#ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity | Valentina Expressions

I goofed! | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

05 Aug 2013 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #FruitJuices, #HomeMadeJuices, #ItalianFood, #MediterraneanDiet, #SinsOfAQueen, #VeggieJuices

Am I an expert in cooking? Perhaps. Simply I like to say that I love to cook, cook well and I have done it for decades, but I have not come to perfection yet. I don’t have a sweet tooth for instance and sweets don’t come as good as I would like. The other thing I don’t do well is lifeless food, meaning diet food.
This past weekend I played around with juices. I produced very good fruit juices with fruit from the trees in my garden mixed with store-bought fruit and I did spectacular things. In fact I make colorful juices every weekend for my mornings delight.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Yesterday, I wanted to try a new thing: vegetable juices and I goofed. I used too much of purple and dark green vegetables with the result of a non appetizing and very dark juice. The taste is OK, very earthy and healthy, but my eyes can’t bear to look at something this dark. “We eat with our eyes first” I know is a cliché, but it’s really true.

I used the following ingredients, all in the raw state:
½ red cabbage
½ bunch of celery stalks
4 radishes
2 avocados
2 bunches of broccoli
1 bunch of collard
6 carrots
salt to taste

I would have liked to obtain a colorful veggie juice and I should have used more of red, yellow, orange veggies than green or purple veggies.

Cooking is like painting, it’s all about balancing flavors, aromas and colors.
The difference is that a bad painting rarely can be remade into a new image. This time I goofed and made a bad painting with my veggie juice, but it is recyclable into a new food. I will use a few spoons into minestrone, beans soups and chicken broth. It will be delicious and so healthy. Nothing in my kitchen goes to waste. 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. Get your copy of Valentina’s books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Guest Blog: Cooking Is A Form Of Love | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

28 Jun 2013 2 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #ItalianCulture, #kitchenDesign, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #WallDecals, #WallLettering, #WiseDecorWallDecals, http://www.wisedecor.com/blog/cocooning-in-the-kitchen

A couple of months ago Wisedecor.com contacted me to contribute to each others blog with articles on home subjects. They specialize in personalizing home décor with favorite wall letters, words, quotes & decals to apply in any room with any style. WiseDecor Decorative Lettering offers a fresh and inexpensive way to decorate.

(Photo: ©Valentina Interiors & Designs)

Last week my article Cocooning In The Kitchen was published on their site:
“Do you remember the film Moonstruck with Cher? Many scenes in that film take place in the kitchen. Loretta Castorini (Cher) comes home after Johnny Camereri proposed marriage to her in an Italian restaurant. Her father Cosmo is listening to Opera on the radio in the living room. Loretta wants to announce she is getting married to Johnny Camereri and invites her father to the kitchen for a glass of Italian Spumante. A serious matter is always discussed in the hearth of the house, around the kitchen table! (…).
(…) In most families the kitchen means harmony, it is the cocoon where we find the answers to the majority of our questions in life and where everyday we go back to relax around food.
Today’s kitchens have returned to be the same multi-functional great rooms of the Middle Age, where cooking, entertainment, receiving guests, sleeping and resolving issues happened all through the day. (…)”
Continue reading my article on http://www.wisedecor.com/blog/cocooning-in-the-kitchen

*********

Today, I am sharing their thoughts on how Cooking Is A Form Of Love and this is the article written by: http://www.wisedecor.com

“The kitchen is the heart of the Italian house. Whereas formal guests are welcomed in the living room and presented with coffees and pastry for relaxed catching-up sessions, members of the family would rather meet around the kitchen table. Meals are scheduled to accommodate different timetables and daily routines and to ensure that everybody can enjoy food together. There is something special about eating with the other members of your family. It is far more than simply feeding and sustaining your body; it is an act of love. As Italians would say, “cucinare è una forma d’amore” (cooking is love made visible), and to share food is the best way to display that love. On one hand, the person in charge of cooking will prepare tasty dishes as a way to tell how much she/he cares for the other family members. On the other hand, those eating will reciprocate that love by eating up what’s on the plate and asking detailed questions about ingredients, origins of the recipe, and difficulties encountered in the preparation. Quite often, the story of how a meal was prepared will initiate other stories about how the recipe was discovered and in which circumstances. As a result, conversations about a specific food will often lead to the narrating of stories about people, places, and occasions that somehow relate to the dish in question. It is fair to say that every recipe carries a story that the cook will happily share to entertain and please her/his loved ones or guests.

