Cena piemontese

Tonight I have a little time to blog, finally. So after the pear cake, here is a post about a dinner party I threw a really really long time ago. It was a very nice one, in theme 'Piemontese cuisine', featuring homemade tajarin, rabbit 'al civet', and chocolate/amaretti-filled peaches. Many untranslatable words! So read more to find out what these things are. :)
(here you can see me cooking the sauce for the tajarin: my idea is to host more of these dinner parties in theme with a regional or national cuisine, and take pictures of each master chef. :) )
Tajarin
(this and most of the other pictures are Alice's courtesy!)
Tajarin (pronounciation 'taayareen') is a piemontese version of 'tagliatelle', which I believe everybody is more familiar with. The main difference is that tajarin have to be hand-cut. To make them, prepare a dough which is extremely similar to that of tagliatelle (except for the fact that you use more eggs/pound of flour: in particular, to make this, use 9 eggs and 2 egg yolks every two pounds of flour). Then, after you roll the dough very thin using a pasta machine, you have to flour it and cut it with a sharp knife: roll it up, and cut thin slices of it! Here you can see Matt's expert cutting hand.
We made a humongous amount of tajarin..
But they were ALL GONE very quickly! I served them with two sauces: one was mushrooms and parsley (simply sauteed with olive oil, garlic, and white wine towards the end: really easy and wonderfully delicious), and another was the simple and wonderful butter and sage (just melt some butter in a pot, and add a few leaves of sage to it. Serve with parmesan cheese grated on top). They were both really good.

NB: making tajarin for a large number of people is an effort that should be undertaken only with the help of many friends! This makes the process of pasta-making actually fun, whereas I don't think I would enjoy it as much if I had to do the whole thing by myself..

Coniglio al civet / Rabbit 'al civet'
As you know, I almost never cook meat. This was a special occasion. I really wanted to make rabbit for some of my Italian friends who were really happy about the idea. I bought the rabbit at the Berkeley Bowl, and it was delicious. In Piemonte, rabbit is a common dish. My grandma made it a lot, because she used to raise rabbits. So I still remember her really good 'coniglio al civet', which I tried to reproduce. Here is the recipe, if you want to try it:

Cut the rabbit into pieces and put it to marinate in one quart of red wine, with a stick of cinnamon, a few cloves, four garlic cloves, 2 onions, 8 juniper berries and a tad of marjoram. Marinate for at least 24h, then remove. In a pot, saute in butter one finely cut onion, two carrots cut into pieces, and some rosemary. After ~2 minutes, add the rabbit, salt, and some leaves of sage and bay. Saute the rabbit for ~5 minutes, turning the pieces, then add some red wine, enough to cover it. Cook it for ~40 minutes, making sure it's always covered in wine. Then let the wine evaporate and serve!

[Later addition: this recipe comes out quite well with chicken instead of rabbit, too. Just skin the chicken before marinating it. Also, I tried it again with my mom's trick, which is to reserve the marinate after you remove the meat from it, blend it, and add it to the meat pieces while they simmer. You'll have to add less wine to cover the meat and the result will be even more tasty!]

It's a delight. I served it together with some more carrots, cut into small pieces and sauteed in butter, served with parmesan grated on top, which is the way my grandma used to make her carrots. I strongly recommend trying this rabbit dish, if you're not vegetarian. The only problem I had with it was to cut the rabbit into pieces. It was really impressive for me, since I don't usually deal with meat.. Rather hypocritical since I eat meat from time to time.

Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the peaches before they were all gone. They were also wonderful, but I will post the recipe when I can find some good peaches again. Which unfortunately will mean next year!

So this is it for the Piemontese dinner. Here is a picture of almost everybody who was at the dinner:
As you can see, we were all in the kitchen, making food altogether, chatting and drinking before sitting down. This is what I love about throwing a dinner party with friends: being together and enjoying each other's company. I love to see everybody having a good time. There will be more 'regional/national' dinner parties to come!

