Decorating with European Flair

"The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it." Ralph Waldo Emerson

I've been searching for inspiration ideas that I can use to make my home have more of a European flair.  I understand that architecture styles and features are vastly different, and I do like modern and minimalist as much as I like the charm of the old world.  Is there a way to possibly mix them both? I think so!  And since I have not found much after hours on Pinterest, I've decided to write a list of the things I loved while living in Europe so I can refresh my memory and help myself focus at my task... this exercise may help you too, so read on!

Things I Love About European Decor:

1. Not everything matches!  In America we tend to want a furniture set, a bedroom set, everything has to match perfectly.  I have news for you, in Europe they tend to mix new pieces they love with pieces they have.  My friend Joana, who is a master at mixing and matching, applied the idea to her dinning china, every plate she owns is different, every tea cup is unique, and it works!!  She can pull it off, I hope you can do too.

2. Pieces with History:  Some pieces can be passed down from one generation to the next, and even though you may have a different taste than your grandmother, one separate piece can find a spot in your decor and you will even have a cool story to tell about it. 

3. Texture:  Because most places are old in Europe, you have many textured walls done with plaster, and the effect of a nice bright painting over an old wall is magnificent.  Old and new, keeping your history and looking into the future.  Isn't that what life is all about?  To try to recreate the effect,  check out the Ralph Lauren Polished Patina finish and you'll know exactly what I am talking about.

4. Small is O.K.: Most people wish for a bigger place.  Small can be wonderful too.  And bigger some times is just bigger (not better).  It's all about picking you pieces well and utilizing your space to the max.  Have you ever seen the terraces of European apartments?  The bottom one in the photo is at Piazza Navona, Rome.  Tiny but full of life!

5. The Magic is on the Details: Crown molding, a special fabric on a pillow, tussles, you can find beauty on the details for sure.  If you cannot afford a new sofa, maybe you can afford a new throw to embellish the piece.

I believe you should get a sense of peace and harmony when you step into your home....at least for one second before the kids start with "mom, I'm hungry!".

And that is all for today.  Arrivederci for now,

Fresh Pasta Recipe

“I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.”  Julia Child

Whether you are missing Italy, wishing you could be there or just really hungry, do not despair, a  dish of fresh pasta will have you instantly feeling happy or like Italians say: Felice.  This post started with my dissatisfaction with the the local spaghetti found at my grocery story.  After living in Italy for three years and coming back to America, it was hard to even have the courage to try Italian food here and be disappointed.  So, after the all-Italian U.S. Open final (tennis, for those who don't follow the sport) I was ready to celebrate with an Italian dinner, simple but good.

As in many other times, where I wasn't able to find the food I craved in a strange country (read bagels in Sri Lanka or pizza in China), I decided to try to make fresh pasta at home.  If you are interested in eating clean or un-procesing your food give making home-made pasta a try, it's not that difficult.  Here is how to do it:

You can make as much or as little as you want.  For each egg, use 100 grams of flour.

1. Start by pouring the flour on a clean surface and making a volcano.
2. Crack your eggs in the hole of the volcano you just made.  Add the pinch of salt.
3. Take a look at your volcano and strengthen the sides that are too thin.
4. With a fork, start by gently whisking the eggs incorporating the sides of the flour volcano, bit by bit.  There are tons of videos on how to do this.
5.  Once the wet egg/flour mixture starts getting harder to move, drop the fork and start mixing the ingredients with your hands.  Make a ball of the dough and start kneading for 15 mins.

6. Let your ball rest for 30 minutes covered in plastic wrap.
7.  Take you dough and in a floured surface use a rolling pin to start flattening it until you reach a 1/2  millimeter thickness.  Or use a pasta machine to roll your pasta out to the desired thickness (use small chunks of dough, not the whole ball).  Let your final pasta dry for around 20 minutes after sprinkling a little bit of flour on top and covering it with a plastic wrap.

With the sheets of pasta, depending on what you do with them, you can get, lasagna sheets, tagliatelle, fettuccine, ravioli, even bow ties (make a small rectangle and pinch it in the middle).

That day I made baked lasagna and it was over before I could take a picture of it.  I hope you give this recipe a try.  I messed up the first batch letting my eggs escape the volcano too soon, the second time I did better.  Don't give up, the results are super yummy!

