The Good Life | Valentina Expressions

I Am Not A Vegetarian And Yet….| Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

09 Feb 2018 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #CountryItalianFood, #HealthySandwiches, #italianCooking, #ItalianVegetableDishes, #PugliaFood, #VegetarianMeals

Food is part of my color scheme of life. I cannot live without colorful and flavorful food presented well, even if I am eating alone. Eyes want to see beautiful things to send a message of happiness to the brain. It doesn’t take much efforts to do something special for ourselves. I am not a vegetarian and yet my every day food seem to reflect that style of eating. As soon as I was weaned, my parents taught me to eat everything without distinction and to waste no food. That concept has been good and alive in my life, every where I lived in the world. I have discovered that in countries different from mine, people eat the same vegetable, often prepared the same way, but, also, I have discovered new vegetables, new flavour and new ways of cooking vegetables. My repertoire of earthy food is getting so big, I don’t have enough days in a year to cook them all. For the moment, enjoy these three simple and so tasty recipes from my kitchen as much as I enjoy them.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

A sandwich to die for – Grilled Zucchini and Italian Prosciutto.
Thinly slice zucchini, align them on a parchment paper over a baking sheet.
On each zucchini slice, add finely chopped garlic and ginger, Parmigiano cheese, olive oil, salt, pepper and bread crumbs.
Bake at 400 F. until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes.
Brush a small amount of olive oil on each bread slices and grill them (I made my country-style bread).
Assemble the sandwich with Italian prosciutto. I did not add anything else, it is tasty enough as is.

Grilled Zucchini and Italian Prosciutto di Parma Sandwich

What do you say about a plate of oyster mushroom?
I adore this dish, whether it is made for a healthy lunch, with a piece of bread and a glass of red wine, or as a side dish to go with an entrée of meat or fish.
Brush off impurities from the mushroom, or cut them off (if you wash mushrooms in water, they will exude water in the cooking).
Finely chopped garlic and chili pepper, if you like it, briefly sauté in olive oil, then add mushroom and continue to sauté until soft, about 10 minutes.
Add chopped Italian parsley to finish. It is a real delicacy!

Oyster Mushrooms Sautéed in Olive Oil and Garlic

Do you have mozzarella?
In Italy we call this sandwich “Mozzarella In Carrozza” translated is Mozzarella In A Chariot.
Beat some eggs, depending on how many sandwiches you are making. Season the eggs with salt and pepper.
Warm up an iron skillet brushed with some olive oil, or butter.
Slice mozzarella in thin pieces.
Dip each side of the sliced bread in the eggs. Lay on the hot pan, each slice of bread one at a time, then mozzarella slices on top, close the sandwich with the top bread slices also dipped in the eggs. With a spatula push down gently on the sandwich to allow mozzarella to stick to the bread.
Brown one side of the sandwiches until crisp, carefully turned with the spatula, brown and crisp the other side.

Mozzarella In Carrozza

There you have it, three simple lunches, easy, inexpensive, healthy and tasty, that you will want to repeat often. This kind of food is only found in Italian homes, not in restaurants.
During trips to my native region of Puglia, Italy, my guests will taste food with a flavour of simplicity and antiquity, such as these. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinaexpressions.com/trips-to-puglia-2

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. 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”. Get your copy of Valentina’s books on
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Variations | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

29 Jan 2018 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ColorsOfBarcelona, #LaBoqueriaBarcelona, #LaBoqueriaFoodVariations, #LaBoqueriaMarket, #TravelSpain, #WordPressPhotoChallengeVariations

Art, food and street life are the three things I want to explore when I travel. They are three variations of expressions of people and their culture I want to learn.

In a few TV cooking shows, I learned about Barcelona La Boqueria Market, I could not wait to go down Las Ramblas to visit this open market as soon as I arrived in Barcelona. I was hit with a profusion of colors, aromas and flavors to which was hard to resist. Inside La Boqueria market, I spent a few hours ” A Ramblear” as locals would say, getting lost in food heaven, looking, learning, tasting and taking photos. It is an open street market, covered with a hard canopy, sun or rain don’t seem to bother people or activities and the variations of one or another are so interesting.

Everything I had heard about La Boqueria market was true. Colors and flavors were so vibrant and inviting I didn’t want to leave. Many curiosity filled my eyes and my camera, picture after picture flowed like water in a river and I also tasted an incredible amount of food. The Jamon Ibérico with a flavor of juniper berry was delicious, hoof or no hoof, and I really enjoyed the various ice creams with a chili pepper kick mixed in with the flavor of the ice cream. What a treat !!!

