Archive for the ‘guest bloggers’ Category
Mediterranean Cooking on a Budget
This isn’t a traditional What’s Cooking Wednesday post. In fact, it’s not even written by me (welcome dear Heather of Yummi Sushi Pajamas!), but it’s full of great information–and TWO recipes–for those trying to eat healthier and save money. Pretty much all of us, I imagine?
But before we get to Heather, in other food news:
I wanted to let you know that Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy and I, as co-hosts of World Nutella Day, (yes, it’s coming faster than you realize!) are holding a contest and giving away some Nutella!
All you have to do is tell us about your first time. Eating Nutella, of course. Get the deets, enter over at the World Nutella Day Facebook Fan Page–coming up on 1800 fans!–and why not become a fan while you’re there?
OK, take it away Heather!
—–
I am so excited to be guest posting on Bleeding Espresso! Here I am to talk about Mediterranean cooking on a budget.
I’ve been lucky enough to make three separate trips to the Mediterranean. Every time I come home, I look around and wonder how I can bring something of the Mediterranean lifestyle into my American living. It’s not an easy thing to do since in a lot of ways the culture couldn’t be more different, but there are some things I’ve been able to manage.
For me, food was the easiest change to make. Mediterranean meals are based on fresh, local ingredients with smaller portions of meat, healthy fats, and lots of veggies. I loved the food when I was there, and I knew I could find ways to work it into my cooking. Following the Mediterranean diet (whole grains, healthy fats, lean proteins in small amounts, and tons of produce) helped me lose six pounds without ever having to measure a serving or count a calorie.
The problem came when the economy took a downturn and I changed my shopping style. Instead of shopping from a preplanned list, I’ve started clipping coupons and shopping sales. It saves us a lot of money, but makes it tough to purchase particular items for specific recipes. Saving money meant changing the way I thought about incorporating the Mediterranean mindset.
Instead of searching for Italian or Greek inspired recipes, I’ve started shopping at local farmers markets. I spend a lot of time putting together recipes from whatever I’ve got in the pantry (lots of canned fruits, veggies, and beans) and whatever produce I am able to grab from the local stands. I am trying to embrace the fact that it’s not olives, capers, or lamb that make a meal Mediterranean. I am learning to embrace the Mediterranean mindset of using what’s fresh and local instead of trying to incorporate specific ingredients.
Last week’s attempt resulted in two extremely good dinners made from local ingredients and pantry leftovers. My first experiment was born from the need to use up two pounds of plums before they rotted. I peeled and pitted all of the plums, then put them in a skillet with:
- A clove of minced garlic
- 1 ¾ cups of sugar
- ¾ cup cider vinegar
- ½ tablespoon ground mustard
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
I boiled it all down, using a spoon to crush the plums a bit better, and waited for it to reduce. It took maybe a half hour total. I used the sauce to top some cooked chopped chicken I had in the freezer, and put it all over some ziti. It turned out really well, and went great with a simple side of sautéed zucchini.
Experiment two was even more adventurous. I sautéed the rest of the zucchini in a little bit of olive oil and garlic. I boiled some penne pasta while the zucchini cooked. After I took the zucchini out of the pan, I tossed in a little more olive oil and a can of sardines I’ve had sitting around forever. The sardines (I chopped them first) cooked down nicely until they were just crisp salty bits, and I tossed in some bread crumbs to soak up the leftover oil. Once that was all done, I tossed the zucchini and pasta into the pan just so it could all warm up together. It was really good and so easy!
Now I feel confident that I can get whatever is fresh at the farmers market every weekend and just make it work with what I’ve got at home. I try to keep some basics like olive oil, lemon juice and capers on hand, and just toss in whatever else I have. It takes some courage, and lots of experimentation, but eventually you’ll find your own style using things you can get inexpensively and creating quick, easy meals that are reasonably healthy.
I know these ideas don’t compare to the amazing recipes featured here on Bleeding Espresso [so NOT true, Heather!], but they’ve been a hit at my house!
—–
Heather Hurd is a freelance writer and blogger. She writes about food and wine for Examiner.com and blogs at Yummy Sushi Pajamas about raising a family and enjoying the good things in life.
—–
They sound delicious!
How have you been saving money on food lately?
Do you enjoy the Mediterranean Diet?
