#ItalianLifeStyle | Valentina Expressions

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

What Else Can We Grill? | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

13 Jul 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Books Blog Tags: #ChickenPineappleRecipe, #FoodToGrill, #GrilledFood, #ItalianFood, #ItalianLifeStyle, #MediterraneanDiet, #SinsOfAQueen

Summer is so perfect for grilling and outdoor BBQ. Nature is so abundant this time of the year. Besides grilling vegetables, I have experimented with many food combinations mixing savory and sweet, fruit and cheese, meat, and fruit and I must say all the combinations I have tried so far are delicious. I want you to try them too, share your thoughts and your taste with me.

Wikimedia-Author Keith Weller

Grilled Pears – Use either a European Forelle pear, sweet, small, elongated, and green with some red spot or the American Bartlett, round, yellow and sweet.
Slice the pears, season with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Grill until there are some nice grill marks.
Slice a French baguette, place a smooth, creamy blue cheese, gorgonzola, or brie on each bread slice and then place a slice of grilled pear on top.
Arrange them in a baking sheet. Place under the broiler in the oven for a few minutes until the cheese is melted.

Grilled Peaches – Preheat the grill to medium heat and brush the grates with oil.
Wash the peaches, then cut them in half. With a spoon remove the pit from each peach.
Brush the cut side of the peaches with olive oil. Place the peaches on the grill cut side down.
Grill for 3-5 minutes or until the peaches start to soften and show nice grill marks. Serve each peach with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of honey.

(Above original drawing by Valentina Cirasola in the book: ©Sins Of A Queen-Italian Appetizers and Desserts)

Grilled Pineapple with Chicken – Prepare the marinade for the chicken first.
Jalapeño peppers, cilantro or parsley, 3 or 4 garlic cloves, juice of ½ lemon, 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and salt to your taste.
Transfer the marinade to a bowl, place the chicken pieces in and let them marinate for about 30 minutes.
Then either grill the chicken or bake it at 400° F. until golden brown.
While the chicken is cooking, prepare the pineapple.
Peel the outer shell of a pineapple. Cut a pineapple in four halves and then slice it thick. Brush olive oil, season with salt & pepper.
Grill until nice grill marks have formed.
Mix chicken and pineapple together and serve with a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley.

Find some of these recipes and more in my books ©Sins Of A Queen-Italian Appetizers and Desserts.

Enjoy your outdoor cooking, think healthy, save money by cooking vegetables and fruit from your vegetable patch, be in the sun at least one hour a day to absorb its beneficial vitamin D, relax with a glass of red wine and never eat alone. Ciao,
Valentina

www.Valentinadesigns.com

She is a published author of two regional Italian cuisine books available on Amazon and Barnes&Noble

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

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

Are You Getting Your Palm Twisted? | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

01 Apr 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #EasterPalmDesigns, #ItalianCustoms, #ItalianEaster, #italianEasterCustoms, #ItalianHolidays, #ItalianLifeStyle, #PalmLeavesDesigns, #SouthernItalianFood

I love the religious holidays in Italy. It is time to renew our traditions, to bring family together and to teach the youngster what really matters.
(Photo palm weaving found on: http://www.italymagazine.com/news/art-palm-weaving)

About a month before Easter the “palmari” , farmers who are true palm artists start to prepare the leaves of palm trees by choosing the female leaves only, which are the longest and thinnest leaves (how do they recognize them is still a mystery to me). For a few weeks the leaves are left to dry covered with a canvas tarp, then they start twisting them in all shapes possible and they become master pieces of art. They are sold in all shoppes in Italy the week of Palm Sunday to give as a gift and a symbol of peace to friends and family members.

In history palm leaves were considered a symbol of triumph, victory and acclamation of royalties. Today they are the symbol of peace and love.
In some regions of Italy, the faithful take a branch of olive tree with the twisted palm to church to benedict them with holy water, then they place both on the Easter table well overflowing with good food.

Jesus Christ was welcomed to Jerusalem with olive branches, today they are equally used especially in areas where palm trees don’t grow. In northern Europe where even the olive trees don’t grow, this Easter tradition of giving a branch as symbol of peace continues with local leaves and flowers twisted together.

