Archive for the ‘P’ Category
Buona Festa della Donna: Happy International Women’s Day!
* Have you joined The Ultimate Blog Party? See my welcome post here! *
Today is March 8, a day to celebrate women around the world (except, ironically, in the United States where the whole thing started).
For more on how International Women’s Day is celebrated in Italy, read my post from last year: Love Thursday: Celebrating Women.
I couldn’t let the day pass without giving my fellow women some mimosa, the international symbol of the day. As I wrote last year, the mimosa around here blooms too early to still be around for La Festa della Donna, but this year, P thought ahead.
He brought me some mimosa for Valentine’s Day, climbing to the top of the tree (as told to me by witnesses) for what he insisted were the best, and now these are actually hanging to dry:
Yes, because I’m so classy, I displayed them in an old Brasilena bottle on the fireplace.
And why yes, that *is* a vase just behind them. I’m classy *and* a bit ironic apparently. And a lot paesana.
But don’t they just look at home in the bottle?
Happy International Women’s Day fellow women!
heath ledger: 1979-2008
I wasn’t planning on writing a post about this, but I just have to. I was literally lying awake the other night thinking about the sudden death of Oscar nominated actor Heath Ledger, so I knew I’d have to write.
Because that’s what I do when I need to work through something.
And seeing as though nearly a week has passed since Ledger’s death but it hasn’t strayed far from my mind for more than a few minutes at a time, clearly I need to work through this.
I wasn’t a particularly huge Heath Ledger fan, and I’m not one to be emotionally involved in the lives of celebrities in general, so what’s the deal here? Why does the mere thought of his smiling face send me into an emotional downward spiral?
I don’t know how many 28-year-olds die every day in the world. However many it is, it’s too many, and each one of those deaths is tragic. But it’s Ledger who has made me stop and look squarely at death.
Death that comes at all ages, sometimes when we expect it, but more often when we don’t.
And I think of Ledger’s 2-year-old daughter Matilda, who, by all accounts, he simply adored. Indeed, being a father was a “cosmic” experience for Ledger–and it showed to anyone who caught of a glimpse of him and his little girl around New York City.
And then I think of his former fiancée and mother of his child, Michelle Williams, just four years younger than I am, raising her daughter in a world without Ledger.
Obviously I don’t know what happened between them, but as their split is only a few months old after three years and a child together, well, I have to believe that there are still a lot of deep feelings involved. My heart truly goes out to her–and to all young parents who have lost their partner in raising a child.
It’d be nice if the media would leave Williams and her daughter alone right now, but we know that won’t happen.
Here on the homefront, P didn’t know precisely who Ledger was until I pointed him out (P’s not great with names of foreign actors), but once he realized who Ledger was, P, too, was drawn into a pool of sadness–very unlike him, might I add. He’s not what I’d call into the whole celebrity gossip scene.
“Sono sempre i migliori quelli che se ne vanno,” he said while shaking his head–the rough Italian equivalent of “only the good die young,” a sentiment that Robin expressed the other day as well and to which I replied that I couldn’t help thinking of Natalie Merchant’s song “River” about the tragic death of 23-year-old River Phoenix in 1993. Not all the lyrics apply, but they’re pretty close to how I feel about Ledger’s situation as well.
A piece from the The Huffington Post written by Star Jones entitled Reporting on the Dead also does a good job.
Toxicology reports and the final word on what caused Ledger’s death will be coming in soon, but honestly, it doesn’t matter to me what killed him–unless, of course, it was, as suspected, a fatal prescription drug combination that others may learn from.
What I mean is that no matter how Ledger died, his life, his work, his passion, his down-to-earth way of living touched millions of people, and perhaps in death, he’s reaching out to even more of us.
I still can’t put my finger on why this has affected me so deeply, but I know that others feel the same way. Even though they didn’t know one another, actor Daniel Day-Lewis couldn’t get Ledger off his mind during an interview with Oprah Winfrey during which he was supposed to be discussing his Oscar nomination for There Will Be Blood:
“I didn’t know him. I have an impression, a strong impression, I would have liked him very much as a man if I had. I’d already marveled at some of his work, and had looked forward so much to seeing the work that he would do in the future.”
I think this sums up how a lot of us feel about Ledger–he just seemed like a guy you’d love to hang out with at the pub and yet also someone who took his work, his craft, and his family so seriously that you couldn’t have anything but respect for him as a man.
And I do hope this remains his legacy. He deserves nothing less.
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[tags]heath ledger, michelle williams, river phoenix, daniel day-lewis[/tags]
almond blossoms mean never having to say you’re sorry (sort of)
My grandparents were bickerers.
Together, they were one of those couples that couldn’t have a normal conversation about anything without snipping, snapping, growling, or worse. I’m sure you know one of these couples. Maybe you’re even in one.
Sure there was love between them, but their expression of that love left a lot to be desired for me personally. Worked for them, apparently, so more power to them.
I decided early on, though, that I didn’t want to have that sort of relationship (does anyone really *want* that?) but we all have to accept that arguing (sometimes in “outdoor voices”) is a part of life, especially in close personal relationships.