Torta di pere

Hrm - I'm late on my own event, as usual. :(
Well, sorry everybody, and this also means that whoever still wants to publish a recipe focused on pears, they can still submit their entry for this month 'Fresh Produce of the Month' event! I think I'll have time to put together the roundup this coming weekend.
So, here is my own entry: it's a pear cake that I made for the first time a few years ago, with a recipe given by my aunt Mariarosa. It's a very healthy cake, that contains no butter at all. I love it, and it's perfect for this season! The recipe was sent electronically to me by my mom, whom I thank very much. I'll copy down here her version, which accounts for an Italian translation. However, if you can read Italian, you'll realize what really this recipe is: just a theme over which one can improvise.. the oven temperature is not told, nor is the baking time.. and considering I don't have a scale, the weight of the pears I used was not controlled either. The English version that I'm writing down is more precise - however, don't be too worried. It works most likely with many other combinations. :) For example, I actually used nutmeg instead of cinnamon powder. I liked the substitution, although my mom thought it was a crazy idea, when I told her. :)

As a final note: I served this cake with a scoop of ice cream. The first night it was vanilla ice cream. The second night there were two slices left. My friend Anders and I made a rum and raisin ice cream which was just amazingly good with this cake. :) - I'll give the ice cream recipe in another post.

Torta di pere di zia Mariarosa / Aunt Mariarosa's pear cake

Ingredients
1+1/4 cup of flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 pounds pears (long and hard)
1 egg + 1 yolk
2 tsp baking powder
grated zest of half a lemon
2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp salt

Procedure:
Beat 1/2 cup sugar with the eggs. Add lemon zest, milk, and slowly, the flour previously mixed with baking powder and salt. Pour the dough in a baking pan.
On top, add the pears, cut in thin long slices. Don't worry: it will look like you have a humongous amount of pears on top. That's how it's supposed to be. On top, add the rest of the sugar mixed with cinnamon powder. Bake at 350C for ~45 min.



Versione Italiana:
---------------------
150 gr farina
200g zucchero
mezzo bicchiere di latte
1 kg pere (lunghe e dure, tipo Kaiser)
1 uovo intero + 1 tuorlo
1 bustina lievito
buccia grattugiata di mezzo limone
2 cucchiaini di cannella in polvere
1 pizzico di sale

Sbattere 100 gr di zucchero con uova e buccia di limone, aggingere il latte e poi unire poco per volta la farina mescolata con il lievito e il sale .
Stendere la pasta in una teglia (meglio se rettangolare), disporre sopra le pere (meglio se non sbucciate e tagliate a fettine verticali): cospargere il tutto con 100 gr di zucchero mescolato con la cannella.
Infornare a fuoco moderato (non so per quanto, vedi tu). **Direi circa 180C, per circa 45 min** (commento dell'editrice :) )
-------------------------------

Musica

Don't worry: I will get back to posting about food. The decrease in number of food-related posts is due to both too much work and job applications to do, and to the fact that cooking for myself is not as much fun as cooking for somebody else too. However, last night I did make something nice, which I will post about soon. And I did throw some nice dinner parties in the past few weeks, so they will be the subject of a few more posts.

But for now, I wanted to post something about.. music! In the past weekend, I went out almost every night to participate to some art-related event. Most of them were related to music, and I really enjoyed them. Here I would like to share what represented a completely new discovery for me: Eldar!
Eldar is a 21 year old pianist, who plays jazz in a way that is just breathtakingly beautiful, amazing, moving, touching, energizing.. I don't have enough words to praise him. He played mostly pieces that he composed himself. The sounds coming from him and his trio just completely filled me with joy and awe. I really didn't want him to leave the stage. I bought his last CD, and it's great, even though some of his energy is missing compared to being in the same room with him.
If you like jazz (and even if you think you don't), please visit his website. You can listen to some of his songs online.

Plus, here you can actually see him play!!!

If I wasn't thirty years old, I would say I'm in love with a music star. :)

Eldar's concert was part of the SF Jazz festival. I love jazz, and I enjoyed the concert so much, that I'm going to try to listen to at least a few more before the festival is over.

Premio 'Arte y pico'

Today I received a blog-award! I'm very happy. :) The award is related to creativity, which is one of the things I care for the most. So, this makes me even happier. :)
I was given this wonderful award by Food Hunter. Thank you so much!
The award originates from Uruguay, and the dolls are made by the Eseya, who writes the 'Arte y pico' blog. Now, I'm going to choose five more bloggers who will receive this award. If you're one of them, please follow the following rules:

1) Pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award, for creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.

2) Advertise name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) Share these rules.

The bloggers who will receive the award are..

