Dressing Up For Traveling | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

23 Mar 2013 Leave a Comment

by Valentina Author in Italian Culture, Italian Life Style, Travel, Travel To Italy, Uncategorized Tags: , , ,

luggage

You are ready to go overseas, perhaps to a country you have never visited before, but hopefully you have read about it to got acquainted with customs and habits of its people. Not knowing what to expect the first time outside our familiar environment, my feeling tells me to “blend in” as much as possible. Obviously if I plan a trip to Japan I am not going to wear a kimono, or for a trip to India a colorful sari will not look good on me, but I will wear comfortable clothes that I can coordinate or layer according to any occasions and weather.

Shoes are a dead give away of the traveler’s origin. I purposely leave out the unattractive “tank shoes” those tennis/running shoes every tourist wear. However, traveling with new shoes is painful, leave them home until they are well-worn. Pack instead comfortable leather shoes, polished well, flat, loafer or low hill (for women), to let the feet breathe and avoid headaches. If feet hurt, head hurts too.

woman-with-luggage

About the unexpected – One never knows what will happen when traveling. What if you lose your luggage, or the traveler sitting next to you in the plane spills food on you, can you get dressed when you arrive at destination?
In your carry-on pack a couple of changes of clothes including intimate apparel and toiletries until your luggage is found. In your carry-on put a list of everything you have in the checked-in luggage. It will be easier to claim the content if the luggage is totally lost and easier to buy some of the items wherever you will be.
Carry more than one credit card, just for your own protection and your bank’s phone numbers.
Always carry a photocopy of your ID or passport.
Carry phone numbers and locations of your country’s Embassy or Consulate.
Fly prepared!

Folding versus rolling – Roll tight and neat every piece of clothes you intend to take, making sure not to create creases and align side-by-side to each other, until the luggage is filled. This is a proven method to get more pieces in and never have wrinkled clothes at arrival point. Fashion doesn’t have to be painful. Thanks to today’s designers choice of fabrics and style, we can achieve a star look regardless of the class of travel.

Don’t stand out – Watching films is like watching the world as a spectator through a window, we can observe poor travel customs and learn from them. In the movie-comedy Monte Carlo a friend of Selena Gomez (main protagonist) impersonating rich and famous Cornelia, takes her stiletto shoes off in the street while visiting Paris by bus ending up walking bare feet. That is not a proper behavior, stiletto shoes are good for sitting down events and not for traveling, but also in many countries is not acceptable to be bare feet in the street, if you are a woman.
Wearing lot of gold jewelry can make you a target for theft and personal attacks. How would the viewer know that your gold jewelry is real or custom? Don’t offer the opportunity.

Smart dressing – Unless you are going to hiking, fishing, biking, or some sort of sport trip where only clothes dedicated to that sport are needed, traveling in cities requires a different kind of planning. It’s easier not to be spotted as tourist when traveling abroad wearing smart clothes. It is actually a better way to receive a higher quality service, or upgrades in planes and hotels.

Travel Abroad
My travel to Puglia, Italy with a group is coming up April 15, 2013 – http://valentinaexpressions.com/trips-2/ (click here to get info on the trip). I will gather all the local participants in a restaurant to advice them on does and don’ts of our trip together and I will do the same with a Skype call with the distant participants. Traveling prepared avoids a lot of headaches. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinadesigns.wordpress.com

Copyright © 2013 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

ValWorkingValentina will host two trips a year to Italy with the intention of showing Italy with the eyes of a designer born in those parts and let people experience the ”wheel of emotions” don’t even know exist. She will take her groups to the non-commercial Italy, areas not beaten down by massive tourism. Valentina will guide the tours through art, architecture, food, shopping and special adventures organized for people who want to live it up! Check out her books on
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

Come To Puglia | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

19 Nov 2012 6 Comments

by Valentina Author in Culinary Trips, Italian Culture, Italian Life Style, Travel To Italy Tags: , , ,

Through the years, many of you have expressed to desire to visit Puglia with me, a local who was born and raised in those parts. After putting my energy into the writing and publishing of three books, the time has finally come.
I have listened to your wishes and on April 15, 2013, I am taking a group to Puglia. Bari is the airport you will land to be in Puglia. I usually travel with a German airline non-stop from USA to either Venice or Turin and then boarding another plane, in one hour, I will be in Bari.

Puglia is a region on the East side of Italy on the Adriatic Sea, made of warm people, tasty food and free thinkers. You will see palm trees and a flat land with white terrace roofs. You might have the impression to have taken the wrong plane to Africa, but not at all, you will be in Puglia where homes are built on the foamy coastline of the blue-green Adriatic Sea and where the waves make embroideries with the sky, the air is salty, the summer heat is sultry and humid, women exude sexuality from every pores and well…the rest of the people are as laid back as in a tropical island.