Arrivederci for now,

10 Things You Should Do BEFORE Moving to Italy

“Open my heart and you will see graved inside of it, "Italy".”  Robert Browning

Do you want to sell it all and move to Italy?   I've had the joy of living in Rome for the last few years and I am thankful for that amazing experience.  I still didn't realize the kind of pull Italy has on so many of us until last summer.  During a stay in Washington DC I took my sons to the Koshland Science Museum.  One of the interactive exhibits asked people to write down their biggest dream; as I browsed through the answers I was shocked to find so many entries about visiting, touring, and even moving to Italy.  I realized at that moment I was one of the lucky ones who was actually living the dream.  I also consider myself a realist and I know that even if you think you are living the dream, there are some days when you can have a nightmare or two...

Have you read the news about Italy lately?  You'll see words like "crisis, strikes, decline.."  What is that all about?  Italy is as wonderful as it is complicated, you can choose which side to dwell on, but you still have to live with both.

If you are visiting Italy (read this first!) you can concentrate on the beauty, the art, the wonderful cuisine and the wine.  But if you are moving there you do have to open your eyes completely and see the reality of the daily life.  Here are some pointers that will make your move a little less complicated:

1. Learn the language, learn the language, learn the language!  Your experience will be completely different if you can communicate and eventually meet local friends.  The Italian language is beautiful but its grammar is very complex.   Any time you put into it will pay off at the end.
2. Change your mind set.   Easier said than done.  Take the time to observe, and absorb the culture.   Read about it (I personally recommend "As Romans Do"by Alan Epstein), watch Italian films, get to know the local idiosyncrasies...  Do as the locals do (if you insist on finding eggs for breakfast you'll be disappointed, if you change to coffee and cornetto, you'll find yourself in the right place all the time!)
3. Be patient!  Everything happens at a different pace over there.  Slow down and enjoy the vino!
4. Make connections.  In Italy you're a stranger or you're family.  When you first get there you'll be a stranger, it takes time to make connections, start with your local market vendors, practice the Italian you've learned, be patient.  Try to go the same stores so the clerks recognize you and  you'll eventually become family.
5. Enjoy your surroundings, if you are having a bad day, go for a walk around town and it will remind you of the reason you moved there in the first place.
6. Look for a support group.  Find other expats in your city, they know what you're going trough and can help you when you hit a road block.
7. Take it easy!  Rome wasn't built in one day.  And your life in Italy won't be either.  Italian bureaucracy is known for being complicated beyond belief and just the fact of  moving can be very stressful, so take it easy!
8. Travel! Even after you settle in one city, there are 20 very different regions in Italy.   Venture out to the not-so-touristy ones.  See as much as you can, they are all wonderful!
9. Stop comparing!  There is nothing helpful about comparing your new life to your old one.  If you moved there with children, read this! One Easy Think you Can Do to Help your Kids Adjust to a New Culture.
10. Be patient!  The first year it's all about settling in, if you survive it you passed the test, you've made it! Every time after that will be a bonus.  

I hope these tips can help all the serious Italophiles have a better reality when they get to live the dream.

Arrivederci for now,

Beware, we are in Ferragosto

"When all else fails, take a vacation" Betty Williams

Hello! If you are in the northern hemisphere I  hope you are enjoying a wonderful summer.  If you were in Italy right now, you would be immersed is some strange but lovely phenomenon called Ferragosto.

So what is Ferragosto?  Officially, Ferragosto is an Italian holiday celebrated on August 15 a tradition born 2,000 years ago when the Romans celebrated the end of the grain harvesting season with well-deserved festivities and a break from work.  The Church being unable to stop the festivities added the celebration of the Assumption of Mary to August 15.  But to say Ferragosto is a summer holiday would not be even scratching the surface.

In Itay and many other parts of Europe, most people take their vacation during the month of August (Agosto in Italian, hence the second part of the Ferr-agosto word).  If you are planning to  travel to Europe during the month of August make sure you book your accommodations well in advance, unless you want your only overnight option to be a yacht for 36,000 Euro a night; been there, have not done that.

But let's look a little more into the realities of Ferragosto:

• As every employee wants to take their vacation during the month of August many small businesses just close completely for a couple of weeks in August.
• If you are trying to get anything done during the month of August, Forget About It!  Just accept the fact that everyone you have to deal with is on vacation, about to go on vacation or not even there.
• You can basically scratch the month of August from the calendar and join everyone else at the beach (like Sperlonga or Vieste) or the cooler mountains.
• Be prepared for tons of traffic anywhere near the ocean.
• If you decide to stay in the city, enjoy the abundance of parking spaces and zero traffic but remember, most businesses will be closed and is really too hot to do anything anyway.
• There is even a word in the Italian language for the day when everything goes back to the normal daily routine:  "Rientro" meaning re-entry, after Ferragosto, or course.  
• Look for the religious festivities of the Assumption of Mary, being one of the most popular celebrations the one in Siena.

