Archive for the ‘scenes from village life’ Category
love thursday: chased by a cloud
The other day while out walking with Luna on a gorgeous clear morning, I noticed that the cacti are starting to bloom flowers, soon to be followed by the delicious fichi d’india, or prickly pears.
So of course I took a photo.
Only after I uploaded it did I notice that a heart-shaped cloud had snuck into the shot.
Clouds of love are chasing me. How lucky am I?
Happy Love Thursday* everyone!
*Note that the founders of “Love Thursday” have decided to stop updating the Love is All Around site. Thank you, Karen and Irene, for reminding us all to pay attention to simple expressions of love in our daily lives.
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[tags]love thursday, clouds, heart clouds, flowers, cacti, prickly pears, fichi d’india[/tags]
may musings
It’s about time to think about the month of May and what it means to me; I’m going back to the haiku form that I first used for March:
As your name suggests
Possibilities abound
Nothing definite.
Better, worse, the same?
Your warm optimism taunts
One way to find out.
This is part of my Monthly Musings series. Also be sure to check out Cheeky’s May reflections.
If you’d like to join, scribble something about May and send me a link.
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[tags]may, poetry, haiku[/tags]
no parking (plus a poppy)
This is a sign in the corner of the small piazza near my house.
For those who don’t know, these two, taken together mean “No parking in the entire sqaure.”
There didn’t use to be the additional “per tutta la piazza” language below the main sign, but it was added because some crafty parkers argued that, well, they weren’t parked right below the sign, so they weren’t in violation of anything.
Glad we got that cleared up.
Bonus! Here’s a poppy just because.
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[tags]no parking, poppies, flowers[/tags]
my morning brew
From the title of my blog, you may think that I’m addicted to espresso. Well I do have some sort of coffee beverage at least once a day, so you wouldn’t be far from the truth.
As the days warm up, though, I’m just not craving something hot and savory in the morning when I make my way, rubbing my eyes, to the kitchen. I need something refreshing to wake me up.
Some days I’ll have a freshly-squeezed spremuta d’arancia–that’s the fancy Italian name for orange juice. Luckily between my in-laws and neighbors, I always have a great supply of oranges.
But does the late spring weather mean I don’t need caffeine? Hah!
And yet I don’t want something warmer than the Calabrian sun either.
So sometimes I have iced coffee.
Yes, I know that this is nothing new to most of you, but the first time I tried to explain this to the barista here, she looked at me as if I were speaking English. And I wasn’t, I swear.
Instead of dealing with that and to save me not only the trouble bringing my own ice to the bar (they usually don’t have any) but also a few euros a week, I make my own iced coffee at home, and you can too! Bella and I corresponded about this the other day, and I thought maybe more of you would like in on the secret.
Every night after dinner, I make a pot of espresso (you can use whatever coffee you like, of course). When it’s done, I add sugar to the whole pot, stir well, and leave the top open to cool off a bit. Then before I go to sleep, I pour the sweetened espresso into a small plastic water bottle and put the bottle in the refrigerator.
In the morning, I break out a tall glass, plop in some ice cubes (trays brought from the United States), pour in about two espresso cups full of coffee, and fill the rest with milk–I like a lot of milk–and there I have my very own fatto in casa iced coffee.
I can even have another if I like. And I often do.
Bottoms up!
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[tags]iced coffee, coffee, espresso[/tags]
meme italiano: kinda like the mambo but not
As promised yesterday, here is my first Italian meme!
I’ve completed it in both Italian and English, and the only rule is “Don’t make fun of my Italian.” Avete capito?
Let’s continue then.
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Con piacere accetto l’invito di New Brigand a rispondere ad alcune domande sul rapporto che ho con il vino.
Sei più vino rosso, bianco o rosé?
Rosso, rosso, rosso! Non c’è dubbio. Non mi piace rosé per niente e bevo il bianco solo se non c’è nient’altro.
La tua prima volta?
Che domanda! E’ terribile che non mi ricordo?
La migliore associazione tra un vino e una portata?
Le fette delle pesche inzuppate del vino rosso (come ha fatta la nonna una volta).
La tua migliore degustazione?
Mi piacciono sempre i vini della Sicilia e anche quello del mio suocero. Che altro!
Chi sceglie il vino in casa tua e chi amministra la cantina?
P. E’ meglio così perché non so niente di vino.
Quanti vini hai in cantina?
Sinceramente solo uno—quello del mio suocero! Ma cuciniamo anche con un vino bianco di Cirò (Calabria).
Come inizieresti un giovane al vino?
Come ha detto New Brigand, con gli amici—come tutte le cose mi sembra.
Salute! Cent’anni!
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With pleasure, I accept the invitation of New Brigand to respond to some questions about my relationship with wine.
Are you more white, red, or rosé?
Red, red, red. Without a doubt. I don’t like rosé at all and I drink white only if there’s nothing else.
Your first time?
What a question! Is it terrible that I don’t remember?
The best pairing between a wine and dish?
Peaches soaked in red wine (like my grandmother used to do).
Your favorite?
I always like Sicilian wines but I also like my father-in-law’s wine too. Of course!
Who chooses the wine at your house or who manages your wine cellar?
P. It’s better this way because I don’t know anything about wine.
How many wines do you have in your wine cellar?
Honestly, just one—my father-in-law’s! But we also cook with a white wine from Cirò (Calabria).
How do you introduce a young person to wine?
As New Brigand said, with friends—like everything I think.
Cheers! A hundred years!
And now some photos of our cantina, or at least our soon to be cantina when we switch to the bigger house:
I won’t tag anyone, but if anyone would like to play in either English or Italian (or both!), please do and leave me a comment saying as much so we can find your answers.
And while we’re sort of on the subject (wine and food go hand in hand after all), I’m putting a call out to all my foodie friends.
If you like to cook, bake, or even just eat, you should check out what’s happening at Jenn’s Foodie Blogroll.
It’s a convenient way to keep track of all of your fellow food lovers, so why not join? Just click the above graphic, link, here, or the link on my sidebar. See how easy?
Then pour yourself a glass a wine and settle in for some great foodie recipes, tips, tales and such.
And we’re full circle.
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[tags]vino, wine, memes, cantina[/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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