Each year Easter is defined a “low holiday” when it arrives around March and coincides with the pruning of the olive trees, or is defined as a “high holiday” when arrives around April with a warm Spring and when the olive trees might already have new green shoots.

In beautiful Sorrento, South of Italy, on Palm Sunday there is a beautiful show going on in the streets of this quaint town. Women carry in their hands colored confetti made into the shape of branches or small trees and men carry on their shoulders large branches of olive trees with small cheeses called caciocavallo attached to the branch with colored ribbons. The story goes that around 1551 many Saracens ships (Arabs) were coming to invade Sorrento, but the sea started to get agitated and shipwrecked all of them. From then on, Sorrento celebrates its peace and victory with the benediction of confetti and caciocavallo, instead of twisted palm leaves and olive branches as in the rest of Italy.

Decorating the house through the Easter month with palm leaves will bring a sense of peace and a very unusual form of art everybody will admire. The palm leaves made up this way will last for a good three months.
I love to bring original art pieces in my Clients’ homes. I can help you finding them, just leave your name in the box. Ciao,

Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been in business as a designer since 1990.  She has helped a variegated group of fun people realizing their dreams with homes, offices, interiors and exteriors.  She designs architectural landscape as a complement to the residential design concept as a unity. She has been described as the “colorist”.

Valentina is the author of two regional and cultural Italian cook books, available in this site on the Books page and also on these sites:
Come Mia Nonna – A Return To Simplicity – http://outskirtspress.com/ComeMiaNonna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnq8baaAq0M
Sins Of A Queen – Italian Appetizers and Desserts – http://outskirtspress.com/SinsOfAQueen

Italy In Small Bites | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

19 Mar 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #150ItalyAnniversary, #ItalianArchitecture, #ItalianArt, #ItalianCulture, #ItalianFashion, #ItalianLifeStyle

This year is the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy as a Republic, such a small country, such a concentrate of art and history, a country where even a shoe shine is an artist in his own way.
Italian emigrants and their strong patriotism have brought many Italian products around the world, shown them, talked about and place them on the market. They have made the “made in Italy” trade mark something to be proud of. It is a symbol of sophistication, elegance, purity and simple classicism.
Italian style of this century is very modern, very colorful and linear while Italians still enjoy walking around and breathing antiquity. The streets of Italy are very historical, but fashion, interiors and cars are not.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

The architectural style of Tuscan farmhouses have been copied in California by the boat load and turned into a mansions style, but the bucolic Tuscan scenes cannot be reproduced. Tuscan style is not about a large home empty of emotions and atmospheres, but it comprises a whole life style, it means going to market everyday, cook fresh food, neighbors popping by for coffee unannounced, evening dinner with family and friends, taking afternoon naps, cultivate the land and most importantly being surrounded by the warmth of the people occupying the house.

Italians put a lot of passion when it comes to design eating vessels, an old custom that goes back to the Roman Empire. Pleasing the eyes before the palate and pleasing the palate with fresh, uncomplicated, nor manipulated food. It’s like a game of pleasures, one following the other as close as possible.

What to say about the decorative art of tile making for flooring, kitchen backsplash, bathrooms, or entryways? Italians have an incredible ability to create stunning combinations of material old and new that no one else can do, or combinations of colors and patterns within the material no one else can even think about. Ideas don’t just come because Italians are clever, their ideas are imbedded in their blood through years of tradition and history. In my design projects I can sleep soundly when I employ Italian tile setters and stone fabricators, I know that even if I don’t observe their work, it will be done to perfection. Their clinical eye is a safe heaven. (Photo right: Romeo Cuomo, Italian Ceramic Art – Via Pinterest).

Fashion is a strong weapons for Italians. We dress very fashionable every day even to go to the market. We feel an immense pleasure and satisfaction to be admired by others, it highly gratifies our self-esteem and with that comes the elegant, flirtatious behavior in both men and women. Fashion is used in office and home décor, but in these areas our fashion is classic, classic contemporary, classic modern, classic eclectic, that type of classic that will not go out of vogue in a couple of years, just to be clear.

