Sor'acqua ~ St Francis of Assisi

Sor'acqua
Originally uploaded by Valentina *una goccia di splendore *

"Laudato si', mi Signore, per sor'acqua, la quale è molto utile et hù mele et pretiosa et casta."

"We praise You, Lord, for Sister Water,
so useful, humble, precious and pure."

We take so many simple things for granted each day. A beautiful photo reminder.

Tavola di San Giuseppe ~ Table of St Joseph

Fiera padrona di casa
Originally uploaded by Valentina *una goccia di splendore *

A beautiful photo of a St Joseph's festa table in Scoglitti, Sicilia. You can see the breads and the wonderful desserts. 'Padrona di casa', translates to the 'boss of the house'. Though Italy may be, at first glance, a macho culture, in reality mamma runs everything. She is often referred to also as 'la capa'.

The morning of the festa,the food and wine are blessed by the priest of the local parish. In years past, when the people of Sicily were very poor, they would only have bread to share with the poor. In modern times, with increased affluence, the feasts have become elaborate displays of the richness of the land, once dry and barren. You might look at this as the Italian version of the Thanksgiving celebration in the United States.

VIVA SAN GIUSEPPE!

Italy's people have a great love of many things: the arts, their history, and their customs and traditions. One tradition they hold especially dear is their devotion to their patron saints. Their homage to them include elaborate festas and incredible food.

The Festa di San Giuseppe is celebrated on March 19th, which is also Father's Day in Italy. (It seems appropriate that the Feast of St. Joseph is celebrated on this day in honor of fathers.)

Although traditionally it began in Sicily, the Feast of San Giuseppe is now celebrated throughout most of Italy. According to legend, during the Middle Ages a terrible drought and famine plagued the people of Sicily. It virtually destroyed most of their crops and many people in the western part of Sicily died of starvation. The people began praying to St. Joseph and begged for his intercession to their plight. In return they promised to celebrate his feast day by having special altars abundant in food that would be shared with all people rich and poor as their thanksgiving to him.

At midnight on March 19th the prayers of Sicily's children were answered. The rains came and the land which had been browned and barren were now lush and green again. Sicily's people has kept their promise to San Giuseppe through the generations by preparing elaborate food altars. In Sicily olive branches hung over doorways signify that a St. Joseph Altar is being held.)

Since the Festa di San Giuseppe is celebrated during the Lenten season the foods prepared do not contain meat. The main focus surrounds the variety, shapes and designs of breads made for this feast. There are three breads that honor the Holy Family. The bread for St. Joseph is in the shape of a staff. According to legend, the staff of St. Joseph bloomed with entwining flower blossoms which singled him out from Mary's other suitors as her husband-to-be. St. Joseph was a carpenter by trade and breadcrumbs signify sawdust.

The bread for Mary is in the shape of a date palm and a wreath with a star in the center represents Jesus. These three breads are placed upon an altar that has been created using the finest linens, and decorated with flowers (especially the St. Joseph Lily,) statues, candles and pictures. The staff bread of St. Joseph is placed on the left, the date palm bread of Mary is placed on the right, and the the wreath-star bread or a cross representing Jesus is placed in the middle.

The foods presented on the San Giuseppe table will include many different types of seafood (fried shrimp, calamari, fried baccala), vegetables of all kinds that will be either stuffed, fried, or parts of an omlette.) Speaking of omlettes...you will find some of the most scrumptious omelettes at a San Giuseppe table. Omlettes (frittatas) with vegetables like artichokes, cardoons (burdock), asparagus, broccoli, beans, potatoes, tomatoes, spinach and beans. Dried fava beans are a reminder of the great drought.

Desserts are also in great abundance. You will find a wide assortment of pastries, fruit, fritters, doughnuts and cakes on a St. Joseph Table. They are elegant and oh so good!!

There are a few famous saints that are celebrated here in the US, including St. Joseph. However, traditional Italians celebrate a saint every day of the year. If you are named after a saint, his or her day on the Catholic calendar is a second birthday of sorts for you, your ‘name day’ or onomastico(a) in Italian.

