The Good Life | Valentina Expressions

Flavors and Colors Of An Italian Summer | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

17 Aug 2011 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ItalianCustoms, #ItalianFood, #ItalianLifeStyle, #ItalianSummer, #MediterraneanDiet, #PugliaFood, #SanJoseItalianFesta, ItalyTravel, Truffles

The annual summer Italian Family Festa in San Jose, CA is almost ready, we are at the last few details of preparation and the celebrations will begin soon.
For two days Aug.27th-28th all the Italian descendants, Italian born and Italian lovers will celebrate our culture with music, food, craft, art, books and entertainment. (Click on each photo to view it larger).

The Italian Family Festa in San Jose, CA started 31 years ago by Italian emigrants with the goal of keeping our roots and traditions alive. The character of this festa is more like a country fair called “sagra” in Italian, reminding me of the autumn celebration of the earth’s bounties I have seen in Italy when I was growing up.

Sagra (sagre plural) happen in every Italian small towns and Medieval villages through August and September. The larger sagra has music bands and some sort of competition, along with food ready to purchase on the street.

The smaller sagre are mainly organized to present local food grown and cooked by passionate people, a way to share a communal table and to spend a happy day in the country. Both vendors and visitors are innamorate of their culture and history, love to show off the food they produce and often give away ancient secrets on how to cook this and that food specialties. Of course we are Italians, we love to tell people how to eat good!

Sagre in Italy used were an escape from rural life during the harvest time that preceded the long winters and for a couple of days country people and farmers had an opportunity to be social with the rest of the world. Today, sagre are a way to preserve our gastronomic traditions of the past and to bring tourists to small country towns.

(Photo truffle found on: https://www.yahoo.com/news/worlds-largest-truffle-worth-thousands-024053846.html)

In many sagre Italians celebrate food fit for a royal, like the truffle sagra in Ferrara. Truffle is a rare underground mushroom forever considered a mysterious delicacy in the culinary world and super expensive (over $1,000 per gr.). People can delight themselves with the pleasure of tasting many food prepared with truffle: Cheeses Entrée with honey and truffle, truffle antipasti fantasy, meat rolls with prosciutto and truffle, fowl meat with truffle, lasagna with truffle and so much more. I say: Eat truffle in small amounts, but eat it often!

The sagra’s themes vary from town to town.

We celebrate the harvest of watermelon, chestnuts, San Marzano tomatoes and many products from the earth. Sagra for the prepared food as grilled meat, prosciutto, salami and sausages, rice arancini and potato croquettes, pizza rustica, polenta and birds, mushrooms and much more, not only emanate mouth watery aromas miles away, but they give an opportunity to get familiar with very traditional home cooking not otherwise prepared in restaurants.

Modern Italy goes on vacation during August and September, but farmers are at work to bring us the pleasure of food from the earth that is going to sustain us during the winter. Therefore we celebrate their harvest, their hard work and the abundance of Italy.
Italian Family Festa in San Jose, CA in the way will turn into a sagra due to so much food available, but mainly is about being Italian in a foreign country and to remind ourselves of the contributions we have made in the world with our culture, art, history, architecture, philanthropy, inventions and of course food appreciated by the entire world. Being Italian is an art not taught in any school!

I have been invited to speak at our Italian Family Festa about my Puglia native land and my books on Puglia cuisine. I will be on the stage Sat. Aug. 27th at 2:30 pm.

Please come to the Italian Family Festa at Guadalupe River Park downtown San Jose between Julian and Santa Clara Street. Guadalupe River Park is conveniently located two blocks from San Jose Diridon Station. Hope to see you there. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

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 a published author of two Italian regional cuisine books, available here in the Books page and in various locations, including Amazon:
http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

Flavoured Olives | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

29 Jul 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #BellaDiCerignolaOlives, #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #HowToCureOlives, #ItalianFood, #ItalianLifeStyle, #ItalianTableCustom, #MediterraneanDiet, #SinsOfAQueen

In my last blog, I wrote that olives picked directly from the tree must be cured first, otherwise they are totally not eatable. Curing and flavoring olives is an ancient culinary art, which we are rediscovering as today we are more in tune with the earth and healthy living.

