. The Vintage Port in my opinion is the best. It takes anywhere from ten to twenty years to be ready for drinking. It is intensely fruity, rich of alcohol and contains a lot of deposits, therefore it needs to be decanted before drinking. It goes well with cheeses and nuts at the end of dinner, as all European style dinners end with cheeses, I find it perfect with blue cheeses. Chocolate desserts with berries, or dark chocolates with coarse salt on top are just luscious.

After a bottle of Port has been opened and how is kept will determine the good status, spoilage or the shelf life of the elixir. The most temperamental is the Vintage Port, it only lasts a couple of days after the opening of the bottle. So, drink up with friends and empty the bottle at once!

A-10618832

Know the rule of serving Port and you will look tall like a connoisseur. The host will first pour Port in the glass of his/her guest sitting on the right, then will pass the bottle to the guest on the left, who will pour its own and pass the bottle to the next guest down and around the table up until it reaches again the guest on the right of the host. The pleasure of holding a  Port sipper glass is immense and I love it (top photo), but simple tumblers or regular wine glasses will work well. 21eq92WjIPL

The English writer of novels and travel books once said: “Port is not for the very young, the vain and the active. It is the comfort of age and the companion of the scholar and the philosopher.

A clipping from The Times of London, circa 1798: “To which University, said a woman to the late sagacious Dr. Warren, shall I send my son? Madam, replied he, I believe, near the same quantity of Port in each of them.”

Port is for fine palates, getting a hangover from it will lower that person a few steps. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinadesigns.wordpress.com

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

ValentinaXmas
Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in fashion and interiors. Her extensive knowledge of colors and materials led her in both directions successfully. Vogue Italy featured her as the guru of staging a home in the theatrical way. Among designing and remodeling homes, designing custom-made furniture and writing books, Valentina is now teaching etiquette, table manners, table setting and life style.

Check out her latest books Red-A Voyage Into Colors on the subject of colors, available on
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

The Red On The Cheeks Comes From The Mouth | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

29 Nov 2012 Leave a Comment

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Culinary Trips, Italian Culture, Italian Food, Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

I met a friend last night that has just returned from a month of vacation in Italy. She spent two weeks of her vacation in a kitchen of an agritourism to get some hands-on training on typical Italian cuisine. She is a personal chef and owns a catering company. Our catching up conversation was mostly centered on Italian food and table customs. She could not help but noticing the difference and making a comparison between her American eating customs and the Italian eating style. She noticed how properly people conducted themselves while sitting at the table and how she never spotted an Italian local person eating in the street while walking, an activity only foreigners and tourists engaged in.

At the restaurants and in the place where she was cooking for a few days, she went along with the flow of dinner and how her hosting friends conceived it. They ordered many dishes from antipasto to pasta, meats and vegetables to fruit, cheeses and dessert. The dishes arrived at table not in serving platters for sharing, as often is done in the States, but in single plates, each person got his/her portion of everything ordered. One time they ordered grilled fish and she did not expect to see the deboning process at the table, right before her eyes. That is a common practice in any respectable Italian restaurant. There was a considerable time space between each specialties, she told me. At first she was puzzled to why it took so long to finish the entire dinner and even longer to get the check, people lingered at the table, talking with espresso coffee and digestive drinks, but by observing how Italians carried on conversation and relaxed with wines and company, she understood right away that she was in the land of “Dolce Vita” where eating is an art and nothing else is important while sitting at a dining table. At some tables where business people gathered for lunch, talking about business, my friend observed, did not take place until after all the ordering of food and wines was completed and after people took interest in each other’s life, news of their families and the general happenings. Then during the second half of the dinner, business talk started.

She was all so surprised to see the freshness of food and its vibrant colors in both raw and cooked state. Fish was colorful and smelled like the sea, she said. Of course, she knows that in America supermarkets do not sell the entire fish stock in one day, thus the next day the store will re-propose old fish to the customers marinated in herbs or in some kind of dry rub. In Italy, nobody would buy the re-adaptation of fish. If I want fish, I go directly to the fishmongers. I am fortunate to live on a coastal place, where it is possible to go directly to the source.

