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

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. 

The Art Of Dainties | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

25 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Design, Design Tips, Italian Culture, Italian Food, Italian-Table-Customs Tags: , , , , ,

This year for Christmas Eve I will have adults only at my table celebrating the passage into the new light, it will be one of the few times in my life I will not make a sit down dinner. I will prepare an array of fanciful small dainties to be served in various area of my great room.

Putting dainties together will be just like choosing colors and textures for dressing up. It is important to find the right balance of colors and flavors. Need not to have too much salty food, nor too much food of the same kind of textures, protein, vegetable, starches and sweets must be equally distributed and in between palate cleansers are a real treat to put all the taste buds back in place.

Caviar with a variety of crackers and breads will be the opening, accompanied by smoked salmon with capers and sparkling wines.
A large size tray of endive, raw celery and fennel will be a good match with cheeses and will be good to help digesting dairy products.
The highlight of my cheese tray will be the Tête de Moine and the Dubliner, which I recently discovered from one of my dearest friend.
Last summer I made sun-dried tomatoes in my garden, preserved in olive oil, capers, garlic and fennel seed. I will put them next to the cheeses, olives and Italian prosciutto, they are so good on crostini with one of my spreadable cheeses.

 
My Italian tradition calls for fried salted cod for Christmas Eve. It is one type of food that never makes it to the table, fried cod is absolutely good piping hot right out of the fryer.
As we say in Italian “cotto e mangiato” cooked and eaten at once; scorching of the palate and fingers are allowed. I own an Italian made fryer equipped with a charcoal filter and a turning tumble canister that makes fried food so light, clean and no fried food smell in the kitchen. I don’t eat fry food during the year, but  when I have people over is so fun to eat something different and allow myself to go out of my own strict rules. Besides, my friend will polish everything, I am lucky to taste one or two pieces of fried cod.

I will cook the rice with wild mushrooms in small individual Savarin molds, perfect to create the effect of a large ring when they are turned over in the plate. I will decorate the center hole with some arugula leaves.

Mussels cooked in garlic, fennel and wine will be in a large bowl for a grand effect. Some of my friends have never eaten mussels this way, they will have a good opportunity to try some brassiere food.

I fancy stuffed grilled eggplants rolled in small packages hiding a surprise mixture of meat, spinach, beaten egg and a small spoon of Parmigiano as a binder. I am thinking, since I have the grill going, I will put on some asparagus and colored peppers too, my friends will not mind.

I will make the zabaione cream myself and my friend will watch. It seems as if many of them tonight will be in a cooking class involuntarily, but it will be much fun to cook together than preparing it all by myself.
I will conclude my food spread  with dried nuts, fresh fruit, panettone an Italian Christmas cake and more sparkling wines.

It will be simple home cooking and it will take the whole night.
Many of these recipes are in my books, some of my friends will have a taste for the first time, but many of them  are so happy to share my Puglia food with me again.
I am going to start the preparation and welcome everyone with a glass of prosecco.

The night is young and we need to reach midnight doing something fun, laughing, making jokes, telling stories and playing with food.  Some of my friends are not into cooking, they will have easy tasks, as I don’t want to risk a food mistake just tonight on Christmas Eve and some will pour all night.

I hope you are having fun too.

We will welcome the new light in the world and celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Merry Christmas, peace in the world. 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, available here in this site on the Books page and in various locations. 

http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna

http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

Nature On The Table | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

18 Nov 2011 2 Comments

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Design, Holiday Decorations, Italian Culture, Italian Food, Kitchen Design, Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

Jewel tone colors characterize the autumn months along with the bounty of earthy food. This year on my holiday table there will be truffles some friends brought me from Italy, a variety of soups and delicacy made from different squashes. I plan on making lot of risotto with wild mushrooms and prosciutto. I am in the mood for roasted chestnut and dried fruits to munch on while sitting by the fireplace reading interesting books during the holidays. Some of the dried fruit come from garden, in fact I made roasted apples vinegar to use on salads and roasted lemons for grilled or baked chicken.
My table will be colorful with ceramics I hand carried with me in the plane from Sorrento, in the South of Italy all the way across the ocean to the US.
Home-made breads will fill the air of my house. Yes, I make bread at least twice a month.