Simona at briciole

Elena at comidademama

Rosa at Rosa's Yummy Yums

Ruth at Once Upon a Feast

Mansi at Fun and Food

Congratulations :)

Ode a San Francisco

My application season is slowing down a little this week, so I'm taking the occasion to look at my old pictures and see how many wonderful things I have to write about. This year has been full of really unexpected things, and I will for sure remember it for the rest of my life. Here I want to record some of the impressions of the really good things that happened.. and since a lot of them has happened in San Francisco, I want to dedicate this post to this wonderful city. If I were a director, I would set a movie here. The landscapes are just unbeatable. So here are a few snapshots for you, my dear readers, from the non super-touristic places of the city. Imagine some nice music in the background while you start this tour.

We begin with the symbol of the city: the Golden Gate bridge, in all its beauty, from Baker beach. Brave people actually go for swims here. I just had a walk and enjoyed the beautiful landscape. If you look around, you can also find reasons to giggle a little... Baker's beach, close to the bridge in particular, is populated by people who don't like too many clothes on. :)
Here instead is the Palace of Fine Arts. It's a really nice area of the city, and the Exploratorium is there: amazing science museum full of hands-on activities that captivated me. I've actually learned a lot of things by playing around in the museum for a few hours, and managed to visit only about 1/4 of it. Definitely recommended to visit if you have time.

This is the Conservatory of Flowers, in the Golden Gate Park. Beautiful building. I still have to visit inside, I think it's going to be as wonderful as the outside.

And this is another beach, the French beach, close to Lincoln Park: looking west..
.. and East, another view of the bridge:
The fog is coming! This part of the city is almost always foggy.
This is the Thinker, a statue outside the Legion of Honor, another beautiful museum in this part of the city:
If you go on Sunday (at least in Summer time), you'll listen to a free organ lesson-concert. Well, this is my post for today. I will leave you with this last picture of SF by night. This shot is taken from the top of Twin Peaks. Notice the Bay Bridge, on the right side of the picture. It's so beautiful, both during the day and at night. The view at night from this hill is just amazing, my picture is just a very reduced part of it. Going up Twin Peaks is unbelievable: it's like suddenly going in the country side, and it's in the middle of San Francisco!
Obviously, there is a lot more to see of this wonderful city. I hope I captured your attention - I will try to write more about it soon.

Una specie di riassunto

Hello everybody! I'm happy the blog hasn't completely died in these past few months. My intense activity of job applications and finishing up with my projects is still going on at its peak. However, I have at this point a strong desire of writing about something other than chemistry for once.
The title of this post is rather ambitious: 'an attempt of a summary', which obviously won't include all the *** no adjective here *** events of my recent life, but at least will give a few snapshots of the good parts of it.. because in the end, that's what's worth trying to remember, right?

So here we are. The first thing really worth writing about is my trip to Mexico. Mexico is an amazing place and I'm thinking to write a post specifically about it. However, this is a summary-post, so I'll just pinpoint a few things.
Mexico city: crowded, full of life.
(this dance was performed in the main square - El Zocalo -. The square and all the huge surrounding area was filled with people).

European-looking architecture mixed with skyscrapers.

Wonderful food at every corner.
(here are some typical stands: tortas=mexican sandwiches, and aguas frescas are the best fruit juices ever. I tried to resist the temptation at the beginning, then started to try them after a while - I didn't die, so I guess there weren't too many bacteria in the ice that they used. :) )

Best archeological museum in the world.
(Melynda and I spent an afternoon in this museum, and were overwhelmed with awe at each room)

Filled with spirituality
(this was in the Cathedral)

Close to Teotihuacan, the most amazing place ever. This is a view of the pyramid of the Moon from the top of the pyramid of the Sun.
And these are the people climbing on top of the pyramid of the Sun.
It was rather tiring, but getting on the top was an unbelievable experience, which made me feel strangely powerful and close to the Sun. :)

Tulum: AAAHHHH.. I so much want to go back and be there now! The place is the most amazing place I've been in my whole life. We had a 'cabana' on the beach, which meant that I could enjoy this any time of the day and of the night:
In fact, I could fulfill my dream of swimming in the ocean at midnight, and of seeing the sunrise on the ocean.
Both experiences - the stars in the sky and the white foam as the only thing visible around you, at night, and the sun slowly lighting the whole sky on fire, in the morning - were the most unforgettable experiences of the trip, for me.