The choice of tapas variations prepared at all the bars was infinite, the aromas were irresistible, try eggs and cuttlefish, of my, what a variation on the egg dish! The wine……that’s another story, as a tourists drinking at hours normally not conceived for drinking, was so liberating. At La Boqueria I felt at ease, regardless of all the noises, people are friendly. I speak Spanish and that helps enjoying the market in its fullest.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Above: Dry peppers of many colors and heat spice up the area.

Above: Xorico Sauces in many colors, flavors and texture.

Above: Sangria in bulls, in flamenco dancers and in toreadors shaped bottles.

Above: Jamon Bellota with a hoof on a Jamonero ham holder, a typic gadget of Spain.

Above: Jamon Ibérico with pata negra (black hoof).

Life is full of variations, explore them and don’t be afraid to try something awkward. Ciao.
Valentina
https://valentinaexpressions.com/trips-to-puglia-2

As a writer and cultural promoter of Puglia, her native land, Valentina’s intention is to let readers feel and experience a new ”wheel of emotions”. She wants to encourage them to visit areas of Italy not beaten by massive tourism. Through stories of local customs, art, architecture, fashion, food-wines, shopping, she wants them to create their special adventures and live it up in Puglia! Check out her books on
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Weathered | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

16 Jan 2018 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #TravelItaly, #VeniceStyle, #WeatheredArchitecture, #WeatheredItalianStyle, #WeatheredStyle, #WordPressPhotoChallengeWeathered

Ah, Venice, the only city in the world where pigeons walk, lions fly, sexy men are made of stones and gondoliers are the richest taxi drivers in the whole world!

When I am in Venice, photographing conventional sites, even as beautiful as they are, is not my goal. Sure, I have done those tourist photos too, but I am more intrigued to find weathered details usually people leave behind, because they don’t appeal to their eyes. I like to find details which tell a story.

Most buildings in Venice beautify the sky with characteristic weathered ‘comignoli’ (chimneys). They are tall and look like small homes with a gable roof on top of buildings. Many wealthy Californians have embellished their “Tuscan style” homes with copies of Italian style ‘comignoli’ and ‘faccioni’ (cherub’s faces), sometimes stuck on garden walls as planters.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

(Above: chimney called comignolo)

I could have spent endless hours more than I did talking to the older man, owner of the restoration laboratory. He spent his entire life among stunning and weathered objects, furniture, fabrics, grisailles and historic pieces. It was so fascinating listening to his stories !!!

(Above: Restoration store)

I am amazed of how well the weathered wood poles and stilts deeply planted in water, hold Venice up and how well lintel beams hold together the walls of many weathered homes.

(Above: Santa Maria della Salute in the background)

(Above: Casa Goldoni decorative lintel)

(Above: Venice characteristic street lamp)

Perfectly weathered pewter and bronze street lamps are still standing not decayed, as are the marble stone statues, precious mosaics on buildings‘ facades and marble carved capitals with acanthus leaves still showing the intricate details on top of columns.

(Above: Marble acanthus leaves capitel)

(Above: Store pewter door handle)

One might imagine finding weathered home gardens, where courtship and lover quarrels might have happened one time, but they are hard to find today.

The local Venetians are leaving town for a better living. Venice has no longer stores of primary needs for the locals, such as bread shops, meat shops, vegetable shops, dairy shops, fish market, drug stores, clothing stores, book stores, the seamstress shops, hat shops, shoe maker shops, the clinic, a local doctor office and all the shops which regulate and take care of the needs of a human life.

Venice has become a stumping ground for tourists with a little interest in history, art and theatre art. Their needs are to go to the bathroom, buy a gelato, a cheap tourist meal, a few meaningless trinkets made in China, get a photo with the pigeons in St. Marco square and return to the ship or wherever they came from. The town today is made of B&Bs, restaurants with tourist menus (what kind of crap is that?), cheap souvenirs, super expensive gondola rides, counterfeit fashion items sold in the streets by illegal immigrants and nothing else.
Venice belongs first to the Venetians, to Italy and then to the world. That Venice charm I had known is forever lost. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinaexpressions.com/trips-to-puglia-2

At The End Of The Year | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

01 Jan 2018 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ItalianNewYearEve, #NewYearCelebrations, #NewYearEve, #NewYearEveCustoms, #NewYearEveRedUnderwear

The end of the year marks a passage of time and the hope for new experiences, new love, new peace and new expectations. Whether it is celebrated on December 31st or not, people worldwide do celebrate it, and in much different ways. I remember how we celebrated it in Italy, long time ago. It was colorful, fun and very dangerous.

