Bleeding Espresso

Yesterday’s meme asked me to name two random things I love about life, and it reminded me that once upon a time, I started keeping a list of such things here:

Here’s a small selection of what’s inside, tear-stained and all (click to enlarge):

Some are things probably only I enjoy and some things may not even be enjoyable to me anymore (uh, Smashmouth anyone?), but at the time I wrote it down, it made me smile.

Indeed, each entry sparks a specific image or memory in my mind–a point in life, a few words from someone I haven’t thought of in years, a feeling I couldn’t begin to put into words, in short, a part of me.

I hope you can find something there to make you smile as well.

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Technorati Tags: journals, happy things

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OK, there must be something in the air, because I’ve been tagged again. I’m such a sucker for a good meme that I haven’t turned down a tag request yet, and here I am, keeping my streak alive.

The lovely Vanessa (from the blog that shares a name with this post) has passed along some rather unique questions from Create a Connection, an interesting site I’m just getting to know.

Here’s the Q & A:

I’m eating a leftover hamburger (w/ mayo, on wheat bread) and sautéd zucchini as I type this. What did YOU eat last?
A cappuccino and a cornetto, which normally I don’t have in the morning, but it was calling to me, and who am I to reject a Nutella-filled cornetto?

Update: I originally did this meme in the morning but then couldn’t get onto the Internet because of severe thunderstorms. Since then, I’ve eaten some minestrone. Full disclosure here on Q & A.

I am totally head-over-heels for a very tall man named James, who has a very sexy new haircut (picked out by me, of course! lol) What about YOUR love life? Anyone special?
Yes, someone affectionately known as P on this blog, but as a different, disgustingly cute nickname in real life that shall never be disclosed in a public forum. Read more about how we met here. P is about 5’10”, extremely thin even though he eats twice as much as I do, is an excellent cook, and treats Luna like a daughter (which, of course, she is).

I live in a little house, with lots of trees, on a dead-end street. What is it like where you live?
Right now I live in a redone, medieval house in a village in southern Italy overlooking the Ionian Sea. Although I won’t go into more details just yet, this may be changing—but only by a few paces down the corso, so don’t get too excited. And forget I mentioned full disclosure.

I love my hair, and my cute wittle nose. What are YOUR favourite features about yourself?
I really like my brain the best (it usually works pretty well), but physically, I suppose my hair because it’s really quite manageable so long as I keep it reasonably clean, and my eyes—even though they’re just brown, I rather like the shape and shade.

Today, I pondered about the need for mentoring in young women’s lives. What deep thoughts have YOU been pondering upon?
I’ve been thinking a lot about the Italian school system even though I don’t have any children (yet). We were discussing it in one of my English classes, and it has me thinking about what works, what doesn’t, and what I would probably have to provide for any future children with regard to education. Scary stuff.

I love cheese (cubed colby & monterey jack) and green growing things! List 2 random things you love about life.
Sliding across a tile floor in socks and climbing into fresh, warm sheets. And so many more. I actually started making a list of such things several years ago, so I think I’ll start posting some periodically.

I found CAC (Create a Connection) through Melba, who I found through A Mindful Life, which I stumbled on by doing a random search for Buddhist blogs, for no apparent reason! How did YOU find out about CAC?
I just found CAC through Vanessa who tagged me with this meme; it looks fabulous! I’m not quite sure how I found Vanessa (Sunday Scribblings perhaps?), but I’m sure glad I did.

I absolutely *heart* thunderstorms! What do YOU love most about spring?
Increased daylight, which really hadn’t been a big deal to me until this year. I just love that when I’m done teaching in the evening, it’s not pitch black and cold anymore. It also means my balcony stays warmer in the sunshine a little longer in the mornings, which is great for the plants.

* * * * * * * * * *

Dearest Vanessa then continued the meme party by listing 5 things about herself. Well, you all know how much I love to talk about me, so I played along with this as well, adding my own slant since I’ve already done so darn many things about me. I needed guidance, and I found some.

Five things about me connected to the 5 senses:

1. Taste. I love chocolate, but I really don’t like overly chocolate things, e.g., chocolate cake with chocolate icing. Blech.

2. Sight(ish). I have really good visualization skills, so that I can see in my mind the way I want a room to look and know that it will be something I like. P doesn’t have this so much, so when it comes time to move furniture, I have to convince him that what I see in my mind will be pretty, I swear. And then I whine for good measure.

3. Touch. I love walking with P, my arm linked through his or vice versa. I’m not sure we’d do this so much if he weren’t Italian, or if we weren’t in Italy, so I’m glad he’s him and we’re here.

4. Hearing. I absolutely hate a loud television; this is why surround sound is wasted on me. It actually sometimes makes me sick in my stomach.

5. Smell. I love, love, love the smell of onions and peppers being fried. Love. I don’t even have to eat them later as I get (mostly) full on the smell. But I eat them anyway just so they don’t feel sad.

I’m not going to tag anyone specifically, but do play along if you fancy doing so with either or both of the memes. And don’t forget to leave me a link so I can find you!