As I day dream of past Ferragostos and get ready to continue the tradition this year, I hope you are enjoying the warm and long days of summer.

Arrivederci for now,

Making Time for the Simple Pleasures

“Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast - you also miss the sense of where you are going and why.”  Eddie Cantor

This may sound like an odd question, but have you ever been in a "slow town"?  I have.  I was there last weekend and let me tell you it was slow!  Most urban folks are used to the fast-paced cities where everything moves at hurricane-speed.  Women, the ultimate multitaskers, are constantly going through an imaginary revolving door, going from one activity to the other and when you are trapped going at that rhythm, it is very hard to slow down.

A trip to Italy might just re-set your RPMs.  Italians are fantastic at slowing down.  After living here for a few years I have a renewed appreciation for their take on what's important in life.  Apparently, slowing down will not only be beneficial to your heart health,  it will also improve your chances of loosing weight and even boost your sex life (Read: 8 Reasons to Slow Down).  It seams to me that every Italian person has read and practices the suggestions of this article.  For example, when I first arrived in Italy I would be furious when there was a cloud of people in front of a counter all waiting to be helped by one single person, then I realized I was the only one bothered by the situation, everyone else waited patiently.  There you have it, 50% more chances of developing high blood pressure, while Italians with their natural Zen, will live forever...

So, back to the Slow City, it is called Sperlonga and it is located two hours south of Rome.  It is a sea-side town with an old village on top of a hill, overlooking the ocean.  The Hotel Aurora is a great option for those traveling there as it is located right next to a central piazza and on the water front.  Sipping a Spritz on the terrace, will definitively make you slow down your RPMs! (Can I now reclaim my low blood pressure please?!)

At one of our lunches at the hotel, we were given only a couple of options from which to choose, the menu of the day basically; less options = less stress.  Another day we dinned in the town, and the food came to our table an hour after we sat down.  A disgrace of a restaurant you may say.....but NO! we did get an antipasto and our wine, and were dinning "al fresco" staring at the calming waves (disclaimer: my kids got their pasta dishes right away and moved on to play in the sand).... it was a perfect time for conversation, relaxation and mindful eating, all the skills we loose with our fast-paced lives.

Even if you are not in Italy, take a minute of your day to be grateful for the sweet smells of spring, or the softness of your child's embrace.  Take another minute to savor your meals, ditch a couple of unnecessary tasks and go outside to feel the warmth of the sun touching your skin.  At the end of the day, that is what life is all about, isn't it?

Now I will say "arrivederci" in sloooow motion.....until next time,

Happy Birthday Roma

“Look back over the past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you can foresee the future too.”  Marcus Aurelius 

Happy Birthday Rome!!  This Tuesday April 21st, Rome will be celebrating it's 2768th birthday.  Like every year, the city organizes cultural events and reenactments.  I rushed to the forum this morning to bring you a sneak peek into what is going to happen starting today, until Tuesday. 

Most reenactments will happen at the Circus Maximus, a span of green behind the colosseum.  There is plenty of room for everyone to celebrate with Rome.  There are a few stands that sell commemorative t-shirts, Roman times paraphernalia and food.  For additional information of the festivities click here  

To arrive to the festivities, the closest metro stop is Circo Massimo, a stop on the B Line.  You can also use the Colosseo stop which is the one located right in front of the Colisseum. 

Additionally, in celebration of the city's birthday, the museums run by the city are free to the public and will open until midnight on April 21st.  Some special exhibits will still require a ticket.  

There will also be concerts by military bands in many of the city's squares, so be there or be square!  Lastly, the city will inaugurate a special lighting system that will make the forum shine more than ever.  If you have plans to visit Rome (please read this first) it may be a good idea to plan your trip around April 21 and take part of the festivities, needless to say the weather this time of the year is just perfect.

Arrivederci for now,

Garden Inspirations from a Roman Emperor

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need" Marcus Tullius Cicero

Spring is finally here in Rome and if there is anything synonymous with spring, it is a garden. Today I visited two wonderful places located forty minutes outside of Rome, in a town called Tivoli: The Villa D'Este and Hadrian's Villa.  Villa D'Este has the most wonderful gardens you can imagine, and I would post hundreds of pictures if I could.

If you are planning to revamp your garden, why not take some inspiration from these UNESCO world heritage sites?  I'm not an empress and certainly I'm no gardener (I have the brownest thumb anyone can have), but I've found much needed inspiration in the gardens of Villa D'Este and Hadrian's Villa to try to apply to the garden of my humble home. 