(BH&G photos)

Since I have been in the process of writing my third book on the subject  of Colors I feel like bathing in colors in all my daily expressions, not that I didn’t before, it just seems the feeling is elevated to the nth power.
This year, I will turn to nature for my Thanksgiving table decorations. It was easy to make napkin holders out of scrap fabrics and spray paint in gold a few real gourds to display on a cake stand.
Mums and pumpkins will be a novelty on anybody’s table this year, not only mine and not only for the table. To keep this arrangement fresh, use floral foam underneath the flowers, cut it in a round shape and cover it with mums. Group a few pumpkins in different shapes and size around the mums. Voila’ nature at your service inside and outside your home!
I am scattering pine cones in vases , bowls, to decorate a towel rack and even on the curtains as tie backs. Pine cones, because they are dark and woody, play well with other textures, such as ropes, glass,  or golden balls.

Nature doesn’t go wrong in combining textures, colors are always the right colors to each season. I can enjoy the decorations for a while longer past the holidays if I fancy and once I discard them back into the nature, they will dissolve again to become part of the earth once more.

This is my advice this holiday season. Stay away from artificial decorations, be respectful of the environment, support your local artists and craft people, buy local, buy handmade and give unique gifts from your heart.

We will soon transition into winter, we will see bare trees, cold, rain and snow in some parts of the world. It will be a different beauty and as usual I will have a lot to say about decorating in the winter style, along with preparing some succulent heart warming food. For now, enjoy this moment, this season in all the colors and prepare to enter the holiday season with a thankful heart.

The highlight of this year for me was meeting a 5 months old girl, the daughter of my new clients, two fine people. I am very thankful to have the opportunity to be of service to them.

If you are in a bound, or feel the stress of the holidays, relax and let me take care of your decorations for the holidays, or any organization you need to do to make your holiday event successful.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2011 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved  

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer and former Fashion Designer, working in the USA and Europe since 1990. She blends well fashion with interior and colors the world of her clients.
She has been described as “the colorist” and loves to create the unusual. She is also the author of two Italian regional cuisine books available in this site at the Books page and in various other locations: http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnq8baaAq0M
http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

 

Why Kids Eat Food For Kids? | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

09 Nov 2011 6 Comments

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Italian Culture, Italian Food, Kitchen Design, Self-Improvement Tags: , , , , , ,


Poor kids, they get to choose their food from the kids’ menu and eat junk stuff while the adults indulge in every possible delicacy of the world!

My girlfriend was complaining that schools serve junk food to the kids for lunch. They are so used to eat “useless” food that when they return home from daily school, don’t even want to hear about the “real food” their mom, my girlfriend prepares.
She was telling me that her girlfriend in Italy commented that when her kids are in school (Italian schools that is) eat as adults do and the school menu looks the same as a restaurant menu, but I think it has to do a lot with our culture.

In Italy food is an integral part of our daily life, we get up in the morning and already think of what to eat for dinner. That gives us plenty time for planning the daily meals, go to the market and buy the food needed for the day.
Yes, we go to the market every day as Italians eat fresh food daily and not from the freezer, or pre-made, processed food prepared a year ago and sold in styrofoam packages, with a plastic film on top.

In America, au contraire of Italians, I have observed a huge disconnection from food. American “real food” is good, tasty, nutritional, colorful, which says a lot when people eat food in all the colors, yet Americans have opted for fast food and for days empty of cooking, as if cooking is beneath them (sorry, but I had to say this).

In my circle of friends and clients, I know many people who don’t cook and don’t even know how to boil water.
I also know many people who take the time to get up at 4:00 am to go to the gym until 6:30-7:00 am before tackling their day.
They do find the time to exercise, but have no time for cooking and eating well. I see no point of working the muscles to a statuesque perfection when the stomach is full of junk food.
The first death happens in the stomach! Just so you know.

I am including a link to an interested article I read about the artificial preservatives and color dyes in many junk food.
http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2010/09/10/whats-in-a-twinkie-kids-favorite-food-deconstructed/

OK, enough of that!

Kids should be educated at home first. I don’t think it is a good practice to give in to any kids’ requests. Kids will try anything to bend the parents to a nice sculpture and most of the time they will succeed. Parents are their kids’ managers, but often it is the other way around in America.