As midnight struck, heavy fireworks started from every windows and balconies. Kids played with the less dangerous fireworks and adults played with heavy ones, often losing parts of their body with it. Loudest and powerful fireworks lasted for more than an hour and during that time, it was customary to throw everything old and no longer wanted out of windows.
It was not advised to come home from parties before 5:00 am, that’s when people finally quieted down. This practice is now prohibited by law, but for some people is hard to desist from this custom.

Before the Southern Italians went absolutely crazy with fireworks and throwing things out of the windows, they went totally crazy with food. They sat down at dinner table around 6:00-7:00 pm surrounded by many people, usually family, with the intentions of eating 13 courses, one for each month of the year passing and an extra one as a good wish for the new year. The 13th course was a plate of cooked lentil eaten soon after midnight. Lentils represent money, more lentils we eat, more money we will have…. and everyone hopes…..
Eating lentils is still a custom of today.

(Click on each photo to view it larger)

No matter what color Italians like, at the end of the year, every woman from North to South wears a red pair of underwear to wish for a new love or to keep the one they have. That’s is something I still do today.

(Photo above: https://www.zappos.com/p/b-temptd-lace-kiss-thong-haute-red/product/8343688/color/401264)

The last and the first day of the year are two days equally respected and celebrated in Italy. Italians never pay bills on Jan.1^st even if they expire on that day. We believe that whatever we do on the first day of the year, it will repeat itself all year round. Laugh, make love, travel, eat in company of people, cook, create art, visit museums, go to the beach, start writing a book, play music, whatever we do, must be a fun activity that we want repeated again and again throughout the year.

Those who decide to go out at the end of the year, willing to pay a high price for dinner and dance, after midnight, will end up in a single file, making a train with people, often strangers, rolling through tables and going around the dancing hall, at the tune of Brazilian music. I never understood why Brazilian music became the brand of celebration for the end of the year. The best part of going out at the end of the year is that most everyone waits until 5:00 am to get warm croissants, freshly baked and just out of the baker’s oven. They go so well with a cup of cappuccino or a double espresso. The aroma of a fresh croissant is a prelude that something sweet will happen in the new year…..and so everyone hopes….
True or not, it is good to have hopes and beliefs. I wish you a splendid 2018, all the way through and celebrate what you want more of. 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 local customs, 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
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Bubbly Moments | Valentina Cirasola | Designer and Author

08 Dec 2017 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ChampagneCoupeGlass, #ChampagneGlassCharacteristics, #ChampagneGlasses, #GlassesForCelebrations, #HolidayDrinks, #SparklingWines

We are at the end of another year of work. We might have reached some or all the goals for this year. We have put efforts in keeping the good friends near us and manage to stay healthy, or have helped someone in the process. We have passed good and bad moments and we might had had some challenges to overcome. It has been another year and another chapter. Life situations are such that we have everything to celebrate and to be grateful. This is the month for bubbles to celebrate life and the new lights coming.
For exciting celebrations, we need special glasses. Some glasses will alter the taste of the bubbles and some will improve it. We can choose the Coupe, the Flute or the Tulip shape glasses to fill with our favorite bubbles.

The Coupe shape, or otherwise called Champagne Saucer was in vogue in the early 1900s, became most popular in the extravagant years of the ’20s with the Great Gatsby and remained popular until the ’60s. However, before the roaring ’20s, someone else in the upper crust of French society, thought of making the coupe champagne glass very famous. She was the beautiful and famous French Marquise Madame Pompadour, a valued aide and court advisor, but also a mistress of the King of France, Louis XV, from 1745 to 1751. She was a patron of architecture, decorative arts, porcelain and a patron of philosophers. The gossip columns of the era mention that Madame Pompadour, in love with beautiful things, lent her breast to a glass designer to make a mold of her breast and thus to create the Champagne coupe glass. The picture below speaks for itself. This fun 8×10 print is available at Meluseena on Etsy goo.gl/tUhHzq

Is this a myth? I don’t know. It is an amusing tale and I like to tell it. Apparently in more modern times, other famous women have lent their breasts for the same reason. Claudia Schiffer loaned her left breast to a Karl Lagerfeld-designed ceramic coupe for Dom Perignon in 2008.