In Bari airport, the largest city in the South, my team and myself will greet you with smiles. Each trip has been built around the title of each book I have written. My second book – “Sins Of A Queen” – just to talk about one of the trips’ theme, gave me the inspiration to take my guests into a lavish living while they are in Italy and experience incredible treatments with the most natural products from this land of olives, fruits and grains. I will call this trip: “Let’s Travel Into The Sinful Luxury Of A Queen”.
Click on the link  to see some of the places we will visit.
Please contact Valentina directly here: designsvalentina@yahoo.com

Please contact Valentina directly here: designsvalentina@yahoo.com
 

The Lungomare of Bari, a romantic promenade on the Adriatic Sea will be waiting for us to drive along in vintage cars, dressed in vintage clothes, while soaking the fresh sea salt air, enjoying the view and a “gelato affogato” (literally ice cream drowned in a secret spirit). The promenade stretches to Monopoli and Polignano, two quaint towns perched on the cliffs of the Adriatic Sea. We might reach them in vintage cars, or we might take a boat ride coast-to-coast ending for dinner in a fabulous restaurant built-in the cave on the cliff. It will be magical!

Rudolph Valentino is on our route to the stalagmites and stalactites caves, thus we will stop in Castellaneta to visit the museum dedicated to the actor. Did you know Valentino was born in Hollywood as an actor, but his native town was Castellaneta, in Puglia? His town was an agricultural and unknown town even to the rest of Italy. He died August 23, 1926 and only a few years ago, his town counsels finally dedicated him a statue and a museum.
The Castle in Gioia del Colle will disclose us the intricate romance between Bianca Lancia and Emperor Frederick II, which as most passionate stories, ended up in a tragedy.
In between visits to the most exquisite Baroque architecture, Valentino’s museum and other cultural events, I have planned some fun shopping in local markets for the latest fashion clothes/accessories, where my guests can buy affordable priced items. We will also pay visits to local artists’ shops, where they produce one-of-a-kind high-class handbags, gold jewelry, custom jewelry, or stunning glass lighting, furniture and home accessories. My function as a designer is also to show all the beauty, Italian artists are still creating for the world.

Food and wine will also play a large role. Going to Puglia and not enjoying the earthy food, as locals do, would be a crime. It will not be a common restaurant eating, I have used my fantasy. We will have one dinner inside of dismissed wood barrels of wine, where you can still smell the must of wine impregnated in the wood. On another day, an opera singer will delight our dinner. We might have a rustic picnic in the country with a donkey ride, or we might cook with a local chef in the kitchen of our farmhouse where we will stay. How about a massage with the green-gold of the land: olive oil?

My trips’ aim is to inform and entertain and certainly allow the guests to relax while in Italy with unforgettable experiences. My trip will not be a trip in a bus loaded with tourists, packing and unpacking every day and make stops to bathrooms. My goal along with my Italian team’s goal is to take care of our guests, giving them personal attention, while we are still together in a group setting. My intention is to show Italy with the eyes of a designer born in those parts and not the commercial Italy of the mass tourism. I want to show you the heart of Italian life, the immediacy of every day living with a lot of fantasy.

I will guide the tours through art, architecture, food, shopping and special adventures organized for people who want to live it up! The itinerary is outlined, the rooms, of course, will be reserved in advance, but the schedule will be free-flowing, not a severe schedule to respect with a timetable.
This is not a tour de force!
My goal is to allow our guests to experience a wheel of emotions they don’t even know exist. My team in Puglia and I want them to never forget the warmth and hospitality of Puglia people and create a relationship with our travelers for the long haul.

Trip date: April 15-24, 2013 – 10 days, 9 nights.
Registration closing date: March 15, 2013.

This price will include:
a. Two meals a day with water, juices and a couple of wine glass a person. Extra food or drinks, or extra drinks for the road, are not on the house.
b. Lodge, private transportation, transfer from and to Bari airport.
c. Private bus for our excursions.
d. Visits to museums or exhibitions.
e. Gratuities
f. Cooking classes and chef fees (if applicable).
g. Vintage cars, or Opera singer.
Price $2,800 per person, everything included.

Plane tickets and insurance are not included.
Payment in full is accepted at the time of registration.

Please contact Valentina directly here: designsvalentina@yahoo.com

Again, this is a trip to realize how short life is and to learn how to enjoy it. This experience will change you. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com
http://valentinadesigns.wordpress.com

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola will host two or three trips a year.  She will guide the tours through art, architecture, food and shopping. During each trip, she has organized special adventures for people who want to live it up!
She has an advantage over people who organize similar trips to Italy, she is a native Italian and a designer who knows where style and good shopping are.
Check out here three books, all available on this site at the Books page and on 

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/9agl5v9
Barnes&Nobles: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/valentina-cirasola

Ice Cream Party | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

13 Aug 2012 4 Comments

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

I tasted the most delicious truffle limoncello ice cram yesterday at an Italian restaurant in San Francisco. The day before, at my house, I prepared gelato affogato as an after dinner for some foreign friends vacationing in California. After two consecutive days of ice cream, which is something I don’t do often, I am now in the mood of organizing an ice cream party for adults and kids, before the autumn falls. Among all the parties, ice cream party is one of the least pretentious and inexpensive parties we might be involved with. It takes very little planning, very few ingredients and backyards are just perfect.