Here are some pointers of what I saw today:

1. Consider adding rhythm to your garden: Find something you like and repeat, repeat and repeat. 

2. Add a fruit tree to your garden, they are beautiful and yummy at the same time.  Plus the reward of knowing where your food comes from is priceless!

3. A water feature will make you feel like an empress/emperor

4. Flowers flowers everywhere.  We are all used to flower beds, have you considered having flowers above your head?

5. Multi-Function Shrubs: Rosemary is resilient, edible and has beautiful blooms, if Emperor Hadrian used it so can you.

I hope you enjoyed today's post, if you have any other gardening advise please leave it in the comments section, I need all the help and motivation I can get.

Arrivederci for now,

Time for Gelato

"Io che qui sto morendo, e tu che mangi il gelato" I'm here dying and you are eating gelato. Lucio Dalla

Hello Spring!  Weather in Rome has been fabulous this last week, and with nice warm weather I get an intense need for gelato.  Since we are going to be talking about gelato we need to realize not all gelato is created equal.  The good artisanal gelato can be spotted following these tips:

• Are the mountains of gelato bigger than Mt. Everest?  Probably not the best quality, as gelato made with real ingredients will not be able to withstand such heights.
• Are the colors realistic as found in nature?  A connoisseur told me to check the banana flavor and make sure it's white and not yellow.  Beware of bright blue Smurf flavors and mint that is kryptonite green.
•  The texture should be creamy and it should not be overly sweet.

Now that you'll be able to recognize a good artisanal gelato let's see where to find them in Rome.  Let's have an award ceremony:

1. My personal favorite and winner of all my informal market research:

Come Il Late

This gelateria makes the cones on the spot and the sweet smell emanating from the store is impossible to resist.  The cone is first filled with dark or white chocolate and it's topped with an extra chocolate covered wafer.  The flavors are very authentic; try their Mango, Salted Caramel or any flavor your heart desires....you won't be disappointed.

2. A Traditional Gelateria 

Giolitti

A nice traditional gelateria with a location downtown rome and two others (click on the link for addresses).  There is always a long line outside.  Note: If you sit down and get service at your table, the gelato will be more expensive than if you get your ticket and choose your gelato at the counter.  

3. When More Means A Lot More

Gelateria Della Palma 

Claim to fame of Gelateria della Palma is that they serve 150 flavors, and they do!  It is located steps from the Pantheon, so if you are out admiring this wonderful church, don't miss a visit to Gelateria della Palma.

4. One for the Organic Lovers

GROM

GROM is a chain with several locations around town.  They only use organic ingredients and their flavors vary with the season as they use seasonal ingredients.  They don't use colorants nor chemicals of any kind.  Only a few flavors available, but they are all excellent!  

5. The Out of the Way Combo Kings

Mondi (Via Flaminia Vecchia 468)

This gelateria and pastry store is one of the best of Rome but is not in the center of town.  Located in the The Ponte Milvio neighborhood if you decide to go for a ride, other than gelato, you'll be enjoying a part of Rome that has been kept for locals only.  Mondi offers great combo flavors like Zabaione (eggnog) with crunchy caramel and pistacchio or Vanilla with raspberry and chocolate bits.  

6. Last but not Least

Frigidarium

Located a couple of blocks from Piazza Navona, at the heart of old Rome.  This gelateria is a great stop after visiting the wonderful churches and statues of this beautiful city.

And now, with all this talk about gelato, I think I am going to head out the door and get one.  Arrivederci for now,

Things to Do While in Rome: Testaccio Market

"But before we can radically reshape the world, we need to shop.”  John Green

Let's get it out right away, I love markets, food markets that is.  If you really want to get to know a city and its people, go to the local market and observe how the microcosmos of a neighborhood work.  Growing up in South America, my Saturday morning routine included a visit to the market with my mother, you always got the best deals and came home with baskets full of treasures, and fresh fish.  A market can be a bit intimidating, vendors are loud especially if the place is crowded, but no other spot is so full of life and real city scenes than the market. 

If you are coming to Rome, make sure you carve some time to visit the Testaccio market.  Testaccio is a Roman neighborhood on the south west of the city center.  Many connoisseurs say Testaccio is one of the few Roman neighborhoods that has kept its original "flavor", where you do not see many tourists and life is like that of a small town.  To get to the Testaccio market, take the Metro B to the Piramide stop from where you'll have a ten minute walk to reach the market.