I can think of five or six methods of flavoring olives, mostly from the memories of my grandmother’s kitchen. I use these methods for my enjoyment and for holiday gifts I prepare from my kitchen. My friends’ faces lit up like Christmas tree when they receive such a gift.
To make it fun, I will list only some of the easiest procedures, but you can always contact me, if you like to know more.

Baked Black Olives
Get black olives freshly picked and not cured. Place the olives in a glass bowl, cover them with cooking salt over night. The next day clean the salt away with a cloth, place them on a baking sheet and bake for about an hour at 248°-230°F. until crinkled and dried. Cool down, add a few garlic cloves finely sliced, orange or tangerine peel finely sliced and a hand full of fennel seeds. Mix well, fill a glass jar with the baked olives and after 4-5 days of marinating in the spices the olives are ready to eat.

White Olives In Olive Oil
The large and fleshy green olives are also called white olives due to the bright color they pick up if they have been curing, but no need to cure them for this flavoring method. Take the pit out, wash under current water and leave them in a clean water for a couple of days. Change water every so often until the bitter taste is gone. Dry them with a cloth. Place the olives in a glass jars, add salt, oregano, chili pepper to your liking and cover with extra-virgin olive oil, cap the jar tight. After a couple of months they are ready to eat.

Black Olives Under Salt
Use freshly picked black olives, clean them with a cloth. Place all the olives in a large glass bowl, add a good amount of coarse salt to coat well, orange peels without the white flesh, wild fennel fronds and a few garlic cloves mashed up. Keep them like that for about three days, but turn them over every so often. The olives will exude some water, drain it a couple of times a day, otherwise if the olives rest in that water, will not lose the bitter taste. After three days and after the water doesn’t come out anymore, place olives in a cloth and dry well. Eliminate orange peels, fennel fronds and garlic. Put the olives in a glass jars, fill with extra-virgin olive oil and close tight with a lid. They are ready to eat after one week and will keep for three months.

Time to harvest olives goes from late August to November, there is plenty time to cure or flavor them, or both and enjoy all that bounty for the holidays with aperitif and appetizers.
Tonight on my table there will be celery stalks filled with creamy Gorgonzola cheese, charred green peppers, red wine, a small piece of focaccia and an abundance of olives.

I shall be here to answer any questions you might have. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

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 published author of two Italian regional cuisine books, available here on the Books Page and
©Come Mia Nonna – A Return To Simplicity
©Sins Of A Queen
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Cure Olives, Eat Olives, Live Longer | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

16 Jul 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #BellaDiCerignolaOlives, #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #FoodHistory, #HowToCureOlives, #ItalianFood, #ManzanillaOlives, #MediterraneanDiet, Olives

Time to harvest olives goes from late August through November at any stage from totally green not mature to fully ripened. The stage of the harvest depends on whether the olives will be used for eating or oil production. Olives for eating are handpicked to avoid bruising. Olives cannot be eaten directly from the tree, they are very, very bitter and very unpleasant. The first thing to do is curing them using various methods for each type of olives. The most effective curing method is using lye, good for large, fleshy green olives such as Spanish Manzanilla, Italian Bella di Cerignola and the Queen green olives, which are often stuffed with garlic.

Curing Green Olives
Dissolve 0.7 oz. of lye in warm water for each 2.2 lbs of olives. Place the olives in a large plastic bucket or stainless steel pot, add the water with dissolved lye, cover with tap water to the top. Leave them to cure for 2 days, mixing every so often using kitchen gloves and a long wood spoon or stick. After this time, rinse the olives with clean water many times and leave them again in a clean water for 24 hours. After this time, change water one more time, add 3.5 oz. of salt for each 2.2 lbs. of olives. Place the olives and the salty water in glass jars (only glass) with air tight lids and store in a dark cool place. They will be ready for consumption after two weeks and will keep up to two years, but once the jar is open, you must consume it.

Curing Black Olives
Black olives must be large and mature. Put them in a large plastic container filled with water and with a lid that will close tightly. Add 4.5 oz. of salt for each 2.2 lbs of olives, stir well and leave it to macerate for one year in a cool place. Stir every so often during the year.

