Monday, October 13, 2014

In Ricordo - In Memory

Two weeks ago I sat in front of a blank page and wondered what to write - do I go over the reason for my absence or not? I eventually decided to concentrate on the positive and the future.

30 minutes is all it took to change everything.

The time elapsed between two phone calls. One misheard word - a sigh of relief and then a clarification. My mother has passed away.

Within hours we are booked on a flight that leaves the next day - half a world away, we must wait.

I cannot talk, it is too difficult. I am so thankful to have my husband - he is my voice. He is doing the things that I cannot, even though I know he is grieving. My mother is right - we are very blessed to have him in our lives.

One week has passed since that call and I still cannot believe it.

The last 3 months I have learnt so much about my parents, my regret is that there was still so much to discover. I assumed I had time, I had no inkling that this was not the case.

The hardest days are yet to come but I will not think of them, I will focus on the good memories.

I will be taking a break from blogging, there are conversations we need to have.

I won’t be abandoning this site - the very reason I can cook is because of my mother. Everything I know is because of her. This blog is filled with her wonderful recipes and when the time is right, I will blog again.

Thank you to my blogging friends and readers for the concern you have shown over the last few years and months - your kind words, thoughts and prayers have meant so much.

I think it is fitting to finish this post with one of my mother’s recipes - a brilliant dish full of good memories.

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Torta Meringata con Mele - Apple Tart with Meringue

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

World Culinary ABC - ABC Mondiale

"Viral" is a fashionable word these days. Something goes "viral" because everybody knows it, talks about it, wants it. Well, the European Community ABC didn't go viral, but in reading again its announcement post from December 2012, I see that it talked about 16 blogs that were announcing together a virtual culinary tour of the European Community countries.

This year, however, we are ready to go: the calendar has been finalised and 29 bloggers (some of them ambassadors for a country, others travelers) plus the one and only Aiuolik make up a happy caravan.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are delighted to announce:

THE WORLD CULINARY ABC

You got it: this time we will virtually travel around the world and put it on the table one letter at a time.
This tour will feature an ambassador for each letter and we hope that again there will be many of you traveling with us — for just one leg or for the whole tour or whenever your luggage is ready and you want to join the fun.

Each letter of the alphabet is associated with a city that represents a country and the ambassador will start the festivities with a dish s/he chooses from that country's culinary tradition. During the three weeks following the opening post, anyone can publish a recipe from the same country. It's that easy.

In brief, if you'd like to participate, remember the 4W rule:
  1. WHEN: every three weeks we change letter and country; 
  2. WHAT: you can publish any recipe (or more than one) from the country represented by the letter (the initial of the recipe name does not matter); 
  3. WHERE: publish the recipe on your blog and then leave a comment on the initial post (on the ambassador's blog) containing the URL of your post; 
  4. WHO: anyone who has a blog can participate; the more the merrier. It would be great to travel together for as many stops as possible, but, as I said above, you can choose when to participate.
The post(s) you publish must include a reference to the event and to the ambassador's blog. Use of the logo (the image above) is optional but welcome. You can also contribute a recipe from your archive: add the reference to the event and to the ambassador's blog and then submit the URL as described above. Let me know if you have any questions or doubts on the process.
Here's the calendar. Each line includes the letter, the name of the representative city, then in parentheses the name of the country and continent in which the city is located, the start and end date of our stay in the country and finally the hosting blog (ambassador).
  • A - APIA (Samoa, Oceania) - October 6 through October 26, 2014 - Mangiare è un po' come viaggiare
  • B - BALARAMPUR (India, Asia) - October 27 through November 16, 2014 - Cindystar
  • C - CANBERRA (Australia, Oceania) - November 17 through December 7, 2014 - Cook (almost) anything
  • D - DAKAR (Senegal, Africa) - December 8 through December 28, 2014 - Cafe Lynnylu
  • E - EDMONTON (Canada, America) - December 29, 2014 through January 18, 2015 - Zibaldone culinario
  • F - FORTALEZA (Brasil, America) - January 19 through February 8, 2015 - Torte e dintorni
  • G - GUADALAJARA (Mexico, America) - February 9 through March 1, 2015 - Torta di rose
  • H - HANOI (Vietnam, Asia) - March 2 through March 22, 2015 - Les madeleines di Proust
  • I - CAIRO (Egypt, Africa) [In Italian, the city is called IL CAIRO] - March 23 through April 12, 2015 - Crumpets & Co.
  • J - JUAN CARLOS BASE (Shetland Islands, Antarctica) - April 13 through May 3, 2015 - Briggis' home
  • K - KYOTO (Japan, Asia) - May 4 through May 24, 2015 - Nato sotto il cavolo
  • L - LUCERNA (Switzerland, Europe) - May 25 through June 14, 2015 - Kopiaste
  • M - MINNEAPOLIS (USA, America) - June 15 through July 5, 2015 - Briciole
  • N - NAIROBI (Kenya, Africa) - July 6 through July 26, 2015 - La cucina di qb
  • O - ODESSA (Ukraine, Europe) - July 27 through August 16, 2015 - BigShade
  • P - PORT MORESBY (Papua New Guinea, Oceania) - August 17 through September 6, 1015 - Kitchen in the city
  • Q - QUITO (Ecuador, America) - September 7 through September 27, 2015 - Ricette di cultura 
  • R - RABAT (Morocco, Africa) - September 28 through October 18, 2015 - La melagranata 
  • S - SUVA (Fiji, Oceania) - October 19 through November 8, 2015 - Santa Parmigiana
  • T - TUNISI (Tunisia, Africa) - November 9 through November 29, 2015 - Le tenere dolcezze di Resy
  • U - ULAN BATOR (Mongolia, Asia) - November 30 through December 20, 2015 - Un Uomo dal Bagno alla Cucina 
  • V - VOLGOGRAD (Russia, Europa) - December 21, 2015 through January 10, 2016 - Un pezzo della mia Maremma
  • W - WELLINGTON (New Zealand, Oceania) - January 11 through January 31, 2016 - Gata da plar
  • X - XIAN (China, Asia) - February 1 through February 21, 2016 - Un'arbanella di basilico
  • Y - YEREVAN (Armenia, Europa) - February 22 through March 13, 2016 - La cucina di Cristina
  • Z - ZAGABRIA (Croatia, Europa) - March 14 through April 3, 2016 - Burro e zucchero

