HAPPY 5TH OF JULY

Hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July. Our guests included my sister, her partner, my cousin and her husband,(marathon runners) my best friend, her daughter and boyfriend,(college football player) my daughter and a bunch of her enthusiastic 20 year old friends (returning from an afternoon at the beach) and my husband's friend from college. Interesting group, but that's what makes it fun! We never made it see the fireworks, the clouds came in and made it a little difficult to see the display. We also drank too much wine. Our cat went and hid in a closet in the laundry room once the booms started.

Here was my menu for our party:

Bruschetta with sliced French Bread
Guacamole and chips
Strawberries with lemon yogurt dip
Hummus and veggies and pita chips

Cous Cous Salad with Artichokes, cherry tomatoes, parsely, parmesan cheese and pine nuts
Italian red potato salad with fresh rosemary, lemon, olive oil and capers
Good Old American Corn on the Cob
Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, and Chicken Breasts

For Dessert

Flag Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
Chocolate Cup Cakes with Peanut Butter Frosting
Watermelon

Wine, Beer and Soft Drinks

This morning I woke up to quite a mess in the kitchen. So what do you think I did, I started looking at my favorite blogs for the past hour. Kitchen clean up will have to wait until later….much later. Have a great weekend!

BLOG IDENTITY CRISIS

I think I am having an identity crisis. Who and what is Cucina Cara Mia? What am I trying to express and convey to my virtual fellow bloggers. Do I want to share about cooking, decorating, my family, my frustrations, my joy, my menopause??

I have a daily regimen of reading my favorite blogs. I love the ones about design and decorating. I admire all the incredible photographs that some share on their,, blogs. I drool over the ones about people who live in other parts of the world (especially Italy). Laugh at the quirky ones, get inspired by the spiritual ones. But....I don't think I have figured out what my blog is supposed to be.....So, I just don't share at all.



Did any of you have this feeling when you were newer bloggers?

I have thought about starting a home based business, Cucina Cara Mia, involving food and/or cooking in some shape or form. I have always liked to cook, and making home made items to sell at our local Sunday farmer's market could be fun.


But what do I sell? I am not much of a baker, but am certainly a good Italian cook, yet I keep putting off things like getting a business license or ordering business cards. Is it just fear? Is there not enough passion behind this idea? Much has been written about finding your passion in life.


I had been working in real estate part time the last six years. As everyone knows, things have changed drastically in the housing market. It was never my passion.


So the last six months I have wondered what that passion is for me. I want God to literally tell me ... Linda, this is what you are supposed to do with the rest of your life!! I pray about it, yet I still sit here pondering, reading books about, reading blogs about it, asking my husband what should I do?


Any suggestions on how you found your passion,or how to create a truly individual blog would be appreciated.



Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!

GOODBYE.....LAYLA (5/11/07-5/22/08)

I THOUGHT ABOUT NOT POSTING THIS BUT IN READING IT AGAIN, I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE OTHER CAT LOVERS AWARE OF THIS... OUR LITTLE CAT, LAYLA, HAS F.I.P….. A DEADLY FELINE DISEASE. THE FIRST SYMPTOMS WERE HER TRYING TO USE HER LITTER BOX AND MISSING IT. SHE HAD NEVER HAD PROBLEMS BEFORE. SHE TURNED ONE YEAR OLD ON MOTHERS DAY I DECIDED TO TAKE HER TO THE VET THE DAY BEFORE, AFTER A URINALYSIS, THEY SAID SHE HAD A URINARY TRACT INFECTION AND PUT HER ON ANTIBIOTICS. THEN SHE STARTED TO WALK LIKE SHE WAS DRUNK, WOBBLING AND WALKING CROOKED. PREVIOUSLY, THERE WAS A DECREASE IN APPETITE. I TOOK HER TO ANOTHER VET, AND HE SAID SHE IS VERY SKINNY. SHE HAD LOST 3 POUNDS IN A FEW DAYS. A BLOOD TEST,WAS ORDERED AND AND WE GOT A CALL THIS MORNING . SHE HAS THIS SERIOUS FELINE DISEASE.--- NO CURE!! THE HARD PART IS MY DAUGHTER ARRIVES FROM SPAIN TOMORROW AND KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT THIS AWFUL NEWS. I KNOW WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO TELL HER AND SHE IS GOING TO FREAK OUT. WHAT A WAY TO COME HOME AFTER 3 MONTHS AWAY. I FEEL SICK AND SAD AND NEVER THOUGHT A ONE YEAR OLD KITTY WOULD GET THIS. I HAVE BEEN ON LINE SEARCHING EVERY POSSIBLE ARTICLE TO LEARN ABOUT THIS ILLNESS, AND NONE OF THEM ARE ENCOURAGING. ITS TWO DAYS LATER AND WE HAVE DECIDED THAT SHE IS SUFFERING TOO MUCH. SO TOMORROW I BRING OUR PRECIOUS “LITTLE MISS” BACK TO THE VET TO PUT HER TO SLEEP. FAST FORWARD TO TODAY, I BROUGHT HER TO THE VET AND STARTED WEEPING AS SOON AS I STEPPED IN THE DOOR. THEY ASKED IF WANTED TO BE THERE WHEN THEY GAVE HER THE MEDICINE. I SAID NO, SO I SAID GOODBYE AND THEY TOOK HER AWAY. THAT WAS VERY, VERY HARD! TWO NIGHTS LATER I HEARD ALI SOBBING AT MIDNIGHT. NOW SUNSHINE IS ALONE, AND THE GIRLS ARE ALREADY DISCUSSING THE POSSIBILITY OF A NEW KITTY!! WE MISS YOU ALREADY LAYLA!