Interestingly, keys, wallets and purses will be left in the kitchen, as it is the “safe” of the house – someone will always be there on guard. More importantly, this is the last place you visit before leaving the house to double-check that you have all the necessary items before exiting the house.

It is fairly common to hear Italians talking about food; they exchange recipes, rate restaurants they have been to, and discuss how to improve dishes they have already made. It is fascinating to realize how, whenever in the company of Italian people living abroad or travelling outside of Italy, they always end up talking about food. And yet, this is not due to a lack of other possible topics for conversation, rather it is the concrete expression of the degree to which their upbringing has molded their ways of approaching people and establish relationships. Talking about food is often an icebreaker and also a way to strengthen emotional bonds. This is why there is nothing more accurate than the saying, “it is around the table that friends understand best the warmth of being together” (See the Italian translation for this designed by WiseDecor Wall Decals in Figure 3).

Meals will never be quick and rushed; rather they will extend for hours while several plates are introduced and more bottles of wine opened. Every conversation will start with an assessment of the food presented followed by compliments to the cook and requests to exchange cooking tips. Many other stories will originate from the initial food conversation and plans for new dinners will be made to taste and share new recipes. The length of dinner parties is impressive and the amount of time spent around the kitchen table eating often surprises non-Italians. In fact, it is important to understand that in Italy, to eat is not always directly related to being hungry. Rather, Italians think that “appetite comes with eating”! It is not surprising then to be forced-fed by the cook who will always argue that it is indeed by eating that you will eventually realise how hungry you are. Buon Appetito!”

Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens, cooking and extensive knowledge of food. She operates in the USA and Europe. She loves to remodel homes and loves to turn unattractive spaces into castles, but especially loves to design kitchens and wine grottos, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms and entertainment rooms. Copies of her three books are available on

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

Sweet Power Of An Onion | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

21 May 2013 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #BrickOven, #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #CookingWithOnions, #MediterraneanDiet, #PugliaFood, #RoastedOnionSalad

I had a taste for grilled onions last Sunday. I was harvesting the produce in my small orchard, I thought it would be perfect to grill some of them while the pizza was cooking in the wood-burning brick oven in my garden. Grilled onions made into a salad sounded perfect, light and powerful for the sunny weather. (Click on each photo to view it larger).

(I built this brick oven in a very simple style, but it makes the greatest pizza and bread)

Onion is considered the truffle of the poor, it is a good antibiotic, a natural diuretic, a natural warm up as it produces warmth in the body and contains as many medicinal substances as a whole apothecary could have. It helps against cardiovascular diseases and we all like food believed to be aphrodisiac. Onion and white wine make a perfect potion of positive effect against cold, fever and cough.

Onions fed the builders of the Pyramids, the troops of Alexander the Great and Emperor Nero constantly munched on leeks to clear his throat.

I believe if we take onions away from the kitchen there is no gastronomic art. This was my roasted onion salad last Sunday.

On the stove, I grilled the onions first with only olive oil and marine salt. When grill marks formed on both sides, I covered the serving plate with arugula (from my orchard). On top, I laid circles of roasted onions, round slices of tomatoes from my orchard (we want to keep the same shapes for visual effect), I added a few green olives and a citronette emulsion made of lemons from my orchard, olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme. I said “from my orchard” many times, that’s because I am very proud of being a city girl and know how to grow my own food. To me, it’s about being in control of what I eat.

I cannot make tasty and healthy food any more simple than this.

There was a time when my parents would say “I will leave you on bread and onion!” when my brothers and I did something they didn’t like. With all the good proprieties onions carry, it would have been a nice punishment, but somehow it did not sound so good then.

I am here and always available for consultations if you need to build a brick oven, a kitchen spice garden, or an outdoor kitchen. 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 dedicated to super healthy food, easy to make and wrote one book on color theory. Get your copy of Valentina’s books on

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

Where Is Your Fire? | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

10 May 2013 4 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #FocusBBQ, #GardenDesign, #ItalianBBQ, #ItalianCeramicBBQ, #ItalianCeramics, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #SinsOfAQueen, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

Small spaces are challenging, but I never see them as a problem. With a little research work for the right item that matches the measurements of a restrictive area, everything is possible and often one can fit the cutest item in any small space.