In my Italian family, when I was in the age I had no say so about anything, as in many of my friends’ families, there was no choice of food. We ate all that our moms prepared and if we didn’t like it, too bad, we went hungry. There was no alternative, no other choice and no junk food either. Our parents did that for our good, not to be abusive. Food in Italy is perceived as our friend and not our enemy that makes us loses time. It is not just perceived, it is respected, it is loved, appreciated and not wasted. That’s why kids in Italy will never eat from a kids’ menu, not in restaurants, not in the family, not in the school.
I have young nieces and nephews, they are a different generation, but their mom, my sister, taught them the same as our parents taught us about food. Equally, I can say about the young cousins in my family, when we sit at the table, we all eat the same food.
Bare in mind, this is not only the Italian people’s prerogative; I have seen the same attitude towards food in many cultures too, except in America. Here people have embraced a fast culture and don’t have time for food and cooking, the most important fuel for our brain. My question is:  what do they have time for?

Unfortunately,  in America, due to this mentality of everything fast, kids are treated as a non-important class, when it comes to food.
Why do they have to be fed so badly with junk food in the growing stage, the most important time of their life?
Kids will be the future managers of our society, we have a responsibility not to grow sick flowers!

Schools are expensive. For the money parents pay to send their kids to school, they should be able to get at least one healthy meal a day in return, but they don’t.
Parents should be able to count on schools not only to educate on academics, but to educated their kids on nutrition and cooking to provide them with the knowledge that will contribute to their life time good health. Sport, cooking and nutrition should be obligatory subjects to take, no excuse and while we are in this subject, teach kids also how to get closer to earth and grow natural food.
In the future and I strongly believe this, people who know how to grow food from seeds, who know how to make breads, pasta and know how to eat with vegetables, people who know how to preserve food will be the  survivors.

Please, parents make your own battle against bad food in schools, let your voice be heard and if schools don’t have the right person with the right knowledge of food, find that person.
Remember when your kids get sick due to bad nutrition, you are the only one to pay for, not the school.

I am an advocate of good eating, please don’t mistreat our kids, they are our future heritage.  As a food author, I am available to be hired for speaking engagements, or any seminars in any schools. 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, available here in this site on the Books page and in various locations:
Come Mia Nonna–A Return to Simplicity
Sins Of A Queen – Italian Appetizers and Desserts
http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnq8baaAq0M
http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

Robert Taitano, a friend and business associate says: “Valentina - an International Professional Interior Designer is now giving you an opportunity to redesign your palate”.  


Pumpkins and Roses Welcome Fall | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

04 Oct 2011 4 Comments

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Design, Design Tips, Italian Food, Italian-Table-Customs, Kitchen Design Tags: , , , , , ,

I don’t know about you but I love fall, the jewel tone colors that nature brings to us, the pleasant mild temperature, comfort food again and the holidays approaching. Today, while I was preparing my garden for fall, I was thinking of all of you and what kind of tips to bring you to prepare your home for this beautiful season and the coming winter. (BH&G photos)

As an interior designer I could compile a long list of so many quick and easy fixes to get your home in order. Not to overwhelm you, I will give you just a few suggestions and if you carry them out, your home will be working for you just fine during the winter.

1. Clear the gutters of falling leaves and evergreen needles to keep all downspout clear and allow rainwater to fall freely.

2. Clean lawn equipment. Adding fuel stabilizer to the gas tank will keep the gas from oxidizing and causing corrosion.

3. Caulk the cracks where masonry meets siding, where pipes or wires enter the house and around window and door frames.

4. Clean up the exterior with a pressure washer and wash windows to prevent the growth of mold and mildew.

5. Change outdoor light bulbs with high-efficiency compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL).

6. Protect your plumbing from freezing by applying ready-made pipe jackets.

7. Check the fireplace safety to avoid chimney fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. Make sure both chimney system and venting systems are working properly. Burn only well-seasoned hardwoods to reduce buildup of creosote, a flammable compound. Test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms is a must.

8. Seal air leaks to keep your house warmer and ventilate the attic.

This is the pumpkins season, let’s turn our attention to the front door. If the color of the door is a bit tired, a coat of fresh paint (or stain depending on how your door was treated) will change the entry into a welcoming statement. Accent the door with a beautiful wreath, display potted plants and plenty pumpkins.

Now let’s go to the kitchen. The food lover in me would not want to leave you without any food talk.

In my first published book Come Mia Nonna – A Return To Simplicity, I included a perfect recipe for the Fall: Autumn Style pasta with butternut squash and prosciutto. The earthy flavor of the butternut squash blends so well with the Italian prosciutto, a type of cured pork meat, preserved under salt for a couple of years. I prepared this dish for myself last night. Bacon fits with this recipe too, but the taste is not quite the same. My recipe calls for a short pasta, but this specialty is also a vegetable dish to accompany a roast.