I like my champagne or sparkling wines very fizzy, I am sure many people do too, but the bubbles in the coupe glass dissipate quickly. Before they go totally flat, one must drink up fast and that’s not the scope of a pleasurable drink. Pleasurable moments, holding a nice piece of glass with bubbles come in small sips.

I have a coupe glass set I use to drink foreign blond beers and for cold desserts.

The flute, today is considered a classy, sophisticated glass for sparkling wines. Pouring the sparkling wine in this glass, let the bubbles sink at the bottom, then quickly rise to the top and immediately delivery a fuzziness to the nose. We have grown accustomed to this visual impact.

The tulip, just like the flower, is an elegant glass shape, it has a wider aperture at the top, maintains bubbles fizzy until the glass is empty and allows a better development of the aroma of the wine. The bubbles will touch different parts of the tongue, instead of going directly to the nose.

As far as juicy stories, the flute and the tulip glasses have none that I know.

In a nice piece of glass, one can feel and hear the work of those who made it; holding it, is like holding a piece of art. Enjoy bubbles all year around and celebrate even when there is nothing to celebrate.

My next TV show Drink Up will be December 8, 2017 with a young sommelier as a guest. Nicole Stevenson, will mix non-alcoholic drinks for those people who can’t drink for one reason or another, but still want to be part of the festivities.

Happy Christmas. Ciao,
Valentina
Valentina Designs Universe TV Channel https://goo.gl/2tbN3N

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
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Glow | Valentina Cirasola | Designer and Author

21 Oct 2017 8 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #AlbuquerqueHistory, #AlbuquerqueOldTown, #EarthColors, #SouthWesternArt, #TravelUSA, #WordPressPhotoChallengeGlow

Sleepy life in the afternoon glow has its charm.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

I had forgotten how it was to slow down life activities in the afternoon for a relaxed siesta, until I went to Albuquerque on business and experience it again. The Old Town is just as I had envisioned: Abobe style architecture, earth colors, brick sidewalks, natural stones, row hides, pleasantly warm weather, friendly people and sleepy corners glowing in the golden light of the afternoon. Memories of the past came back when I saw Guajillo Peppers drying in the air. My grandparents used to dry the same peppers and they weren’t Mexican. I guess drying earth summer bounty was a way to ensure good food for the winter as well. I find a common denominator in various cultures and drying or canning food for the winter is one.

I am observing the Adobe style and how I can reproduce some details in a different climate and environment. Colors here are warm, mostly ochre, sandy, green and turquoise, while brown dominates. Here, the light is different from the area I live, we are at 5000 ft of altitude, the air is thinner, the golden glow in the air is enveloping, it adds to the quiet and slow life. I feel the vibrations of this spiritual land.

The lintel beam over the iron gate is very appealing to me as a rustic garden feature, especially when the opening leads to another glowing garden vignette with colorful flowers. This is the rectory’s courtyard of San Felipe de Neri Historic Church built in 1793 in the Old Town Albuquerque.

Yellow fits in the brown like two peas in the pot.

I sat here between flower beds for half hour and saw the world going by. I can feel the earth’s vibrations in this old town. In that glowing atmosphere of a warm afternoon, I actually learned from my silence and the quiet around me. Every moment counts, live it in colors!

I returned home in the glowing afternoon, accomplished, full of ideas and happy.

Ciao.
Valentina
https://valentinaexpressions.com/trips-to-puglia-2/

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian interior designer in business since 1990. She is passionate about colors and all expressive arts. She is a “colorist”. To her, selecting art means to bring out the best energy of her clients and nourish their soul. She trots the world and loves writing travel notes, from which she draws inspiration to design her interiors. She is the author of her book on the subject of colors: ©Red-A Voyage Into Colors available on

Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Windows | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

01 Oct 2017 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #1930PublicWorkArtProject, #CoitTower, #CoitTowerMurals, #GreatDepressionArt, #SanFranciscoArt, #TravelSanFrancisco, #WordPressPhotoChallengeWindows

They say you should never lose your child curiosity. I never have lost mine. I came to San Francisco many moons ago and still feel I am a tourist in my life. The city to me is a great opportunity for learning, never lose the chance to visit buildings which contain arts and culture. The restaurant scene is my second interest, of course, learning about food of various cultures is very interesting, it’s always a good subject to talk about at dinner parties.

