Archive for 2007
Love Thursday: Amore Mio
Shh…don’t tell P, but I snapped this photo of him while he was taste-testing the merluzzo from yesterday’s recipe.
I was across the table from him (not my usual seat) pretending to fiddle with the camera to prepare for upcoming food shots when I zoomed and snapped.
Just so you know, this is 1 in a series of 1. There may not be another for a very long time. Doesn’t sit still much this one. Check out the movement in the fork!
And he’s more than just a pretty face! For more P cuteness, check out Conversations with P. And if you want to read about how we met, it’s in How a Jean Jacket and Some Wind Can Change Your Life.
I hope all of my American readers, at least, are having a nice long holiday weekend–I think I just may take one myself in honor of my birth country. God bless America!
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
what’s cooking wednesday: cuoricini di merluzzo in bianco
My fellow Americans…Happy Fourth of July!
In grand tradition, we probably should be firing up the grill for hot dogs and hamburgers (yes, we have them both here, buns and everything!), but back home we also ate a lot of hardshell crabs to celebrate, so we’re going to keep with the seafood theme for this week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday.
Unfortunately, we don’t have good crabs here (they’re so tiny!) but we do have excellent cod.
This dish is called “Cuoricini di Merluzzo in Bianco,” which is literally “Small Hearts of Cod in White.” Sounds romantic doesn’t it?
First, let me explain a little about cod. The best description of the different types in Italy I’ve found is here, and it’s broken down like this:
merluzzo: fresh cod
baccalà: conserved, in pieces, under salt (many Italian-Americans have this for Christmas Eve but even more of you probably recognize this as a name from a certain gangster TV series that recently ended)
stocco: dried and sold whole
I believe we’d call “cuoricini di merluzzo“cod medallions–round pieces about the size of the palm of your hand.
Note here that we’re talking about “pieces of cod” as opposed to “codpieces.” Hah! Go ahead, click on it. I’ll be here when you get back.
We used frozen cod because someone had given me a bag, but you could also do this with fresh fish (haddock as well, in which case my mom would probably call it “Poor Man’s Lobster”).
This recipe is so easy and so delicious, there’s no reason you shouldn’t try it–unless you don’t like cod of course. It’s great and light for the summer with a simple salad on the side, or you can do it as part of a larger meal with this as an appetizer.
Cuoricini di Merluzzo in Bianco
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 kg frozen cod medallions (about eight)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
salt to taste
water, enough to cover cod in pan
juice of a lemon for serving
Defrost cod (submerge in cold water if you’re in a hurry).
Put olive oil in pan over medium heat, add garlic and allow to cook for a minute or two.
Add cod, salt, and parsley, and let cook on one side of the fish for a few minutes (you’ll see it start to brown a bit in spots), then flip.
Turn down heat to low, add enough water to come up to the fish but not cover completely, and let cook for 20-25 minutes. The sauce will be boiling, so just let it as such, giving the pan a shake every so often, until it thickens enough for you.
Serve hot with sauce from pan poured over the fish.
Garnish with a good squirt of fresh lemon juice and a sprig of fresh parsley.
Buon appetito!
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[tags]merluzzo, cod, cuoricini di merluzzo, cod medallions, fish, recipes, cooking, what’s cooking wednesday[/tags]
because you can never know too much
Here are 8 random facts about me, inspired by Sarala of Blogaway, where you’ll find an awesome collection of photos–I especially love those of one of my favorite cities in the world, Chicago.
OK, back to me. Random. Eight. Go.
1. When I was younger, probably from the ages of 8-13, I wanted to be an astronaut. In the middle of those, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, and I wanted to be an astronaut more than ever (I’m guessing my parents *really* hoped it was just a phase).
2. I got myself a small telescope by selling cards and stationery with a company called Olympia or something like that. Anyone remember this? You got so many points for each dollar sold? The telescope was red and black and oh how I loved it so. Summer nights were the best.
3. My favorite constellation was, and is, Cassiopeia. For a class assignment, we had to invent a constellation by poking holes through a piece of black construction paper and then connecting the “stars” with chalk. I modified Cassiopeia so that it had a face to go along with what I thought looked like ears and named it “Cattiopeia.”
4. Not surprisingly, it was my dream to attend Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.
5. Also not surprisingly, there wasn’t enough stationery in the world that was going to make that happen. As compensation, my mother bought me sweatpants and a t-shirt from either the JC Penney or Sears “Space Camp” line. And I wore them. For far too long. In fact, I kind of wish they still fit me.
6. On a night that Jack Horkheimer told me there would be a shooting star show, I set up camp with a blanket and snacks in the back of my grandfather’s old red and white pick-up truck–and didn’t see a one.
7. In fact, I don’t remember seeing any shooting stars until I came to Italy, and now I see them quite frequently–and make a wish every time.
8. I have no vivid recollection as to why I scrapped the whole astronaut idea, but it probably had to do with all the math and science. Just a guess.
Still want to know more about me? There are 100 things, another 100 things, a photo meme, and a bunch of stuff in the “meme time” and “me me me” categories.
Now here are the rules for anyone who’d like to play (I’m not tagging anyone, but if you’d like to share some secrets, I’m all eyes):
* Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
* People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
* At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
* Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
As you can see I’ve broken the rules, so let’s go one further. Even if you only share your randomness in the comments here, you’ll make me happy.
You want me to be happy, right?
OK then. In the words of my favorite Star Gazer: Keep looking up!
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[tags]memes, 8 random facts about me[/tags]
if the blog’s a rockin’ (and a random photo!)
I’m honored to announce that I have been named a Rockin’ Girl Blogger by Grace at Sandier Pastures. I just stumbled across this Dubai-based blog recently, and I’ve been a faithful reader ever since.