Set the mood and decide on a particular era into which to set the scene of the ice cream party.  Ask your guests to come dressed up in costume of the era designated and choose the music to go with the theme. I would suggest to discard the present time, we are already living in today’s time and we know how this reality is, but setting up an ice cream party in a nostalgic era, will give us a chance to live, relive or fantasize it our way, without the challenges that came with any given era.
 (Photo Source: Zaharako ice cream parlor and museum. 329 Washington St. – Columbus, Indiana 47201)

Do you like the party to be set in the ‘20s or ‘30s? You will find plenty inspiration in the roaring age, flapper girls’ fashion and Charleston music. You might like the more modern ‘50s and ‘60s era, in which also you will find a lot to play with the sophistication of the ‘50s and the rock and roll of the ‘60s.  Perhaps, you like to experiment or relive the ‘70s and the concept of the hippies’ era, bohemian style and flowers kids.

In the history of costume, there is a lot to chose from and I think it’s always the right time to dress up in style for any theme party and not just for Halloween.

Decorations and invitations should follow the theme of your party. Hand written personal invitation cards reflecting the theme of the party will make an impression. Your guests will know to have been invited to a real “scoop” of something tasty.

(Photo Source: BH&G)

For an ice cream party we don’t need much, only a great attitude towards food and a few ingredients. Don’t worry about diets, just go to the party and enjoy the moment, tomorrow is a different day. We need first an ice cream machine to help making all the ice cream, gelato and sorbet we need in a quick time. The machine in my photo is sold at Neiman Marcus for less than $200.00. W Furthermore, we need a fruit variety for making both sorbet and ice cream, many varieties of toppings such as nuts, chocolate chips, edible flowers, paper or waffle cones, ice cream glasses, spoons and saucers.

Designate areas for toppings, fruits, garnishes, cones, all the ingredients for making various type of ice cream; then designate a different area for all utensils and one more area for all the drinks. This way, the traffic will flow harmoniously and your guests will not be on top of each other preparing their own ice cream.

(Photo Source: BH&G)

I suggest some fun drinks for the adults: sparkling wines mixed with any kind of fruit juice, strawberry, oranges, cranberry, blueberry, pear, pineapple, apple, peach juices, or anything else you like. Decorate each drink with a berry or a slice of the fruit used as a mixer. Pink champagne is especially good as palate cleanser between ice cream tasting or right after, but don’t spend lot of money on the most expensive champagne, the fruit and the champagne must compliment each other and not fighting.

I know the kids will like to drink all kinds of sodas and bounce from wall to wall for all the excess sugar, but it will be better to serve them something simpler and healthier: mineral water mixed with any fruit juice of their liking. They will have the impression of drinking champagne like the adults.

Organizing theme parties is fun. Perhaps, next time I will elaborate on a champagne party, or omelet party. The holidays are just around the corner. Ciao,
Valentina

http://valentinadesigns.wordpress.com

http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer since 1990 and a former Fashion Designer.
She blends fashion with interior and colors the world of her clients with designing, teaching style and table manners, party organizing and public speaking.
She has been described as “the colorist” and loves to create the unusual.
She translates colors into excitement. Valentina’s new book on colors will be in the market soon: RED-A Voyage Into Colors. 

Check out Valentina’s books on Amazon: http://tiny.cc/pkoo0

Limoncello, Here I Come | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

14 Jul 2012 Leave a Comment

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

Limoncello here I come! That’s what one of my guests says today at the Limoncello class I was scheduled to teach in the afternoon.
Today, I started a series of classes on Culture Of Italian Food. The object of these classes is to introduce the participants to the Italian philosophy of food, how to eat food without waste, which proper utensils to use, table manners and settings, life style around food, food appreciation, food information, history and cultural aspect of food. You know, it’s all about the saying “When in Rome do as the Romans.” Well, these classes are  for travelers and people who are just plain interested in everything Italian and want to learn what Italians do across the pond.

Limoncello is a lemon based drink, served chilled after dinner as a digestive. The acidity of the lemons is good to cut the fats eaten during the dinner. Limoncello can also be served  as an appetizers with salty food, such as olives, pretzels, salame and prosciutto. Serve it together with espresso coffee, or gelato and it will become a refresher, a type of “middle of the day enjoyment” and even  an early afternoon tea and biscuits with the ladies, can be perked up with a limoncello. However it is served, Limoncello likes to stay cool in the refrigerator and likes the glasses chilled in the freezer.

Any lemons of course will do the job for a good Limoncello, but the best lemons to use for the best results are the lemons from Amalfi Coast called “Limoni Sfusati”.  This kind of lemon carries the mark IGP (Indicazione Geografica Protetta), which indicates that the product comes from the original and protected geographical area.

The law regulating this product requires that Limone Sfusato must be cultivated in lemon garden terraces called limoneti, away from winds and it must have some special characteristics. To be authentic, the lemon  must be elongated with elongated leaves, with medium thick skin and bright yellow color; it must have from 4 to no more than 10 seeds per lemon and must have a very succulent and not acidic pulp. Its ideal weight is between 3.5 – 4.2 oz.