I grew up in a Roman Catholic family in a small town in New England, and I remember St. Joseph’s Day in particular because of the wonderful cream puffs that my grandmother made, which were also available in all of the village bakeries. In the southern states of the US, these are often referred to as Beignet (from the French). I’ll include some traditional recipes from the Feast of San Giuseppe in a future blog.



Buona festa di San Giuseppe ~ un po in ritardo!

Do Sexists Fall in Love?

With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I couldn't help but think about my mom's words to me relative to love and marriage, and researching the particular phrase she used, 'why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?', discovered this wonderful article by
The Ethical Werewolf.

Via Matt Yglesias, I see that
Phoebe Maltz and
Amy Lamboley have done their part in attacking an old conservative line about how women shouldn't have premarital sex with men if they want to get married -- "Why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free?" It seems to me, though, that the obvious answer has not yet come up. Why would a single man marry a woman who's already having sex with him? Obviously, because he loves her, and wants her to be with him for the rest of his life. Maybe he also wants to be the father of her children. Being in love inspires men to do big things like marrying a woman and raising a family with her. Women have many wonderful attributes beyond being people whom one can have sex with. Some of these attributes might cause one to wish to be in a particular woman's company for the rest of one's life. (I feel like I'm stating excessively obvious things here, but the conservative view seems to depend on denying them. So I state the obvious things.)
If a man is getting married just so he can have lots of sex with a woman who wouldn't have him otherwise, he's making a mockery of marriage and an awful decision. Do the old sexists who say these things see their marriages as long-term prostitution contracts? Is the emotion of love entirely foreign to them?

EIGHTIES REVISTED ~ TENNESSEE STYLE

Another Dinner & Movie Night with our youngest. He's a movie buff and an artist, so the selections are always 'interesting'. Tonight's feature presentation ~ the HBO series Tanner '88, the first reality show, highlights the ins and outs of a U.S. political campaign. This series came out at exactly the same time we expatriated to Italia (maybe we were fortunate for this). I was amused with the 80's fashions and hair ~ made me think, strangely, of some of Natalie's pics from her recent birthday celebration in Tennessee ~ Exhibit A, 'Redneck 80's Guy Gone Wild' ~ he's bringing sexy back! ☺









Dinner tonight was not Italian menu fair, but instead, Mex-Americana ~ a favorite for Josh, 'King Ranch Chicken'. Here's the recipe:

1 boiled chicken, cooked and deboned
1 jalapeno pepper
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 (16 oz.) pkg. grated Colby Jack cheese
1 pkg. corn tortillas
1 onion, chopped
1 can sliced black olives (optional)

Saute bell pepper, onion, and jalapeno until onion is clear. Cut tortillas in quarters. Layer tortillas, chicken, bell pepper, onion, jalapeno mix, soup, and sprinkle olives as desired. Finish each layer with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.



The film was, as I said, 'interesting'. We watched the first disc in the set, and I will attempt to watch the others while on vacation in Tennessee. As one who appreciates the wardrobe elements, I was particularly amused by the leg warmers, and am actually regretting that I got rid of mine now that we are in the throes of a particularly freddo Ohio winter ~ burrrrr!!!!

The series portrays, in all too real fashion, the pitfalls of U.S. American politics, best exhibited by the theme song, Exercise Your Right to Vote.

Renegade filmmaker Robert Altman and Pulitzer-winning Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau created the Jack Tanner character, but they couldn't hope to predict the frenzy he'd create. Politicians were eager to meet him, and more than happy to pretend they knew him ~ if it would make them look good, of course. Everyone from Pat Roberston to Bob Dole happily talked to Jack and his crew, knowing he had a media blitz surrounding him. The catch is they didn't know why he had a blitz around him.

Here's a script excerpt:

[making a toast at his son's wedding rehearsal dinner]

Tanner's Father: One hundred years ago, William Gladstone, after a particularly acrimonious debate in Parliament, bellowed across the floor at his arch-rival Benjamin Disraeli, "You, sir," he said, "will one day end your days on the gallows or of venereal disease." Disraeli raised himself up and replied, "That, sir, would depend on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress."
Alex Tanner: Grandpa.
Tanner's Father: I tell this humorous story because it hasn't been altogether clear to me this past year exactly what my son is embracing.