Focus, a French company, came up with “Sigmafocus” an elegant wall-mounted BBQ that looks more like a hat hanging on the wall. Made of steel, it opens from the wall and the generous fire bowl comes down at your height ready for BBQing any food. The plate on the wall protects the wall from the smoke. It is perfect for garden or balconies and even for apartment living. The same company produces “Diagofocus”, a beautifully designed cylinder and stylish space-saver BBQ.

(Photos: Sigmafocus)

Do you live in an apartment? This next solution is a dream. The balcony BBQ mounts on the rail of the balcony as if it was a planter, except that you can cook your favorite vegetables and meats. Check with your landlord, as many apartment managements do not allow any type of BBQ. Price 59.00 Euro, find it here http://www.connox.com/categories/outdoor/barbecue/bbq-bruce-balkonygrill.html

(Photo above: cdn.shopify.com)

Italians do the Italian things. Hand-painted colorful ceramic BBQ are highly decorative and can be placed anywhere in the garden or patio. Even when not in use for grilling, the grill area can turn into a small counter by covering it with a flat plate, then a wine bottle and glasses can rest on it.
Find it at https://www.facebook.com/romeo.cuomo
There is poetry in something this beautiful !!!

In Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from Zeus to give it to the mortals…. Slow food taste so good. Is your fire ready?
If you are looking for something special, I am here to help, just ask. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens, cooking and extensive knowledge of food. She designs for USA and Europe’s markets. She loves to remodel homes and gardens. With her many years of experience she is able to cover a wide range of design solutions. She offers design consultations on-line and anywhere in the world through Skype line. Valentina is the author of three books all available on Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Flavor Of Colors | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

18 Apr 2013 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #EatingHealthy, #HealthyBenefitsOfPeppers, #ItalianRecipes, #PepperCompote, #PreservedFood, #SinsOfAQueen

Kitchens to me are the quintessential expressions of colors because we can paint the walls with colors of the food to feel the vibrations of health and we can eat in the rainbow, as often I define my gamma of food.
Yes, colors have feelings, expressions and flavors. Once I taught kids a class on “Colors The Simple Way” and asked them to paint the flavor of their favorite color. Even though I didn’t require painting food, I wasn’t surprised to see the different interpretations each kid came up, as they all thought of flavors of food from their countries. (…) The flavors of colors might be different to people in different parts of the world, whether they satisfy a physical need or submit to a cultural requirement. (…) as it reads in my book RED-A Voyage Into Colors.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Ever since I moved to California, I have had the opportunity to grow food in my garden. I opted to plant an orchard instead of temperamental plants. In Europe space is limited and I had never grown food in my life. However, good food, grown and prepared the natural way was my family concept of daily nutrition, just as in any Italian family.
The knowledge of natural food in Italian homes exceeds any nutritional book. Junk food, munching on candies and salty processed food just doesn’t exist in our homes and we have no interest in GMO food, so far from our concept!

Everything changed when I moved to California and a great problem faced me. Food corporations want to corrupt our health by selling corrupted food. I managed to stay very healthy all my life and I intend to continue staying that way. I am not going to be subject to the abuse of corporate food. What did I do? I boycotted all the corporate super markets, I shop at local producers, small food stores and the rest I grow it myself. I had to learn quickly how to grow food and how to become a “urban farmer”.
I am not interested in going out to eat either, unless I know where the restaurant food comes from. Tough luck for them, but in my house, food is natural, the taste is excellent, its color is flavorful and my friends forget to live because my food is so good. Often, I wonder if they come for my food or me!!!

Here it is something you can make and keep in the refrigerator. Give yourself the flavor of Vitamin C, any time you eat.

Dry Peppers Compote
From the Internet, I bought Italian grown seeds of:
Italian Roasters
Italian and Greek Peperoncini
Cherry Peppers
Chichen Itza (this specialty pepper takes the name from a large pre-Columbian city built by the Maya civilization)

Preparation:
First with needle and cotton thread sew each pepper on the top part until a necklace is formed (see first photo above). Tight the two ends together, hang it in a full sun area to dry for a week, or longer if there is humidity in the air. Bring it in a dry place at night.