Curing With A Brine
The elongated green olives are the best to cure in a brine. The round green olives become sweet only when they are mature, or if they are left in the sun to dry with lot of salt. Add 3.5 oz. of salt to each 34 fluid oz of water, place the olives in this brine and leave to macerate for one month. Rinse the olives and make a new brine with 2.8 oz. of salt for each 34 fluid oz. of water. Dump the olives in the new brine, they will be ready in a month.

To accelerate the process without the brine, make small cuts to each olive, put them in a large colander with lot of salt and leave to drain for 3-4 days. In a large pot bring water to a boil with a couple of peeled garlic heads, throw all the olives in it and bring the water to a boil again for about 10 minutes. Fill glass jars with water and olives while the water is still warm. Close with an airtight lid. With this method the olives are ready to eat right away.

Some Health Talk
Olives contain the good elements our body needs for a natural and nutritional diet: fat, proteins and minerals.
Olives have a therapeutic effect on the liver as they help drainage, help with constipation and have a beneficial effect on colitis.
Eat olives to get just as good proteins as meat but without the animal fat. Thus olives consumed every day with a mixed salad, whole wheat bread and a glass of red wine constitute really a good balanced nutrition.

After curing olives comes the pleasure of eating them. I am including one typical recipe from Puglia, Italy, not even well-known anywhere else in Italy and which I have included also in my book ©Come Mia Nonna-A Return To Simplicity.

Pan Fried Black Olives With Peanuts
1/2 lb. of pitted black olives in water not treated (olives in t he can OK)
a hand full of raw peanut shelled
2 tablespoons of olive oil
a hand full of finely chopped Italian parsley
salt, black pepper or chilli pepper to taste

Drain the water out of the olives, pat them dry.
In a frying skillet sauté the peanuts in olive oil at medium fire, for about fifteen minutes or until they are golden brown.
Take them out the pan and drain the excess oil on paper towel.
In the same pan sauté the olives until they become crinkled.
Drain the oil, mix with the peanuts.
Season with salt and black pepper or chilli peppers if you like them hot. Sprinkle parsley finely chopped.
Be generous with the condiments.
Serve warm as an appetizer.

If you have food questions, or questions on kitchen design I shall be here to answer them all and I shall be ready to find the best solutions for you, just leave your name down below in the box. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

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 published books of Italian regional cuisine, available in this site at the Books page and on:
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Plates and Chopping Boards | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

03 Jul 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #AlessiDishWares., #AlessiKitchenProducts, #FoodHistory, #FoodHotStone, #ItalianFood, #MediterraneanDiet, #MiseEnPlace, #TableCustoms

When we sit at the dining table, we hardly waste much time thinking of how tableware originated and evolved in time. We might briefly admire the beauty of a plate or a particular decoration perhaps just as ice breaker and small conversation. We might treat ourselves with the elegant newest collection of dish ware made by Alessi called “Dressed”, or some hand painted ceramic plates, or we might end up eating in any casual dinnerware with nonchalance. The important thing is to have food into a washable or throw away vessel and assign a plate to each person sitting at a dining table. It was not this way a few centuries ago. (Photo: marcel wanders alessi)

Think about how it was in the Middle Age when diners in noble courts and taverns alike shared bowls, glasses, chopping blocks and tin plates. This meant that diners sharing tableware had to pay attention to each other and respect table ethics because they were facing each other while eating from the same plate.

Each person had a spoon to dip in a common soup bowl and in a common sauce bowl. Meat and solid food were cut in a serving dish placed in the center table from which each person took a piece and place it on the chopping block shared with another person. If the other person was a woman and supposedly not a master in the art of cutting, the man sharing the chopping block with her would cut a pieces and offer it to the woman.

Forks did not exist yet, they arrived on the Italian Florentine tables around the 1300. Women held each piece of solid food between two fingers and brought it to the mouth gently. Men stabbed solid food or meat with a knife and ate directly from the blade.

Napkins did not exist yet either. It was an accepted custom to clean oily hands on the tablecloth, but it was not acceptable to suck the fingers clean with the mouth. To avoid offending table decency, a piece of food which had been in the mouth first, could not be put on the shared chopping board, or shared thin plate, that was not acceptable.