The other amazing thing of Tulum are the ruins, which we saw at night. Another unbelievable experience: everything was dark and silent, except for the waves hitting against the rocks, and we were immersed in this city of the past, lit with changing colors.
It was truly another experience for the soul.

Two more things were amazing of Tulum: snorkeling at the reef, where we were able to swim with a sea turtle, an amazingly elegant creature, and see wonderfully colored fish, which I had seen only in aquariums before; and swimming in the 'cenotes', natural caves formed by the rain in the carsic terrain of the Yucatan. The water is rather cold, and the landscape is surreal: a castle of stalactites and stalagmites under the water.
(this was part of the complex 'Dos Ojos', highly recommended)

More in the Yucatan: Chichen-Itza. Impressive. Although, a little too touristic. I couldn't feel the same atmosphere as in Teotihuacan, for the huge amount of tourists and vendors that were all around.
However, the big pyramid was amazing. Clapping against the center of each wall create a really strange echo, which I never heard anywhere else, sort of like a bird.

The last memories from the trip are the wonderful people I was with:
My dearest friends Jorge and Luisa, who hosted us in the Yucatan (in Merida)
And of course, my wonderful friend Melynda (here in the 'blue house' in Mexico City).

There are a lot more places I visited in these past few months, for a shorter time (day trips, or weekends), which I would have liked to post about. So again, just one picture per trip:

Point Reyes
Point Reyes is a _huge_ park very close to Berkeley. I really recommend anybody in the area to go there. I've been there only once and really want to go back. This was the ocean view path, in the south side of the park. You can walk miles, close to the ocean. The view is breath taking. And there are small lakes, where one can go swim or canoe, and small waterfalls on the beach, too.

Visit at my friends Simona and Robert, in Trinidad.
Trinidad is in North California, very close to National Redwood Park. Simona and Robert have an amazing house, with a view on the ocean that's just unimaginable. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of it. It's even more beautiful than this, which is the view that you have from the light house at Trinidad:
And this is a picture of the redwoods, on my first hike with Simona:
It's hard to capture the atmosphere of this amazing park in a picture.
Last picture for this summary:
I had never seen these beautiful animals before, in 'real life'!

Ok, this is it for now. I still have to show a picture of myself with my newest and shortest haircut. I'll do it as soon as I have a good occasion to take a picture. :)
Also, I'll try to upload all the pictures of the trips on my web album, so there will be a lot more to see. Last but not least, I will try to publish at least some of my recent culinary creations and explorations.. looking forward to finding some time to blog again. :)

Fresh Produce of the Month - Pears

Hello again! Unfortunately my blogging will be sporadic for another month or so - most deadlines for job applications are mid-October. However, I'm going to re-host the next Fresh Produce of the Month event on this blog.. Simona at Briciole is posting the roundup for the last event on her blog right now. So check it out! There are a lot of exciting eggplant-centered recipes for us to try out!

The next edition will be centered on.. pears!
(The picture is again Simona's courtesy! I really like it, thanks Simona!)

So, if you want to take part to the event, follow these simple rules:
1) Put a post on your blog with a recipe involving pears. Add a link to this post and mention that it's an entry for the 'Fresh produce of the month' event. If you like it, feel free to place the logo of the pears-centered event on your post.
2) Send me an email with a link to your post, your blog homepage and your name. My email address is chemcookitATgmailDOTcom. Specify 'Fresh produce of the month: Pears' as subject.
3) If you don't have a blog just send an email with your recipe and if you have a picture of the food you made, that's even better. I will add it to the round-up as well.

The deadline for entry submission will be October 31st.. Looking forward to seeing your creations!