After one week, cut open each pepper, discard the seeds, chop in very small pieces, add salt and leave them to dry on a cloth and in the sun again for 2-3 days, until the salt has drawn all the humidity from the peppers. Bring it in at night.

Prepare the condiment:
Chop garlic and Italian parsley both very fine, add capers, and season to taste, no black pepper, some of the peppers might be hot. Mix the condiment with the dry peppers. Fill up a glass jar (no plastic container please) with the compote, cover with extra-virgin olive oil to the top of the jar, close and store it in the refrigerator for a week. Let the flavors marrying before you polished it completely.

How to use the compote:
Put it in sandwiches, eat it as a salsa, spread it over grilled fish or meat, enrich a green salad, or simply eat it with freshly baked crusty bread.

Last year my compote lasted three days, I didn’t even have the chance to take a single picture, but in between all those jars you see in the photo below of my home-grown and home-made food, there is one compote in there too.

Do not hesitate to ask, if you need some information. 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. Often people describe her as “the colorist” for a reason. She lives in a colorful world, wrote a book on colors RED-A Voyage Into Colors and loves to color her clients’ environments by creating the unusual. Her deep interest in food led her as an autodidact in the studies of food in history, natural remedies, nutrition and well-being, then finally she wrote two books on Italian regional cuisine. Find Valentina’s three books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Lunchtime | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

16 Mar 2013 17 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #FriedOlives, #ItalianFood, #ItalianKitchen, #SinsOfAQueen, #TheArtOfDining, Lunchtime

Today I am following the photo challenge: Lunchtime by Michelle.

Colors in the kitchen do not stop at walls, counters and cabinets. Designing and preparing meals with a good company is a creative process to stimulate feelings. Colors contain the ingredients, which give out taste. Choosing and combining colors in food is as important as selecting ingredients to make delicious morsels. We can characterize food in a color wheel and make that the palette for our daily nutrition. Nature has created the beautiful seven colors rainbow as an optical and meteorological phenomenon, to which we refer when we talk about color selection. We can refer to the same rainbow colors when we select food, except that eating food in colors is not an optical illusion, is a real solution to a healthy life. To this, add healthy laughs, family and real friends and voila’ you have created the solution of a good life.

Crostata Verdure

Gateau patate al verde

Zucchini Fritters

Cauliflower muffins

Fried olives and barley

I am featuring here five colorful dishes from my books on Italian regional cuisine Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

Roasted Vegetables Tarte
Potatoes Gâteau Al Verde
Zucchini Fritters
Cauliflower Muffins (savory)
Fried Olive with Barley

I want to point out one dish in particular: Fried Olive with Barley. The recipe doesn’t even call for barley, I added it because the black Calphalon background of the skillet would have not shown the black olives, but after I tasted it, I say it’s the perfect healthy lunch.

Preparation:
Boil the barley in salted water for 25 minutes. Barley takes longer than pasta to cook and it tastes always “al dente”. Set aside when done.
In a skillet with one tablespoon of olive oil, sauté black olives until they look crinkled. Add some chili peppers if you like it hot and 1 or 2 chopped tomatoes.
Continue to sauté briefly, add cooked barley, sprinkle chopped Italian parsley and a swirl of olive oil.

This specialty is typical of Puglia, a region in the South Italy, filling and healthy, so simple it is almost a non-recipe. I hope you will try it. 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”. Check out her books on

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

The Red On The Cheeks Comes From The Mouth | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

29 Nov 2012 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #CookingInItaly, #CulinaryTrips, #ItalianCulture, #ItalianFood, #ItalianTableCustom

One of my friends has just returned from a month of vacation in Italy. She spent two weeks of her vacation in a kitchen of an agritourism to get some hands-on training on typical Italian cuisine. She is a personal chef and owns a catering company. Our catching up conversation was mostly centered on Italian food and table customs. She could not help but noticing the difference and making a comparison between her American eating customs and the Italian eating style. She noticed how properly people conducted themselves while sitting at the table and how she never spotted an Italian local person eating in the street while walking, an activity only foreigners and tourists engaged in.

At the restaurants and in the place where she was cooking for a few days, she went along with the flow of dinner and how her hosting friends conceived it. They ordered many dishes from antipasto to pasta, meats, and vegetables to fruit, cheeses and dessert. The dishes arrived at the table not in serving platters for sharing, as often is done in the States, but in single plates, each person got his/her portion of everything ordered.