Why I am talking about table customs in the Middle Age and what does it have to do with the way we eat today? It seems that every thing old at some point become new again. I was really surprised to see that some restaurants in Italy have taken this historical table custom and twisted to today’s novelty.

In a restaurant on the Amalfi cost in Italy, I observed some appetizers being served on a cold stone or some others on a pre-heated stones depending on the type of food. Some restaurants serve also the main entrée on hot stones and it becomes really spectacular. Food arrives at the table seared halfway, the rest of the cooking is completed at the table by the customers, the way they like it.
(Himalayan Sal Slab: surlatable.com)

This trend is spreading throughout the U.S. too. I have eaten at upscale restaurants in California where one time I enjoyed appetizers on a Himalayan salt plate, the next time I delighted myself with an Argentinean Seared Flank Stake on hot slate with chimichuri sauce and the next time again I tried a fried kale with parmesan churros. All three times it was an enjoyable experience in that cooking at the table with friends evolves in a pleasant conversation.

Just like in the Middle Age, in trendy restaurants of today food is brought to the table on a hot stone with another plate to eat off of it, but today there is an array of flatware, glassware and tablecloths to help us being more comfortable or civilized at the dining table.

These stones are available at gourmet shops and they are affordable.

I shall be here to answer any question you might have on the “mise en place”, staging a table, or staging a dinner party. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

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. Robert Taitano, a friend and business associate 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 cuisine books available on this site in the Books section, on Amazon and through the publisher:
http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnq8baaAq0M
http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

Tomato, The Golden Apple | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

14 Jun 2011 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ItalianFood, #ItalianTomatoPassata, #ItalianTomatoSauce, #MediterraneanDiet, #SanMarzanoTomatoes

Everyday is the perfect occasion to celebrate a little something. Did you know that June 1st is the national day of tomatoes? So many things are possible with tomatoes from food to beauty treatments, tomato is the golden apple. In Italian tomato translates in pomodoro which means exactly golden apple and it holds the secret for a good health.

My day often start with artisan bread, a couple of tomatoes with basil leaves and extra-virgin olive oil seasoned with salt & pepper. To this, I add a couple of fruit, a couple of cups of espresso coffee and off I go to work.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

San Marzano Tomatoes

Tomato is food of good nutritional balance, poor of calories, with a good content of minerals and vitamins, rich in water, about 94%, therefore it is refreshing, good for high heat areas. The only carbohydrates present in a tomato are fructose and glucose.

Consuming tomatoes on a regular basis facilitates the digestion of starches found in food such as pasta, rice, potatoes and helps to remove excess of proteins deriving from a diet rich of meat products.

People who suffer a slow digestion should eat a good quantity of tomatoes daily, in that the arabic acid and lactic acid activates the gastric system, along with sulfur, which acts as a detoxifying. The golden apple contains potassium to help with cramps of the legs, fatigue, retention of liquids and hypertension.

It also contains calcium to help with migraines and keep bones healthy. It contains phosphorus to help metabolize carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, iron to help with anemia, selenium and zinc, which are the essential elements to fight aging, but a substance called solanine could be the enemy in the tomatoes. Solanine is a toxic alkaloid present in green tomatoes and in tomatoes not totally ripe, thus not really good to eat.

Give the soil lot of nutrients, a good compost, especially if you produce your own from kitchen scraps, place the tomato seeds in an all-day full sun areas and you will have an elixir of love and health in large quantity.

Basic Tomato Sauce or Passata di Pomodoro in Italian

I often use tomatoes called San Marzano to make the passata, but any large round tomatoes will do. Use ripe tomatoes, about 12-15 to make a sauce for four people, cut in half, squeeze the water out and some seeds. Place all the tomatoes in saucepan for about 10-15 minutes at medium low heat until the tomatoes are soft and collapsed. Transfer them a spoon at a time in a food mill to eliminate the skin. Place the food mill on top of a bowl to collect the juice and turn the handle until you see a thick juice going into the bowl. At this point the sauce is almost ready. Place the tomato juice back into the saucepan, add salt to your liking, olive oil and a few leaves of basil. Simmer for about 15 minutes at low heat.