Going back in time, Arabs brought this kind of lemon to the Amalfi Coast when Amalfi was one of the five Mariner Republics of Italy from the ninth to twelfth century. In the 1800s the lemon became one of the most important products for the economy of Amalfi, in fact it became so vital that was also exported to England and to America, and valued on the New York Stock Exchange. The mariners on board of ships used it as a good source of vitamin C when they traveled at sea for long time.

I was in the class explaining all of this, the women were peeling away, but what are all the parts of a lemon called, I asked?  The first thing we see is the outer yellow skin, which when squeezed exudes a perfumed oil, then the wall or bread (white part), not edible in my taste, the clove (each triangle section of the pulp), the mesocarp (inside of the pulp) and the seeds.

What to do with Limone Sfusato? Due to the sweetness of this type of lemon, mixed in green salads is ideal, or the lemons itself can be made into a salad with cherry tomatoes, celery cut very thinly, hot pepper, basil leaves, olive oil and salt. It makes a tasty seasoning for fish, seafood appetizers, pasta dishes and meat. Good to make lemon granita, which is a refreshing crushed flavored ice,  or used for sweets, cakes, biscotti and even to make lemonade with sparkling Italian water.

Making limoncello is really easy. Peel 8 lemons, but only the skin without the white wall. Drop them in the jar with a cap. Pour over 34 oz. of Vodka, close with the cap and let it macerate for one month in a dark place. After this time, filter the Vodka into a large container/bottle through a cheesecloth or a tight mesh strainer. Do not discard the flavored lemon rinds just yet. In a pot bring to a boil 17 oz. of tap water , add 21 oz. of sugar, stir until sugar is melted completely. Cool this simple sugar and then mix it with the lemon flavored Vodka. Keep one week in the refrigerator and then it is ready to serve in very chilled glasses. Roll the discarded lemon rinds into sugar and make candied lemon peel, or use them to make biscotti and even in meat stews.

The guests of the class were left with eight lemons without the peels, what to do? In Italy we do not throw food away, or discard food we can turn into something else.

Roasted Lemons 
Slice all the lemons, place them on the baking sheet, give a good swirl of olive oil, add black pepper, sugar to bring out the sweetness of the lemons and place under the broiler until golden brown. Cool it down, layer the lemon slices in a jar with a large mouth. In between each layers, add capers, chopped garlic and basil leaves. Fill up the jar almost to the top, add olive oil and close the lid. Keep it in the refrigerator until you want to make a lemon chicken. Place all of this goody under the skin of the chicken, rub the oil all over and pour it in the chicken cavities, season with salt to your liking. Bake it at 400°F. until the chicken is browned all over. I assure you, chicken has never tasted this good before!

The guests of the class asked me where I keep these secrets? I don’t, I put it out on the Internet, I pass along in the class, I give it away to friends and I writes books. In my house we shares, especially when it comes to food. We have always found a way to use every possible parts of the food other people throw away and that’s what I am teaching: the art of food and life style.

It was a very enjoyable afternoon, made many new friends, made so many people happy and all left with one or two of my books in their hands. Ciao.
Valentina

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, available here in this site on the Books page  and on Amazon: http://tiny.cc/pkoo0

An Italian Sunday | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

27 May 2012 2 Comments

by Valentina Author in Holiday Decorations, Italian Culture, Italian Life Style Tags: , , , ,

In Italy not all Sundays are created equally. People dedicate Sundays to family lunches and the rest of the day is for leisure and social activities.
Meals are women’s best show on Sundays, they get up early in the morning, before everybody else to cook for the family and make sure everyone is treated properly from appetizers to desserts, from the smallest kid to the oldest person.  

This past Sunday was a different celebration. 
I am in Italy now, participating to my niece’s First Communion event. This is truly a treat, a day to remember and the first important mile stone in a Catholic person’s life. It happens every year in May. Boys and girls in elemenary school will go through a couple of years of religious school to learn how to become good Christians and get prepared for the big event of the First Communion. Some churches go as far as organizing spiritual retreats for the kids.
A wide range of businesses related to the First Communion affair are busy for the entire month of May preparing every details from cakes and sweets, to party favors. Restaurants, photographers, hair dressers, tailors and seamestresses work together to assure the event is successful,  parents and guests are happy and have something to remember. Jewelry stores are also very happy in the month of May, as the gold gifts for the First Communion are a must.

My niece was prepared as a bride for the altar. The day before,  all the women of the house including the First Communion girl got electrified with trying on dresses, shoes and jewelery, hairdresser appointments and making sure all the party favors were ready to go.  At night, nobody wanted to go to sleep, we didn’t really know where to put our heads made up so beautifully to keep them preserved  until the next day. And the next day was really special for the kids and the adults! Confetti and photographs greeted the little girl coming down from the stairs of her home, my niece, a 10 years old was dressed in white from head to toes. Her father was the only person allowed to accompany her to the church as her excort, the rest of us followed  later. The church isle was also made up with white flowers to celebrate all the 10 years old kids entering the Catholic World as faithful Christians while cheerful music filled the air.

What really intrigued me was the elegance of the Italian people dressed to honor their kids first mile stone of life. I am Italian and I should be used to see well-dressed people, but somehow I still manage to get surprised  when I see Italians young and old attending some functions. There was nothing out-of-place in their dressing up, not even a hair. Colors and proportions are always well-balanced. Of course, everything was “all’ultimo grido” of the latest fashion.  