One time they ordered grilled fish and she did not expect to see the deboning process at the table, right before her eyes. That is a common practice in any respectable Italian restaurant.

Photo waiter deboning fish at the table from TripAdvisor

There was a considerable time space between each specialty, she told me. At first she was puzzled to why it took so long to finish the entire dinner and even longer to get the check, people lingered at the table, talking with espresso coffee and digestive drinks, but by observing how Italians carried on conversation and relaxed with wines and company, she understood right away that she was in the land of “Dolce Vita” where eating is an art and nothing else is important while sitting at a dining table.

At some tables where business people gathered for lunch, talking about business, my friend observed, did not take place until after all the ordering of food and wines was completed and after people took interest in each other’s life, news of their families and the general happenings. Then during the second half of the dinner, business talk started.

She was all so surprised to see the freshness of food and its vibrant colors in both raw and cooked state. Fish was colorful and smelled like the sea, she said. Of course, she knows that in America supermarkets do not sell the entire fish stock in one day, thus the next day the store will re-propose old fish to the customers marinated in herbs or in some kind of dry rub. In Italy, nobody would buy the re-adaptation of fish. If I want fish, I go directly to the fishmongers. I am fortunate to live in a coastal place, where it is possible to go directly to the source.

My friend asked me why in Italy people don’t suffer gluten problems as people in the States do. You would think that with the large amount of pasta, rice, pizza and bread consumed in Italy, everyone would have gluten intolerance. Well, the answer is simple and crude: Italian food manufacturers do not stuff food with hormones, vitamins, sugar, sodium, MSG and other absurd chemicals. Read the labels of any American food and you will see that the majority of ingredients are unpronounceable chemicals and of real food, there is only a faint percentage. In Italy egg yolks are orange, chickens are yellow and don’t eat corn; pigs are not fed with hormones but acorns, which makes our famous prosciutto (ham) so perfectly balanced; gelato is made with real milk and fruit; bread only contains flour, water, yeast, and olive oil; vegetables are not sprayed with chemicals and fruit arrive at the supermarket with the dirt they grew in, not polished with wax. To this add the Italian lifestyle. Italian people walk to stores, to work, to schools and most of the places they must reach every day. In fact, my friend the chef, after all the commercial cooking she did for her own experience and the eating she did for her own enjoyment with daily wine tasting, lost 14 lb in one month and she could not explain how it happened.

As I say during my books’ presentations: “The red on the cheeks comes from the mouth”. Eating real food daily will help release extra pounds and stabilize the weight. Most importantly, real food will introduce positive energy in the stomach, which in turn will exude from your skin pores and that is good enough to keep away for your system any food intolerance ever invented by the human mind. Ciao,
Valentina

http://www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer with a passion for kitchens and cooking. She especially loves to design all those rooms with a “make me feel good” tag attached, such as kitchens and wine grottos, outdoor kitchens and outdoor rooms, great rooms, and entertainment rooms. She is a public speaker and a mentor. She is also the author of two Italian regional cuisine books and a book on colors, all available here in this site on the Books page and on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Transformation Of A Flower | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

24 Aug 2012 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #CookingWithZucchini, #italianCooking, #StuffedZucchiniFlowers, #ValentinaCirasolaAuthor, #ZucchiniRecipes

The more I read about all secret ingredients hiding in food and less I want to get closer to supermarkets. Becoming an urban gardener for me has been more a choice for keeping my good health than a result of having a large yard to turn into something beautiful. I could have added a swimming pool, designed a patio with flowers in pots, or I could have cemented it all to have a clean space for BBQ, outdoor cabana bar, umbrellas and lounge chairs. Instead I opted to work the land, make it fertile, get closer to Mother Earth, which in turn will gift me with a bounty of natural food and a lot of piece in my heart.

During the summer months I harvest zucchini flowers every day, they grow on top of the zucchini stems from which the zucchini will form, but to make zucchini grow healthier it is better to pick the flowers. Early morning is the best time to pick them, as they are wide open and in full beauty; they will stay open for about three days if kept in the refrigerator. Their size is huge, at time I have flowers as wide as 8-9 inches and 7-8 inches tall; they lend themselves well to get stuffed.

