Archive for the ‘blogging’ Category
What’s Cooking Wednesday: Eggplant Balls
Yes, I said eggplant balls.
Think of these as . . . meatballs without the meat. Vegetarian meatballs? Aubergine croquettes? Balls o’ eggplant? Polpette di melanzane?
Whatever you choose to call them, I call them fabulous and this week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday recipe.
Yesterday was market day, which, ever since I got back from Sicily and a fabulous plate of Pasta alla Norma, has meant a handful of eggplants coming home with me.
I love eggplant balls without any kind of sauce, but you could certainly use a basic tomato sauce as a dip (such as this dipping sauce for fried mozzarella) or even something creamy like perhaps you’d use (although I don’t) for fried zucchini.
Also if you want to make them a little fancier, shape them wider and flatter instead of in balls. Either way these are *delicious* and also a great way to hide eggplant in something tasty.
Eggplant balls
(Polpette di melanzane)
[makes about 18 balls]
- 1 medium eggplant
- 1 1/4 cup breadcrumbs (put aside 1/4 cup for rolling before frying)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano/Grana Padano cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil and/or parsley, chopped
- 1 egg
- salt to taste
- olive oil for frying
1. Put pot of water on high heat. When water reaches a boil, turn down the heat a bit, cut eggplants in half (and then in half again if you’re using the smaller, fatter eggplants like I do), leaving the skins on, sprinkle a good bit of salt into the water, and then add the eggplant. Let simmer for about 20 minutes or until they are tender.
2. Remove eggplant, drain, and pat dry, letting them cool before chopping them into small cubes, about 1/4 inch in size.
3. Put eggplant in large mixing bowl and add bread crumbs, garlic, cheese, parsley, basil, egg, and salt and mix well. If the mixture is too moist, add more bread crumbs.
4. Shape into balls and then roll balls in breadcrumbs.
5. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium/high heat. When oil is hot, add eggplant balls one at a time without crowding them. Turn them often with a wooden spoon to make sure all sides get brown, which should take anywhere from 3-6 minutes.
Buon appetito!
welcome to the ultimate blog party!
It’s that time of year again–The Ultimate Blog Party is here!
The wonderful women of 5 Minutes for Mom are our hosts. There will be prizes and, best of all, lots of great blogs to discover, so get on over there and sign up!
I participated last year as well (you can read my welcome post here), but for those of you visiting for the first time:
I am an American who has been living in southern Italy for, oh my goodness, almost five years already. I have a P (my fiancé), a Luna and a Stella (my adorable pooches), and you can read plenty more about me here.
This blog is a place for me to keep family and friends up to date on my life as well as share my observations on Italian curiosities from governments collapsing to plastic ball protests to*big* mistakes in ordering shoes for policewomen to pasta strikes.
No, it’s never boring in Italia.
Especially with all the great food. Need a recipe? I’ve got plenty here, but how about some bruschetta al pomodoro to start off this party?
Please feel free to make yourself at home and have a look around–some of my favorite posts are here. And be sure to let me know you’ve stopped by!
Now I don’t know about you, but I have some serious blog-hopping to do.
P.S. For those looking for a post on Sicily, there are lots more Sicilian adventures on the way. Remember to keep an eye on my Sicily 2008 Flickr set for updated photos!
1st of the month featured bloggers: march
Can you believe it’s already the 1st of the month again? You know what that means! Time for more
1st of the Month Featured Bloggers
It’s probably not surprising that fellow expats hold a special place in my heart. No matter where we’re from and where we’ve moved to, we’ve left behind all that we’re used to, the comfortable, daily routines that we didn’t even have to think about as we shuffled through them for the unknown–new, uncertain lives in new countries.
Expats end up having a lot in common almost by default, and I think many of us feel sometimes inexplicable connections with other expat bloggers. At least I do.
So here are two of my favorite expat bloggers, chosen for their many talents and also for simply making me happy on a regular basis.
Both of these women have an amazing ability to paint a scene with words and photographs and to draw me into their cities and lives. I always enjoy visits to their virtual homes, and I hope that you will too.
* Jessica of In Search of Dessert *
“At the table of life there are knives in the back, and forks in the road. I keep a spoon handy, in case life dishes up dessert.”
With a tagline like that, how can you *not* want to dive in and see what Jessica is serving up?