This basic sauce can be used fresh as it is on any pasta or rice, but it can be enhanced with tuna, chicken, lamb, or any vegetables. Cook them separately, then add them to the sauce. The same sauce can be pasteurized and kept in jars for the winter, so you can enjoy a home made tomato sauce when there are no tomatoes around. In this picture down below, I am preparing Pachino tomatoes with Italian zucchini and onions, when the sauce is ready in about 15 minutes, I will add some spaghetti, grated Pecorino cheese and nothing else to this dish. It will be perfect with a glass of red wine. Buon appetito!

Zucchini and Cherry Tomatoes By ©Valentina Cirasola

Find more of this simple recipe in my two books, available in this site on the Books page and on Amazon.

©Come Mia Nonna – A Return To Simplicity
©Sins Of A Queen – Italian Appetizers and Desserts

Ciao,
Valentina

Robert Taitano, a friend and business associate 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.
Get your copy of the books on:
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Sipping Away | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

05 Jun 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #GardenViews, #ItalianDrinks, #ItalianLifeStyle, #SummerDrinks, #SummerSpritzDrinks

I am thinking about Summer, the cozy corner in my garden is waiting, it will be good to sit there conversing with friends or by myself with my thoughts and a good book. A drink will be a nice complement to this pretty picture. In Italy we have a variety of Summer drinks that we can buy at any kiosk in the street while walking around in the Summer heat, or we can make at home just as good.
(Photo above: BH&G).

Campari Time-A
In Spritz veritas… a perfect orange mood!
Equal parts ingredients:
fresh squeezed orange juice
chilled Italian Prosecco (sparking wine)
a few verbena leaves
a couple of raspberries per person, orange slices for garnish.
Serve it either in a champagne glass or in a large juice glass.

First, place a couple of raspberry in the bottom of the glass, fill the glass half way with orange juice, then fill the rest of the glass with well-chilled Italian Prosecco.
Add a couple of verbena leaves, decorate the glass with an orange slice.
You can substitute Prosecco with sparkling water and crushed ice.

(Photos credit given to the respective owners)

Italian Lemonade
2 cups fresh squeezed lemon juice, about 12 to 15 lemons
2 cups simple syrup
2 cups of chilled sparkling water
crushed ice
lemon slices and basil leaves

Make simple syrup first by combining 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan. Simmer until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes. Cool it, before using. Squeeze fresh lemons, mix in simple syrup and water. Place it in a nice looking pitcher and cool it in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Serve it with crushed ice and garnish with a lemon slice on the edge of the glass. To add a punch of taste a few fresh basil leaves will do.

Tropical Granita
Equal parts of water melon, pineapples, mango and oranges. Peel and chop all the fruit in chunks. Place them in a medium size saucepan with 1 cup of water and 1 cup of brown sugar if you like it sweet. I use no sugar. Bring to a boil, simmer for about 10 minutes to break down the fruit. Cool and strain it. Line a terrine with a plastic film and let it hang outside the terrine. It will to help you later in removing the frozen mixture from the terrine. Place the liquid in it and freeze. After it becomes solid, grab the film and pull out the frozen mixture. Cut the mixture in strip about 4” long and ½” wide. Insert one fruit strip in each champagne glass and fill with Italian Prosecco or Champagne.

White peach, Cassis and Champagne floats
It will make two portions:
2 peaches, pitted and cut into small wedges
1 pint peach ice cream
2 tablespoons crème de Cassis (black-currant liqueur) and a little more for drizzling
2/3 cup chilled brut Champagne or sparkling wine

Make layers. Place 3 peach wedges in the bottom of each tall glasses. Top with 1 scoop ice cream, another layer of 3 peach wedges. Add second scoop ice cream and top with 2 more peach wedges. Drizzle 2 tablespoons crème de Cassis. Pour 1/3 cup Champagne or mineral water into each glass. One more scoop of ice cream, fill with champagne and serve.