Grazie mille Grace!
Update: Just after I posted this, I saw that JennieBoo had tagged me too, so thanks JennieBoo (with a button coming back at you)!
And in all of life’s irony, I’m also choosing today to announce that blogging will likely be slowing down a bit around here as we slide deeper into the summer schedule. P and I are moving down to his house (about a minute walk away) over the next couple months–there’s quite a bit of work on his house to be done so it’ll be in stages. Lots o’ work ahead my friends.
In fact, I spent much of this weekend (when I wasn’t hanging out with Cherrye!) packing and also trying to fix up the Photobucket fiasco in which most of my blog’s photos were replaced with “bandwidth exceeded” messages. I’m almost there, but not quite, so bear with me.
Anyway, now I will pass along the Rockin’ Girl Blogger title–first to all my fellow She Who Blogs members, and also to five worthy girl bloggers (although there are many, many more on my sidebar–if you’re there, I think you’re rockin’ too!).
In no particular order:
1. -R- of And You Know What Else whose latest post ends like this:
When we went to Target today, I was wearing a new t-shirt from Target, a new skirt from Target, and gold sandals from Target. For some reason, I am self-conscious when I wear an all Target ensemble to Target (or an all The Gap ensemble to The Gap, for example). Like someone will notice and think, Try shopping somewhere else for once, you freak!
2. Stefanie of Stefanie Says, who wrote in a recent post about home breathalyzer tests:
I won’t go into the details (because I’m not entirely clear on them myself and also because it’s not my story to tell), but I will say that she ended up missing that party I hosted recently not because she flaked out, fell asleep, or got a better offer, but because while I was mixing mojitos with my new muddler, she was bonding with prostitutes and drunkards in a city jail. Good times.
3. Somepinkflowers who recently shared with us a lovely Tourist Tuesday through St. Augustine, Florida:
Today’s Tourist Tuesday posting is brought to you by Our Lady of the Looking Up. Her prayer is not to stop and smell the roses; her prayer is to stop and stretch your neck, chin held high, and look around. See there what you have been missing.
4. Wanderlust Scarlett of From the Shores of Introspect and Retrospect, a fellow dreamer who recently wrote:
Sometimes following our dreams takes more bravery than we think we can muster, but once in a blue moon we find ourselves face to face with the opportunity to reach that far off neverland, where the fantasy becomes reality. It takes a very special and true kind of courage to step up to fate, close your eyes, and step off the ledge to discover that you can indeed fly.
5. Cherrye of My Bella Vita my kindred spirit here in Calabria who wrote about not being able to hold a grudge:
When I was younger I would forget I was supposed to be mad at someone, see them, and smile or wave. Then . . . dang! You just can’t go back after that and say you forgot! That negates everything.
Blog on girlfriends!
Ah, and here’s something I found while going through folders for Operation Photo Replacement. This was taken outside of Catanzaro a few months ago from a moving car, showing that sometimes it really is better to be lucky than good.
P.S. Sarala, I’m on that meme!
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[tags]rockin’ girl blogger award[/tags]
guest blogger leonardo: i am lion, hear me door
Hah! I knew she wouldn’t notice. She’s always so busy with that tiny dog of hers. When they went out for a walk this morning, I took my chance. I nicked the camera, went to Catanzaro, and I found exactly what I was looking for.
As a young cub, I remember curling up next to my father asking to hear The Story. When my father was much younger, he was beautiful, but he had always been in the shadow of his older brother, who was one of the best hunters anyone could remember.
One day as my father was roaming around the Kalahari hoping to stumble across a just-killed antelope to share with the pride, he came across a strange-looking creature playing in the sand. My father remembered his father telling him about such things–men–and that they would only harm us if we weren’t nice to them.
So my father asked him a question.
“What are you doing there?”
“I am creating,” the man responded, continuing to make large swirls in the sand without looking at my father. “What are you doing there?”
My father, seeing that this man was friendly, had decided to play a bit with him. “I am looking to kill. Roooooaaaaaaar!”
The man turned to my father, and his eyes quickly swelled with tears. He was quite thin with long hair and beard and his pale legs shook as he stumbled to his feet and stood before the lion at least twice his size. He gripped my father’s head between his hands, smoothed some sand from his mane, and kissed my father’s wet nose.
“It is you I have been looking been for,” said the man. “I am an artist, and I have been asked to design a door for a very important building in a place far from here. You must come with me. You must be my model.”
And so my father, who had not yet met my mother, left his pride for Italy, traveling with Leonardo for many years before returning to the Kalahari. My father’s face became a part of many of Italy’s most famous buildings, as well as some that aren’t so famous.
So imagine my delight when Sognatrice chose me to be her lion in the Shameless Lions Writing Circle. I was going back to Italy! I could finally see my father’s doors!
And this morning I had my chance.
For anyone who hasn’t been to the old part of Catanzaro, let me tell you, it’s confusing, and no one seems to know the names of the streets when you ask them. I wandered in and out of the tiny alleys for hours before I came to a little square, the exact place my father had once described to me.
And there he was. My father’s gorgeous eyes staring back at me after all these years.
Isn’t he beautiful? Can you see the resemblance?
My father so loved this artist and was so grateful for all of the good things he brought to him that when I was born, he named me Leonardo to honor him.
And now here I am back at home with Sognatrice. I tried to sneak the camera back to its spot, but of course my whole secretive plot was foiled when I realized that I needed her fingers to type this. She’s a good lion caretaker, though. She didn’t yell or anything.
Turns out she’s a sucker for a good story.
Lioningly yours,
Leonardo
(That’s me on the sidebar! I’m famous!)
P.S. Buon weekend!
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[tags]lions, shameless lions’ writing circle, writing, catanzaro, calabria[/tags]
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
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