Traveling with us is free, you learn a lot and you'll always find someone smiling next to you. What are you waiting for? Get that luggage ready.



C'è una parola che va tanto di moda ed è "virale". Qualcosa diventa virale perché tutti lo vogliono, tutti lo conoscono, tutti ne parlano... Ecco, l'abbecedario culinario d'Europa non è diventato virale, però rileggendo il suo post di apertura del Gennaio 2013, si parlava di 16 blog che a blog unificati annunciavano il viaggio (virtuale) culinario europeo, e quest'anno? Quest'anno abbiamo un calendario già pronto, abbiamo un gruppo di 29 blogger che compongono la nostra carovana, tra ambasciatrici, ambasciatore, "semplici" viaggiatrici e un'Aiuolik. 

Ebbene signori, noi siamo pronti e siamo lieti di annunciarvi:


L'ABBECEDARIO CULINARIO MONDIALE

Avete capito bene, questa volta giriamo (virtualmente) il mondo e lo mettiamo sul piatto, letterina per letterina!



Anche questo viaggio consta di un ambasciatore/ambasciatrice per ogni letterina e anche quest'anno ci aspettiamo che siate in tanti a viaggiare con noi, che sia per una tappa o per tutto il viaggio o ogni volta che avete il trolley pronto e vi volete aggiungere.

Questa volta però ogni lettera è associata a una città, rappresentativa di una nazione e l'ambasciatore/ambasciatrice ha l'onore di aprire le danze con un piatto tipico a sua scelta. In seguito, tutti gli altri partecipanti/viaggiatori possono pubblicare una ricetta tipica di quel luogo. Semplice, no?

Più brevemente, se volete partecipare ricordatevi la regola delle 4W:
  1. WHEN: ogni 3 settimane esce una lettera; 
  2. WHAT: potete pubblicare una qualsiasi ricetta (o anche più di una) della nazione rappresentata da quella lettera (la ricetta può iniziare con qualsiasi lettera!); 
  3. WHERE: la ricetta la pubblicate nel vostro blog e poi lasciate il link al blog ospite come commento al suo post di apertura; 
  4. WHO: chiunque abbia un blog può partecipare, più siamo e più ci divertiamo quindi sarebbe fantastico fare più tappe possibili tutti assieme, ma potete partecipare anche solo per una lettera, anche una lettera sì e una no, anche solo i mesi dispari! 
Il post deve includere un riferimento all'evento e al blog ospitante, mentre l'utilizzo del logo dell'evento (ovvero l'immagine che vedete un po' più su) è facoltativo (ma gradito). Potete anche utilizzare ricette dal vostro archivio: basta aggiungere il riferimento all'evento e procedere come sopra.

Se è tutto chiaro, ecco quindi il calendario, non fatevi spaventare dalle date, il viaggio sarà piacevolissimo in nostra compagnia!

Viaggiare con noi è gratis, si apprendono tante cose e troverai sempre un sorriso, che aspetti a preparare il trolley anche tu?


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