Trick-or-Treat?

Guess who's going out trick-or-treating in ten minutes? Yes, me. As usual the other mothers have too much to do and just because I work from home I'm the only one who's got time to take the girls around. Never mind, maybe some sweeties will end up into my bag as well...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO EVERYONE!!!!

A pumpkin recipe ...Italian style

(tag by Missie, thank you!)

Halloween is in three days and, although Italy is a Catholic country and shouldn’t “celebrate” a pagan event like this, the influence of the US has extended to our shores and now most kids all over Italy dress up and go trick-or-treating as well.

Looking around for a pumpkin soup recipe palatable for my children, I found this one that’s a bit different as it is made with spaghetti and go down well with kids like mine who do not like soups.

1Kg. pumpkin - 250g pasta (in this case spaghetti) – a small amount of parmigiano cheese, grated - 2 garlic cloves, parsley, olive oil (for frying), chilli.

Clean the pumpkin getting rid of the filaments and the harder parts and cut its pulp into cubes.Lightly fry the garlic and chilli in a pan; add the pumpkin cubes, the parsley and let everything cook for approx. 30 minutes on a low heat (as you know pumpkins release water).Break the spaghetti, add water to the pumpkin mixture you have just prepared until it is completely covered and increase the heat. When it is boiling, cook the pasta.Flavour this soup with a good handful of parmesan cheese. Enjoy your meal!!!

(foto by funarium)

In Italy there is a commercial where a bank is represented by the symbol of a pumpkin.

So I suppose these are probably bank clerks during a holiday in the country...

A hamster named Lilly...

Half-term week here in Yorkshire. Fortunately my kids can organize themselves and they are not too bored. I’d like to introduce the fifth – but not less important – member of our family…

She’s called Lilly, named after Harry Potter’s mum, and she’s the loveliest Syrian hamster in the world. My Vicky adores animals, especially dogs – the bigger the better – but our “dad” is allergic to any kind of animal fur, so we are not allowed pets. Vic was so desperate for a pet last year that we decided to get her the smallest possible one, a hamster.


I did not think it would have been possible to grow so fond of a little one like this. Even my teenage boy love her and that says everything. Lilly does not squeak at all but she makes very loud noises at night and she does not like to be in her cage very much. So when she’s awake she spends most of the time outside.



About 7-8 months ago when one night a small earthquake struck West Midlands/Wales and Yorkshire, I was still awake working on the computer and just before the tremor Lilly squeaked twice and started running around her cage like mad. A few seconds later the house began to shake and I realized she had “felt” it. I have heard that animals, dogs, horses, cows can often feel the quakes coming, but I had never heard that a little hamster could feel it too.

Surviving High School Musical 3

My 9 yr-old daughter Vicky has been waiting for ages for this movie to be released, whilst I’ve been dreading it since! But then the big day has arrived and this afternoon (actually yesterday afternoon as it is now passed midnight!) I had to take her to the cinema together with a couple of her friends and HSM fans.

For them it was a magical time, for me it was a very very long time, although I have to admit it was not so bad as I thought. I have only seen some sporadic scenes from the previous two dvds passing through Vicky’s room. She instead knows every song, every word and every move…

I “armed” myself with a huge portion of popcorn and a giant coffee cup hoping that the 111 minutes would pass without too many traumas. Ie. popcorn and drinks poured all over the seats and the floor, continuous visits to the toilet, giggling and talking loud disturbing the other cinema guests, etc. etc. I was lucky instead, the girls behaved very well glued as they were to the big screen. But my coffee was finished before the advertising and trailers were over and every time I attempted to fall asleep a new song popped up to shock my sleepy brain.

So, I had to put up with it and watch the film. The plot is very simple. Imagine all the high school stereotypes you know and put them together in one big musical, and voilà, you get "High School Musical 3 – Senior Year." There's the jock, the beauty queen, the smart and pretty girl-next-door, the nerd, the rebel, all singing and dancing for the preadolescence crowd generation. A lot of music and a lot of dancing. Admittedly the music is catchy and the dance sequences are well choreographed. The acting in between is irritating and very cheesy, but fortunately there is not much of it as there is not much plot.

Anyway, it was worth the effort. The girls loved every minute of it and we got home happily without a single tantrum or falling out. And my dreaded migraine did not even come back! I owed Vicky anyway. She came twice with me to see “Mamma Mia!”, but who would ever dare to compare that cheesy 21-yr-old Zac Efron (main character in HSM3) with the absolute gorgeous Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth? Well, maybe a 9-yr-old lady would….