The sad reality is that this film is an exact representation of the sad reality.







Working on my Southern accent and listening to a great Southern tune ~

♫♫ I hear leaders quit their lyin ~ babies quit their cryin ~ soldiers quit their dyin ~ one and all♫ ♫

Wine is Sunlight ~ Bottle Shock Movie Review

Il vino è la luce del sole tenuta insieme dall'acqua ...
Wine is sunlight, held together by water.
~ Galileo Galilei.

There are certain moments in history when America has proven itself to the world: Neil Armstrong setting foot on the Moon; or the US Men’s Hockey team beating the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympics. One such moment, however, never got the recognition it deserved. In 1976, a small American winery bested the exalted French wines of the time and sent the wine industry into a tizzy - putting California wines on the map for good. Based on a true story, Bottle Shock chronicles the events leading up to the famous tastings, told through the lives of father and son, Jim and Bo Barrett. A former real estate attorney, Barrett sacrificed everything to realize his dream of creating the perfect hand-crafted chardonnay. Along with his struggling business, he’s trying to overcome differences with his slacker son and fighting off creditors. Meanwhile in Paris, unwitting British wine shop owner, Steven Spurrier, hopes to revive his own failing business by sponsoring a competition which will pit the traditional French powerhouse against the California upstarts. Little did Steven and Jim realize that they were both on course to change the history of wine forever. Starring Alan Rickman, Chris Pine, Bill Pullman (Big Love), Rachael Taylor, and Freddy Rodríguez, the film isn't up to the par of Sideways but it is worth a watch. The soundtrack highlights some of the best of early seventies tunes.

"You mark my words, we'll be drinking wines from South America, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, India, China...this in not the end Maurice, this is just the beginning. Welcome to the future!"
~ Steven Spurrier

Epifania 2010 ~ The Ballad of the White Horse

The Ballad of the White Horse is one of the last great epic poems in the English language. It deserves a high place in literature. The Ballad is the story of the English King Alfred, who fought the Danes in the year 878. But it is also the story of Christianity battling against the destructive forces of nihilism and heathenism, which is the battle we are still fighting.

At the beginning of the poem, the Blessed Virgin appears to King Alfred, and he asks her if he is going to win the upcoming battle. Her reply is not what he expects:

The gates of heaven are lightly locked,
We do not guard our gold,
Men may uproot where worlds begin,
Or read the name of the nameless sin;
But if he fail or if he win
To no good man is told.

The men of the East may spell the stars,
And times and triumphs mark,
But the men signed of the cross of Christ
Go gaily in the dark.

The men of the East may search the scrolls,
For sure fates and fame,
But the men that drink the blood of God
Go singing to their shame.

+ + + + + + +

But you and all the kind of Christ
Are ignorant and brave,
And you shall have wars you hardly win
And souls you hardly save.

I tell you naught for your comfort
Yea, naught for your desire,
Save that the sky grows darker yet
And the sea rises higher.

Night shall be thrice night over you,
And heaven an iron cope.
Do you have joy without a cause,
Yea, faith without a hope?

~ G. K. Chesterton

HANGOVER ~ AKA 'MARCO POLO'

Though my New Year's Eve celebration did not result in a hangover, I am recovering from a bout of shellfish poisoning, compliments of a lobster tail probably tainted with some preservative chemical. Spent New Year's Eve in the hospital being pumped full of steroids and now I am comfortably recovering at home. Nothing worse for a dyed-in-the-wool Yankee like myself then to face the prospect of no longer enjoying a good crustacean. I never had this problem in the many years of eating seafood in Italy. Alas, this evening I made a large pot of pasta fagioli, which is probably what we should have had on New Year's Eve, as the beans (normally lentils) are a representatation of coins, hence meant to bring good fortune. Listening to 'Planet Money' on NPR today, a commentator remarked that the economic forecasters should substitute 'ish' for the decimal point going forward ~ not very promising.