This market can be a one-stop-shop as you do not only find fresh produce but you'll also find great deals in shoes, bags, belts, vintage cooking ware; basically anything your heart desires and more. 

If you love food, I would encourage you to join the Taste of Testaccio eating tour, that will take you around the neighborhood with a stop at the Testaccio Market.  The stories I learned about many of the vendors made me love this place even more.

If you are there around lunch or dinner time, a couple restaurants I can recommend are Angelina at Testaccio and Flavio  al Velavevadetto, both great at making the typical Roman dishes (don't know what the typical Roman dishes are? click here!)

Hope you have the chance to visit this charming part of #Rome!

PS. Keep your eyes open and see if you can spot the cool street art around Testaccio...

Arrivederci for now,

From Me To You

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.”  Pablo Picasso

Gift giving is something many of us associate with birthdays and Christmas, at least I know I do. But in reality we should not have to wait for a certain date to share a gift with those we love.  And I am really enjoying the trend of "paying it forward", when people do something nice for a complete stranger without expecting anything in return.  The world is so crazy right now, that those on the side of peace, love and tolerance, need to step up our game and give more of us to the world.

There are people who are natural givers, including my sister-in-law and my friends Rosi.  No matter how busy they are and how hard life is at a particular moment, they always find time for others and in my opinion, there is no better gift to give than your time and your presence.

But going back to my recurrent theme of all things Italian, I wanted to share with you how much I appreciate gift giving in Italy, as many people still give culinary presents to each other.  And I'm not talking about a box of chocolates they picked up at the store, I'm talking about jellies and preservers, garlic-flavored olive oil and spicy pepperoncino, all home made.  I can only imagine the amount of time and work it took the cook to peel, cut, process and bottle a preserve.  I don't care if I get onion jelly in a jar that used to hold tomatoes, I don't care if the presentation is not as fancy as the one from the store.  Home-made-with-love is the only label I really care about.  (PS. have you every tried onion jelly? yummo!!)  And all the jars used for these culinary presents are reused and recycled.

A couple of weeks ago, when the season for lemons was in full swing, we received a whole bunch of organic lemons from a friend of ours.  Son#2 made tons of lemonade and I baked my friend Laura's Lemon Cake, but my husband really wanted to try making home-made Limoncello.

So today, from me to you, here is my Hubby's Limoncello recipe:

Peel the lemons making sure you are only taking the yellow part of the peel (leave the white part behind, it will make your limoncello bitter).  Pour the alcohol in a big glass container and add the lemon peel.  Leave the concoction to macerate for 11 to 15 days.  Shake the container every day.  After your long wait, make a syrup with water and sugar (bring the water to a boil, pour the sugar and mix until it dissolves) let it cool completely.  Pour your alcohol mix through a strainer or cheese cloth to get rid of the lemon peel.  Add your alcohol mixture to your cool syrup.  Mix well. Pour your home made Limoncello into glass bottles and keep it in the freezer.  Enjoy a chilled shot glass after dinner.

Arrivederci, and pay it forward whenever you can!

Learning About Food

“This is my invariable advice to people: Learn how to cook- try new recipes, learn from your mistakes, be fearless, and above all have fun!” Julia Child

One of the joys of living in Italy has been learning more about food.  The way Italians prepare their food accepting nothing but the best ingredients is something we should all learn from them, as food can make you sick or it can be your best medicine.  I will certainly take with me the fact that the closer you are to the source of your produce, the better your food will taste.  And the cleaner your food is (less processed), the healthier you'll be.

I've had the pleasure to meet Rita, an Italian friend who runs a county-style restaurant where she also gives cooking lessons to those foreigners crazy about Italian food, like me.  I've learned lots of good cooking tips from Rita, but her passion for eating unprocessed foods when mother Earth gives them to you, is in my opinion the best lesson to take away.

In Italy they respect the cycles of the earth, and the produce you find available at the markets is what's in season in Italy at the moment.  If you are American, you've probably been spoiled by having every fruit or vegetable available to you whenever you want it.  You just have to come to accept that produce travels from far away places to end up at your table.  But, have you ever really considered when was your produce harvested and how long has its trip been before reaching your table?

"Farm to table" is not a trendy concept here in Italy,  it's a way of living, and my friend Rita, lives by this principle as she grows her own vegetables or finds sources as close to her as possible.  Needless to say, her cuisine is divine.  If you are in Rome and have enough time to escape the city for a countryside lunch or brunch, look her up: A Casa Di Rita.  You won't regret it.  And if you live in Rome, check out her cooking lessons, they are the best!

Arrivederci for now,