Walking up to Coit Tower is an enterprise, the Greenwich stairs on Telegraph Hill are steep and intimidated, but I like the challenge and always go up that way. Most people drive to Coit Tower, only to find out, parking up there is limited and waiting time, to take someone’s spot, is about 45 minutes. On the long climb up the stairs, I can admire the gardens and residents’ houses made of redwood, the only one that survived the earthquake of 1906. In their windows is easy to see parrots, of which at times, I hear their voices. If I turn around while climbing, it is like looking in the window of San Francisco bay, framed with trees and foliage, breathtaking!

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Inside Coit Tower, the murals are a window in the history of America life during the Great Depression era of 1930s, a very difficult time for Americans, who lived the roaring ’20s and then suddenly knew poverty, as the economy stood still for about 5-6 years. Those who have lived the Great Depression, lived the rest of their lives saving and conserving anything they could.

(California agriculture – vignette by Maxine Albro’s)

(Police calling for an emergency vignette)

The murals were part of the city’s Public Work Art Project. Various students collaborated in the projects, inspired by painter Diego Rivera’s style. The murals depict the struggles of working class Americans. Through various vignettes we can see in the windows of chemical and steel mills working day, scenes in the cannery work, news gathering, packaging line, striking miners, women washing clothes and men panning for gold in the river, farming and wine making. In the window of city life, we can see a splash of everyday life, fashion of the era, a traffic accident, an armed robbery and a policeman calling for an emergency.

(Mural of the Library by Bernard Zakheim was one of the most controversial)

(Traffic accident and arm robbery – City Life mural by Victor Mikhail Arnautoff)

(Washing clothes at the river and gold diggers vignette by John Langley Howard)

(Chemists vignette)

(Industries of California – mural by Ralph Stackpole)

(Wine shop vignette)

The murals created around a real window, make American life of the era very real.
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page”― Augustine of Hippo

Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinaexpressions.com/trips-to-puglia-2/

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian interior designer in business since 1990. She is passionate about colors and all expressive arts. She is a “colorist”. To her, selecting art means to bring out the best energy of her clients and nourish their soul. She trots the world and loves to write travel notes, from which she draws inspiration to design home interiors of her clients .
She is the author of her book on the subject of colors: ©Red-A Voyage Into Colors available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Structure | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

06 Sep 2017 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ArchitecturalStructure, #BarcelonaArchitecture, #CityStructure, #StructuredFlowerArrangements, #WordPressPhotoChallengeStructure

During my travels, I carry a note pad to write about anything that strikes my fancy and that is different from things I see every day in the places I live normally. Most of the time, when I visit foreign countries, I walk around with my head turned up to discover things above me. I take notes of building structures and architecture details. I note people face, gestures and the way they dress. I am interested in learning how foreign cultures structure vegetation and arrange flowers, then upon my return to my base, I am able to offer a new knowledge to my clients.
In America, city vegetation is tightly structured together in an array of colors and shapes composition, so very different from the arrangements of European countries.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

I remember in Japan, flower arrangements outside shops, are made only of one color composition, very subtle and structured into cascading effect.

In Barcelona, Spain, I noticed something new. In most city intersections, buildings are squared off or rounded off, in such a way that the intersections look friendlier, more open and inviting, instead of the typical 90º angle buildings all looking at the center of the intersection.

Corner balconies in those squared off buildings are beautifully structured and decorated to add interesting architectural details, visible in all sides of the intersection.

Fountains in European cities, set in the middle of the piazza, had two utilitarian functions in the past. Usually, women went to the fountain to fill up their buckets with clean running water, walked back to their home, used that water in cooking and bathing. Next day they repeated the chore. The second function was to provide cool drinking water to people strolling in the piazza at leisure.

That water is still amazingly cool and so much-needed under the scorching Summer heat, when nothing works but water. Street fountains in Europe are charming, some are historical, many are anonymous, yet, everybody knows them and some have witnessed many love stories.
It’s common to say: “Meet me at that fountain….in Piazza……” they are still structured as a point of social gathering.