As for the Hangover, I am listening to the Prairie Home Companion on the radio and the program highlights some of the best of 2009. Included is a poet by the name of Billy Collins, who wrote this poem:

Hangover

If I were crowned emperor this morning,
every child who is playing Marco Polo
in the swimming pool of this motel,
shouting the name Marco Polo back and forth

Marco Polo Marco Polo

would be required to read a biography
of Marco Polo-a long one with fine print-
as well as a history of China and of Venice,
the birthplace of the venerated explorer

Marco Polo Marco Polo

after which each child would be quizzed
by me then executed by drowning
regardless how much they managed
to retain about the glorious life and times of

Marco Polo Marco Polo

As a librarian, I found the second poem he shared quite fun as well, as it addressed the shooting of a book:

Ballistics

When I came across the high—speed photograph
of a bullet that had just pierced a book —
the pages exploding with the velocity —
I forgot all about the marvels of photography
and began to wonder which book
the photographer had selected for the shot.
Many novels sprang to mind
including those of Raymond Chandler
where an extra bullet would hardly be noticed.
Nonfiction offered too many choices —
a history of Scottish lighthouses,
a biography of Joan of Arc and so forth.
Or it could be an anthology of medieval literature,
the bullet having just beheaded Sir Gawain
and scattered the band of assorted pilgrims.
But later, as I was drifting off to sleep,
I realized that the executed book
was a recent collection of poems written
by someone of whom I was not fond
and that the bullet must have passed through
his writing with little resistance
at twenty—eight hundred feet per second,
through the poems about his childhood
and the ones about the dreary state of the world,
and then through the author's photograph,
through the beard, the round glasses,
and that special poet's hat he loves to wear.

Tried to embed the code for the program, but it did not work, so here is the link. The recitation is at the beginning of Segment 3.

Happy New Year e Felice Anno Nuovo tutti!

Raspberry-Topped Lemon Cupcakes with Limoncello Glaze

Raspberry-Topped Lemon Cupcakes with Limoncello Glaze
Originally uploaded by cupcakequeen

Raspberry-Topped Lemon Cupcakes with Limoncello Glaze

Makes 18
Cupcakes:
2 cups cake flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cups (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp.
4 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup finely grated lemon peel

Glaze and topping:
3/4 cup (or more) powdered sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons limoncello or other lemon liqueur
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1-1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel

18 strawberries or raspberries

For Cupcakes: Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Line 18 standard cupcake pan with liners. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large bowl (I used the BIG KA for this) until fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat in dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions. Beat in lemon juice and lemon peel. Divide batter among liners.

Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to racks.

Meanwhile, prepare glase and topping: Stir 3/4 cup powdered sugar, butter, limoncello, lemon juice, and grated lemon peel in small saucepan over low heat until butter melts and glaze comes to simmer... (now, don't get scared...this turns out to be pretty easy)...Whisk in additional powdered sugar by tablespoonfuls if glaze is very thin. Spoon 1 teaspoon warm glaze over each warm cupcake. Cool cupcakes completely.

Arrange 1 berry on top of each cupcake. Drizzle remaining limoncello glaze over them. Let cupcakes stand until glaze sets, about 2 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.)

Tartarughe Piccole ~ Little Turtles

bill the turtle
Originally uploaded by sevenworlds16

Aaron had several of these miniature turtles as pets during the years we lived in Italy. He also had hamsters as pets. It was always a challenge when we would spend a summer in the U.S. (every three years or so) because we would have to find 'pet sitters'.

The mini turtles had a nice home in the bidet of one of our four bathrooms. Just prior to one trip back to the U.S. I found that one of the turtles had passed away and did not know what do do with him/her (do turtles have a sex?). Anyway, I made the decision, as we were to leave soon for our trip, to bring the turtle to a nearby stream, on a street called Via Cantarana (street of the singing frogs). And I informed Aaron that evening when we were praying before bed that his turtle had gone to turtle heaven, i.e., the stream on Via Catarana. Unfortunately, I did not know that in his elementary school class, they had been learning about pollution, and the teacher had told the children that there was industrial waste in the stream on that very street.