The manners of Italian people at some formal affair are so affected and polite, but not disgustingly stuffed. I love to observe some youngsters giving up their seats to older people and helping them in getting up and down to follow the religious function. Certain things in my culture are still well-planted and are excellent foundations for generation to come.

The church of Maria Maddalena built in 1969 is an extravagant architecture considered very avant-guard for that era. A cement pagoda style, almost resembling a Japanese house was not well-accepted by the followers and much criticized by the public and the press. That church so many years later has seen a few funerals, weddings, births and joyous events in my family and in my friends’ families. To see Don Filippo again, the priest manager of that church, grey and older and remembering him young, with dark hair and just out of college, made me realize how much time has passed by and how deep my roots are in this land of Italy.

Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an author and a designer, writing about and observing Italian culture and style. Check out her books available on this site in the Books section and on Amazon.com.

Easter Breads | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

06 Apr 2012 2 Comments

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

Two more days to Easter Sunday and in Puglia, my land in the Southern Italy everyone will eat “Scarcella”, typical Easter bread. Scarcella is slightly sweet bread type, just enough to give a sweet taste but not enough to make anybody fat. Usually in Puglia we make it in a round shape, as we all know the round shape is the most harmonious of all the shapes and in most cultures is regarded as the shape of fortune. Many shapes and designs also characterize the Scarcella to please the eyes of the receiver. If it is made for kids, the shape might be a small doll, a purse, a car, or an animal shape, just to be playful.

Scarcella goes back to a very remote past, in fact it originated in the Roman Empire, enclosing in itself all the pagan and Christian symbols of Easter.

The raw eggs on top of the bread dough symbolize rebirth and the return to life. The eggs might fill the dough up to 21. Odd numbers are considered propitiatory, thus it’s important to place the eggs in an odd number. Bake the bread full of colorful confetti on top and lemon zest mixed in with the dough to aromatise it. Powdered sugar will cover the Scarcella after the baking to give it a veil of sweetness.

The tradition says that any daughter-in-law will give one Scarcella as a gift to the mother-in-law. More eggs the Scarcella has on it, more are the things the daughter-in-law is asking to be forgiven for. Well, that was in the old days, I am not even sure the new generations of Italians even know what Scarcella is, or if they care to ask for forgiveness through food symbolism. If anybody out there wants to try it here is the recipe:

Scarcella
Mix with 10.5 oz. 00 flour (super-soft flour used for pizza dough) 2 eggs, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 3.5 oz. of sugar, a little milk (use a little at a time to make the dough pliable).
Add a pinch of salt and grated lemon peel while working on the dough.
Spread the dough thus prepared to ½ inch in height.
Cut out the shapes you want, keeping the scraps of dough.
On one end of the Scarcella place 1 egg raw with the shell on, or you can spread an odd number of eggs around on the dough.
Cut the scraps of dough into strips and place them in a cross fashion over each egg to help them staying on the dough during baking.
Sprinkle the colored confetti and bake on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake it until golden brown.
If you like, add powder sugar after the bread has cooled down.

This Easter specialty is in my book Sins Of A Queen, on Amazon: http://tiny.cc/pkoo0
Another fun Easter bread and typical in the South of Italy made for this occasion is the “Casatiello”. The procedure of making this bread is the same as any other bread, the only difference is the stuffing.
Mixed in the raw dough there are chopped hard-boiled eggs, various chopped cold cuts meats and cheeses of many types. The quantities for the stuffing are up to your taste.
Taste will improve accordingly, I make mine very happy.

A Pink Moon will characterize this Easter. I just learned about it this morning when I read this article.

http://news.yahoo.com/moon-affects-date-easter-131202555.html

I am here to help you with your kitchen design and all the challenges that come with it, but I am here also to design your palate.
Remember that designing a table with colorful food is necessary for the soul and for the eyes just as much as a beautifully designed kitchen.
My next book on the subject of colors: RED-A Voyage Into Colors is in the printing and will be out on the market very soon. Stay tuned for the launch.

If you celebrate it, have a fun and rejuvenated Easter.  Ciao,
Valentina

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

 

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking.
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 this site on the BOOKS page  and on Amazon: http://tiny.cc/pkoo0

Evolving Taste | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

27 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment

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

I thought I would have never said this but Italian taste for food is changing.

It has been over a decade that new emigrants are flocking to Italy as if it was the new land of opportunities bringing with them their culinary background and their culture.
Italians are now eating pizza with pineapple and cheese, or fried rice in place of risotto. Well, not everyone, fortunately food is one thing Italians are keeping away from corruption, but younger people, traveling to foreign countries more than the past generations are willing to try new food ideas.

I just could not help noticing the change in some of the original and traditional recipes. Cheese and fish cooked together was an absurd combination, it was viewed with skepticism and those people who attempted to do it were always criticized as not having a refined palate.