June 10^th is the National Iced Tea Day. I like tea that are also medicinal to cure a common cold. Hand full of lemon tree leaves, mueller leaves and mint. Boil these leaves in water until water turns a nice golden color. Steep and cool it. Fill serving glasses with crushed ice and tea, serve. Also serve it warm.

With these fun drinks you must have cool glasses.
(Photo:
Napa Style Glasses)

Napa Style sells a collection of six Venetian Tumblers for $59.00 with the rack at $59.00 too.
For a more elegant look, try the Dotted Venetian glasses for champagne, liqueurs, white and red wines at $89.00 each set of four glasses.

Find more of these kind of Summer treats in my second published book: Sins Of A Queen, available here in this site on the Books page.

Enjoy your Summer with your favorite colors, friends, drinks and the perfect mood.
If you need help in creating the perfect atmosphere, please contact me, I shall be ready to help you with so many wonderful ideas. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

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 in this site on the Books page, on Amazon and in various other locations:
http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnq8baaAq0M
http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

Floralia | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

20 May 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #AssisiFloralia, #AssisiItaly, #Calendimaggio, #CulinaryTrips, #HistoryOfCostumes, #ItalianHistory, #ItalianLifeStyle, #MayInItaly, #MayItalianCelebrations, ItalyTravel

P15e5.1 Unframed
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons – Public Domain – Triumph of love , by Francesco Pesellino (1450), celebrates the arrival of spring and the flowering associated with May)

So much is happening in the world of Italy in the month of April and May. I have been there working, vacationing and taking notes.
Not knowing when work and play stop and start, I am considering myself lucky. The dilemma is what to write about first. Do I write about the Saint Nicholas celebration in Bari, which happens again in December, or do I write about Saint Francis festival, the “Calendimaggio” in Assisi, which happens only in May? I have seen both celebrations in the same month, they are unforgettable historic folklorist events and I don’t want to lose the opportunity to spread the words.
(Photo left source: http://www.inumbria.net/ita/ita_evento.html?ID_evento=558979221)

“Calendimaggio” festival happens every year on the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday of May to inaugurate the arrival of spring, greeting the rebirth of life, after winter hibernation and hardships. During the centuries many northern European cultures have celebrated the arrival of spring with flowers and colors.

The Celts had two seasons in a year, the dark and the light season, the effect of spring did not come until the beginning of May.
The Romans during the “Floralia” celebrated Maia and Flora, two goddesses of Spring. Groups of young gaudentes in flowery dresses decorated with flowers in the hair and all over their bodies, sang, danced and charmed the people in the streets with their serenades.

During the Middle Age the newly adopted Gregorian calendar changed the name of the spring celebration to “Kalende di Maggio” (Calendar of May), but the objective was the same: to propitiate the abundance and good fortune at the beginning of the season transformation, when trees bloom and start producing fruits. This transformation of nature is the fundamental base of a better life. Good food means good health, which in turn means better spiritual life. Banquets, bonfires, songs and dances at the top of the hill celebrated the season transformation, while inevitably the so-called “honorable” citizens erupted in horseback fights.

(Photo left Sbandieratori -source: http://www.fideacademy.com/assisi/speciale-cerimonia-di-premiazione)

Bitter and hard conflicts between various factions were the reason for creating Saints, symbols and flags in most history of people and Assisi’s history is no different. Today, the show of the skilled flag wavers is magnetic. The colors of the flags are blue for secular authority and red for pontifical authority, both temporal and religious powers in the Middle Age.

The spring celebration, a pagan custom, blends well with the religious celebration of Saint Francis, the patron of Italy, which happens simultaneously. Young Francesco (Francis) renounced his nobel and rich heritage, adopted a simple brown robe with a rope in the waist as his dress and served as the “poor of God” looking after the poor and sick people, spreading the Word of God.

The beginning of the spring season today is celebrated much the same way with love songs, choral music and street dances accompanied by violins, guitars and lutes. There are competitions, games and events, without the bloodshed of the old Middle Age. Medieval processions and torch-lit parades will recapture the old charm.

The festival leads to the prestigious Palio with two districts of the town of Assisi competing against each other for a valuable prize. The districts are the ‘Magnifica Parte de Sotto and the ‘Nobilissima Parte de Sopra’, meaning the Low and High Districts of Assisi.