At the end of the same book, I included a delicate recipe for Marmalade Of Rose Petals, a real surprise.

In Sins Of A Queen, my second published book, I thought of autumn too. I want everybody’s table to be cheerful and filled with so many earthy foods.

I wrote about some fun liqueur made with fruits that anybody can make at home without any difficulty. The strawberries liqueur, limoncello (made with lemons) and the chocolate liqueur are proving so successful. These types of cordial liqueurs need a couple of months for maceration process, thus September-October is the right time to start and make them ready for the holidays.

Now go around the house, find all the empty containers, vases, bowls, or any vessel with an interesting look and fill them with roses, fall flowers and pumpkins. Be creative, take inspiration from my photos or make your own arrangement.
Turn your fireplace on and scatter scented candles in rooms most lived.
Let the flavor of the holidays begin and give the gift of love by preparing good earthy autumn food for yourself and your family. I really love the warmth of this season!

Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Copyright © 2011 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Robert Taitano, a friend and business associate of    http://www.wine-fi.com says:
“Valentina – an International Professional Interior Designer is now giving you an opportunity to redesign your palate”.

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 ugly spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms and entertainment rooms. She is the author of two published books on Italian regional cuisine, available in 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

The Plate In The Middle | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

25 Sep 2011 2 Comments

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

A few years ago I was in Kyoto, Japan sitting in a restaurant with my friends and their friends whom I got introduced to in that moment. One of these new friends, a tall Japanese guy, wanted to welcome me, a blonde, blue eyes western woman visiting his country and wanted to show me his appreciation. After a while we were sitting together enjoying each other company, the tall Japanese guy started to eat from my bowl of soup, truly surprising the rest of the company with this gesture.

Perhaps, he was too exuberant for a Japanese behavior (his height must have had something to do with his gesture), or perhaps he really meant it, but my friends told me later that his gesture was a sign of a consolidated friendship, a creation of a tight bond that would last through the years.

Eating is someone’s plate in Japan means loyalty, trust, respect and it is an honor. That was his way of showing these feelings to me.
I really liked that very much. Never thought I was going to receive such a friendly treatment.

That moment brought me back in time when in Italy, my native country, people used to eat all together from a plate placed in the middle of the table.
In every corner of the world, people do the same things, just like home, I thought.

Again, a few days ago, I was in a restaurant on American soil and a large plate of spaghetti was propped in the middle of the table for everybody to take a piece and share.
These days, when I sit at a restaurant’s table, often the question is if I want to share my dishes with the person I brought along, but this is not always possible. Often I go out with business people.
I am wondering though if this sharing dishes is happening because so many cultures are living together and we want to try everybody’s food, or because we have developed a curious palate, or further because we feel the need to get closer to people?

As I said earlier this is not a new costume to me at all. I remember the painted large dish on the center of the table in my grandmother’s house and in all her neighbors’ houses in the country town of Italy where she lived. The plate was hand-painted, very colorful, and huge for hosting a large quantity of food for the entire family, mom, dad, all the kids and the grandparents. Back then seniors lived in the family until their time on this earth was over.

The table setting was quite interesting. The hand-painted dish always took the middle of the table and it was filled with lunch or dinner food.
Each person had a fork, a wine glass, bread was sliced as needed and knives were placed loose on the table for those who needed them.
Everybody sat around the table and waited for the head of the family to sit too. For the respect of that person, whomever might have been, generally was the oldest person in the family, nobody could start eating.

After the head of the family sat and dug the fork to get the first bite from the plate in the middle of table, everybody dug in and ate  from the same plate.
The last bite was also reserved for the head of the family. Incredible, you might say and yet, not being old at all, I have lived in such an ancient society!

This seems unreal, almost a scene from a Medieval Shakespearean comedy, but less than 40 years ago this was a common scene in the South of Italy where I grew up. Everyday people, perhaps to brighten their days, used the hand-painted, colorful dishware they bought at the street market or directly from the factory.
Nobles and wealthy people ate off of chic white porcelain plates.