This is exactly was I observed in a restaurant on the Amalfi coast in Italy, a plate of fried anchovies sandwiched together stuffed with cheese and prosciutto in the middle. The waiter disregarding my dislike of anchovies paired with cheese went on and on trying to convince me that it was a good food and I had to try. I was up for the challenge. The food arrived piping hot and smelled really appetizing.

I must admit fried anchovies stuffed with mozzarella and prosciutto was good and new.

However, I still believe if you want the taste the sea in the seafood, keep it simple and do not mix it with other food. Dairy products have a strong taste, no matter how light the product is, milk is milk. To me, milk fights with the delicate fish taste and leaves an after taste. The recipe of fried anchovies stuffed with mozzarella and prosciutto is really easy, it’s up to you to try it and decide to like it or not.

Long live the blue fish, which is affordable and low in price, rich in calcium and omega 3 fatty acids.

To make stuffed fried anchovies all you need is:
10.5 oz of flour seasoned with thyme
10.5 breadcrumbs seasoned with thyme
3 whole eggs beaten
1 mozzarella chopped small
a few slices of Italian prosciutto
salt, black pepper to your liking
lemon juice
vegetable oil to fry

Keep each ingredients separate in various bowls. Add fresh thyme in the flour and breadcrumbs for an extra flavor.
Remove the interiors from the anchovies, wash and clean thoroughly.
Once the anchovies are butterflies (see my photo) place on the belly of each anchovy one thin piece of mozzarella and prosciutto and then close it with another anchovy belly down. Repeat until all the anchovies are paired up.
Pass the anchovy sandwiches in flour, than in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs.
Fry in the hot vegetable oil. Season the anchovies with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

Otherwise, the simplest way to fry anchovies is to butterfly them, pass in the flour, then in the beaten eggs and finally in the breadcrumbs. I eat fried food every 4-5 months and I use a good vegetable oil that I discard afterwards.
Once in a blue moon is good, the metabolism needs a good slap every so often.

My two books are filled with easy fish recipes along with other Mediterranean diet recipes.
They are a super source if you want to stay off the mortal diets and want to eat healthy while you are enjoying food.
Please check them out in this site on my Books section.
They are also available on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles: http://tiny.cc/pkoo0

Yes, I do design kitchens, wine cellars and other rooms, but I also design your palate. Love to hear from you. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking. 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.
She is a speaker and a book author. Her new book on the subject of colors: RED – A Voyage Into Colors  is in production at this time and will be released very soon. Stay tuned for the launch. 

I Am In The Mood For Raw Fish | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

13 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment

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

I was thinking of all the raw fish I ate in one night alone in Japan at a restaurant and cherishing that nice memory in the company of good long time friends.
http://www.ginpei.com/html/shop/do_tonbori.html

A question came to my mind. Who first adopted the practice of eating raw fish, the Japanese or the Italians from Puglia?
Yes, not the entire Italy is accustomed to eat raw fish, but in the Southern region of Puglia, my roots, the ritual of eating raw fish happens once a week at least every Sunday and it is not called sushi.
No family Sunday meal will be left without it, raw fish is the king of every tables, always served before dinner allowing the palate to taste the sea and the freshness of its fruits.
A variety of raw octopus, mussels, hairy mussels (cozze pelose), other shellfish, sea truffles, sea urchins and allievi (cattle fish) is served in symbiosis with a few glasses of bubbles, then the real dinner can start.

The difference between the Japanese raw fish (sushi) and the Puglia style raw fish is that in Japan raw fish is served almost always on white rice and it is dry only wet with soy sauce.
In the Puglia style, raw fish is served wet with the sea water dripping, occasionally wet with a few drops of lemons, especially on mussels, otherwise there is no other condiment, just the sea flavor.
Fish over there does not need added condiment in that the Adriatic Sea is shallow and concentrated with salt. Nature does it all for us.

This old Puglia gastronomy tradition goes back to the 1500’s, when selling raw octopus was regulated by the local government and had to be sold in rolls of 890 gr. each (31.4 oz.).
Imagine how important it was to eat raw fish that the government had to regulate it.

It is a common appetizer to find in restaurants, served every day of the week if the weather has been good and the catch of the day comes in regularly.
The restaurant owners usually are the only one responsible to guarantee  100% freshness of the fish.
Often black mussels will be paired with the sharp caciocavallo cheese, similar in taste to the aged Southern Italian Provolone cheese, with a hard edible rind.
The octopi must be properly curled, the allievi (cattle fish) thoroughly cleaned of the interiors and the mouth, tuna, mullets and cod finely sliced for carpaccio and the fresh delicate anchovies carefully cleaned of any bones ready for a marinade of oil, lemon juice salt, pepper and parsley finely chopped.

Bare in mind that in Italy we believe the months with the R are not good to eat mussels (Jan-Feb-Mar-Apr-Sept-Oct-Nov-Dec) and the months without the R are not good to eat oysters because they are full of eggs and fattier (May-June-July-Aug).
Here in the Unites States we eat them all the time, this rule is really not observed and I am always wondering if I am doing the right thing.