7 Habits of Highly Effective Expats in Italy
Today we have a guest blogger, and she comes from just down the road in Catanzaro. Welcome back Cherrye of My Bella Vita!
7 Habits of Highly Effective Expats in Italy
The reasons people move to Italy vary-some came to retire in the land of their fathers, others were pulled by Italy’s charm and yes, some of us came here for romance-or to say it like my mom would-we came here for a boy.
Regardless of our motives, we all left our homeland and entered the world of Expats in Italy. Over the 3+ years I’ve been here, I’ve noticed there are two distinct categories of expats-Effective Expats, or those who are happy, successful and grounded and Miserable Expats, the ones who can’t wait to leave.
Just so you know if you are considering a move to Italy … you want to be the first type. Just to be sure here are the seven habits of highly effective expats in Italy.
1. They research.
Most people plan for months for their Italian vacation so why wouldn’t they do the same when they are considering a move? Expats can adapt more quickly to their new country when they have done research, read other expat experiences or joined an expat forum. The Internet is full of information on moving to Italy. So fire up your laptop and get reading.
2. They can adjust to change.
Successful expats know where the best laid plans go and are able to adjust to changes as they come. Being able to go with the flow and adjust to those changes, rather than getting disgruntled and negative is one of the major differences between those two groups of expats I listed above.
3. They don’t focus on the differences.
This is one of the hardest habits to attain, but happy expats don’t focus on the differences between their home country and Italy. Learning to appreciate the differences instead of obsess over them makes expat life easier to enjoy.
4. They work hard to acclimate to life in Italy.
If you move to a new city in Any State, USA and lock yourself at home, you won’t be very happy. The same goes for living in Italy. Happy expats take a risk, get out and meet new people and work hard at acclimating to their new lives.
5. They are interested in the world around them.
And by that, I mean effective expats want to learn more about the people, places and things around them. We want to know how they do things, how they did them ‘back in the day’ and why.
6. They have honed their stress-management techniques.
There is no other way to say it, moving to Italy is stressful. Whether you get crushed by the stress of your new life or learn to adjust to the changes depends on how well you handle stress. Successful expats are good stress-managers.
7. They remember who they are.
The most successful expats remember who they are, or more importantly, who they were back home, and don’t alter their behaviors just because they are on foreign land. Some young or temporary expats might find themselves partaking in activities they would have never considered back home.
Opening your mind is a good thing, losing yourself is another. If you aren’t sure what I am referring to – think Amanda Knox.
—
Cherrye Moore a freelance writer and B&B owner living in Calabria, Italy. She writes about expat life for Affordable Calling Cards where they sell calling cards to Italy and about living and traveling in Calabria at My Bella Vita.
—
Thanks Cherrye!
What do you think are some habits of highly effective expats?
La Bella Lingua by Dianne Hales
Please welcome Dianne Hales, author of the new book La Bella Lingua, which I’ve already told you about when we discussed my favorite False Friends.
Well today is La Bella Lingua‘s release date, and I have to tell you, this book is fabulous!
I got my copy two weeks ago–and flew through it in a weekend. I plan on reading it again.
For anyone who has been enchanted by the always beautiful, often frustrating Italian language and tried to grasp its basics as well as its intricacies, Dianne’s tales will not only ring true but also comfort you.
From obscure word etymologies to entertaining anecdotes, La Bella Lingua will keep you turning pages, nodding along in agreement, laughing, and even learning–I picked up quite a few new words myself.
And the writing? A sheer pleasure. Truly.
A *must* for any lover of the Italian language, this book assolutamente warrants five espresso cups out of five.
What’s that? You’d like a copy for yourself?
Well FIVE lucky Bleeding Espresso readers have a chance to do just that.
Simply leave a comment on this post at or before 11:59 p.m. (Italy time), May 19, and I’ll draw FIVE names at random as winners.
**UPDATED: For those of you in Italy who were wondering how to find a copy, you can order the book through Webster.it for €22,37 and shipping is free!
Benvenuta Dianne!
Never did I—a sensible woman of sturdy Polish peasant stock—expect to become madly, gladly, giddily besotted with the world’s most luscious language. But on a mostly mute maiden voyage to Italy in 1983, Italians had talked constantly to, at, and around me. Yearning for a few words to offer in return, I decided to study their language.