Today modern Italians don’t use hand-painted ceramic plates anymore for every day use and nor for holidays either. They might hang them on kitchen walls for decorations, or they might place one small sample on a coffee table.
Italians just are not in love with such a beautiful antique art anymore. They love modern style, sleek, straight lines, no curlicues and no fussy designs. The reason behind this is that Italians live and breathe antiquity everyday.
In some cases they live just across from famous buildings, statues, famous fountains, stairs, or Cathedrals and Corinthian capitels. All of that beauty is part of their everyday landscape, thus part of their lives. It’s just routine. Lucky people!
There are still many factories making hand-painted ceramics, but they are sold mostly to tourists. Tourists bring back to their countries the beauty of Italy, they find to be chic eating off of one of those hand-painted Italian plates from Tuscany, Umbria and other regions.
Tourists appreciate the art work  and countless hours painters spend in the making of every single plate.

Although Italians have remained very social, convivial and relaxed around food, they also have distant themselves from the custom of sharing food from the same plate.
Here in America, very surprisingly, I am finding this costume back into my life and I don’t know how to take it.

Is this history repeating itself, or old things are always new for somebody else?

I am treasuring my hand-painted ceramics, as matter of fact every time I return from Italy, I carry in the plane a few hand painted ceramic pieces in my hand carried luggage .
I want a cheerful table whether I have company or not, I want to surround myself with the beauty of my country and enjoy the colors of my heritage.

If you need help in locating a special hand-painted table top, or a custom-made  backsplash for the kitchen, some specific plates patterns, I am here prompt and ready to help you with any of your needs, whether it will be decorating, designing, or remodeling. 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 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 the author of two regional Italian cuisine books, available here in this site on the Books Page and in various other locations:
http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnq8baaAq0M
http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

Tonight, Eggs, But Only À La Coque! | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

16 Sep 2011 2 Comments

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Design, Italian Culture, Italian Food, Italian-Table-Customs, Kitchen Design Tags: , , , , , ,

In Italy, as I believe in most European countries eggs are not considered breakfast food only. Kids eat them as an afternoon snack and they are common to find in the home’s evening menu, as a simple, fast to prepare and nutritious food.

In Europe lunches are the main meals and dinners are much lighter in portions and caloric intake. Often a bowl of salad, a piece of cheese with bread and olives, a glass of wine and a piece of fruit will make a good dinner.
Other times, some eggs scrambled with meat and vegetables also make a good meal.

In my native region of Puglia, in Italy, lamb cooked in the oven with fennel, green peas and scrambled eggs is one of the most common dishes. My favorite of all the egg styles is egg à la coque, oeuf à la coque in French, uovo alla coque in Italian. Before you embark on the egg à la coque ritual, because it is a ritual, you must have the right tools, the coquetier (egg cup) made of any material, from glass to ceramics to metals and the egg topper (cutter), also made in a variety of metals, each ranging in price from $10 up to $90. If you like to have a professional restaurant type topper, the price will be much higher. 

For long time, I had searched for an attractive egg topper, if it was a second-hand piece, or an antique I would have not cared, I just wanted an interesting piece.
Once I was visiting some relatives in Bologna, Italy. Strolling around in downtown area, I stopped to admire the merchandise in the window of a jewelry store, it was clear to me the store carried some unique home pieces all in silver.
The store was elegant and expensive looking. I entered because it was inviting. I asked for an egg topper and the owner looked at me puzzled: “nobody uses this tool anymore, you must be a food connoisseur” he said.
Apostrophizing one as food connoisseur is a bit over rated, I just want to treat myself to good things in life. He showed the only example he had available and I purchased. I was lucky to find the egg topper I wanted, it is made of silver, not a contemporary design and they got rid of something that had not sold in years. I have used it ever since.

Back in the kitchen. Prepare some mouillettes, long bread strips.
I cut the bread in slices, then in strips, brush olive oil on each piece, roll them in grated Parmigiano cheese, place under the broiler and toast for a few minutes. The bread is for dunking inside the egg yolk and a small spoon is for scraping the egg white off of the interior shell.

In a small pan, boil the water, with a needle poke a hole on both ends of the egg, when the water boils, rest the egg on the dipper and slowly drop the egg in. Let it boil for 4 minutes, take it out and place it on the coquetier.

Make a decisive clean cut at the top with the egg topper to expose enough of the egg, serve with the warm toasted mouillettes.
Asparagus tips sautéed or grilled, or a small bowl of green peas will fit really well with egg à la coque.