The thrill of driving an Italian sport car, or simply seeing one roaring by at the speed of light is revitalizing. I hope Italy continues to make them, even if it is only for the pleasure of few lucky ones. (Photo Lamborghini Countach -http://www.seriouswheels.com/car-terms.htm)

Food is no exception to the country’s beauty. Anywhere in Italy food is excellent, even in a “hole in the wall”. Eat Italian food to stay fit and young. In foreign countries Italian restaurants are considered the best. Olive oil, prosciutto, Parmigiano cheese, pasta, cheeses and wines are the most exported food out of Italy. All of us expatriates, laborious, hard workers Italian people, entrepreneurial at heart have contributed to the good reputation of our high quality products.

This 150th birthday of Italy’s unification as a Republic comes at a time of world turmoil, shifting of economic power and natural disasters, but Italy is also fighting its own battle with its own government, high unemployment, poor immigrants from every where in the world arriving on the coasts of Italy by the thousand a day, causing an economic stress the country cannot support. The most dangerous battle facing Italy is the counterfeit of its original products which are being sold all over the world in the name of saving the cent.

Italy is a vibrant country, all this concentrate of beauty might be a hand full for someone, just take it in small bites, you will learn to love even the noise in the streets and the fatalism of its people. It is still the most charming country to visit and to return to.

As the professional who is always ready, I shall be prompt and ready to help you with any of your needs, whether it will decorating, designing, or remodeling and if you like Italian architecture and décor in your home, I must be the one you should hire. Leave your name in the box below, I shall answer you in 24 hours time. As a new addition to my business, I offer design consultations on-line through Skype line. Ciao,
Valentina
http://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 is a designer well-known to bring originality to people’s homes. As an Italian designer and true to her origins, she provides only the best workmanship and design solutions. Check her books on:
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Planting Food, Beauty And Relax | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

14 Mar 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #Gardening, #HomeGrownFood, #ItalianFood, #ItalianLifeStyle, #ItalianTableCustom, #SpringPlanting

Yesterday was a beautiful March day, I wanted to take advantage of the sun, the warm day and my good disposition. It was the right time to think of planting seed for new food. In many European countries is still snowing in March and is the same in Italy, but here in California, in the climate zone 7 and 8, March is the perfect month to plant. My family in Italy is getting jealous!

March is the right time to start feeding houseplants again and repot when necessary. Get the soil tested if you are planning to do some serious food and fruit trees planting. This is the month to start seeds indoor, prune trees and shrubs and get all the garden tools ready for your Spring planting. If you have wet soil in the garden, it is better not to walk on it, use stepping-stones. In my garden, I have many rows of them around plants and vegetation, they are decorative and don’t get your feet wet or dirty.

I started with Turbo onions, which is a lovely round onion that stores well and the Red Baron red onion, strong-tasting which produces a heavy crop.
I planted shallots, a more delicate onion, which I use more for fish dishes and some other delicate dishes. I want some asparagus and started some crops indoor, such as aubergines the kind called Diamond, originated in the Ukraine. It crops relatively quickly from a sowing in March.

Started cauliflowers, cabbage and tomatoes. Tomato seeds also do well indoor. I got the gartenperle type, small, cherry size, sweet and tasty, grow in beautiful colors as pink-red, deep ruby-red, pink to rosy red. They are great for containers and even hanging baskets. I make a lot of fast and delicate sauces with them. Tomatoes are always a big surprise, they either come out in overwhelming large quantity, or nothing at all.

In mid March plant some early potatoes if the weather where you are permits it, I will.

I bought a few packets of mixed salad-leaf seeds, can’t do without salad in my garden, it’s so easy to grow and need not much care. Put a few seeds on to the surface of your compost and don’t cover them with a thick layer, they need to breathe.

Towards the end of March when the soil has warmed up, I will want to plant some climbing French beans. I have already prepared the soil and placed cane poles in place. Later I will make two holes at the base of each pole and a couple of seeds per hole. Then, I need to be patient.