My first teacher was an intense young woman from the Abruzzi who had recently moved with her new American husband to San Francisco. She insisted that I repeat an Italian sentence that translated into “I am going into the corridor to smoke a cigarette.”
“But I don’t smoke,” I objected.
“Italians smoke,” she countered.
“Signora, questa frase è importante.”
“It’s not important to me,” I persisted. “I am never, ever going into a corridor in Italy to smoke.”
She sighed. I changed the subject and asked her what she missed most about Italy. “La piazza,” she said as wistfully as if it were the name of a loved one left behind. After a few seconds, she added, “La domenica.”
“Sundays?”
“When you go to Mamma’s.” She began to sob. Shortly thereafter she packed up and returned to Italy.
My next teacher, an aspiring actress who taught Italian to local children, displayed picture books of baby ducks and puppies. When I balked at learning ninnananne (lullabies), she handed me off to her father, who taught Italian at the local community college. Tony, a trim Neapolitan who biked over the hills to my home, would break into arias, dropping onto one knee to serenade me with “E lucevan le stelle” and “Che gelida manina.”
Soon I was a goner, inebriated with Italian’s sounds, lovesick for its phrases. My next classroom was a Sausalito bungalow festooned with so many cherubs and hearts that I thought of its voluptuous owner as la mia Valentina. A Romana (and professional chef) of indeterminate age with henna hair and a full figure Italians might describe as abbondante, she served me delectable merende (snacks) and juicy tales of long-ago lovers.
Crossing the line from tourist to scholar, I decided I was ready to study in Italy. However, the first teacher I had arranged to study with developed a leg cramp while swimming off the Amalfi coast. A Sicilian prince sailing nearby swept her onto his private yacht—and then into a castello by the sea, She never again gave lessons—or, for all I know, decamped from her royal digs. I had better luck at a private school in a Renaissance villa in Assisi, where a faculty of striking young women did indeed excuse themselves to smoke cigarettes in the corridor.
The professor who headed the school complimented my grammar but grimaced at my accent. I must have looked crestfallen, for he hastened to assure me that this was “un problemino,” a teeny tiny problem. All that I had to do, he explained, was talk with more Italians. And so I did.
Returning to Italy every year, I improved my Italian in the most tried-and-true way: by tripping over my tongue and learning from my mistakes. At Camponeschi, our favorite restaurant in Rome, the waiters giggled when they overheard me describe the wonderful view from our terrace of the roofs of Rome. Instead of the masculine tetti (roofs, pronounced tet-tee), I had used the feminine slang tette (tits, pronounced tet-tay).
The madly ambitious idea of writing a book about a language other than my own grew out of a fiction-writing group I belonged to for several years. I wrote a rather prosaic novel called Becoming Italian about the adventures of a group of students, interspersed with notes on the language. Character, plot, and dialogue didn’t much interest me; writing about Italian was the most fun I’d ever had with a word-processing program.
I found the perfect collaborator in Alessandra, a Romana who migrated to the United States years ago and who taught me Italian the way Italians learn the language—through fairy tales, comic books, epic poems, classic novels, operas, folk songs, movies, newspapers, and hours and hours of chatting (chiacchierare) in Italian. I began each session with a mantra: “Sono italiana, sono italiana, sono italiana. “I am Italian, I am Italian, I am Italian.” I must see with Italian eyes, Alessandra would remind me, hear with Italian ears, speak with Italian rhythms.
“How would you say, ‘Give me a kiss?’” Alessandra asked one day.
“Dammi un bacio,” I replied, somewhat taken aback by the query.
“No, no, no,” she chastised gently, explaining that the combination of “n” and “b” strikes an Italian ear as molto brutta, so I must run them together into an “m.”
“Dammi umbacio!” I dutifully repeated, although this phrase seemed even less likely to enter my conversations in Italy than excusing myself to smoke in the hallway.
I was wrong. One of the many Italians who coached me in their language asked for a kiss (and, yes, he said umbacio) the first time we met. When I pulled away, he added the irresistible kicker, “But I’m 87!”