I like caviar, for me it is like the parsley in every dish. If you like caviar, place it on the caviar dish and eat it together with the egg à la coque.
What a way to end the day! A lite dinner with eggs, caviar, a glass of wine and you will be happy, happy. I hope you will try it. Ciao,

Copyright © 2011 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 ugly spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms and entertainment rooms. She is also the author of two Italian regional cuisine books available here and in various locations:

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


Organize Your Kitchen To Please Your Soul | By: Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

05 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment

by Valentina Author in Culinary Items, Design, Design Tips, Italian Food, Kitchen Design, Self-Improvement Tags: , , , , ,

Most of you know the kitchen is my favorite room, I like to design it and I like to live in it. In my family, the kitchen is the place to resolve our difficulties and the place where we invite the real friends to sit.
I executed my schoolwork on the kitchen table, where I could be part of my family life, instead of being closed in my room alone.

Most of the kitchens of today are conveniently located near the garage or entry door and just because it is convenient turns into in a dumping ground for mail, bills, magazine and stuff.

Nowadays we got so complicated we must have Feng Shui in the kitchen too, but when I was growing up we called it common sense. Here you will find some of my life habits on how to keep the kitchen in harmony with the soul.

* September is the month of cleaning the kitchen cupboards inside and out. Prepare the kitchen for the coming holidays, make room for new serving dishes and cooking equipment you might buy this Fall. Some are so inviting!
This is the time you will get the opportunity to throw away or donate all the items you don’t want anymore. Get rid of those non-matching plates and glasses that have lost their companions. Cupboards need to be completely emptied out of contents at least every change of season to keep a clean positive energy in the kitchen. If the job feels too overwhelming, get help, there are plenty people out there who want to do this kind of work.

  • Keep all the bills in the home office, study, or any room dedicated to office/school tasks, but please don’t take the bills in the bedroom. Kitchen functions are  for cooking, tasting, and conversations. Keep everything else out of it, unless you have a dedicated desk in a corner of the kitchen.
  • Today we see mail with suspicion. Mail is no longer welcomed, as when a letter arrived from far away, or we received friendly cards from people we knew.  Today we get bombarded with emails and our post mail is filled with advertisements and junk mail. Stand by a fireplace or trash when reading the mail of the day and don’t even let it in the kitchen.
  • Recycle all the store plastic bags you bring home with food or other items. I reuse them as garbage bags and I have no need to buy more plastics. Recycle also any paper bags for other uses, such as packaging wrap, for more shopping, or to keep in the car as garbage bags. In my garage, I have two containers, one for recycled plastic bags and one for paper bags rolled up neatly.
  • Organize all the food plastic containers, find the matching lids and keep them together in one place. Throw away containers without lids. The same applies to cooking tools. There is nothing more irritating than being in need of a cooking tool ready for the task and instead finding a tangle up mess of tools in the kitchen cabinet drawers.
  • If  kitchen space will not allow to store large pots, baking pans or slow cookers, take these items to an adjacent closet.
  • Appliances garage and roll out shelves are designed on purpose to keep small appliances out of sight and counters neatly clean.
  • I like to keep my expensive chef knives in a drawer with a magnet to keep the knives from sliding back and forth and to protect the tips.
  • To have a fresh lemony air in the kitchen, put lemon peels in the sink garbage disposal, lemon peel in the dishwasher utensil tray and lemon potpourri sachet in each kitchen drawer and cabinets.
  • I don’t like my kitchen steamed up with cooking vapors, not only it creates condensation, but the odors will stay in the house, especially if the kitchen has an open floor plan communicating with other rooms. The vapors and grease will go up to ceiling and will come down on the upholstered furniture. Keeping windows opened during cooking will redirect vapors outside and you might hear the wild birds singing at you for the good aroma you are producing in the kitchen.
  • Have you thought of a calendar for family activities and one for weekly menus? My mother added a comment at the very top of our weekly menu calendar:
    “If any of you don’t like this week menu, there are plenty restaurants that will take your money”. Needless to say we, teenagers kids ate at home all the time.
  • Prepare your table with a table cloth and napkins, every time you eat at the table, even if you eat alone. Feeding your soul with beauty and comfort will discract your stomach from overeating.

Enjoying fresh food prepared in the kitchen, to me this is an important ritual. Kitchen and food nourish and bound the family together.
Kids who grew up with good food and pleasant kitchen atmosphere will always want to return home even after they have formed their life.

I am here ready to help, if you need to organize your kitchen and feel really overwhelmed with the task, just leave your name in the box below.
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 operates in the USA and Europe. She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn ugly spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms and entertainment rooms. She is the author of two published books on regional Italian cuisine, available here in this site on the Books page and in various other locations:

http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna

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

http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

 

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