“The world is a book, and those who don’t travel only read one page.” ― Augustine of Hippo.
What is your quirk when you travel? Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian interior designer in business since 1990. She is passionate about colors and all expressive arts. She is a “colorist”. To her, selecting art means to bring out the best energy of her clients and nourish their soul. She trots the world and loves to write travel notes, from which she draws inspiration to design home interiors of her clients .
She is the author of her book on the subject of colors: ©Red-A Voyage Into Colors available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Elemental | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

15 Aug 2017 4 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #Elemental, #https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/elemental, #NatureElemental, #WordPressPhotoChallengeElemental

Northern California skies are hardly an interesting elemental nature, they are always flat blue, rarely have any clouds, it doesn’t rain for years, in fact we suffer severe drought, nature is mostly yellow-brown even though colorful flowers embroider it. Palm trees and odorous eucalyptus compete with the blue skies.
I love California weather, it is always Spring-like, windy and mild, the perfect weather for work days and now, I am spoiled.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

It isn’t all perfect, however. There isn’t much change of seasons. We wear the same clothes all year around and often I see people in short pants in the middle of December and January, when the temperature goes down a little. They look awkward and confused in their perception that, here, in California is always summer.

On the other hand, summer is a real surprise for tourists. They expect to find a summer warmth, instead July and August cold and grayness greet them. As Mark Twain said: “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco”. Blue skies, sunny days and palms are deceiving when summer temperature ranges around mid 50 to low 60 F.

The land is rugged, ideal element for hiking and discovering driftwood sculptures.

The fog is the characteristic elemental nature of this area. People seem to think fog is magic and mystical. In the early afternoon, it rolls in like a huge cotton ball, even thought it might be still sunny.

Although, I am used to this mild weather, I must say, not having a change of seasons and having the same weather elements just about all year around it is a bit boring to me, thus I tend to distort or manipulate the nature I see, with my vision of colors and textures.

At time, a regular pine tree, might seem to grow under a vanilla sky.

Other times a path might look like a fall path, when in reality it isn’t.

And other times, camelias take electrifying colors of its own.

If something doesn’t excite you, free your fantasy and find ways to see it differently. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

August Textures | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

07 Aug 2017 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #foodie, #GardenFood, #HomeMadeBread, #HomeMadeFood, #OrganicGarden, #OrganicOrchard, #WordPressPhotoChallengeTextures, #ZenGarden

My Zen garden is such a paradise on earth! In the morning, I salute the sun there, have breakfast, I read a book in my private corner, sometimes I like to stay still, watching the birds chasing each other and all the textures I created. During the week, I hang laundry to dry in the sun, the old fashion way. That’s right, I don’t own a dryer, never wanted one. Call me old fashion, some people call me a Martian in fact, but my way is simpler, saves electricity, saves the environment, the clothes smell like nature and not like chemicals, but then I can enjoy the textures in the wind hung laundry creates.

I am in love with my garden and not only because I designed it to transcend the ordinary look of a traditional garden. I made it mystical and playful for an intimate union of my soul and Mother Earth. (Click on each photo to view it larger).

My Zen garden it’s a working garden as well, it keeps me healthy with a great production of fruit and vegetables. The oranges abound most of the year, when the orange trees stop producing, the apricots come out and then apples. These fruits produce many textures for my table, from tarts, pies, muffins, ice-cream, vinegars and marmalades. The rest I can create with fruit and vegetables is all still in my fantasy.

Of course, it takes two to tango, the garden alone wouldn’t produce anything if I didn’t put any work into it. And what a work it is….!

In the month of August, the garden gives me a lot to do. Zucchini plants blossom with beautiful yellow flowers so big and open that the only thing I want to do is to stuff them with various ingredients every time. I make them ready for the winter, cook and pack them for the freezer.

I stuffed the zucchini flowers in the photo below with brown rice, gorgonzola cheese, arugula, olives, onion, ginger and Parmigiano cheese. Filling is low in calories, texture and taste are delicate. They bring freshness to the table and are perfect for a warm day.

With the potatoes I grow, I made potato bread, super delicious with a rough texture outside and soft inside. It’s ideal to eat it as soon as it comes out of the oven.

This blue plant was once a red cabbage forgotten in the veggie drawer of my refrigerator, when I noticed it was growing in the bag, I planted it in a pot and now I have a beautiful ornamental blue plant with great textures and shades of blue purple.

Ultimately the textures of my august garden, satisfy my subconscious body, my emotions, my physical body and give me the pleasure of the table in every season. 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. 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”. Get your copy of Valentina’s books on
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