But it’s how we deal with those arguments that matters.
P and I are going on three years together and for us, it’s a continual learning process, and I hope it always stays that way. We’re both becoming better at not taking out bad moods on the other and with talking through our true feelings–those feelings underlying what *seems* to be the problem but really has nothing to do with much of anything.
But we’re not perfect. And thank goodness for the first almond blossoms of the season when one of us is less perfect than the other.
Just so you know, though, P *does* bring me the first almond blossoms of the season even when things are peachy keen. See here.
Difficult times always create opportunities for you
to experience more love in your life.
~ Barbara de Angelis
Happy Love Thursday,
and may you pass all of your relationship tests with flying colors.
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[tags] love, amore, love thursday, almond blossoms, blossoms, almonds, mandorla, flowers, barbara de angelis[/tags]
love *is* all around
P is currently working on a house for a Swiss man, so I have been taking photos and sending them by email to the new owner to keep him up to date on the progress.
Of course this gives me an excuse to wander around a bit and take more village photos–but as it turns out, I don’t have to roam very far from that house to remind me that love really *is* all around.
These are all a few steps from where P parks his motorino:
These images are overseen by a gorgeous stone angel who is on la Chiesa di San Nicola, the center of the small quadrant of the village that the families of both P and me are from.
The church was built in 1239 and is mentioned by name in George Gissing’s classic travel memoir By the Ionian Sea: Notes of a Ramble in Southern Italy; the author had happened upon the church’s parroco on a train, which led Gissing to write:
I would ask nothing better than to visit him, some autumn-tide,
when grapes are ripening above the Ionian Sea.
I wonder if Gissing ever did get the pleasure of having this face look down upon him.
Happy Love Thursday everyone!
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[tags] love thursday, hearts, angels, george gissing, by the ionian sea, ionian sea, badolato, san nicola, chiese, churches[/tags]
what’s cooking wednesday: roasted peppers with garlic & olive oil
Just those words have your mouth watering, don’t they?
Well not if you don’t like peppers, but if you’re like me and could eat any kind of pepper–sweet, hot, red, yellow, green–at just about any given time, you probably love roasted peppers as well.
And there’s no reason why you can’t have them made at home whenever you want (provided that you can get peppers). My favorite are roasted red peppers because they’re oh-so-sweet, but you can use any kind you like.
There are a few different ways to prepare them, but to me, grilling them is best. We do ours over smoldering coals:
But if you use your broiler, the peppers are still going to be delicious. Check out this great tutorial from AllRecipes.com on how to roast peppers in the oven.
Yes these get a little messy (I’m spoiled in that P actually enjoys all the dirty work here), but they are so worth the effort–you’ll never buy pre-prepared roasted peppers again after you taste them homemade.
Perhaps some of you are already wondering what to do with roasted peppers. A simple Google search led me to this page from Prevention’s The Healthy Cook: The Ultimate Illustrated Kitchen Guide to Great Low-Fat Food.
Some of The Healthy Cook‘s suggestions are pepper and cheese canapés, pepper fritters, peppers and shrimp salad, antipasto, and peppers parmigiana. They all sound fabulous, as does this book in general now that I’m looking at it more closely. . . .
Some more ideas? Add them to sandwiches, salads, dips (great in hummus!), tomato sauce, or as a topping on pizza.
This is what we usually do with our roasted peppers: we like to dress them up with olive oil, garlic, and a touch of salt and then eat them with fresh, warm bread–even on toasted bread for a nice bruschetta with peppers.
Remember how great that bruschetta with tomatoes was? This is a great winter variation.
So without further ado, this week’s What’s Cooking Wednesday:
Roasted Peppers with Garlic & Olive Oil
- Peppers–as many as you like, of the variety you prefer
- Enough good olive oil to cover them
- Clove of garlic, chopped (depends on your taste how much you want to add–do experiment!)
- Salt to taste
Wash and dry the peppers and then place them on the grill whole and intact.
In preparing the peppers, the most important thing to remember is to turn them so that all sides are blackened. Trust me, you want the sides BLACK as this makes peeling them a lot easier.
Here are the remnants of our last batch (with an unroasted pepper):
Once you take them off the grill and have given them a chance to cool off a bit, pull out the stems. Now peel the skin. P uses a small knife, but he uses a knife for everything (he *is* a southern Italian man). You can also do this with your bare hands of course.
Be sure to remove all the seeds, which you can do by squeezing the pepper from top to bottom between your index finger and thumb.
If there are any of the membranes left inside, scrape those out too.
Now you’re ready to do whatever you like with them. For the preparation shown above, slice and place in bowl and then cover with olive oil. Add as much chopped garlic and salt as you like and let them marinate at least an hour before eating.
I know it’s hard to wait, but you’ll thank yourself later.
Buon appetito!
**If you haven’t yet, remember to check out my welcome post and find out about how you can win a $30 Amazon.com gift certificate!**
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[tags]roasted peppers, roasted red peppers, peppers, cooking, what’s cooking wednesday[/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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