I had told Aaron that I thought the little turtle would be happy in Frog Heaven, as they would sing to him. Talk about having to think on your feet ~ whew! I also told him that his turtle would probably become a full-fledged Ninja Turtle ~ that was the popular TV show for kids even in Italy during that time. Our son was thrilled. Don't know if he told the teacher and his classmates about his Ninja Turtle when we came back from the U.S. Hopefully, he forgot about it.

Now is the Time for Drinking

now is the time for drinking
Originally uploaded by sevenworlds16

The quote in its entirety, from Horace's Odes:

Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero pulsanda tellus.

which translates:

Now is the time for drinking, now is the time to dance footloose upon the earth.

(In this case, the teacup is not appropriate for the beverage at hand. Salute!)

Lavoro per Vivere

As an avid NPR listener, I’ve been taken with a small degree of jealously of late as much of the programming this past week has focused on the veritable “V” word ~ “Vacation”. One program in particular highlighted a 2001 publication by author, Cindy Aron. In the book
Working at Play, Aron, an associate professor of history, traces the growth of vacationing as a family and a social ritual. She examines the tension between the American work ethic and the concept of leisure. Interestingly, I’ve been reading another book that highlights the topic of the American work ethic and leisure. In
Death by Leisure: A Cautionary Tale, the author, Chris Ayres, a British journalist, chronicles his return from embedded duty in Iraq with a marine unit, to a new assignment as the showbiz correspondent for a London newspaper. Talk about culture shock! This tell-all opens with Ayres getting the sultry once-over from a beauty in a white bikini at poolside, and everything goes wacky and downhill from there with a bogus assignment to cover singer Michael Jackson, his Neverland estate and his sleepovers. Marveling at the perpetually sunny weather of the sci-fi metropolis, and the Tinseltown crowd of Beverly Hills, Ayres quickly becomes caught up in the whole scene, including getting his own piece of the American dream, a house. “I'm a big fan of bubbles ... they're my idea of a good time”, Ayres writes, but when the housing bubble bursts, the American dream soon becomes a nightmare. Ayres’ book is a wry, self-deprecating and offbeat look at the excesses of America over the last few years, disguised as an expat’s memoir of life in California. As for vacation travel, this expat offered some inspiration to NPR when listeners were asked to share stories of successful vacation travel at $100. a day or less. Our family vacations involved some serious math calculations as we traveled throughout Europe each summer for more than a decade, pre-Euro days. Camping was the order of the day, in a tent. Meals were prepared over an open fire. There’s nothing like ‘spaghetti alla carbonara’ prepared and eaten ‘al fresco’. If your vacation plans require a
passport, our library offers this service. Planning a trip to Italy? Get inspired by watching the film,
A Room With a View or better still, read
the classic novel by E.M. Forster. And remember ~ "lavoro per vivere, non vivo per lavoro" ~ "work to live, don't live to work". Buona Vacanza!

Romeo and Juliet

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, And I'll no longer be a Capulet.




A hopeless romantic, my all time favorite love story is Romeo and Juliet. Everyone knows that the story takes place in Italy ~ in the historic city of Verona. Verona is in the Veneto, the northeastern region of Italy where we made our family home for many years.

While living in Italy, I spent a good deal of time in our city library in Vicenza doing research and it was there that I first learned that the true author of Romeo and Juliet was a Vicentino, a man by the name of Luigi Da Porto. In 1530, Da Porto wrote the transcript called Giulietta e Romeo. In the original version, he set the characters in Verona, created Romeo and Giulietta and even created Mercutio, Tybalt, Friar Laurence and Paris. It is a little known fact that Luigi was the original writer and that William Shakespeare only adapted it for stage in England through not much merit of his own. The village of Vicenza (or indeed the people in it) hardly forgave Shakespeare after he took all the credit for the literature of their native son. Da Porto wrote the novel in his villa in Montorso Vicentino near Vicenza. The title of the book was Historia Novellamente Ritrovata di Due Nobili Amanti (Newly Found Story of Two Noble Lovers).