Buon weekend a tutti!

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Technorati Tags: memes

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Sounds kinky and maybe it can be, but what I’m referring to is what I noticed a few evenings ago.

When it’s time to serve dinner, instead of dirtying yet another dish we (I) usually just take the pan full of whatever from the stove to the table. After a major sit-down with the other night’s lovingly prepared delicious rabbit and potatoes, I was just about to grab the pan to take to the sink when I saw this:

Love really is all around if you pay attention–

and what were we saying about the kitchen being a place full of love?

Happy Love Thursday everyone!

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Technorati Tags: love thursday, olive oil, hearts, love, amore

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Let me start by saying I know rabbit probably isn’t a common dish for many of you, but we eat it all the time as P’s parents raise the little guys for food. You could easily do this recipe with chicken, though, so please don’t be put off by the bun’.

This week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday will mark a first around here as I decided to post an entire meal–mostly because once I put a plate together last night, it looked so darn good, I couldn’t resist.

So, here we have rabbit with rosemary, roasted potatoes, garlic bread, and salad with red onion. Let’s take it from the top with all the ingredients you’ll need for everything.

1 rabbit cut into pieces
6 medium potatoes (serves 2-3 people)
salad greens
6 cloves garlic
olive oil
rosemary
white wine vinegar
salt
black pepper
peperoncino
1 red onion for salad (optional)

Oven-Roasted Potatoes

First preheat the oven to about 400°F (205°C). Peel and cut the potatoes into wedges, and put them in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and season them with black pepper, peperoncino, a few sprigs of rosemary, and a generous amount of salt. Don’t be afraid of the seasonings here; it takes a lot to overseason potatoes (except with the peperoncino, depending on how hot you like them).

Put them in the oven, and just let them do their thing. Every now and again, give them a shake and turn them around a bit. They should take about an hour and fifteen minutes to roast, and if you want them crispy on the outside but soft in the middle (how I like them but P doesn’t), it’ll take a little longer. The other option to shorten cooking time is to raise the heat from the get-go.

Let the potatoes sit for a few minutes before you eat as they are extremely, extremely hot out of the oven. Bet you knew that.

Rabbit with Rosemary

If the rabbit (or chicken) isn’t cut into pieces, that needs to be done first. P’s in charge of all things bunny around here, so he does this, and I have no tips to offer. Although a lot of people marinate the rabbit, we don’t, and I really like it better this way because you taste more of the rabbit and less of the seasonings, but to each her own.

Put a generous amount of olive oil (5 tablespoons) in a frying pan and sauté 4 garlic cloves on medium heat until lightly golden brown and then remove.* Add rabbit pieces, seasoning with black pepper, peperoncino, salt, and rosemary sprigs. Once one side of the bunny is browning, flip, and let the other side brown as well.

Turn down the heat to low, add about a half cup of white wine vinegar, and let rabbit simmer for another fifteen to twenty minutes or so, or until the inside is no longer pink. If your rabbit is sucking in all the liquid too quickly, add some hot water, but only if absolutely necessary.

*For a special treat, add some pancetta/bacon to the garlic at the beginning; this adds a great smoky taste.

Note that the entire rabbit portion of the meal will probably take about forty-five minutes, so you can try to time it with the potatoes accordingly.

Garlic Bread

About five minutes before you will eat, you should put the bread in the oven. You can use a fancy broiler if you have, but I just used the heat from the potatoes and set the oven on its lowest setting for the bread.

Use thin slices of preferably Italian bread, and smear on a little butter or drizzle a little olive oil, depending on your taste. Peel a couple of garlic cloves and cut in half; use the halves to rub onto the bread.

Put in the oven, and remove when toasted to your liking–a light golden brown is usually good.

Salad with Red Onion

OK, you probably don’t need instructions here, but for the sake of a complete meal, I’ll describe what I did.

Wash the salad greens and tear into bite size chunks. Cut a red onion into chunks and mix with greens. For the dressing, drizzle olive oil and white wine vinegar on top and then add salt and a pinch of sugar. Toss salad and serve.

And there you have an entire meal, ready in about an hour and a half from start to finish.

Buon appetito!

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Technorati Tags: rabbit recipes, rosemary, roasted potatoes, potatoes, salad, red onions, garlic bread, cooking, what’s cooking wednesday, recipes

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As I type this at 2:30 in the afternoon, it’s raining. Hard. Again.

But it was an absolutely gorgeous morning, and for the first time in a (too) long while, I went out and about and took some photos.

First, some of Luna Balloona.

Chillin’ in the piazza.

At attention.

Her response to “Work it girl! Bring the sexy back!”
Also known as the over-the-shoulder-come-hither.

Now, other nature.
A precocious fig tree that already has most of its leaves; village in background.

And, last but certainly not least, the first wild daisy that I’ve seen this year.

Even when it’s raining, may you always walk in sunshine.
–paraphrased Irish proverb

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Technorati Tags: dogs, figs, daisies, flowers, calabria, southern italy

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