In Europe, zucchini flowers are a delicacy and sell at the open market for a high price. We use them in our food raw or we stuff them with anything we fancy and then we either bake or eat them stuffed and raw. All the ingredients forming the stuffing need a binder, such as rice, potatoes, or eggs; you can choose to stuff them with meat, fish, tuna, vegetables, or cheese, all finely chopped.

I stuffed the flowers in my photo with the Amaryllis in the background with white rice, tuna, olives, capers, onions, ginger and spinach. I stuffed the flowers in the photo with the green leaf plate with brown rice, ground meat (I buy a piece of beef, pork, or lamb and ground it myself, this way I don’t get the nasty pink slime added to the meat), chicory, cheese and garlic. Other types of stuffing to consider are cheese and eggs, or all vegetables with couscous, grains, or quinoa.

I find it is better to sauté the ingredients to allow them to become softer, malleable and easier to handle for the stuffing process, especially if you decide to use fresh meat or fresh fish.

Lightly butter a baking pan, align each stuffed flower tight (tops facing each other), lightly drizzle olive oil all over, sprinkle Parmigiano cheese, or any cheese for grating, add breadcrumbs and bake at 400° F. for about 45-50 minutes. The tops will be crispy, golden and the inside soft and delicious. If you like to freeze stuffed flowers to keep them for the winter like I do, wait they cool down, then box them up and put a label on the lid describing what’s in it. Three months from now, or when you decide to eat them, you will not remember what kind of stuffing is in the flowers.

It will take some time to stuff flowers, they are delicate, you can’t rush this process, therefore plan a good hour of your day to create this masterpiece. In my day there is always space for cooking and caring for myself. Find the recipe in full details in my book:
©Come Mia Nonna – A Return To Simplicity, on Amazon: http://goo.gl/T0eL36
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.
Author of two regional Italian cuisine books available on this site on the Books page and on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Where Did Thursday Go? | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

18 Aug 2012 16 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #GratitudeDay, #ReaderAppreciationAward, #SinsOfAQueen, #ValentinaCirasolaDesigner

Where did one day of my week go? I seem to have lost a Thursday. Did this ever happen to you? Yesterday, Friday, I was doing things I had scheduled to do Thursday, but towards to end of my workday, I realized it was already Friday.

I looked around in my studio, all the pretty pictures, décor, fabrics and props I use for my work and I realized that all of this is always here, they don’t move around like I do, they don’t get exhausted like I do, at times they hear some non-sense and they observe me silently, yet days revolve without even noticing them and the busyness of my every day grinding work puts me almost in a state of hypnotism. I was told that time in space doesn’t exist, so why should it exist in my timetable? Why am I in disbelief when often I lose one day in the week? Or why is it important to do something on Thursday or Friday, for example?

I worked very hard this week, I was able to achieve more or less what I wanted, Friday arrived upon my shoulder and didn’t even make any plans for the evening. Is this really bad, or unbearable? I don’t think so. There must be a reason why I lost one day. Perhaps something is telling me to slow down this train, which runs faster than the speed of light, to breath and to be thankful for everything I create and for the people supporting me. I want to thank Jamie from http://grandmothermusings.com/ for nominating me for the “Reader Appreciation Award”. I am late in thanking you Jamie, nonetheless I am very honored and humbly accept it.

Rules of this award are:
* Post seven interesting things about yourself.
• Nominate 5 people (I am bending the rule a bit) who in turn will post on their page the award with the link to the giver.
• Let them know about the nomination.

7 Things You Might Find Interesting About Home Designs Master

1. I was made to be on stage and I didn’t know it until a few years ago, when a business coach told me I am a show person and I should use this strong feature of my character as my business strength.
2. I dream of having a home made of brick façade with a theatre stage inside, where I can entertain my friends with plays, comedy, or classical music and real actors or singers.
3. I like to have a houseboat on the water and entertain at night under the stars “al fresco”.
4. I like to cook and eat preferably with people. My motto is “Never eat alone when doing business”.
5. I like political thriller films and any thrillers, but not horrors. My favourite are Hitchcock and Agatha Christy films.
6. I know a ton of people, but I only choose a few to be my friends and they are all good.
7. Here we go again, I lost something in the 7th position.