All of this fun and re-enactment of history happens while the aroma of the traditional porchetta and roast-suckling pig fills the air of the entire town.

It was worth going out-of-the-way of my designated path while in Italy. I had never seen the city of Assisi overflowing with a kaleidoscope of colors, flowers, adorned trees, various symbols, statues, altars, religious figurines, flags and gonfalons, as in this three days of celebration of life, peace and food.

People were so happy and proud of their Italian heritage and I am too. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

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 will create your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away your comfort. She loves to restore old homes, historic dwellings and she focuses on remodeling. She is interested in food in history studies and historical events.

Author of two Italian regional cuisine books available here in this site on the Books Page and in various other locations:

Come Mia Nonna-A Return To Simplicity http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnq8baaAq0M
Sins Of A Queen http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

Light and Filling Food | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

14 May 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #EatingLite, #ItalianFood, #LiteFood, #LiteLunch, #MediterraneanDiet, #ValentinaCirasolaAuthor, #VeggieDrinks

I am in the mood for a light lunch, something I crave when Summer is approaching.
Nothing better than shopping for food in my refrigerator, there is always something light and filling to cook, or something raw to put together and I don’t mean cold cut meats.

First I will prepare a veggie mixage, powerful, filling and healthy. I will make a large pot to keep for a few days.
This is something to make into a warm soup one day and a power drink the next day.
If you make a soup add either croutons, quinoa or pearled barley, olive oil, Parmigiano cheese is optional.
If you make a veggie drink, spice it up with salt and pepper and drink it cold.

I will put together carrots, red beets, celery, red cabbage, collard greens, broccoli and lemon grass in a pot half full of salted water. The salt will keep the greens very green. Boil until tender. With a boat motor crush all the ingredients until you have a smooth reddish velute’. Spoon this creamy mixture into a bowl or glass.

My light lunch will also have one hard-boiled egg and five – six radishes sliced, seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil, 2 oz. of bread I made yesterday and a couple of oranges from my tree. Italian espresso coffee, a hand full of dry nuts and one piece of chocolate will follow about thirty minutes later.

Notice the plates in my photograph? They are appetizers size plates, I can only fill them up to the rim, visually they look full and the brain already feels satisfied, but in reality the quantity of food is very small. Afterwards, when the food is gone, it will be so natural to have the sensation of a full stomach.

In restaurants I have the same attitude towards portions. My question is always the same: “how big is the plate?” and if the waiter says it is a good portion, I select something smaller. Personally, I don’t like to leave the restaurant with a doggy bag in my hands, I only order what I can eat, but that is just my Italian upbringing.

With this type of light lunch, you can allow yourself to eat more often during the day, enjoy small tasty meals and never get to the dinner table with the hunger stuck to your eyes.

Give me five ingredients and I will make you a royal dinner! What can you do with five ingredients? I like to know, leave your name down below. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

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.
She is the author of two Italian regional cuisine books available in this page on the Books page and in various other places:
http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

Party With A Puzzleboard | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

06 May 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #AppetizersFood, #AppetizersPuzzleboard, #ItalianLifeStyle, #PartyDesigns, #PartyFoodAccessories, #PartyFoodIdeas, #PartyTrays, Appetizers

I did and after being in that awkward situation a couple of times, I decided to attend them to meet people without even tasting one ounce of food, which it takes all the fun out of doing business after hours.

On DesignBoom https://www.designboom.com/design/oooms-puzzleboard/, I discovered the puzzleboard made by OOOMS a design studio based in the Netherlands. http://www.oooms.nl/product/puzzleboard
It’s a multipurpose board made of beech wood blocks that can be used both for cutting or as serving plate. By inserting boards together, you can extend your workspace when cutting French breads or preparing hors-d’oeuvres. Wineglasses can also fit conveniently into the indented groove of the board.

Using these boards at parties allows guests to enjoy both wine and delicacies while still having one hand free to greet other friends.

Self-serve and buffet style food is less than a 100 years invention. Food was always consumed sitting down at a table with many servants around.