In time all of Italy became my school house, and virtually all the Italians I met enthusiastic (and patient) tutors. In contrast to the French, who praise an impeccable speaker for having une langue châtiée, which literally means a punished tongue, an Italian friend gave me the highest of compliments when he said that my Italian had progressed from being involto (rolled tight, like cannelloni) to disinvolto, as loose and easy, in his words, as a lasagna noodle.
La Bella Lingua–a true opera amorosa, a labor of love—chronicles my idiosyncratic journey through (arguably, I concede) the world’s most loved and lovable language. I have cherry-picked the liveliest parts of Italian’s history and the golden eras of its literature, art, music, movies, and culture.
In its pages, you will meet the people, visit the places, read the words, behold the paintings, hear the music, taste the meals, and watch the movies that taught me the greatest of Italian secrets: how to make the soul smile.
——-
Thanks so much Dianne!
Remember to comment for a chance to win a copy of La Bella Lingua!
Guest Blogger and Book Giveaway: Sybil Baker, Author of The Life Plan
Fresh off Freelance Writing Week, we’re going to keep the writing theme going just one more day with a guest post from Sybil Baker, author of The Life Plan.
Sybil is the first author to appear here through blog tours with WOW: Women On Writing, and hopefully there will be many more to come.
This book tour caught my eye in particular as Sybil is an ex-expatriate who spent 12 years teaching in South Korea; she says her experiences as an expat greatly shape her writing, and I was looking forward to seeing that come through in her book.
And indeed it does.
Her novel, The Life Plan, is about Kat Miller’s carefully planned life falling apart and her efforts to salvage it, which include going to Thailand with Dan, her unemployed husband of five years. Dan has recently been spending a little too much time at yoga class with a beautiful classmate, so when he suddenly signs up for a massage course in Asia, Kat just had to gowith him. With scenes in Washington D.C., Bangkok, and Chiang Mai, the book traces Kat’s search to have it all, whatever that ultimately means.
When I joined the blog tour, Sybil kindly sent me the electronic version of her book to have a look-see, and I may or may not be guilty of minimizing “work” computer windows to catch a peek at what Kat and Dan are up to throughout my workday. I was hooked from page one, and I think this is why e-books are dangerous for me. It’s *way* too easy to click over to the book while I’m supposed to be working!
Sybil has also kindly offered a signed print copy of The Life Plan to one lucky Bleeding Espresso reader; to be eligible for the book drawing:
Leave a comment on this post at or before 11:59 p.m. (Italy time) on Sunday, April 5.
Now here’s Sybil:
The Expatriate Writer in the Post Millennium
When I moved to South Korea in 1995, the internet was just getting started, email was a few years a way, and beepers—not cell phones—were the “must have” item by my students. Once a month I would write a long letter on notebook paper and then photocopy it before mailing the copies to family and friends. My family called once after we arrived, but when my father got the phone bill, he decided he could live with letters.
Those first few years in South Korea, my life was not much different from expatriate writers twenty years ago. I was cut off from my own country, immersed in a very different culture, and forced to communicate using a language I barely knew. I didn’t have a computer, and instead wrote in my notebook. I didn’t know any other aspiring writers, which was a nice change from the States, where it seemed at least two other people at every party I went to wanted to be a writer. I could work on my writing in a strange quiet, within the demands of living in a different country but also without the “noise” of distractions in the States.
Another expatriate writer, Robert Eversz, who lived in Prague during that time said the same thing when I interviewed for an essay on American expatriate literature for The Writers’ Chronicle. His Nina Zero novels take place in LA, which he visited once or twice a year. But Eversz told me that if he lived in LA he wouldn’t be able to write about it because he’d had sensory and information overload. For those first seven years in Korea I wrote about the States—the South that I had left and the characters that lived in that world.
Then in about 2002, I finally wanted to write about Korea and the other countries I visited. By then I had a computer and my notebook was more for planning than anything else. I was living in Seoul, which was becoming more international by the day and less isolating. I could watch Sex and the City, Friends and other popular American TV shows, and the internet connected me to music, movies, and the news that I’d been away from. Suddenly, the advantages of being an expatriate writer were becoming liabilities. I had no one around to read my work and give me feedback. Even with the internet, it was hard to keep up with new work and writers in the States, to figure out where to send my work out. And sending work out from Korea was complicated, time-consuming, and expensive. My self-imposed exile as a writer was no longer freeing but isolating. To resolve this problem, in 2003 I enrolled in Vermont College’s low residency MFA program. I was able to enjoy living abroad but also become connected with writers in the States, to have my work looked at seriously, to catch up on the books I missed.