My nominations are for:
1. http://ancientfoods.wordpress.com/ – Joanna writes about the interesting history and roots of our food.
2. http://imeldaevans.wordpress.com/ – Imelda, is a writer, her blog is Wine, Women & Wordplay.
3. http://beyondthegreendoor.wordpress.com/ – Kenley writes about savoring the Everyday Adventures of Cooking and subjects related to food.
4. http://jakesprinters.wordpress.com/ – Jake at The Sunday Post blog is a photographer and graphic artist. I learn many good things from photographers.
5. http://roamandhome.com/ – Karen writes about her travel and dining experience.

I am so happy to be part of this blogosphere made of so many interesting and colorful people. I learn from your blogs and amuse myself with all of you every day. Yes, I do read you all every day. Thank you all for following my blog, I am very grateful for all your support and comments.
I don’t know who said this: “There are no strangers in this world, only people we have not met yet”. I want to get to know all of you.
Happy Saturday. Ciao.
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola, is the principal designer and owner of Valentina Interiors & Designs. She is a trained designer and has been in business since 1990. She works on consultation and produces drawings for remodeling, upgrading, new home construction, décor restyling and home fashion. “Vogue Italy” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. She is an author and her books are on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

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

An Observation On The Kitchen | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

02 Jun 2012 17 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ComeMiaNonnaReturnToSimplicity, #ItalianEatingHabits, #ItalianKitchen, #ItalianTableCustom, #kitchenDesign, #KitchenStyle, #SpacePlanning

I have been a month in Italy visiting my family and friends and suddenly I noticed something about the kitchen space that should have been very familiar to me, as I had seen it for most of my adult life living in Italy.

Kitchens in Italy are purely functional, no frills, no granite counters, no luxury, only essentials; they are used for cooking only and in some cases to eat in. Casual entertaining happens in the living room, dining with friends or co-workers happens in the dining room and only close friends get invited to sit in the kitchen. Yes, kitchens are the center of the home life as a concept and it is true that most family problems are resolved around the kitchen table and this does happen in Italy too, but Italian kitchens are not conceived as the space in the center of the home. They are located as far as possible from the living quarters enclosed with doors to keep the guests out, or to hide a kitchen not totally made up or clean yet, which by the way, it isn’t a very common scene to find in Italy. Italian kitchens are always spotless, even after an army of family has eaten there. The idea of the kitchen not being in the center of the house is also to keep cooking aromas, odors and vapors away from the rest of the house.

Laundry is often located in the kitchen or near by in the corridor, or on the balcony/terrace where it is easy to just turn around and hang the clothes to dry on the balcony line. It is easier to hang the clothes to dry in the sun and wind, other than being a natural process, as no chemical softener goes into the clothes and saves on electricity. I hang my clothes to dry in the sun even now living in California, where I could have the comfort of all the technology available, but I choose to stay as natural as possible in my house chores.

Taking a closer look at the function of the kitchen in a different country brings me to the observation I had. Due to the location of the kitchen, as I said far from the living quarters and not made in an open floor plan as it is done in America, it is very difficult to snack mindlessly. In Italy when people are finished with their evening meal, they move to a room dedicated to watch T.V., reading, or playing music usually not close to the kitchen.
In America the kitchen is conceived as a great room, where cooking, living, family activities and entertainment share the same space. Slouching down on the sofa to watch T.V. and snack on poor, processed or boxed food is so much easier because kitchen cabinets and refrigerator are looking smack at you and they are in a few steps of reach. Also it is easy to have a late snack before going to bed, just because the kitchen is located conveniently in the middle of the house, something that doesn’t even cross people’s mind in Italy. Once the evening meal is finished, all the eating activities are also completed.

Although I like the open floor plan, I don’t find it particularly warm or private. Often I go into people’s home and I can see a messy kitchen from the entry in plain open view. I must say that when I lived in Italy never paid attention to the functionality, because every kitchen was made with the same simple principal, but now as an interior designer and living in California, I do notice the difference and it would be really hard to propose something different that would bring an entire new concept of living, one of which would be to get rid of snacking, get rid of gracing all day long and late night snack. It might seem strange to hear that the farthest from reach the kitchen is, the easier it is to keep slim. Italian kitchens other than being very modern, also serve that purpose and I like that.
If you need help with planning your kitchen space, please do not hesitate to contact me, I am here to help. 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. Valentina is also the author of two published books on Italian regional cuisine. Her books are available on