At In Search of Dessert you’ll find an American living in Switzerland after stops in Texas, Hawaii, Indiana, England, and Rome. A freelance writer and fabulous photographer now, Jessica has also been a donut froster, a librarian, a dishwasher, and a program manager at a Fortune 500 company.
With her words, photos, recipes, and keen observations on daily life, Jessica brings you right into Geneva and surrounding areas or wherever it is she is at the moment. Ah, and did I mention she’s also planning a wedding? Check out Jessica’s special expat weddings blog, Weddings Start to Finish, as well.
* Amanda of London Southern Belle *
Amanda is a freelance writer who found her way to London after a 10-year long-distance relationship with her British husband; she describes herself as “your average belle with steel Magnolia, sweet potato queen baggage.”
Since November 2004, Amanda has written about “balancing her teaching career as a college lecturer, driving on the ‘right’ side of the road and adding milk to hot tea.” Recently, Amanda’s blog has a whole new dimension as she shares the emotional process of her and her husband’s starting a family through IVF treatments.
Warm fuzzies abound when visiting Amanda’s place, so do brew up a nice mug of tea (I recommend Earl Grey!) before you go. You could be there awhile.
Happy blog-hopping!
international you call the holiday day
Brian Vaszily of IntenseExperiences.com has written about how every calendar day has a holiday attached to it–from the biggies like Christmas (Dec 25) and U.S. Independence Day (July 4) to more, ahem, minor celebrations for Cable Cars (Jan 17) and Holding Hands (Aug 9).
Unfortunately, we just missed Crab-Stuffed Flounder Day on February 18, but today? It’s apparently National Pistachio Day so grab a nut and get crackin’! Hah!
Anyway, based on the idea that “We need more celebrating of the universe and every marvelous thing within it” (right on!) Brian came up with International You Call the Holiday Day and asked his readers to create holidays.
His questions to consider are these:
- If you could designate your own holiday, what would that holiday celebrate?
- Consider what you cherish that doesn’t get the attention you feel it deserves — that which you feel should be recognized and celebrated more — and perhaps go with that. Or go with whatever your heart tells you to go with.
- What would you name your holiday?
- In the way that chocolate and love notes are exchanged on Valentine’s Day and turkey is consumed at Thanksgiving, what actions would you want people to take to honor and reflect your holiday’s theme? Why?
- In the way that green equals St. Patrick’s Day and orange and black equals Halloween, are there certain colors you’d want to associate with your holiday? Why?
- Specific food and drink you’d want consumed on the day?
- Any existing songs, films, poems or the like that would be a good fit for your holiday?
- Famous personalities that come to mind who best embody the spirit of it?
- Particular stuff we’d all stick up in our windows and inside and outside of our house to celebrate it?
I’d love to hear what you come up with, so if you don’t mind, please post your ideas here and then again (copy and paste is your friend!) over at Brian’s in the form at the bottom of this page and you just might see your holiday appear in his free IntenseExperiences.com newsletter.
What would your holiday be?
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[tags] IntenseExperiences.com, Brian Vaszily, International You Call the Holiday Day, holidays[/tags]
things left unsaid
I’m a fan of being honest.
And I do try to tell my loved ones how important they are to me as much as possible.
Sometimes, though, there are things you’d really like to say to someone but don’t, or can’t, for various reasons–avoidance, tact, shame, embarrassment, shyness, whatever.
I got this idea from -R- at And You Know What Else (who got it from Abbersnail who got it from NPW), and here are 15 things I haven’t said (not all to the same person of course):
1. As much as I don’t want your opinion to matter to me, it does, and it hurts.
2. I’m still sad that our friendship changed so much; I miss you terribly.
3. You don’t know how much seeing your name in my inbox makes me happy.
4. I’m sorry for what is going on with you and your family, but you created the situation.
5. I miss laughing with you *so* much.
6. I am so happy we didn’t work out. So. Very. Happy.
7. I can’t believe you’ve procreated.
8. I’ll never understand your outlook on the world, and that’s a good thing; I’d hate to see the world as you do.
9. You’re becoming your mother. Stop it.
10. I really, truly hope you are happy even though I’ll probably never speak to you again.
11. I’ll never forget the night I met you, and I will always treasure it.
12. Just thinking of you makes me smile. Always.
13. I forgive you, and you don’t even know for what. I forgive you for that too.
14. I think about you every single day at least once, usually more.
15. I’m so very sorry I’m not there watching you learn new things every day.
What haven’t you said?
Buon weekend!
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.
Calabria Guidebook
Recipes
