Bleeding Espresso

Even though I’m not in America any more, the end of May still means bright red poppies to me.

Yes, these in the fields around here, but I’m talking about the ones that remind me of the sacrifices veterans have made for you and me and how many of them still suffer today even while in the “care” of our veterans’ hospitals.

Every year around Memorial Day, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)’s Buddy Poppy Program and the American Legion Auxiliary Poppy Program distribute millions of crepe paper poppies in exchange for contributions that benefit disabled and hospitalized veterans and their families.

Where do the poppies come from?

Why, the hospitalized veterans make these nine-piece wonders in “Poppy Shops,” gaining a small wage and also some physical and mental therapy.

What is history of the paper poppy?

During World War I, ever-resilient poppies grew and thrived in the war-torn battlefields of Belgium, inspiring this poem by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae:

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

The symbol was picked up by Allied countries immediately after the war ended and paper poppies began being sold. In 1921, the Franco-American Children’s League sold French-produced poppies to benefit the children in areas of France and Belgium hit heaviest by the war.

When the Children’s League dissolved in 1922, the VFW took over the cause and two years later began the Buddy Poppy Program with veterans producing the poppies for the benefit of veterans and their families.

As much as I love the gorgeous wild, natural poppies that surround me, I’m still nostalgic for those paper beauties and all they represent.

So if you’re in America, can you do me a favor? Please make a contribution to the VFW or American Legion Auxiliary and get yourself a poppy.

That way you can remember too.

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Today is Earth Day, 24 hours for us to stop and really think about how our actions affect the environment.

Of course we should do this every day, but, according to the Earth Day Network website, since 1970, April 22 has represented at least one day per year for people around the world to “celebrate the earth and renew our commitment to building a safer, healthier and cleaner world for all of us.”

The Earth Day Network site offers many ideas as to how you can get involved:

Volunteer. Go to a festival. Install solar panels on your roof. Organize an event where you live. Change a habit. Help launch a community garden.

Communicate your priorities to your elected representatives.

The possibilities are endless! Do something nice for the earth, have fun, meet new people, and make a difference.

This Earth Day, I’m going to tell you about the birds and the bees.

OK, really just the bees, but I wanted to make sure you were paying attention.

The plight of honeybees may seem small in comparison to many of the other problems our environment faces, but make no mistake–the fact that millions of honeybees are dying (Colony Collapse Disorder) can have disastrous effects not only on flowers and honey but also on food production, including many of the fruits we hold so dear.

Honeybees pollinate about a third of the food we eat, and without sufficient numbers of bees, these crops simply can’t survive.

Why are bees dying?

A few reasons:

• stronger pesticides (which, incidentally, can be toxic to humans as well);
• loss of natural habitats due to urban expansion;
• changes in farming techniques that replace native vegetation with pasture grasses for cattle; and
• more frequent severe droughts in some areas like southern Italy

The endangerment of honeybees has been big news in Italy. The National Beekeepers’ Association (UNAAPI) has seen drastic drops in honey production–as much as 50%–because of a silent “slaughter of bees.” Along with southern Italy, Tuscany and Umbria have also been hit hard.

Environmental group Legambiente and the Slow Food movement have teamed up to help the UNAAPI create a buzz about the endangerment of bees; hopefully world leaders and lawmakers will work together to ensure that we all avoid getting stung by a major loss of honeybees.

For more information and what you can do to help, see PBS’s program Endangered Honeybees and Häagen-Dazs’s page on how to Help the Honey Bees.

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There is a book that I’ve been meaning to tell you about for a long time, and now that time has finally arrived because if you buy one copy now, you will be sent two copies–a way to entice you to go visit author Ginda Ayd Simpson’s site and help her raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

I recently got an email from Ginda explaining that her sister-in-law Carol Ayd, although being diagnosed with acute lymphatic leukemia in 1988, has been cancer-free for 20 years thanks to a successful bone-marrow transplant–and now Carol is involved with fundraising with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with a goal of raising $6,000.

Ginda is not only the author of this wonderful book but also a fabulous artist (more on that below; paintings throughout this post including the cover art on the book) and co-owner of El Marsam Bed & Breakfast in Umbria–$25 of each B & B booking up until May 31 will also go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

A few years ago, Ginda’s book first caught my eye because she writes about her family’s ancestral town, Davoli, which is just minutes from me.

In Deeply Rooted, in faith & family, Simpson invites us with her and her husband as they transplant their lives from Egypt to Umbria, the Green Heart of Italy.

We follow Simpson through her travails with the infamous Italian bureaucracy, her time in Florence learning new crafts and perfecting her Italian, her constant deep faith in God, and, perhaps most intimately, her reconnection with her Calabrese family.

During the course of the book, Simpson shares many details of Italian living that every Italophile will appreciate, particularly the luscious descriptions of the regional foods of both Calabria and Tuscany.

We are also guests of Simpson at the wedding of her daughter; the family’s church, Santa Lucia, in Davoli is the chosen location. For this most special of all occasions, a cousin has written a poignant, spectacular poem, which Simpson has graciously shared in her memoir.

This engaging, vivid tale paints perfectly the emotions of all of us who have traveled back to our ancestral Italian home–those who haven’t yet taken this journey will find the courage and inspiration to continue the search.

When you go to Ginda’s site to buy the book, also be sure to check out the Art Sale at her El Marsam Studio–her original paintings are 20% off of the original price and Ginda will donate another 10% of the sale price to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

You can also donate directly through Carol Ayd’s Fundraising Page!

Go! Buy! Give!