My friend asked me why in Italy people don’t suffer gluten problems as people in the States do. You would think that with the large amount of pasta, rice, pizza and bread consumed in Italy, everyone would have gluten intolerance. Well, the answer is simple and crude: Italian food manufacturers do not stuff food with hormones, vitamins, sugar, sodium, MSG and other absurd chemicals. Read the labels of any American food and you will see that the majority of ingredients are unpronounceable chemicals and of real food there is only a faint percentage. In Italy egg yolks are orange, chickens are yellow and don’t eat corn; pigs are not fed with hormones but acorns, which makes our famous prosciutto (ham) so perfectly balanced; gelato is made with real milk and fruit; bread only contains flour, water, yeast and olive oil; vegetables are not sprayed with chemicals and fruit arrive at the supermarket with the dirt they grew in, not polished with wax. To this add the Italian life style. Italian people walk to stores, to work, to schools and most of the places they must reach everyday. In fact, my friend the chef, after all the commercial cooking she did for her own experience and the eating she did for her own enjoyment with daily wine tasting, lost 14 lb in one month and she could not explain how it happened. As I say during my books’ presentations: “The red on the cheeks comes from the mouth”. Eating real food daily will help release extra pounds and stabilize the weight. Most importantly, real food will introduce positive energy in the stomach, which in turn will exude from your skin pores and that is good enough to keep away for your system any food intolerance ever invented by the human mind. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

http://valentinadesigns.wordpress.com

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking. She especially loves to design all those rooms with a “make me feel good” tag attached, such as kitchens and wine grottos, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms and entertainment rooms. She is a public speaker and a mentor. She is also the author of two Italian regional cuisine books and a book on colors, all available here in this site on the Books page and on
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
 Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

I Was In A Comedy Dinner For Six | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

29 Oct 2012 Leave a Comment

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Design, Dinner Table Design, Social Issues Tags: , , , ,

It’s Friday evening, I am dressed to the teeth, ready to enjoy a formal elegant dinner in a private home. In the casual Californian atmosphere, I am already wondering how was this formal dinner conceived, nobody organizes formal and sitting down dinners anymore. As I was approaching a highly decorated home for Halloween, I was expecting to see a herd of children, but only a mature couple, husband and wife lived there.
For this occasion, the wife was the chef, the husband was the waiter dressed in total black with a white napkins neatly  folded over his right arm, playing the part to the letter. Did he learn that in Italy?

The dinner table was elegantly made in a 1930s style, crystal glasses, silver tableware, embroidered tablecloth and fabric napkins. I counted the plates and there were six places set, but we were eight counting the hosts. There is something wrong with this picture, I started to ask myself. The small cup style champagne glasses really caught my eyes, so dainty, well etched, so different from today’s fluted glasses and so short, one sip and the champagne was gone. And so was the mind of some of the guests.
It took only a few bubbles to lose composure. Oh dear, non-senses were already being spoken and we were only at the hors-d’oeuvres, what was going to happen until the end of the dinner?

The hosts invited us to sit down and I soon noticed the missing keynote people, them, the hosts. The host offered this dinner for six at a charitable event. One of the women in the group won the ticket and chose five people of her liking to appear in this charade dinner. I didn’t know anyone in the group and was excited to meet new people, neither did the hosts know anyone. Apparently in this type of style dinner, the hosts cannot sit with the guests, only serve them.
I truly felt awkward being served by an older couple and not having the pleasure to converse with them at the table. In Italy, my native country this will never happen.

Seven courses were waiting to be consumed, mind you, the portions were very small, but some of the women felt intimidated, when they heard about several courses coming and fell stuffed before even trying them.
In one of the many forums I belong, it was said that seven courses is too much to offer, considering that people don’t eat that much any more, but then, how do we explain so many overweight people in our society? Yes, people do eat large quantities mindlessly. These women in the group were no small examples either.

