Monday, March 3, 2014

L'orto domestico is the word for "kitchen garden"



With Spring creeping into California, I'm already making my list of what seeds need to be bought/started and planted for this year's Spring/Summer garden crop. Although I save my own seeds (semi), I am always looking for heirloom varieties and I really like the selection at Seeds from Italy. I just ordered  "agretto"...a variety I can't wait to try.


I started looking for sweet Calabrese pepper seeds online because I hadn't saved the seeds from a previous year's crop...and if I did save them, I don't remember where I put them (I've had 3 urban gardens in 4 years!).


Eh...va bene...compro i semi quest'anno. I discovered Seeds from Italy in Rosetta Costantino's book My Calabria. Whenever I traveled to Italy, I always brought back seed varieties of the vegetables that I loved eating in Italy, but that were hard to find back home. I remember dashing around Roma on our way to la stazione to catch our train to Lago di Garda, trying to find il fioraio 

 where I had seen a stand of must-have heirloom seeds (semi antichi) and organic seeds (semi biologici) in vendita.



If you have seeds to share from "la patria", please contact me and share them!


orto in canoa
Condividere...to share....I wanted to share the ingenuity of the Italian people and their love of fresh personal produce; this article talks about recycling and planting, a movement, a way of life in an urban environment: Orto in Parco.



And here's something new that I'd like to share, it's an idea from the German culture and something I will try quando arriva la frutta di primavera. Preserving summer fruit for consumption in winter, instead of--or in addition to making jam, make fruit liquor:

Basic Recipe for Rumtopf
The following fills a 2-gallon crock. You can certainly halve or quarter this recipe and use a smaller jar. Select whichever fruits are in season where you live, but note that melons don't work well.
3 cups strawberries, hulled
2 cups each, 8-14 different ripe and unblemished fruits*
9 1/2 - 15 1/2 cups sugar (1 cup for every 2 cups of fruit)
2 liters organic dark rum or brandy, at least 80 proof
*Suggestions: apples (cored and sliced); apricots (pitted and sliced); beach plums (pitted); blackberries; blueberries (pierced); cherries (pitted); currants, red and black (pierced); figs (sliced); gooseberries; nectarines (pitted and sliced); peaches (pitted and sliced); pears (cored and sliced); plums (pitted and sliced); raspberries
See the complete recipe here:  la ricetta completa


orto in tendenza

Furthermore, with a few square meters (pochi metri quadrati) one can establish their own orto familiare (personal family garden). 



And I just want to aggiungere qui that here in my beautiful California landscape, we have the absolute best climate and land for all kinds of farming. I'm planning a trip to Big Sur, CA in the summertime and I'm putting the Esalen Farm & Garden on my itinerary. I will take my Italian friends to fare questa bella esperienza.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Amore! Love! Aprezza l'amore...ti amo, I love you, ti voglio bene.

ideogramma cinese: amore



Hopefully LOVE (amore) is something that is honored and practiced on a daily basis, not just on Valentine's Day. I have long ago shunned the commercialism here in America behind Valentine's Day, February 14, as we know it from the barrage of c-r-a-p in all the stores--you just can't escape it!




I practice LOVE-based behavior on a daily basis asking myself---even when I'm hurt and angry----is this loved-based behavior and will this behavior heal and make things better for me and those around me?
My answer will always be yes...and if it's not...I will correct it to make it so.



fu morto il 14 febbraio 273
vescovo e martire cristiano

The Italians (and most Europeans for that matter) have come to celebrate [St.] Valentine's Day like we do here in America. This LOVE-ly holiday is a great excuse for love-centric Italian vocabulary words and images!

Let's start with San Valentino. He is the patron saint of lovers (patrono degli innamorati) and he was martyred in Rome (Roma) Feb 14, 273 :

So that's how it all started...dying for love!
Now let's get to the good part.

