This week is ephemeral at WordPress photo challenge. https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/ephemeral BY KRISTA.
I was born on the water, I am attracted by the sound of water splashing against the rocks, the swaying motion of waves, the salty air, the smell of the sea and of course the colors of the water and the colors of the underwater world. I don’t snorkel and I don’t dive, the closest way I can get to the underwater world is visiting the aquarium. Every flora and fauna from the smallest to the largest examples fascinates me and I always come away with a treasure of photos.
At Monterey Aquarium in California the medusa or commonly called jellyfish is my biggest attraction. I can spend hours watching them going up and down and get hypnotized by their slow motion and magnificent colors. The orange color is so deep, bright and illuminated, it almost doesn’t look real. What beautiful art nature creates!!! The orange and blue are opposite to each other on the color wheel and they attract so perfectly. Can you tell I am in love with colors? I need to be inspired, I need to look at colors every day and be surrounded by them.
I caught two small sharks in the moment of kissing, at least they seem to be kissing. My prompt reflexes immortalized them in time, in my mind they will stay like that forever.
I hope you have the chance to visit aquariums, it’s time well spent. Ciao,
Valentina http://www.valentinadesigns.com
Last time I took a group of American travelers to Italy we visited Matera, a medium size town in the region of Basilicata, in southern Italy. Matera is the largest town in this region and has been the capital town of Basilicata since 1806. The town lies in a small canyon, which has been eroded in the course of years by a small stream of water and that Canyon is called the Gravina. Matera is also known as the Subterranean City, due to its infamous homes created in the caves inside of the rocks of that canyon.
However, a few years ago, Hollywood and Italian Cinecitta’ chose Matera as the set for filming in 1964 of the The Gospel According to St Matthew by Italian produce Pier Paolo Pasolini, and in 2004 for Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ. Presently, another film is in production, the remake of historic 1959 blockbuster film Ben Hur, in which are now starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Huston. In 1993 UNESCO declared Matera a World Heritage Siteand last year it was nominated the European Capital of Culture for 2019. Due to all the new interests in the area, many activities and cultural initiatives have sprung up, like the World Book Fair of women writers from all over the world.
Matera Sassi – Photo Taccardi
What really makes this area so distinctively interesting is not the formal Italian architecture found in Italy, in fact the historic center of the town does not have examples of buildings or palazzi of particular value or refinement, the interests lies in the homes made for poor people inside of caves in the canyon (Gravina), or else known as Sassi. Those homes are examples of spontaneous architecture created out of necessity, where poor people were destined to live. Not having any place to go they excavated their homes inside of the womb of the earth. Visiting these ancient cave homes, one feels enveloped, embraced and a closed relationship with the womb of the earth. The original homes are made with local tufa stone, which is a particular calcareous limestone, malleable that gives out a feeling of warmth when is left exposed and not covered with other materials on top. Tufa stone gives out a feeling of authenticity and natural as nature created. It is not uncommon to find rock fossils of seashells in the tufa stones, which makes these homes so authentic.
Matera – Sassi – Photo Taccardi
As I said, poor people lived there, but during the ’60s and ‘70s the government offered them low-income housing arrangement with running water and electricity and little by little they vacated the caves for a better and more modern living in the town. Today, after Hollywood filming and Unesco recognition as World Heritage, local people are returning to cave living, making some big improvements with modern amenities. Now we see elegant hotels and restaurants being propped in there that are maintaining the characteristic of the caves.
If I were the designer remaking these cave homes, I would work with a warm palette that agrees with the warm tones of the tufa stone, using oxidized or etched copper as fixtures to recreate the patina of a corroding water stream. I would use opaque resins with oxides coating, type of Venetian style and for the floor, I would use the typical street pavement of the area called chianche, very beautiful stones or handmade ancient terracotta without cooked waked on top. For the furniture, I would choose the shabby chic style. Although in general I do not much like it, especially when it is very distressed, I believe it would be the most compatible with the type of environments we are confronted in the “Sassi”.