(Shoe off from Carla Coulson.com)

Did I see a pair of shoes loose under the chair of the woman on my left? Oh my, this is really promising! The woman directly across from me, an artist, asked the hostess in which order she should have used the flatware. Clearly, she eats with plastics everyday.
Then, like in a film, I incredulously saw everyone turning the plates over to see the trademark and where the dishes came from. I tried to stop them by talking about the design in the front of the dishes, it seemed very much a John Sanderson’s design, neo-classic fretwork of the middle 1700s. Well, the two women on both sides of me, just came out with a simple “really?” and still looked at the back side of the dishes, the rest of the guests were in their own “cookie wonderland“. Hard to make conversation with shallow people.


After the first course, a starter of small baked pumpkin filled with mozzarella cheese, the woman next to my left, started to unravel some of her clothes layers. She would have taken off her bra, she admitted. I asked her what she does in restaurants, but I received no answer.
I was envisioning this dinner as the same version of the funny film Hollywood Party with Peter Seller. I don’t know if I was amused or disgusted. I could not get up and leave, I was beyond being offended already, so I observed in silence, thinking of it as a good subject for my blog.

The highlight of the dinner was the changing of wines with each course. Strange as it sounds, I like this old fashion way of pairing wines with food, but the women, not being wine connoisseurs, could only flash heat waves on their skin, with increasing bawdy attitude and loud talking. To think they all started the conversation in a softly and lady-like manners. What happened to their initial genteelness?

In the next scene, one woman tipped the wine glass full of white wine over the embroidered tablecloth and another one pinned her long hair up with a huge clip looking as she just came out of the shower. This disaster dinner is really getting good!

The palate cleanser arrived, a well-balanced peach sorbet. Oh yes, some of them thought we were having a dessert and questioned where did the rest of the courses go.

The conversation was boring, I was a spectator in pain and amused at the same time. Dinner was simply prepared, even though sounded heavy and complicated. It went on as the host planned it, I enjoyed every bite, appreciated the host’s culinary efforts and did not exclaim “no food for me for the next three days”. This movie was winding down with the doggy bag shocker scene. You heard it right. A few of these classy women asked for a doggy bag for their leftovers. Clearly they had mistaken a private home for a restaurant. Once people learn bad habits, they repeat them to nth power.

The women present at this dinner were not professional actresses, they just made their own funny and impromptu comedy. I would have liked to record it for my divertissement later.

Lesson learned:

1. Never go out to dinner with unknown people, unless you make an effort to get to know them before the event, which is not always possible.

2. If you are hosting a sit down dinner party, never serve more than four courses. Not a good idea to keep guests as prisoners attached to the chairs, forced to listen to unpleasant shallow people.
No more than 1500 calories should be served, all together through the entire dinner.

3. Wines do not need to be paired with each course. Find a red for meat and white for fish and vegetables, or find one that can be served interchangeably with all the food.

4. Offer food in the right quantity, previously tasted and appreciated to avoid the “doggy bag” situation.

5. If you can, distract guests from turning over the plates, with a talk on the special dishes designs, or table setting decorations.
Witty conversations are of great help in keeping the attention of guests and drive them to a more proper behavior.

6. Keep some windows open to recirculate fresh air.

There is so much to learn when sitting at a dinner table with people, I hope to have amused you.
To me, breaking bread with people is an honor, having good manners at the table shows respect towards the host, the guests and the food so prepared well. Ciao,
Valentina
Designs http://www.Valentinadesigns.com
Blog: http://valentinadesigns.wordpress.com

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in fashion and interiors. Her extensive knowledge of colors and materials led her in both directions successfully.
She was featured on Vogue Italy as the guru of staging in the theatrical way. Among designing and remodeling homes, designing custom-made furniture and writing books, Valentina is now teaching etiquette, table manners, table setting and life style.
Her new book on the subject of colors is published. Red-A Voyage Into Colors in available here on this site on the Books Page and on
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

Roll In The Cheese | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

06 Oct 2012 3 Comments

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Holiday Food, Italian Culture Tags: , , , ,

Hello everyone,
I am back after one month of vacation and preparation of the launch for my book #3 , just published last weekend.