There are several film versions of this greatest of love stories, and although there are aspects of the modernized version starring Leonardo di Caprio that are fascinating to me, I shall forever be enthralled with the classic Sixties version of Italian film producer, Franco Zefferelli.

We can be grateful to Mr. William Shakespeare for his momentous contributions to the English language. Shakespeare is a part of our everyday lives. He coined more than 1,700 words still in use in modern English and his plays influence the way we think about the world we live in. In recognition of Shakespeare’s 445th Birthday, this Thursday, April 23, 2009, has been designated Talk Like Shakespeare Day. Get in on the act and unleash your inner Bard!

Breast Phobia

Perhaps you've heard the recent news reports regarding the magazine for young mothers called Babytalk, a free educational magazine for new moms. A recent cover photo of the publication featured the head of a baby next to a naked breast. Although I have never seen the magazine, I would assume based upon the title, that the cover was meant to promote breastfeeding. It appears that the mother of a 13-yr old was upset by the cover, particularly troubled it seems that her son saw a breast! More than one quarter of the publications 4000 readers, when polled, also indicated that they did not approve of the cover, calling it inappropriate. Imagine the shock and 'utter' horror these individuals might suffer should they spend any amount of time in the country of Italy. Topless sunbathing is a normal practice - so much so that when a family goes to the beach together you'll often find daughters and moms sunning their bosom 'alla famiglia'! Our family recalls fondly a series of billboards that were displayed for a period of time throughout the north of Italy in an effort to promote breastfeeding among young Italian mothers. Whereas Italians don't in general have a problem with seeing breasts in a positive way as sexual, the younger women, for the most part, choose not to breastfeed. In an effort to promote the health benefits of breastfeeding, giant billboards were created which included not a baby next to a breast, but instead a giant breast! The first one we encountered personally nearly caused my husband to swerve off the road as it was on a rather sharp angular street corner. My two sons, having grown up in the country and spending lots of time on the beach, were not surprised at all - nor were most of the citizens of the country. Although I don't believe it increased the odds at all of young Italian mothers breastfeeding, it certainly was an enjoyable experience and no one wrote any letters to anyone expressing any type of trauma. Perhaps another article I came across today on a baby blog illustrates best the point of Americans and the general trauma that seems to exist in this country, with people of all ages on anti-depressants or anti-anxiety drug - the problem is that they were not breastfed! Read and enjoy the irony along with me:
http://health.msn.com/pregnancykids/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100142172&GT1=8404

Drug-Free and Breastfed,

Mary Margaret

Ciao Tutti!

Sono americana,ma per più di un decennio ho vissuto e lavorato in Italia, in Veneto. I miei antenati e alcuni dei miei parenti arrivano da Brescia e dalla Val Camonica. Adesso vivo in Ohio e lavoro in una biblioteca.

Sin dal nostro ritorno in U.S., più di sei anni fa, mi sono impegnata molto nel mantenere il mio italiano - non un'impresa facile,considerando che l'Ohio fu in primis colonizzato da persone di lingua tedesca. Lavorando in biblioteca, cerco sempre di cogliere ogni opportunità per diffondere il mio amore per la cultura e la lingua italiana tra gli americani,che parlano solamente l'inglese,e incoraggiandoli ad imparare una seconda lingua - l'italiano ovviamente!
ho deciso di scrivere questo blog per condividere i miei progressi.

I am an American from the United States, but for more than ten years I lived and worked in the country of Italy in the Veneto region. I have relatives who are Italian and they live in the city of Brescia and in the Val Camonica. Now I live here in the state of Ohio and I am working in a public library.

Since our return to the U.S. more than six years ago now, I have worked very hard at maintaining my Italian language skills - not an easy task when one considers that the area of Ohio we chose to settle in was primarily settled by German-speaking people. I am also taking every opportunity in connection with my work in a public library to spread my love for the Italian language and culture by encouraging monolingual US citizens to take up the challenge of the global economy and learn another language - specifically Italian, of course. I am writing this blog to chronicle the progress of this endeavor.

Benvenuti!

PAX E BON VIN

Maria Margherita