The air in the “SAssi” area is mystical, it is impossible not to feel a strong attraction and bewitched by the surroundings. The energy that comes up from the earth is truly magical, especially at night. Some of the visitors during my last trip to the area suggested that the Italian government should build a theatre in the canyon for aspiring actors from all over the world where they can practice their theatre plays. The mystical atmosphere is already there, they need to create the rest. Ciao, Valentina https://valentinaexpressions.com/trips-to-puglia-2/
As a writer and cultural promoter of Puglia, my native land, it is my intention to let readers feel and experience a new ”wheel of emotions”. I want to encourage them to visit areas of Italy not beaten by massive tourism. Through stories of art, architecture, fashion, food-wines, shopping, I want them to create their special adventures and live it up in Puglia! Check out my books on Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0 Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
I cannot think of a person, designer or architect who has put so much depth in his work more than Catalan Architect Antoni Gaudi. One thing is to see his work on books and pictures and another thing is to see it in person. Finally when I made it to Barcelona, the depth of minute details in all his work really mesmerized me. Even the street pavement Gaudi designed outside the Pedrera building was outstanding, Gaudi’s work is recognizable by colorful broken tiles and organic material, undulating building, catenary arches and unusual columns, nature references, religious expressions and a load of colors.
Park Güell is colorful, there is a lot to absorb, the depth of games of architecture with nature is amazing! I sat on the mosaic serpentine seats for a long time admiring the detailed mosaic work and imagining how long it took the tile setters to put together all of that beauty. The seats are not just a pretty creation, they are ergonomic and even if they are built with stones, they are very comfortable, in fact I sat and watched the tourists, enjoyed the Mediterranean Sea out there beyond the city in the depth of the mist and fantasized how it could have been to work with Antoni Gaudi.
Walking under the columns of Plaça de la Natura, a public covered market that never made it, I felt the heaviness and the playfulness of Gaudi’s architecture. From the distance the ceiling covered with millions of tile chips resembles a snake skin and four medallions also made with colorful tiles tell the story of the effects the sun has on nature and people. Enjoy the slide show.
I am writing a travel diary with some of my new experiences and sharing with all of you my notes of feelings, observations, food-wine tasting, history, architecture and anything that really strikes my fancy. I organize trips for small groups of people who want to live it up in Italy and Puglia! In my books about Puglia cuisine, readers will find many easy recipes to follow at home. Check out my books on Amazon:http://goo.gl/xUZfk0 Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
What is Serenity to me?
Getting up and have a sense of direction.
Closing a colorful working day knowing that night will fall, but everything around me will still be colorful and illuminated.
Going to my garden/orchard to pick up oranges, fruit and vegetable that have not been sprayed with pesticides.
Looking a new life blooming in January under cold and grey days. My white paper lilies are very happy.
Growing an avocado tree from the pits of avocadoes I ate. If it worked with the pits of apricots, apples and vegetables seeds, it will work with and avocado, I thought.
Experimenting with plants I don’t know anything about. This summer Canna Lilies plants will be tall and bright orange.
It’s grey outside and on my table, there is always something colorful whatever the season. Today I played in the kitchen with stuffed peppers, and cabbage stuffed with chicken breasts. These are food that requires a few hours of execution. Once completed I put them away in the freezer for those busy times when I can’t cook elaborate food, and I still want to eat well. I chose to feature Stuffed Mini Peppers as the easiest of the two specialties I prepared today.
Stuffed Mini Bell Peppers
Ingredients for 4 people
Mini bell peppers to fill a baking pan
Garlic, ginger and fresh chili peppers to your liking
Cherry tomatoes split in half
2-3 teaspoons of lemon juice
A hand-full of capers and fresh basil leaves
Parmigiano and salt to your liking
Breadcrumbs
Extra-virgin olive oil
Development
Cut the mini bell peppers in half and align them in a baking sheet.
In a bowl prepare a mixture with all the ingredients mentioned above.
Fill each bell pepper half with the mixture.
Sprinkle breadcrumbs over and a generous swirl of extra-virgin olive oil.
Bake at 400° F until golden brown.
This is an easy vegetable dish full of colors, and flavor. Pair it with meat or fish for a complete meal, or make it as an appetizer and serve it with a Prosecco.