Between my food I also plant some beauty. Some begonias, dahlias, dusty miller, geraniums, impatiens, marguerite daisies, marigolds, all annuals to beautify my crop.

While thinking of food crop, I was also thinking of cooking in the garden. I made a very simple outdoor cookery device out of a clay pot and bricks.
No cement or mortar, the bricks are just laid one on top of the other in a circle, the clay pot sits inside of the circle. Inside of the pot more bricks form a flat surface for the wood chips and a grill sits on top of them. Food will be placed on the grill. A clay cover with a whole in the center to allow the steam to escape will keep the food cooking for long time.

This is slow food at its best and I am prepared for relaxing weekends, a good time for writing more books and more blogs, or having some friends over.
I really don’t care what goes into my car, but I really care what I put in my stomach.
Please leave a comment below, I can help you with any of your design challenges, including landscape too. I now offer design consultations on-line and without going outside my office I can create an “outdoor room” for you, or the most beautiful space of your dream. Ask me for details. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola has been in business as a designer since 1990. She has helped a variegated group of fun people realizing their dreams with homes, offices, interiors and exteriors. She designs artistic landscape as a complement to the residential design concept as a unity. Author of three books available on:
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Bizarre Faces of Arcimboldo | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

21 Feb 2011 Leave a comment

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ArcimboldoArt, #ItalianArt, #ItalianDesign, #ItalianFoodPainting, #ItalianLifeStyle, #ItalianTableCustom

Palazzo Reale in Piazza del Duomo #12, in Milan, Italy will host the exhibition of “Arcimboldo” a Renaissance Mannerist artist of the 1500’s. The exhibition will be open from February 9, 2011 until May 22, 2011 and it will feature the fantastic bizarre “Composite Heads” , the whimsical portraits of the Italian artist who composed them of plants, animals, and objects.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo, also spelled his name Arcimboldi and Arcimboldus, nobody knows why, the painter used all the names to sign his works, therefore it is uncertain which version is the correct one, but I think extremely creative people want to hide behind various identities to give themself an enigmatic aura.

Arcimboldo was born in Milan in 1527 and grew up during the High Renaissance. He was born “con la camicia” (with the shirt on, not naked) as we Italians would describe someone born under a lucky star, in fact his father was the painter commissioned to paint the Milan Cathedral. And so his life evolved between one lucky opportunity to another. Giuseppe became a student to the renowned painter Leonardo Da Vinci. In the course of 25 years he became the painter to the royals and due to his ability to design the bizarre was hired by many royal courts as “The” party planner of the sixteenth-century staging the most flashy affairs of Europe’s courts.

Just imagine gilded fountains and rivers of champagne, flocks of colored birds, music, theater, tons of original artwork, sculptures, and much pageantry. As a precursor of his time Arcimboldo invented unique special effects for the royal events. He called one of his invention the “Harpsichord of Color” a gigantic hydro-mechanically powered musical instrument, a sort of modern organ.

His art was considered more a novelty than great paintings. As famous as he was during his artistic life, he was forgotten after his death and rediscovered around the end of the 19th century. The art critics attribute the lack of interest in his style of painting to a generational changes of taste, fashion and manners.

Particularly I adore the four season paintings series.

In the Summer portrait (above) the gentleman’s nose appears to be made of a cucumber. On the man’s coat the artist embedded his name into the collar of the jacket and the date 1573 on the shoulder at the seam of the sleeve.
Arcimboldo dedicated the series called Earth paintings to the elements of nature.

The very famous Man in the Vegetables painting is an inverted illusion. Right-side up, the painting looks like a bowl of fresh produce, invert the picture and it looks like a man’s face with lips of mushrooms.