WE'RE GONNA MISS THIS!

Believe it or not, this Italian New York girl loves country music. It happened about 9 years ago. I started watching CMT and fell in love with Toby Keith then got hooked on the music of other artists. My husband works for a radio station, and he couldn't understand what I liked about "that" kind of music. I got teased a lot about my musical choices. As part of my 50th birthday present, we went to see Toby Keith in concert. Much to my surprise, he said this guy is really good and he enjoyed the show. Of course, he only listens to country music when forced to. Along the way, I have added the Dixie Chicks, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, and Carrie Underwood to my list of favorites. Country music tells stories about real life. It's music to cry to and laugh to (just listen to some of Toby's songs!). Lately a song by Trace Adkins has touched me. It's called "You're Gonna Miss This." Our children are in such a rush to grow up. I know I was. They (and I) are always looking to the future. Since Mother’s Day has just passed, I was reminiscing about previous Mother’s Days, when our children were toddlers, starting school, learning to read, starting high school, learning to drive, first boyfriends, first dances, etc. etc. Ask them and they say they can’t wait for college, to be on their own, etc. As their Mom, I look to the future too. The time does go by soooooo fast. Where did the last 20 years go? Three months ago my older daughter left for Spain to study for a semester; she will be home on Sunday. Honestly, I couldn’t wait for her to leave. Now I can't wait for her to come home. My younger daughter is going to her first prom. Where did the last 16 years go? She has two more years of high school, and she insists she can’t wait ‘til she is outta here!! This song has reminded me that every moment counts…our lives with our children go by so fast. Enjoy them, treasure them.
"These are some good times, just look around, we might not know it now, but we're gonna miss this"!

STILL NOT RIGHT

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I got the photos closer together. Now the title is floating in outer space. Be patient, it might take me longer than others to get it right!
Have a great Tuesday.

BLOGGING FOR DUMMIES!!

That would be me. I just previewed the blog and I don't know how to move the top photo closer to the other ones I downloaded. I tried reading some help sites, but I don't have a lot of patience. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

TUSCAN MEMORIES

INSTEAD OF GETTING THE HOUSE READY TO HAVE OUR HARDWOOD FLOORS INSTALLED IN 3 WEEKS, I HAVE BEEN REMINISCING LATELY ABOUT THE TRIP TO ITALY WE TOOK LAST SUMMER FOR OUR 20TH ANNIVERSARY. VISITING TUSCANY WAS AT THE TOP OF MY LIST AND I BECAME OBSESSED WITH RESEARCHING UNTIL I FOUND THE PERFECT SPOT. I LOVE TO READ TRIP ADVISOR AND OTHER TRAVEL SITES TO GET PREVIOUS VISITORS OPINIONS ON VARIOUS HOTELS THEY HAVE STAYED AT. AFTER BOOKMARKING SO MANY PLACES, I FOUND “IL BORGO DE VESCINE”. ORIGINALLY A 13TH CENTURY HAMLET, NOW A COUNTRY RETREAT, A FEW MILES OUTSIDE THE TOWN OF RADDA. I THOUGHT THIS PLACE WILL BE ROMANTIC!

WE ARRIVED QUITE LATE, AFTER GETTING LOST. WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE ITALIAN ROUND ABOUTS WITH 15 SIGNS POINTING IN NINE DIFFERENT.DIRECTIONS? WE KEPT GOING ROUND AND ROUND! OUT OF FRUSTRATION AND PURE LUCK
WE FINALLY WE FOUND THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD TO OUR DESTINATION.

PERCHED HIGH ABOVE THE VALLEY AND VINEYARDS, THIS HOTEL WAS IN A SECLUDED SETTING (SO SECLUDED WE PASSED IT TWICE ON THE WINDING DARK ROAD) EACH ANCIENT STONE BUILDING FEATURED 3 OR 4 CHARMING GUEST ROOMS. A DELICIOUS BREAKFAST WAS SERVED IN THE MAIN BUILDING WITH RUSTIC WOOD BEAMED CEILINGS AND TERRA COTTA FLOORS. THE FIRST NIGHT WE ATE DINNER ON THE OUTDOOR PATIO –THE PANNE COTTA (COOKED CREAM WITH FRESH RASPBERRIES) WAS TO DIE FOR AND THE LOCAL CLASSICO CHIANTI WINES WERE’NT TOO BAD EITHER. ANY WINE WOULD HAVE WORKED AT THAT POINT. THE SECOND NIGHT THEY HAD A WINE TASTING FOR ALL THE GUESTS SERVED WITH SOME DELICIOUS ANTIPASTO AND OTHER APPETIZERS.

FROM THIS IDYLLIC LOCATION, WE TOOK DAY TRIPS TO SIENNA, SAN GIMIGNANO, AND OTHER SMALL TOWNS. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS SPECIAL PLACE TO CREATE YOUR OWN TUSCAN MEMORIES. VISIT. http://www.vescine.it/ FOR MORE INFORMATION.
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