The smallest things are always the cutest! Ciao,
Valentina http://www.valentinadesigns.com
Valentina Cirasola is the designer who cooks. She has a deep interest in food that led her as an autodidact in the studies of food in history, natural remedies, nutrition, well-being and learning food of the world. She wrote two books on Italian regional cuisine and one book on color theory, in which she included one recipe for each color. Get your copy of Valentina’s books on Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0 Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
Autumn and its warm colored nature is rolling in, my wood for the fireplace is already stacked up in my backyard. Grape harvest has started and soon we will taste some young wines. Beautiful color arrangements are beautifying our homes and my desire for earthy food is growing. This time of the year I have a lot of figs in my kitchen, fresh and dried, they are part of my Mediterranean diet.
Figs are in the family of mulberries and have numerous health properties, one of which is to protect the heart. Figs lower blood pressure, are high in potassium, low on sodium, contain Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids and the antioxidant polyphenol prevents atherosclerosis. Do we need any more reasons for eating figs any time we feel like it?
The memory of picking up figs during my childhood with the adults, my father, uncles and some of their friends is grand. We sat with the baskets full of figs under a tree and ate them with pecorino cheese and bread. The combination of sweet figs and salty cheese is perfect and the colors are so fantastic: deep purple on the outside and red purple on the inside. The combination with white of the cheese, the purple of the figs and the green of pistachios nuts is simple magic happening in the mouth while the taste buds dance happy.
Pair a Chianti wine if you are combining figs and pecorino, or fig with prosciutto/salami, otherwise, if you are having figs and nuts, a good bubbly Prosecco will be perfect as well. Ciao,
Valentina http://www.valentinadesigns.com
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”. She is the author of two Italian regional cookbooks and one book on Colors, all three available on Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0 Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
I am feeling the Autumn coming, even though in my part of the world is still warm and sunny. I want to ease in the new season by trying soothing, comforting and easy to make food. I made a delicious zucchini soup and I want you to try it.
Ingredients for two:
(for more people increase all doses as you like)
3 zucchini
2 celery stalks
2 carrots
1 small onion
1 or 2 tomatoes
olive oil
Parmigiano cheese
4 cups of water or vegetable stalk
Salt, pepper or chili pepper to taste
Wash and chop celery, carrots and onion in small pieces. Briefly sauté in olive oil. Chop the tomatoes in small dices as well and add them to the first three ingredients. Let them become translucent. Fill the pot with 4 cups of organic vegetable stock or the best ingredient WATER. Season the broth to your liking with salt, pepper or chili peppers. Cover the pot, let the broth come to a boil and simmer slowly for about 10-15 minutes.
Chili peppers have many properties, I will just name a few: boost metabolism, provide vitamin C, prevent getting a cold in the winter, or help getting rid of it and lower blood pressure. If your stomach can take a little heat, please add chili peppers to your food daily.
While the broth is simmering, put the zucchini in the food processor with a grinder (finely chop) setting. They will come out like you see them in my photo, resembling chopped spaghetti. Transfer to a bowl, mix in grated Parmigiano cheese in the amount you like and set aside.
With a hand blender mash to a cream all the ingredients in the pot and if it is too creamy for you, add a cup of water or vegetable stock. Simmer for a few more minutes, then add the chopped zucchini to the soup. Turn the fire off and the soup is done. Zucchini chopped so finely will cook immediately in the hot soup and will be still crispy.
Oh, by the way: chopped raw zucchini are also good to eat just like that with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, or added to a salad. Keep your food simple.
Buon appetito! Ciao,
Valentina http://www.valentinadesigns.com
Valentina Cirasola has been in business as an interior designer since 1990 improving people’s life by changing their spaces. Most often she designs kitchens and wine grottos; outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms; great rooms and entertainment rooms. Her deep interest in food led her as an autodidact in the studies of food in history, natural remedies, nutrition and well-being. Finally she wrote two books on Italian regional cuisine and one book on color theory, in which she included one recipe for each color. Get your copy of Valentina’s books on Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0 Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
Do you want to surprise your guests? Place on the appetizers table this dish with orange slices. Everyone will ask what’s in the platter even though everyone will recognize the orange slices. Don’t tell them how they are prepared just encourage your guests to try and you better have another platter ready and saved, because the first one will go very fast.
