FAMILY...GOTTA LOVE EM!

Do you know what happens when you get 14 Italian family members together in one room - it gets really loud really quick! Why? Because Italians tend to talk loud and argue, and use their hands and then things start getting knocked over...Do you know how many glasses of wine I have spilled in my life???



My poor husband was a little intimidated by all the commotion.....4 generations of Lo Cicero's(that's my mother's maiden name) eating Mexican food, drinking wine and margaritas!. When there was a lull, I got the crazy idea to put on the old family videos...that was quite the spectacle...watching my 9 year old self do the charlston in a dress I made out of a blue pillow case and glued on red fringe-all of the haircuts my father attempted on his three daughters with super short bangs...the matching outfits we were forced to wear during the holidays back in the 60s, and of course, the many birthday parties held in our finished basement where we played musical chairs and pin the tail on the donkey.....Yes, life was so much simpler then. I usually watch those old home movies about once a year and get a could cry out of it.

Of course, there was another celebration of sorts this past weekend....the 40th anniversary of Woodstock...I could have actually gone - being 16 at the time with my 18 year old boyfriend, but that old fashioned Italian dad of mine said NO WAY.....come to think of it, I wouldn't let my 16 year old daughter go either...

Enjoy your families!

Thank you Laura!

Laura, at Ciao Amalfi! presented me with this lovely award....She has an amazing blog about living in Amalfi, Italy....see link on side... In one of her recent posts, she was visiting Capri, and did some window shopping in Anacapri...I commented that Capri and the Amalfi Coast were our most favorite places in Italy during our trip in 2007...and while we admired the views, the expensive shops, ate incredible pastries, we also had a star sighting- the one and only Barbra Streisand! She was cruising around with her dogs, a floppy hat, some kind of a mumu and a few friends...not the glamorous star that we are used to seeing! We certainly didn't expect her to belt out in song, but I think she caught the eye of many tourists that day!

In ignoring the rules, I send this out to all the blogs that inspire me --you are all lovely!

JULIE & JULIA....

Instead of blogging...I'm reading...Just finished this book, which is a hoot, and very educational, in a Julia Child kind of way. I am really looking forward to the movie coming out on August 7th. and to see how well Meryl Streep does her Julia Child imitation.

I am sure you have heard the premise.... Julie, a young New York secretary decides to start a blog which involves cooking every single recipe in Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking and blogging about it--now I don't know about you, but I don't think I would even attempt any of her recipes....Now Ina Garten - I have 6 of your cookbooks, how long do you think it would take me to cook my way through all of those....

With the way the hot summer weather has made me - lazy, I don't think it would happen in this lifetime.

Hope you are all enjoying summer! And if you have a few hours, read the book, you will get a kick out of it!

INTOXICATING!

DEFINITION: EXCITING, THRILLING, STIMULATING, HEADY, EXHILARATING.

I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED ROSES, AND HAVE A FEW BUSHES GROWING IN MY YARD THAT ARE DESPERATELY TRYING TO SURVIVE UNDER THE CARE OF MY BLACK THUMB..WHEN I DO GET A FEW BLOOMS I ENJOY CUTTING THEM TO MAKE FRAGRANT ARRANGEMENTS......I ALSO HAVE A MAGNOLIA TREE IN MY YARD...THE OTHER DAY I DECIDED TO CUT ONE OF THE HUGE BLOOMS AND PUT IT IN A SHALLOW BOWL....WOW, WHAT AN AMAZING SCENT, SWEET, EXOTIC, LEMONY...INTOXICATING!

SPEAKING OF FLOWERS HERE ARE SOME MORE PHOTOS OF THE BUCHART GARDENS IN VICTORIA, B.C. AS A FRIEND OF MINE SAID AFTER HER VISIT, IT FEELS SURREAL THERE...LIKE YOU ARE IN HEAVEN...LET'S HOPE HEAVEN LOOKS JUST LIKE THIS!

GREAT TO GET AWAY....GOOD TO BE HOME!

Back from a very long 11 days on vacation...we visited Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Gig Harbor, Sequim, Port Angeles, Port Townsend and Victoria B.C.

In no specific order we:

Saw the amazing Buchart Gardens, took 3 ferry rides, found my dream home in Gig Harbor (PHOTO 5) , got a bird's eye view of Seattle from the Space Needle, shopped at Pike's Market, ate some great seafood, saw The Proposal (cute film!) stayed at a charming B & B, walked through beautiful lavender fields, rented a turn of the century house in Sequim, and ate way too much ice cream!!

We stopped in San Francisco first and celebrated my daugher's 21st birthday and my mother-in- law's 75th...

It was great to see the Pacific Northwest...beautiful, green, and so different from where I live. Back to reality, back to enjoying summer and to my computer so I can catch up on all of your blogs!!

Happy 4th to all!

WHERE HAVE I BEEN???

Have you noticed I haven't blogged much lately? I feel bad - my laptop crashed about a month ago and, and for some reason, I haven't been as inspired working on the desktop in the office. I am stuck at home today with no car, and have done all the cleaning I want to do, which is not much.

I was looking through the pantry for something easy to bake, and with the limited ingredients on hand, and a little web searching, I found this easy Lemon Polenta cake on the Cooking Light website--and for all you Ina fans, NO BUTTER!!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:

Cooking Spray
1-1/4 c. All Purpose Flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 t. baking soda
1.4 t. salt
2/3 cup reduced fat buttermilk
1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
2 large eggs
2 t. grated lemon zest


To prepare cake, coat an 8 inch round pan with cooking spray, line bottom of pan with parchment paper, coat paper with cooking spray and set aside.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 4 dry ingredients (through salt) in a bowl, stirring well with a wisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, oil, eggs and zest, stirring well with a wisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring until moist. Pour batter into prepared pan, bake for 40 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on wire rack. Remove cake from pan, and cool completely on wire rack.

The recipe calls for a fruit compote. I just made a lemon glaze out of confectioner's sugar and lemon juice. I think fresh raspberries or strawberries would also be great.

BOXERS OR BRIEFS??

You have probably been to a Tupperware party, maybe even a Pampered Chef party, and of course around the holidays we have the candle parties-but do you know what a boxer party is?

I didn't either until I was invited to the 1st Annual Boxer Party at a friend's house. Only requirement.... wear a pair of your husband's boxers or as I did, go to Ross and get a cute pair for CHEAP. Other requirements are bring a salad - I can do that, couscous salad which is super easy to make - see recipe below.

Well, it was a really fun day....my friend Katie "the artist" brought some clay and we all got creative and made some interesting pieces...Grace has a beautiful home, a great garden and a pool, and the weather was warm, so we all jumped in with our boxers...

One more thing....the wine was flowing....that just made it a little more fun...I look forward to the 2nd annual boxer party.

Who knows what we will create next year?

Here's the recipe for the Couscous, Chicken and Artichoke Salad

2 6 ounce jars marinated artichoke hearts
4 c. cooked and cooled couscous, orzo or other small pasta
2 c. coarsely chopped cooked chicken (I omitted it yesterday)
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup minced fresh Italian parsley
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
salt and ground black pepper
3 T. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Cherry or grape tomatoes-as many or as little as you like
Drain artichoke hearts, reserving marinade
Coarsely chop artichoke hearts
In a large bowl, stir together couscous, artichoke hearts, marinade, chicken, green onions, parsley, pine nuts and salt and pepper to taste.
Stir gently and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and garnish with tomatoes.