MIGRAINE day(s)

started yesterday, finishing tomorrow ???

like a train going through a tunnel in my brain

sucked into a black hole

battling and fighting it...

gonna go back to bed

Origins

I was born and lived for 23 years of my life in a small town on the border between Monferrato and Langhe in the north-western corner of Italy, between the Alps and the Riviera, in the area of Piedmont that lies south of the river Po. It is largely a rural area, yet the furthest of the three cities of Genoa, Milan and Turin is little more than an hour's drive away.

It is one the most important wine districts in Italy. From our wonderful vineyards come the grapes for the renowned red wines, Barbera, Barolo, Dolcetto, Freisa, Grignolino and of course the Asti Spumante which is famous all over the world.

The charm of the region is carried by its gently rolling hills, tiny hilltop villages and broad fertile landscape of vineyards and fruit orchards. A network of mostly small roads connects these old villages and towns with each other.

We also have a wonderful cuisine to accompany its famous wines. The white truffles, "tartufi", are world-renowned. Now in October you can sample them in almost any restaurant or ‘trattorie’, especially in the Langhe region, centered around the medieval town of Alba.

(see below, white truffels)

The town of Alba

Our climate is mediterranean and mild - the Italian Riviera is only 30 miles away. The winters are short, and night temperatures in January and February only occasionally fall below zero. Spring and autumn are long and warm. The summers are hot and dry, although the hilltops are ventilated by a pleasant sea breeze.

Monferrato and Langhe have also has a strong literary tradition, including the 18th century Asti-born poet and dramatist Vittorio Alfieri, the novelists Cesare Pavese and Beppe Fenoglio and the Alessandrian Umberto Eco.

I miss my native area a lot, expecially in the autumn when the hills "show" their best colours and the air is filled with lovely odours and chants and chatting of the harvesters. I miss it in the summer when it is cold and rainy in the UK and hot and sunny there. I will go back ... sooner or later ...

(some of the photos above are courtesy of my best friend Giusy who still lives in this area)

The Little Red Devil

Last Friday one of my dearest friends had a serious operation and I was very worried. To keep my worries at bay I decided to have a walk around York like tourists do. It is a beautiful town and I really love it, unfortunately, as it happens even with the loveliest things you see every day, you might end up taking them for granted. Anyway it was a nice sunny day so I took some photos.

My favourite street in York is Stonegate. Originally it was the Roman Via Praetoria and led to the legionary headquarters, the Principia. The street contains buildings and architecture of every period from the Normans to the Victorians. Its name means 'stone paved street' and for centuries it was associated with bookshops and printing. The Little Red Devil at Number 33 Stonegate is the sign for a printer's shop. Stonegate was once the centre of York's printing industry. It is said that it was not uncommon for the printer’s apprentice, who would carry hot type in the print shop, to mischievously re-arrange type for the printer.

Although not proven, this is the reason for the nickname a ‘printer’s devil’.Several years ago the devil was completely red, but this picture shows his head, beard and horns have been painted black. Notice how he is chained around his waist to the wall - is that enough to stop him causing any mischief?

What's in a name?

Why Lunarossa? As many will probably know, it means red moon in Italian and happens during a lunar eclipse. Although it is said that it has no scientific relevance, I think it is a spectacular event. Anyway, I have been fascinated by the moon since I was a small child when I used to believe firmly that babies were coming from the Moon!!! Lol More trivially, I am very fond of sailing although I cannot afford it and Lunarossa is also the name of an Italian sailboat syndicate, create to compete for the American Cup in the year 2000.
Hope I haven’t bored you. It is also difficult at the beginning, and I would like to thank Jeannette from Outside Looking In Jeannette’s Jottings for her help and support and all the nice ladies who have followed her advice and left nice and encouraging thoughts for my first entry. :))))

Everybody has to start somewhere somehow...

Welcome to everybody who has just "bumped" into this little blog of mine. I'm a totally new blogger and I feel somehow terrified by this blank page. First of all, please forgive my spelling errors. Although I have lived in England for almost 14 years I will never be like a native speaker of English. I do not have a "blog theme", I just would like to write whatever I feel interesting whenever it seems appropriate. Thanks again for stopping by.