(Find cheese utensils at: MyHabit.com)
(Find cheese markers at http://www.napastyle.com/home.jsp)

It is so vivid in my mind how many times I have eaten cheese at the end of each lunch and dinner in this last trip back home to Europe.
Europeans eat cheese with ease because they walk a lot, thus burn those calorie day by day. Cheese is not seen as something to entertain with, but something to enjoy everyday with a glass of wine.
We serve it without any pretense, we take cheese out of the refrigerator, while we are preparing dinner and we leave it at room temperature to bring out the full bloom of each taste. The same is valid  when serving cheeses at parties.

(Find cheese pots and boards at: MyHabit.com)
Many serving utensils are part of the ritual of putting cheese on the table, from knives, cleavers, marker signs to fondue pots, raclette grill and cheese cart.
There is nothing sophisticated about serving cheese, as it is a product, which comes from the milk of an animal and often kept in rustic stone cellars, or left to ferment for months.
I can’t wait to have a bunch of boisterous friends sitting around a fondue pot tasting the latest cheese I brought from Europe. I have a Canestrato Pugliese, aged in caves for a year, with a hard rind and dark yellow interior color.  The mature version is savory and aromatic. Best paired with a red Primitivo from Manduria, a wine with a lot of round body.

The vessels needed to serve any cheese are slate stones, wooden boards, marble slabs, or clay platters, the rougher the better. It is good to mark each cheese with the proper marker fork to distinguish goat cheese from, cow or sheep milk products and in the absence of these small markers, a hand written tag placed near each specialty will suffice. The basic cutlery is simple: a cleaver and a semi-heart shaped knife will cut hard and semi-hard cheeses; a thin blade knife will cut a semi-soft cheeses and a round knife will be the spreader for soft cheeses; a shaver will help shaving the cheese, although this utensil is more used at the table to shave a hard cheese directly over the plate. If you want to get fancy and make a good presentation add grape scissors to all cheese cutleries.
One of my favorite cutters is the Swiss scraper “Girolle” used with “Tête de Moine” or Monk’s Head, a cheese from switzerland. The Girolle will shave the ”Tête de Moine” cheese in small florettes. It is an expensive cheese, but it is worth it.

I have seen cheese paired with jelly, grapes, edible flowers or other extravagant food. My favorite accompaniments are raw celery or fennel slivers, olives, nuts, or chicory heads to cut the sharp smell and balance the flavors. Don’t be afraid of serving smelly cheeses. The fermented cheeses at the end of a dinner are good to help the digestion. Mamma mia, what a kick in flavor and in the presentation, if you add truffle sliced paper-thin over any soft cheese.

Stores are filling up with all kinds of food and table accessories. This is the right time to get some of these fun utensils and make your food look really good for the holidays.
Once they are in your kitchen repertoire, you will find that it is easier to treat yourself everyday, rather than waiting for the holiday to roll around to use these them again.

Cheeses are a good source of calcium and protein. Don’t be afraid of having small bites everyday. Visit my Pinterest board for  food inspiration.  Ciao.
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com
http://pinterest.com/vcvalentina/food-with-character

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved


Valentina Cirasola has been a lifetime designer in fashion and interiors. Her extensive knowledge of colors and materials led her in both directions successfully. She was featured on Vogue Italy as the guru of staging in the theatrical way. Among designing and remodeling homes, designing custom-made furniture and writing books, Valentina is now teaching etiquette, table manners, table setting and life style. Her new book on the subject of colors is published.  Find Red-A Voyage Into Colors and all Valentina’s books on

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9

Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

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