Melanzane alla parmigiana

Melanzane alla parmigiana is one of the most famous eggplant-centered Italian dishes, well-known also in the US. However, not many people, not even in Italy, really know about the origin and the meaning of the name of this dish. ‘Melanzane alla parmigiana’ literally seems to mean ‘Eggplants in the style of Parma’, where Parma is a city in the North of Italy, famous for being the only place where the real ‘Parmigiano’ cheese can be produced (so-called ‘Parmesan’ in the US). Hence, most Italian people (including me up to a few weeks ago) think that this dish was invented in Parma, or at least, is made with a lot of ‘Parmigiano’ cheese. Instead, what I found out thanks to Simona, who spoke about this when I served this dish, is that this is traditionally a Sicilian dish! Sicily is pretty far from Parma, and Parmigiano cheese is really not typically used in Sicilian cuisine. In fact, originally, this dish is made with different types of cheese (caciocavallo, for example), more usually found in Sicily. So, where does the name come from? Apparently, ‘Parmiciana’ (which sounds really similar to ‘Parmigiana’, in Italian), refers to a type of blinds used in Sicily (and in the rest of Italy), made with wooden slats that are ‘layered’ to prevent light to come through the windows. The layers of eggplants and cheese and sauce in the Parmigiana dish remind of the layered wooden slats, and hence the name ‘Melanzane alla Parmigiana’. Really astonishing! I still cannot completely believe this is true, but it really seems to be. :)
Ok, enough with this philological introduction, and let’s proceed with the recipe! I wanted to experiment two different versions of this dish: the traditional one, made with fried eggplant slices, and a more modern (and light) one, made with grilled eggplants.

Melanzane alla parmigiana - due versioni – Eggplants parmigiana - two styles
(sorry about the awful picture: I took it the day after I prepared the dish, before the few leftovers were devoured. This is an example of the ‘traditional version’)
Ingredients:
4 eggplants
Eggs (2-4 depending on how many you want to make in the traditional version)
½ quart milk
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour + enough to flour the eggplants
Ground nutmeg
Grated parmigiano (ehm, caciocavallo ?  ) cheese
Mozzarella cheese
1 big can of whole peeled tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
Olive oil

Procedure
Cut the eggplants in slices (~1/3” thick). For the traditional version: beat eggs and put them in a bowl. Set some flour on a plate. Pass the eggplant slices in the beaten eggs and then in the flour, making sure that an almost homogeneous layer of flour is attached to both sides of the eggplant slices. Fry these floured slices in abundant and good olive oil, set them aside between layers of absorbing paper to remove excess oil.
For the modern, lighter version: grill eggplant slices on the fire (use an anti-sticking pan or a griddle) and set them aside.
Prepare tomato sauce: mince garlic cloves in small pieces, fry them in 2 tbsp olive oil, and after ~1 min add tomatoes. Keep cooking, covered, for ~20 min, then remove lid and let some water evaporate. Add salt to taste, blend with an immersion blender and set aside.
Prepare besciamella sauce: put 3 tbsp flour in a pot and slowly start adding milk avoiding formation of clumps of flour. Add a total of ~1/2 quart milk. Then add 1 tbsp butter, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, salt to taste (~2 tsp) and bring to boil, mixing occasionally. When the mixture starts boiling, mix constantly to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pot, and turn off after about 3 min. It should become dense but not too much. If too dense, add milk, otherwise, keep cooking until enough milk evaporates.
Now start the layering: put one layer of eggplants in an oven-proof pan, add a dash of salt, then spoon some tomato sauce on top, besciamella sauce, sprinkle parmigiano and pieces of mozzarella. Repeat until the pan is full, finishing with the cheese layer. Cook in the oven, pre-heated at 350 F, for ~20-30 min.

I served the two versions side-to-side, to allow a true comparison. My guests were equally divided: half preferred the traditional version and half the lighter one. I personally thought that the traditional version was really what you find in Italy, what my grandma makes, and hence it’s incomparable to the lighter one for historical and affectionate reasons. However, as for the taste – I must confess I preferred the more modern version :) - the eggplant flavor was stronger, not covered by the taste of the fried layer around. My next experiment will be trying another possible version, which involves only frying the eggplant slices without previous passing them in egg and flour. Apparently some people think this is the original version (I don’t know exactly – my grandma for sure made the one I prepared, however, she’s not Sicilian). I’d be curious to see if simply frying the eggplants doesn’t cover their taste, and how it goes together with all the rest of the layers.

In any case, whichever version you choose: this dish is a winner. You cannot disappoint anybody if you prepare it. :)

This is my entry to the Fresh Produce of the Month event, this month centered on eggplants and hosted by Simona at Briciole!
(Ehm, sorry Simona, I'm late!!)