Another scene worth filming is the eating of the raw fish in the streets near the port area of any city in Puglia, where the fisherman bring the catch of the day and where they also mend the fish nets when they are not out at sea. The scene is colorful, playful and joyous. Some fisherman scream to get the customers’ attention and some sing. They show off a large display of fresh fish inside of baskets made of olive wood and set on rough tabletops. There, they propose a taste of sea urchins, at time accompanied with a piece of fresh bread and ice-cold beer and other times just as the offering of the sea is, fresh and natural.

Skilled fishermen never poke their hands while opening the sea urchins in half. They make a perfect cut to expose the reddish-orange meat inside; a small piece of bread will scoop out all the goodness from inside of the black shell.
Restaurateurs who have lived abroad for a while brought back to Puglia the knowledge they have acquired in foreign countries. Many sushi bars have sprung up in Puglia, as all over Italy, but when the Puglia people want to do a serious eating, they will always go to what is familiar.
They will always prefer the traditional specialties of their land and sea to the fashionable or trendy food of other parts of the world. They will stay faithful to what has been familiar to them for centuries.

It takes no ability to eat raw fish, just clean, wash and eat it, but it takes ability to prepare the simplest food, poor of ingredients and make it taste like royal food.
One of the many simple fish dish in Puglia is Baked Anchovies or Alici Arraganate as we call it.
Take the center bone from inside of the anchovies, wash and pat dry. Align anchovies in a crock-pot.
Add breadcrumbs, chopped garlic, mint, capers, oregano.
Drizzle oil and sprinkle a few drops of plain vinegar. Bake in the oven for only 12-15 minutes uncovered.
It’s so simple that is almost a non-recipe.

Another simple dish is Octopus Casserole or Casseruola Di Polipetti as we call it in Italian.
Place the octopus in a casserole with chopped onion, dry white wine, fresh tomatoes, olive oil, salt, pepper and parsley.
Bake until the octopi are fork tender. The sauce is good to eat with bread or to top a plate of pasta.
Bon appétit.

Find many of these simple recipes in my two published books on Italian regional cuisine from Puglia available on:
Amazon: http://tiny.cc/pkoo0
Barnes & Nobles: http://tinyurl.com/6tqsu3o 
and in this site on the Books’ page.

Now, my friends from Japan need to go over to Puglia with me to experience raw fish my way.
Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2012 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking. 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.

Her third book RED-A Voyage Into Colors on the subject of colors is in production and will be released by end of April 2012.

Christmas Markets Under The Stars | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

08 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment

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

Today December 8th the Catholic world celebrates the Virgin Mary Immaculate Conception marking the official opening of the Christmas holidays. The Catholic dogma believes the name Immaculate (pure, the purest of the angels, innocent) was given to Mary when the angels announced to her that she to had been chosen to become the mother of Jesus through the Holy Spirit without any human contact. Up to that moment, Mary lived a life without any original sin, nor mortal or venial sins, thus she had that special privilege to become the mother of Jesus.
The celebration of Mary Immaculate Conception was introduced in the Roman calendar in 1476  and since then Christmas holidays start with this celebration in anticipation of the birth of Jesus. On this day Catholics are expected to fasten for the entire day until the evening. Around 7:00 pm they can sit down and have a really scrumptious meal with different kinds of meats, panzerotti, some stuffed pasta like tortellini or ravioli, fried or cooked vegetables, but mostly rich filling food, good wines and typical Christmas sweets.

On this day, most of all the cities in Italy and Catholic Europe will have an area of the city designated to Christmas street markets. The market will be open for business all day and all night until midnight or 1:00 am, every day until Christmas Eve and in some cities the market will reopen after the first of January for a few days until the Epiphany. Giving Christmas gift to kids is a fairly new custom. Up until twenty years ago, more or less, kids received their gifts the night of Epiphany, January sixth. For Christmas they would get some new clothes and special home-made sweets. The adults celebrated with special food, special wines consumed with family and friends. Christmas was for kids only.

I have included a video of Bolzano’s Christmas market. It’s a bit lengthy, but it will give the idea of what we do in Europe.
http://www.bolzano-bozen.it/mercatino/video_completo-i.htm

At the street markets, especially at night with all the flickering lights, the atmosphere is very Christmassy and sweet. It is December after all, the air is fizzy and cold, perfect for hot cocoa or warm brandy. Women are bundled up in fur coats and boots, kids are wrapped in woolly scarves, hats and heavy clothes looking like petit Michelin men. Some vendors’ kiosks are filled with curious arts and craft, some have specialties food and some sell Christmas delicacy or sweets. There are music and street musicians playing their favorite instrument, but what will catch your eyes is the willingness of people to leave computers and TV’s at home and come out in the streets to enjoy the evening with their kids, kids’ friends, families, to  meet people they have never seen before and to shop at small artisans, where they can find unique gifts. I also noticed the gentleness of people in this time of the year. It is kind of puzzling to me why some people are only nice at Christmas time.

Here in the States, I have seen and experienced many different kinds of Christmas celebrations, but I have never seen a nighttime Christmas market. The closest I got to this idea last week was the market organized in the courtyard of the International German School in my area. I was the only author in a kiosk with books for sale, all others kiosks displayed hand-made art and craft items, jewelry, pottery, ceramics and German food. It was an enjoyable evening, despite of the cold wing and my frozen feet. Kids gathered on stage to sing so graciously Christmas carols in German language, the adults instead played modern rock and roll music.