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There has been a *huge* increase in requests for recognition of Italian citizenship over the past several years–my and my father’s requests included.

Along with “creating” many more Italian citizens in the world, this also means that many (non- or little-speaking Italian) people are becoming eligible to vote in Italian elections for the first times in their lives.

And believe me, the process is *very* different than in the United States.

As I think there may be quite a few people out there confused by the instructions, I’m going to break it down here, in English, and urge you–if you are an Italian citizen, PLEASE exercise your right to VOTE in this election.

AND PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE NOT FOR BERLUSCONI!

Every Italian citizen residing abroad should be registered with the local consulate in the A.I.R.E. (Anagrafe Italiani Residenti Estero). If you are, you should have already received a packet from your consulate including:

• Your electoral certificate (with your name on giving you the right to vote);
• Two (2) different colored ballots (pink for the Camera dei Deputati and blue for the Senato); if you are under the age of 25, you will receive only a ballot for the Camera;
• Two (2) envelopes (one small, blank, and white and the other larger and self-addressed and stamped to your consulate);
• The list of candidates for your area; and
• An information sheet.

1. First of all, grab and use a blue or black pen.

2. Now, an aside to explain a little of what’s going on with the ballots: below the main candidates, all of the people on their “lists” are from the “estero” or outside Italy; those elected will represent your interests as an Italian citizen residing abroad.

Depending on where you live, you will be able to vote for differing numbers of deputati and senatori–don’t worry, the number of blank lines will tell you how many you are allowed to write in.

If you are in North or Central America like my dad, for example, you can vote for 2 deputati and 1 senatore.

So . . .

3. To vote, you place an X over the logo of the party of your choice.

My advice is this one:

Vote for Veltroni! Woohoo!

4. Now you can write in your choices for senatori and deputati as described above being extremely careful to copy the names exactly as printed on the list. And don’t write anything else!

[If you would like my suggestions on senatori and deputati please contact me privately; find information on the candidates (in Italian) here.]

5. Fold and put your two ballots in the small blank white envelope and seal it.

6. Put that envelope inside the bigger envelope addressed to the consulate.

7. Tear off the bottom part of your electoral certificate at the perforation, put that in the big envelope with the ballots, and seal it.

8. Mail it off–it must be received by your consulate by April 10–and wait for election results.

Optional: buy some prosecco if you’re feeling particularly confident in your party.

This page has a fabulous graphic of this whole process. If you have any questions, please leave a comment or contact me.

And, in case I haven’t been clear . . .

VOTE!

*Special thanks to the website of Gino Bucchino, candidate for Camera dei Deputati for Central and North America with Partito Democratico’s (and my) main man, Walter Veltroni; and I’m not just saying this because Bucchino was born in Calabria, I swear.

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In deciding what to make for a Valentine’s Day-themed What’s Cooking Wednesday, I knew chocolate would have to be involved–it has a reputation as an aphrodisiac, you know, even if it technically isn’t.

But peperoncino, or hot pepper, *is* known to get the romance flowing, and if there’s one thing that isn’t difficult for me to find in Calabria, it’s the peperoncino–I’ve even written a tribute to the pods that pack a punch here.

So I found this recipe for Mousse di cioccolato e peperoncino and then I found this basic chocolate mousse recipe in English. I went about picking and choosing from the two recipes and came up with what I present here.

It’s *so* good, I’m going to have to make it again for tomorrow night’s dinner. This just may be my new favorite dessert in fact.

If you’ve never had spicy chocolate, let me assure you that you don’t actually taste the hot pepper–it just gives the chocolate an extra zing, something that tickles your tongue after the rich chocolate taste has passed.

And what better gift to yourself for Valentine’s Day than a tickled tongue? And I’ll leave it at that (wink wink).

Chocolate & Peperoncino Mousse

• 1 bar of bittersweet chocolate (100 grams), in pieces
• 1 espresso-sized cup of espresso
• 2 teaspoons of ground peperoncino (or however much you can handle)
• 1 cup cold heavy cream (unsweetened)
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 1 1/2 tablespoon sugar

First put the chocolate and espresso in the top of a double-boiler, or as I did in a small pot, and heat to melt chocolate. Stir until its smooth and add peperoncino. [Note: both of the above-referenced recipes add butter at this point, but I forgot. I didn't miss it.]

Once the chocolate is melted, set it aside to cool a bit, and now whip the cream and set it aside.

Beat the egg whites until foamy and then sprinkle in sugar and beat until soft peaks form.

Once the chocolate is room temperature, stir in the egg yolks, and then fold in about 1/3 of the whipped cream and half of the egg whites until just mixed and then add the rest of both the cream and egg whites.

Put mixture into serving dishes and let chill in the refrigerator overnight or for about 8 hours (up until 24 hours).

Before you serve the mousse, add some whipped cream on top and a sprinkling of peperoncino for an extra kick.

Buon appetito!

P.S. If you’re more in the mood for a cake this Valentine’s Day, check out last year’s Valentine’s Day Chocolate Cake (also made with coffee)!

P.P.S. Barilla has compiled The Celebrity Italian Cookbook (with Mario Batali, David Tutera, Stanley Tucci, Marisa Tomei, Debra Messing, Natalie Portman and Chris Daughtry), which is free to download here; until February 29th, Barilla will donate $1 for each cookbook downloaded to America’s Second Harvest, the largest domestic hunger relief organization in the United States.

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Technorati Tags: chocolate mousse, mousse, peperoncino, recipe, chocolate, the celebrity italian cookbook

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