Risotto con fragole

So here is the recipe of 'Risotto con fragole', i.e. 'Strawberry risotto', that I showed at the roundup for the last FPOM.. sorry for having it up only now. :) Actually, I already posted about this recipe here, but I think it's better to rewrite it - and I now have a decent picture. :)

Risotto con fragole / Strawberry risotto

This is not the typical 'risotto': usually risotto is made with cheese, vegetables and/or meat - typically, for example, mushrooms, or asparagus, or some type of fish. Yet, risotto alle fragole is a quite famous dish, although not many people have tried it. It's considered somewhat 'fancy'. And in fact, it is, and if you make it, you'll taste a very different flavor than the usual risotto dishes you have had. This is a little tart, and yet creamy and savory at the same time. Hard to describe.

Ok, no more introduction. To make this, soak about 1 pound of strawberries cut into pieces in ~ 4 cups of white wine, overnight. When you're ready to make the risotto, take a pot (~10 inches diameter, 8 inches high, just to give you an idea). Add ~1 tbsp butter and sautee one onion (finely cut) in it, then add ~8 handfuls of rice, and sautee the rice with the onion. Then, add the wine where the strawberries had been soaked. The liquid should be enough to cover the rice, and about two fingers higher than the level of the rice in the pot (the fingers are measured horizontally :) ). If the strawberry-infused wine is not enough for this, add some more white wine. Add a vegetable bouillon, too. Add salt (~2 tsp) and cover the pot with a lid. Let the rice cook for about 20 minutes. Open, make sure there's still a little bit of liquid, and add the pieces of strawberries. Taste and check for the salt in the meanwhile. At this point, I also like to add some cheese that melts easily, like a very mild cheddar or some sort of fake mozzarella square cheese that they sell in the US. Cook for another 5-10 minutes, until rice is done. The rice can be served with some coarsely ground black pepper and a little bit of grated parmigiano on top. It's very good, and it's nicely colored. Guaranteed success. :)

FPOM - Strawberry roundup and announcement

Hello my dear readers! I'm sorry for this long delay.. it looks like 2008 is a year of big changes in my life, high ups and low downs alternating way too frequently, and a job search to do, so my blog unfortunately suffers for this too. But at least I really want to post the roundup of the last Fresh Produce of the Month, the deadline of which has expired a long time ago! The theme was 'Strawberry' and I received some really wonderful entries that deserve to be shown! So let's not waste any more time and start the roundup.


Kalva from Curry in Kadai starts off the roundup with a wonderful 'Healthy Strawberry, Kiwi and Honey Yogurt Smoothie'. Just looking at it makes you feel like drinking it! And please go look at her post, there are more wonderful pictures.












My dear friends Bee and Jai from Jugalbandi introduce us to an 'Arugula, Fennel and Orange Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette'. Such a fresh combination with everything that was in season at the time, and served in a creative and artistic way on a gorgeous dinnerware set. Again, check out their pics!






Happy Cook at 'My kitchen treasures' sends out a delicious 'Panna Cotta with balsamic berries' . Panna cotta is really one of my favorite Italian desserts, and the pairing with balsamic vinegar-infused berries is just amazingly appealing!







Ferdzy from 'Seasonal Ontario Food' gives us a recipe for another treat: 'Strawberry Cream Cheese Parfaits'. Easy to make and just simply delicious! And she suggests using different fruits when strawberry season is over..






JZ at 'Tasty treats' just goes straight to the point: 'Strawberry ice cream'! It is indeed my favorite type of ice cream, and when it's home made.. what can beat it? And - she serves it in a chocolate cup!!!






Simona at 'Briciole' sends another intriguing salad: 'Insalata di fragole, fave e finocchi' (Strawberry, fava bean and fennel salad). It's an improvized salad that has the colors of the Italian flag! It sounds delicious to me. :)







Haalo from 'Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once' gives us a recipe for a 'Strawberry Fool'. I had no idea of what a 'fool' was (at least as for what concerns food, I've got plenty of experience otherwise........). But Haalo explains: it's a mixture of fruit and whipped cream, which she modified by substituting part of the cream with thick Greek yogurt. I'm totally with her, and I'm going to try this lighter version soon. :)










Srimathi at 'Few Minutes Wonders' at has another interesting dairy-strawberry recipe: a 'Strawberry Almond Kheer' . Given that both strawberries and almonds are some of the best food ever invented, this must be a winner :)