Both of my books sold well that evening, my easy and healthy recipes from Puglia, my home land of Italy, will delight people’s tables this holiday season and will make a nice addition to their Christmas specialties. Both books are available here in this site on the Books page and on Amazon.
Just in case you are in a bind and need my help in decorating your holiday table, just leave your name in the box, I will answer in 24 hours time and I will be delighted to help you. Ciao,
Valentina

www.Valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2011 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 she the author of the forthcoming book RED on the subject of Colors, due to be published very soon. 

http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnq8baaAq0M

http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

I Met A Living Legend | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

29 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment

by Valentina Author in Italian Culture, Italian History, Italian Life Style, Italian Music, Italian-American History Tags: , , , , ,

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Many out of the ordinary people have characterized my month of November this year. I have seen galleries of a few ascending artists all expressing themselves through an interesting painting language. I have met Nico Cirasola an Italian filmmaker whose dry story telling style is making his voice heard across Oceans. I attended the performance of The Interpreti Veneziani with their Baroque music at Le Petit Trianon and met the artists personally after the show reception. To talk to the artists is an impossible task when they perform in Italy. I spoke at the Rotary Club and met some marvelous people; some of my friends are helping schools planning for a better nutrition for their kids. These are extraordinary people who make a mark in the society and leave a sweet legacy, but I never would have imagined meeting a living legend, an Italian emigrant who made his fame playing country western music. He is the only Italian in this genre. I met him at the Capital Club in San Jose, CA when the delegation of the Patrons of Italian Culture from Los Angeles came to visit our organization the Italian American Heritage Foundation in the Silicon Valley.

The legend Giuseppe Quartuccio aka Shorty Joe, that evening received a lifetime achievement award from the Italian American Heritage Foundation for his contributions to the South Bay Musical scene in Country and Western Music.

The story of his beginning in the country western music was so fascinated that I decided to pull up a chair and sit with him at the table with his friends and wives. I let him carry me through times so far away from my age, places and famous people I had never heard until that night. Country western music is not known in Italy, it was mesmerizing to know that an Italian emigrant, coming from the land of “Bel Canto” had fallen in love with such a very regional American music and even made a famous name for himself.

The story goes that he was born in 1924 Monreale Sicily and immigrated to New York with his parents as a boy and slowly moved to the West Coast.

His parents worked as farm laborers and cannery workers. One-day Giuseppe’s father told the kids that if they would help him crack walnuts and almonds after work, he would save enough money to buy a radio set and so it happened. Giuseppe was 12 when he could finally hear his first piece of music on the radio set, but it just happened to be a country western music.  Young Giuseppe fell in love with that type of music and in that moment he decided his career, as an adult, would have been to play country western music, despite the fact he didn’t even know how to play one single note on the guitar, or any other musical instruments.

http://youtu.be/9SEDK6ImfOg

He created his first country western trio band called the “cowboy band”. Shorty Joe’s idol Dude Martin  and his music influenced him in the typical style of a country music from West Coast. After WWII the band grew in size and became an octet made of all Italian-American guys, called the “Red Rock Canyon Cowboys”. From then on the band recorded under the Bella and Golden West labels.

http://youtu.be/LKnCAXclg48

Shorty Joe and his music has accompanied famous singers in the world of country music as Hank Williams, Kitty Wells, Hank Snow, Ernest Tubb, Tex Williams, Lefty Frizzel, Roy Acuff and almost every other Grand O’l Opry singer of 1940′s and 1950′s.

I learned that his band’s records are housed at the Southern Folklife Collection at the University of North Carolina and they are now collectible items.
He donated his complete costume along with his original 79 rpm records, LP album and all of his printed materials to the San Jose Historical Museum where they remain on permanent display as a pioneer of Santa Clara County.

Shorty Joe, a delightful seasoned man, with pudgy face and square glasses, always smiling has been married to his wife Jennie Valenti for 65 years. What is your secret,  I asked? I didn’t get an answer, his wife shrugged her shoulders.

The evening was very pleasurable. I met, among many notables, Louise Canepa, the composer of Sicilians in Monterey  music CD and many of Shorty Joe’s friends too.

This, among many of my Italian people’s stories, is another successful story of lives of immigrants overcoming difficulties to realize their dreams. I cannot be any more proud of this Italian culture that has thought us to never give up and be the best in everything we do. Ciao,
Valentina

Copyright © 2011 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved


Valentina Cirasola is a trained Italian Interior Designer in business since 1990. Being Italian born and raised, Valentina’s design work has been influenced by Classicism and stylish, timeless designs.  She is a designer well-known to bring originality to people’s homes. As an Italian designer and true to her origins, she provides only the best workmanship and design solutions.
She is a guest writer with her column “The Good Life” on ThePMShow: http://thepmshow.tv/category/more/the-good-life/valentina-cirasola/
She also writes articles on designs subjects: http://valentinadesigns.wordpress.com/

She is also the author of two published Italian regional cuisine books, available on this site on the Books page  and in various locations: http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnq8baaAq0M
http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

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