When I graduated with my MFA in 2005, Seoul was one of the most wired countries in the world, Koreans watched TV shows on their cell phones, and I could chat with my family for free and see them on video using Skype or MSN messenger. Literary journals were starting to appear online, and I’d met a few other writers in Seoul. I now live in the States again, but life for expatriate writers is much different. Blogs allow writers to keep up with the publishing industry, to read about new work and trends. Many journals now take electronic submissions. Online journals are increasing in number and quantity. Online writing communities are sprouting up everywhere.
It’s much easier for an expatriate writer to feel connected to other writers in the States and around the world. In many ways that’s a good thing, although if you fantasize about living as an American expatriate removed from the United States writing scene, you should probably unplug your computer, turn off your cell phone, and take out pen and paper because otherwise, almost wherever you live, you won’t be able to duplicate the expat writer’s life of Hemingway or James Baldwin or Paul Bowles. These days, even my writer friend living in Kabul has internet.
Thanks so much Sybil!
Now I ask all of you: Do/did you have a “life plan”?
Remember to leave a comment to be eligible to win a copy of The Life Plan!
Guest bloggers: Lisa Steinke and Liz Fenton
Facebook is awesome.
Not only is it great for keeping up with old friends, it’s also fabulous for meeting friends of friends and creating new friendships. I stumbled upon ChickLitisNotDead.com in just that way and ended up “meeting” Lisa Steinke and Liz Fenton, authors of I’ll Have Who She’s Having.
I visited their blog and read a blurb about their book and immediately asked if they’d be interested in guest posting here. I can’t wait to read the book (it’s currently in Customs of all places…one book! Come on Dogana!), but for now, here is Lisa:
Liz and I have been friends for *gulp* 22 years. And we’ve been through everything, together. We’ve sported unibrows, mustaches and Lee press on nails. We’ve worn mom jeans, balloon pants and stir ups. There was even a brown braided belt phase I’m not particularly proud of.
It was in college that we first started talking about writing a book. And then we graduated, began our careers, Liz got married, I continued my search for Mr. Right, Liz had a baby and then finally, it all came together. I was in yet another serious relationship with a commitment-phobe that I thought was going to be “the one” and Liz was preggers with baby #2 and we went for it. We wrote the book!
And we’re incredibly proud of the fact that during the writing process, we only tried to kill each other once!
I’ll Have Who She’s Having is the story of a man who comes between a desperately single and a very married sister. Liz wrote the character, Kelly, who is questioning her marriage and her entire life after becoming a stay at home mom. I wrote the character of Kate, the single sister, who after getting dumped on her bootie yet again, continues to look for love in all the wrong places. The book is told from the alternating points of view of Kate and Kelly and is full of laugh out loud moments as the sisters struggle to figure out who is going to make them happy.
We are proud to call I’ll Have Who She’s Having a Chick Lit book. Our belief that the genre isn’t buried six feet under–like many in the publishing world claim– inspired our blog ChickLitIsNotDead.com. Our tag line is “two girls who believe that books with high fashion and happy endings never go out of style.”
We know that there are tons of women (and even men- we don’t discriminate) who want to read a new and campy version of the classic story of boy meets girl, sweeps her off her feet and they live happily ever after. We like to say that our sassy spin and crass sense of humor make our book entertaining. You’ll read about everything from a GP (golden pu**y) to a dremail (drunken email) to a karaoke contest gone way bad.
But at the end of the day, despite the crazy, slapstick antics our characters go through, we believe Kate and Kelly are relatable. We feel we brought a realistic vulnerability to the characters through our own life experiences (although we are not Kate & Kelly, we assure you!) So, whether you’re single or married or somewhere in between, we hope you’ll be able to connect with one or even both of the sisters.
Xoxo, Lisa & Liz
Do you read Chick Lit? What’s your favorite Chick Lit book?
Buon weekend!
Michelle Fabio is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer living in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy and savoring simplicity one sip at a time.
Affiliates, Sponsors & Supporters
Nutella E-book for Sale
Recipes