A lover of food and food depicted in art like myself should not miss this event, but unfortunately I will. For now, I am just content to tell the story, perhaps things will open up in my busy agenda. Never say impossible.
In the meantime, I am here to help you with the selection of your art for any decor. As the professional who is always ready, I shall be prompt and ready to help you with any of your needs, whether it will be decorating, designing, or remodeling. Just leave your name in the box below, I shall answer in 24 hours time. Ciao,
Valentina
www.Valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer working in the USA and Europe since 1990. She colors the world of her clients. She has been described as “the colorist” and loves to create the unusual. Her specialty is to design kitchen, wine cellar, entertainment rooms and bathrooms like spas. Author of three books available on:
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Dinner At 7:00 pm | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

05 Feb 2011 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #ItalianDinnerCustoms, #ItalianEatingHabits, #ItalianFood, #ItalianLifeStyle, #ItalianTableManners

Dusk is coloring the sky with ochre color and tone down shades of red, the evening will be arriving soon, the aroma of food is filling the home, the clink of wine glasses and flatware is making the air festive.

You just get dressed beautifully, take a bottle or two of wine, or dessert as a gift to the host and show up at 7:00 pm at your host’s door. If the invitation comes from an Italian family, be ready to do some serious eating and enjoy the most delicious food always prepared by the host.

In Italian homes the dining table is never decorated in a fussy way with useless objects on it. The table is dressed for food, Italian people entertaining with tasty simplicity, but they get you with food. The menu valorizes quality, variety and simplicity. Appearance of food is an important part of what makes our food so appetizing, especially when the table is filled with food of bright vivid colors. Food is the most important subject in the Italian culture. We get up in the morning and we already talk of what we are going to eat for lunch, or dinner. Shopping for food falls in the daily chores and in between work, family and errands.

We take out our small trolleys to the market and fill it with fish, vegetable, charcuterie, meat, cheese (let’s not forget the cheeses, please) and fresh breads. It seems like a whole lot of food, but it will last for a few days. A few items are bought daily, the majority will serve to make the simplest and most flavorful food.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Let’s go back to dinner at 7:00 pm. When you get invited by an Italian family at 7:00 it always means dinner, not after dinner drink get together, as some people think. In fact a few days ago, some friends of mine were telling me about their disappointment when they invite people of different race in their home for the evening and they come with a full stomach with the answer is “sorry we already ate, we can’t eat anymore”. Imagine how the host feels after cooking all day and really looking forward to sit down with friends to relax. And how about all that food that goes untouched, not good. My suggestions was to specify that the invitation is for dinner and not for goofing around after dark. On the other hand, those people who eat at 5:00 in the afternoon might think that dinner at 7:00 pm is too late and refuse the invitation. Oh well, we can’t please everybody. Italians love to eat dinner with the moon rays, not sun rays.

Dinners in the evening will extend well into the small hours of the night. It starts with an apéritif and hors-d’oeuvres of different kind, wet with prosecco sparkling wine. Conversation, jokes and laughs fill the air until every guest is in. Then the real dinner start, either sitting down or self-service type, in either case, the plates are ceramics and the cutlery are not plastic. This is for the respect of the guests and for the respect of food.
Dinner consists of many different courses from pasta or rice, fish or meat and various vegetables.
Wine, wine and wine is served.

In the winter the fireplace is on making the evening really cozy, in the summer all the windows and doors to the balconies are open to get the fresh breeze in.

Conversation shifting from politics to religion, from gossip to intellectual subjects keeps the night young. Italians love to talk about everything, political correctness is not the center of their world.

The evening dinner ends with a cart filled of cheeses to roll around the guests, more wines to pair with the cheeses variety and later, the same cart will bring the desserts, cookies or pastries. Thank goodness Italian sweets are not that sweet so we can indulge in more than one portion. Conversation continues smoothly with coffee, teas or more wines for people like me who don’t drink coffee at night.

At this point, soft music comes on, some guests will leave and some will remain, but those who will stay will enjoy a very nice glass of Port, Whiskey or Brandy culminating the conversation in something really intellectual, pleasant and interesting.
It’s an honor to eat at someone’s dining table, breaking bread together is an act of sharing love, intimacy and friendship since the beginning of time.

Dinner at 7:00 pm is a serious business for the Italians, don’t go unprepared. Ciao,
Valentina
www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian 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 regional Italian cookbooks available in this site at the Books Page: Come Mia Nonna – A Return To Simplicity.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnq8baaAq0M
Sins Of A Queen – Italian Appetizers and Desserts