In Italy, the term I LOVE YOU is commonly asserted as:
I WANT THE BEST FOR YOU:  ti voglio bene

but also,

I LOVE YOU:  ti amo












 
Ti voglio bene assai  (I love you so much)

Tesoro  ([my] treasure)
innamorarsi  (reflexive verb: to fall in love)
fidanzarsi  (reflexive verb: to get engaged)sposarsi  (reflexive verb: to marry)
la fede (wedding band/ring)
Amore mio  (my love).... which brings me to Jovanotti's Serenata Rap:






Caro(a) darling and/or dear

ti do il mio cuore (I give you my heart)

sei un angelo (you're an angel)

dammi un bacio (give me a kiss)





abbracciami (hug me)

sempre insieme (together forever)

prendi la mia mano caro (take my hand darling)

resti con me (stay with me)


...and Valentine's Day Italian Style....plucked from a fellow blogger, see Italiansrus.com


Sweets:
cioccolatino(i)  chocolate(s)
biscotti per San Valentino
dolcetti  (sweets)

Monday, February 10, 2014

Comunità Italiana USA: Cucinare è arte

Comunità Italiana USA: Cucinare è arte: Cooking is art! That's what the tab says above and there are centinaia di  people making a living at sharing their passion for Italian ...

Amore...Love...Ti amo...Ti voglio bene...I love you!!!!!

ideogramma cinese: amore



Hopefully LOVE (amore) is something that is honored and practiced on a daily basis, not just on Valentine's Day. I have long ago shunned the commercialism here in America behind Valentine's Day, February 14, as we know it from the barrage of c-r-a-p in all the stores--you just can't escape it!




I practice LOVE-based behavior on a daily basis asking myself---even when I'm hurt and angry----is this loved-based behavior and will this behavior heal and make things better for me and those around me?
My answer will always be yes...and if it's not...I will correct it to make it so.



fu morto il 14 febbraio 273
vescovo e martire cristiano

The Italians (and most Europeans for that matter) have come to celebrate [St.] Valentine's Day like we do here in America. This LOVE-ly holiday is a great excuse for love-centric Italian vocabulary words and images!

Let's start with San Valentino. He is the patron saint of lovers (patrono degli innamorati) and he was martyred in Rome (Roma) Feb 14, 273 :

So that's how it all started...dying for love!
Now let's get to the good part.

In Italy, the term I LOVE YOU is commonly asserted as:
I WANT THE BEST FOR YOU:  ti voglio bene

but also,

I LOVE YOU:  ti amo



Monday, January 20, 2014

"Una bella donna, alla mia età, non è abbastanza!"

Io sono cine-filo! Is that a real word? I love watching movies and when I get a chance, I watch Italian movies! I don't need English subtitles, so I can watch obscure Italian movies- if I find them. The most recent film I got to see, all by myself, without having to interpret or assist in linguistic navigation of the film, was La Grande Bellezza (Great Beauty in English) - nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Foreign Film.

This film is fresh, visually marvelous and to the point of absurdity. The main character Jep Gambardella is so self-assured of his importance in Roman society and at the ripened age of 65, his swagger and charisma is undaunted. One of many great lines in the film, he asks a woman, "che lavoro fai" and she answers, "sono ricca"--brilliant banter!  Jep Gambardella is the epitome of essere convinto, in the trailer above, I love the line:  "Non volevo essere sempliciemente un mondano, volevo diventare il re` dei mondani."  See this website for more brilliant one & two liners from La Grande Bellezza (in Italian of course).
La Mia dolce vita
La Grande Bellezza reminded me a lot of La Dolce Vita, in fact it may as well serve as the new cult film of the millennium. The panoramic cinematography of Rome used in the film, along with the musical soundtrack that everyone can relate to, takes your breath away. Any tourist to Rome could only dream of seeing Rome like this for the first time.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Roasted Fennel and Carrots with Pecorino Cheese

Talking food again.......I found this blog with amazing recipes. This is my new favorite recipe/dish to prepare!
So easy....! Roasted Fennel and Carrots with Pecorino Cheese  I understand this recipe was tweaked and it originated from Giada De Laurentiis.




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