Service à la française (French style) of the middle 1800’s in the Victorian era is the closest way to buffet style, food were brought out at once in an impressive, but often impractical display.
Often food arrived covered with silver domes, but due to the distant location of the kitchen in respect to the dining area, they arrived cold.
Guest could see the beautiful display of food on the table and could help themselves to dishes close by, but had to rely on servants to bring other dishes and wine and to change plates and cutlery.

The table for service à la française was beautifully made up generally with a minimum of three-course meal in addition to desserts. Soup and various terrines were on one side of the table, meat and fish on the opposite side, many other specialties in the middle of the table and all sizes and shapes cutleries around the edges of the table. The host duty to carve meats at the table with all that production of food was very challenging.

In the early 19^th century Russian Ambassador Alexander Kurakin brought to France the service à la russe (service in the Russian style) which is a manner of dining that involves courses being brought to the table sequentially up to dessert, when everything on the table gets cleared out even breadcrumbs before serving desserts.

This resembles the way we eat today in restaurants without the 14 courses of the previous eating fashion and without the elaborate dishes preparation and presentation.
We have also adopted service à la russe for home sitting down dinner parties in those few rare occasions of family gathering and important holidays we use the formal dining room.

As a designer, I can tell you that formal dining rooms are disappearing from homes. That space is now used to make a great room, which includes living and family room in an open space attached to the kitchen.
The buffet serving style is more congenial to todays’ living, no servants are required, only good food and good time spent with our guests.
Most of us organize parties outdoor, in the garden or by the pool, the puzzleboard (only Euro 19.95) is ideal to carry food and drink from the buffet table to anywhere we like to sit without worrying about having both hands occupied.
It is interesting to me that the wine glass inserted in the proper groove will not leave my site easily. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola transforms and creates spaces realizing people’s dreams in homes, offices, interiors and exteriors.
She infuses your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away a comfortable living.
As an interior designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking she loves to remodel homes and loves to turn ugly spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos.

She is the author of two Italian regional cuisine books available here in this site on the Books page and in various other locations:
©Come Mia Nonna – A Return To Simplicity and ©Sins Of A Queen

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

Silicone – Love Or Hate | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

26 Apr 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #CulinaryItems, #foodie, #KitchenGadgets, #SiliconeCookingVessels, #SiliconeKitchenGadgets, #ValentinaCirasolaAuthor, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

Silicone is not an invention of the last moment, it has entered our homes with hundreds of kitchen and bath objects and accessories to make our lives easier.
Thanks to all its properties silicone is a material that can be used in many ways. It offers all the solutions for cooking savory and sweet food, substituting the conventional cookware used so far.

The use of silicone went from commercial kitchens, pharmaceutical processing, and meat-packing plants into residential kitchens.
FDA grade silicone has been used in applications where food is present, it is guaranteed against toxicity and completely without odors.
Silicone cookware being lightweight and easy to manage are an ideal solutions for people with arthritis to the hands.

(https://www.afcoltellerie.com/eng/prodotto.asp?id=1599)

We can use silicone baking pans to make cookies, or bake a cake, to cook fish or roasts, we don’t need to use wax oven paper any more, nor butter or oils as non-stick techniques, thus eliminating some calories from our diet. Silicone cookware are flexible and bendable making the extraction of cooked food an easy process along with saving storage space without ever loosing its shapes. They are good to use up to 3000 times of cooking.

As a designer, I am supposed to report on new products. Silicone cookware is original, functional and very colorful, making the art of cooking a game even for kids. I am open to all new products and new opportunities, but I must be sincere about my own ways. My kitchen is well supplied with the best chef cookware. The pleasure of my cooking is not only about the good aroma and good food I can cook, but is also about operating with the professional cookware and cutlery I possess. I don’t make it do, I have every possible solution in cookware for every speciality I prepare. Cooking for me is a serious matter and it requires professional equipment, but it is also a pleasurable game.

A lamb stew with beans in a clay pot as in my photo (right) could not taste right if it was made in an aluminum pan.
Each food need it own vessel.
I am still enamored of ceramic and clay pots and still love to cook in my stainless steel, all clad and Calphalon cookware. I am sure I will for a long time and that is the game I like to play in my kitchen. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com