I realized that I forgot to post my own recipe. Well, about a month ago, I made a 'Strawberry risotto' and took pictures on purpose for this event. I'll post the recipe for it in the next post.. for the moment, just trust me - it was very good :)







Well, this is it for the strawberry event! I hope you have been as inspired as I have, and will try some of these delicious treats if you still happen to have some strawberries around :)
The next 'Fresh Produce of the Month' event will be hosted on another blog for the first time! I have decided that it was better for the event, given my recent inconsistencies in writing on the blog. So, dear readers, please help my friend Simona at 'Briciole' to make this next event a success! I asked her to choose the theme, and she in turn asked me to choose among a few veggies and fruits of her choice. Since I've been trying to alternate fruits and vegetables, I've chosen a vegetable from her list. And this is actually one of my favorite vegetables ever: Eggplant!

(the picture for the logo was taken by Simona)

If you'd like to participate, follow these simple rules:
1) Put a post on your blog with a recipe involving eggplants. Add a link to this post and mention that it's an entry for the 'Fresh produce of the month' event. If you like it, feel free to place the logo of the eggplant-centered event on your post.
2) Send Simona at Briciole an email with a link to your post, your blog homepage and your name. Her email address is simositeATmacDOTcom. Specify 'Fresh produce of the month: Eggplants' as subject.
3) If you don't have a blog just send an email with your recipe and if you have a picture of the food you made, that's even better. Simona will add it to the round-up as well.

The deadline for entry submission will be September 21st.. I hope to see a lot of wonderful eggplant-centered recipes to try out :)

Pausa allegra

My life after thirty is even busier than my life in the twenties. :)
So, I'm really sorry, but I have to put the blog on hold probably for another two weeks. But this time, it's not for any sad reason. I'm actually really happy! I had four birthday parties, lots of friends showed up, and I received an unreasonable amount of gifts. :) So, yeah, I felt pretty well. :)
And I do have a lot of things to post about. But apparently right now I'm struggling with the issue of 'living life' vs. 'writing about life'.. so I haven't had time to even reply to the many wonderful comments and even emails that I received! Sorry to everybody. I will get back. I will also finally post my own post for the strawberry 'Fresh Produce of the Month' - and of course all my other treats for the other events will be way too late to be submitted.. In any case, the next ten day break is due to the fact that I'm leaving for Mexico, for vacation, for once! I'm really excited. I'll be back with some pictures and stories soon.
So far, here is a picture of me at one of these birthday parties. So you can see my new haircut, too. :)
See you all soon!

Trenta

I haven't posted in a while - no Internet connection at home for a week, and then a lot of things going on. But today, I have to write down something! Of course, I have a ton of good food to show off, but I'm not sure if I'll have time at the moment. In about half an hour I'm going to dinner, to celebrate my own birthday! I'm not shy, so here is the age: thirty! I know, nothing really changes. And I don't mind getting older, really. I like the idea of having more and more experiences in life. But today, at some point, I went to the doctor, and she told me: 'For people who are thirty and older, we recommend...'. Well, hearing that was a little shocking. I have actually passed the border!
But I'm quite happy about my life for now. It's been a lot of unexpected things one after another. I would have never guessed I would live in the US when I was younger. Actually, I kind of disliked the idea of the US. You know, the stereotype of US in Europe: arrogant and ignorant people everywhere! So, I thought it would haven been more likely for me to go to Africa than US. It sounded more inspiring. Yet, I haven't been to Africa yet, and I have actually really enjoyed the US. People are on average really nice - and at times, now, when I go back to Italy, I find myself somewhat out of place, not being used anymore to the nervousness of people around. Yet, of course, I don't feel at home in the US either. I talked to many people, and it seems to be the situation of almost every immigrant. So, nowadays I think of myself as a citizen of the world. I have no idea of where I'm going to be in another year. This is something I learned for sure: no plans are possible in life! What can we do, then? Well, my philosophy is to try to be passionate about life and to care for the people we meet, and who are close or far. Be joyful, smile. Yet be honest, and be sad if that's what has to be. Be curious. Be open. Be trustful.
Well, at least, that's what I think. Love, and do what you want!
Half an hour has almost gone, and I'm going to go to dinner. See you soon on these screens, my dear readers!