Colors have chakra-healing properties. The womb/spleen chakra represented with orange colors is located below the navel and is responsible for creativity, intimacy, warmth and sex. To invigorate the orange chakra you must eat food that provide water like oranges and then use water in your exercise and cleansing practices such as swimming, water aerobics, sauna and Epsom salt bath.
How to prepare the orange slices:
Wash the orange skin well, cut slices about 1/4” thick, align them in a serving platter, on top sprinkle a couple of teaspoons of sugar and salt to your liking, finely chopped garlic, oregano and a swirl of olive oil. Eat them with the skin. You will experience a tangyness from the skin of the oranges, sweetness from the pulp made sweeter by the sugar and the savory of the spices, all together will create a burst of flavors in the mouth. Your guests will go crazy, promise! Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com
Valentina Cirasola has been in business as an interior designer since 1990 improving people’s life by changing their spaces. Most often she designs kitchens and wine grottos; outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms; great rooms and entertainment rooms. Her deep interest in food led her as an autodidact in the studies of food in history, natural remedies, nutrition and well-being. Finally she wrote two books on Italian regional cuisine and one book on color theory, in which she included one recipe for each color. Get your copy of Valentina’s bookson Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0 Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
After learning about La Boqueria Market at a few T.V. cooking shows, I couldn’t wait to visit this open market when I was in Barcelona and there I went straight down La Ramblas to find it. I got hit with a profusion of colors, aromas and flavors that was hard to resist. I spent a few hours getting lost in food heaven, looking, learning and taking photos. I wanted to taste everything, or just about until I saw the Percebes.
Percebes
Percebes
What in the world are these things? I was stunned, curious and disgusted all at the same time, but I was not leaving before my curiosity was satisfied. I waited to talk to the vendor until she was free from customers to bombard her with my questions.
Percebes are one of the most sought after delicacies in Spain. They are goose barnacles, taste briny and are very expensive. They are painstakingly harvested off the rocky shores of Galicia, in the North-West of Spain. It is very dangerous to harvest them due to the waves battering the rocks. Look at the price on the sign, Euro 55 per Kilo if you take them home and cook, or else if eaten at restaurants the price is much higher. Percebes are simply sautéed in olive oil with rock salt, or steamed, some people will make a simple wine and cream sauce.
I was not convinced enough and I did not get to taste Percebes while I was in Barcelona, my loss. Perhaps next time I return to Barcelona I will. Ciao,
Valentina http://www.valentinadesigns.com
I am writing a travel diary of my last trip to Puglia and Europe with an American group and sharing with all of you my notes of feelings, observations, food-wine tasting and experiences that have changed the life of people traveling with me. The trips I organize are made for people who want to live it up! Check out my books on
Last May, I spent some time in Barcelona, one of my favorite cities in Europe. I shot photos of anything I fancied and as any tourist, most of the time, I walked with my nose up in the sky to catch the best details of architecture. However, in Barcelona in some are areas even the street pavement is decorated to perfection. Never know what you are going to find on the floor. This is after all Gaudi’s city, where the most undulated and creative architecture was planned.
On the way to la Pedrera, I saw this beautiful building on the Passeig de Gràcia. The balconies are perfectly aligned in the classic order, but the angle I chose to take it’s very deceiving, it shows the balconies in a zigzag line. Visually I like it better this way and if I was living in that zigzag illusion, I would be able to see inside the balconies below mine. Curious Valentina!
Passeig de Gràcia is a busy street, very fashionable shops and fancy buildings line this long street, where people stroll for fun to lose a few hours. That is a fun European past time. Get out for fresh air, window-shopping, licking an ice cream, sit at a café, converse with a walking companion and lose a few hours. It’s so refreshing!
Valentina will host one or two trips a year to Italy and Europe. In Italy especially, she will take her small 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
Welcome! Immerse yourself in the colorful world of Modern Tropical, an eclectic lifestyle brand for people who love the retro-modern beach aesthetic. It is produced by independent award-winning artist Kristian Gallagher.
Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer since 1990. Often people describe her as “the colorist” as she loves to color her clients’ world and loves to create the unusual. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. 
Valentina Expressions 
