Archive for the ‘love’ Category
In Loving Memory of Gina DePalma: Citrus Olive Oil & Polenta Cake
Honoring the memory of friend and pastry chef extraordinaire Gina DePalma by baking her citrus olive oil and polenta cake.
Read on...Love Thursday: Christmas Poinsettia Love
For our first Christmas together, P brought home a gorgeous stella di Natale (poinsettia, or literally Christmas star). He really had no way of knowing how much I love the poinsettia — always a fixture at my house growing up during the holiday season — so it was a special gift indeed. It became even more wonderful over the next four Christmases as it bloomed each year (not always right at Christmastime, but it came close).
But then this past summer, it began looking sickly, shriveling and sagging. I furiously searched the Internet for what to do to fix it, but nothing worked. I think it got some sort of root rot, but whatever it was, it was fatal, and it made for a very sad day here.
Until this little one showed up a couple weeks ago:
Poinsettia 2010
I don’t know if this poinsettia will make it past the Christmas season (it doesn’t seem nearly as strong as the previous poinsettia but fingers crossed!) but it did bring a little something special with it tucked in among its gorgeous red leaves:
How many hearts can you see?
Happy Love Thursday everyone; I hope you’re enjoying a fabulous holiday season.
Love Thursday: An Adorable Little Nuccihra of Love
P and I don’t have grand birthday or Christmas celebrations; neither of us are fans of giving gifts only because it’s expected, although “just because” or “I was thinking of you” tokens are always welcome around here.
And we do tend to exchange little, thoughtful things year round — often simple gestures like one of us taking over cooking duties or running to the store when the other is exhausted. There are some physical gifts, but they tend to be of very little monetary value. In our house, it truly is the thought that counts — it always warms my heart to know that when P was “in giro” (out and about), he saw something and thought of me.
Over the years, he’s brought home tiny rosebuds, almond blossoms, old lire coins, a big bluish green lizard (!), porcini mushrooms, and even some saffron flowers.
And most recently this little nuccihra (noo-CHEE-ruh) arrived:
An adorable little nuccihra of love
It’s a type of hazelnut (nocciola) here in the mountains of Calabria —“nuccihra” is Badolatese (local dialect) for little hazelnut . . . an adorable little nuccihra of love if you ask me.
Happy Love Thursday!
Spending Mother’s Day in Campagna
It’s not official yet, so I don’t want to *officially* announce that P and I have acquired a campagna (land in the countryside), but we did spend this afternoon up there, and I can’t possibly hold in my joy.
For La Festa della Mamma, P swept me away from all my four-legged babies and did this for me:
While I did this:
And then we both enjoyed this:
Una giornata perfetta.
(A perfect day.)
Happiest of Mother’s Days to all the moms out there, especially mine!
P.S. Yes, there are olive trees! Yay!
Love Thursday: Honoring Virtual Friendships
A little while back on Facebook, I lamented that I had broken the lid to my sugar bowl and couldn’t find another with a slot for the spoon.
Diana of Creative Structures and the Baur B&B in Piemonte, one of my dearest friends made virtually, responded by making and sending me a sugar bowl — and throwing in an antique spoon and handmade candlestick holder and candle for good measure.
(The mimosa were from P for International Women’s Day on March 8.)
Anyone who has hung around the blogosphere has likely experienced the joy of finding a kindred spirit, someone who always manages to say the right thing when you need it, a person who inspires you by just living her life and letting you share a little a piece of it virtually, and perhaps even in person if time and money allow.
I’ve been extra lucky. I’ve found several such people, and I think of them whenever I read that Internet friendships aren’t real or as valuable as “real life” relationships.
Please.
Friendships are what *you* make of them whether you see the other person every day, once a year, or never. It is up to us how much we let others into our hearts; the physical distance between us doesn’t get a say.
Happy Love Thursday everyone, and
may you have many wonderful friendships to nurture.
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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