Tag Italy

WayCap Ez – Raising money on Kickstarter for refillable steel coffee capsule for Nespresso® machines

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Italians have done it again! Through the help of their FIRST Kickstarter campaign in April 2016, they had 3,827 backers pledge €234,407 to support the creation of their refillable steel coffee capsule, so you don’t have to use the pods. Great idea!

WayCap Ez is on their second round of funding through Kickstarter. Based on customer feedback they have been fine tuning the capsule by adding different tops that accommodate various grounds of coffee. Go to their Second Kickstarter page to see a video of how the capsule works. You can still back their second round of fundraising until May 2, 2017.

On their Facebook page, I was reading mixed product reviews from customers. Remember, WayCap Ez is still in their infancy, so I say, “Give them a chance!” Through our feedback they will keep fine tuning the capsule for better use. Inventions are never perfect the first go around. Got to give these Italians credit for coming up with a clever idea, which produces no waste, except for the coffee grounds. Oh, and the steel capsule is being made in Italy.

I’m Italian — I wish them luck!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to find out how to order my capsule.  Buon appetito!

 

 

Authentic Italian cooking…

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italian-pound-cakeIf you’ve been to Italy, you know that Italians have desserts, but they are simple and not so sweet. In fact, when I was young my Italian mother would make a basic sheet cake and only sprinkle powdered sugar on top — absolutely NO frosting! Of course, if it was a birthday, she would buy the traditional American birthday cake. Normally though, she would make just a plain cake. When she got “fancy,” she made pineapple upside down cake or strawberry short cake.

Years ago, I was in Italy and my mother said, “Let’s go visit, Silvana.” Off we went. As it was a visit, Silvana made us coffee and brought us a slice of cake that looked like this photo. My mother and I loved the cake. We asked Silvana for the recipe, it was a dry type of pound cake. Silvana said she made the cake from memory, no recipe, so it was hard for her to tell us the exact ingredients, but she tried.

Once at home, my mother and I tried to make the cake, but it was no good. Years have gone by, and I have not found a good recipe UNTIL a few months ago. An Italian friend posts different recipes on Facebook. She had a link to a website called, “An Italian in My Kitchen.”  This Blogger is from Toronto. She moved to Rome 20 years ago. She shares Italian recipes that she learned from her Italian mother/n/law. They are very good AND I think you would enjoy the stories she shares too.

On her site, she has a recipe for an “Italian Fresh Cream Lemon Cake.” It’s EXACTLY like Silvana’s cake!  Finally, it took a few years to find, but I have the recipe. I wrote a comment thanking this Blogger for making me so happy and bringing back Italian memories. She told me her daughter’s favorite cake is the “Easy Yogurt Cake,” which I will have to try next.  Thanks to Facebook for making sharing with our friends in different countries so easy!

Buon appetito!

French artist Clet Abraham gives traffic signs in Florence, Italy a “new look.”

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street-signs-florence

While I was walking in Florence recently, I “did” notice the traffic signs had art on them and thought it was graffiti. Then a friend told me it was actually a French-born artist, Clet Abraham, who had been going around town placing stickers on traffic signs.

Clet has lived in Florence over 20 years now and started this street sign art about five years ago. He has had a little trouble from the police, but it seems that has been sorted out and now he is famous for his art. He created the art as stickers, so they can easily be removed and he has expanded to other cities in Italy. If you are visiting Florence, he has a studio close to Piazza Michelangelo and he sells some of his stickers there. So, you could pay him a visit, see his art and speak to him in person.

You can follow Clet on Facebook. I just visited his site and was amused at other stickers he has come up with. He had visited New York, so he has one of the Statue of Liberty. There was a funny post there where Clet went to buy a pizza and they surprised him with a pizza that had a traffic sign on it. Be warned, if you don’t speak Italian, you will need your Italian dictionary to understand some of the conversations; however, you don’t need to speak Italian to enjoy the pictures he has posted. Good news – some of the discussions are in English.

Enjoy looking at street signs in a whole new way!

An Italian Cemetery in Florence – Love captured…

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img_3974I was just in Florence and I went up to The Abbey of San Miniato al Monte, which is above Piazza Michelangelo. My intention was to look at the church and see the breath taking views of Florence. I had arrived at the church early in the afternoon and they were closed for lunch. I had about an hour wait, so I started walking the grounds of the church expecting to see a beautiful garden, but instead they had a very interesting cemetery. I was captivated right away. I find old grave yards / cemeteries full of history.img_3961

A little trivia from my friend. She was told in Ireland that when a burial ground is in conjunction with the church it is a grave yard, when it is a standalone it is a cemetery. I had not thought about that. Good to know.

As I was walking through the grave yard I saw many beautiful mausoleums, sculptures, and tomb stones. Long ago, families really invested money in tomb stones that would convey a message of the love they had for a family member and/or also in honoring a family member’s accomplishments.

I came across a statue of a man and woman (see photo above) having a very romantic moment together. I thought it was beautiful, I had not seen something like this before. Normally, we think of grave yards/cemeteries as being spooky and scary, broken tomb stones, etc. This was different.

img_3977The statue made me smile. Secretly, from a distance, I was sharing in their special moment. I was curious as to “who” had commissioned this statue. The husband/wife before they died or maybe their children, because they knew how much the parents had loved each other. A treasured memory from the past, but also a way to keep their love alive. I felt it and I did think, “Thank you for sharing that moment with us!” It’s so sweet and innocent. A reminder that love does exist.

As I continued on, I saw this beautiful mausoleum and a sculpture of a military man, very handsome with all of his medals. There was more…

By the way, remember the story of “Pinocchio?” Well, the author Carlo Lorenzini (Collodi) is buried in this grave yard. I learned this after my visit. Next time, I will look for him and leave a little Pinocchio by his grave site.

So, it was a good thing that the church was closed for lunch. I experienced Florence and had a feeling of its history in a whole new way!  They say things happen for a reason.

Grazie!

The Bridge of Gold

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imageThis week I was talking to a few people about my trip to Italy. They were asking me what I saw and I jokingly said, “Well, I was on the bridge of gold.”  As they have not been to Florence, they did not know about the Ponte Vecchio. This reminded me of my arrival to San Francisco years ago when someone pointed to a reddish/orange bridge and said, “There is the Golden Gate Bridge.”  WHAT?  It’s orange, I thought. I had envisioned something totally different, so it was a bit of a let down for sure.

Luckily, I had a few pictures of gold shops to show them. One was a really good photo of the Rolex store. I had been standing on the Ponte Vecchio watching the tourists go by when I happened to look up and see this little glass window with the Rolex logo. What an elegant and clever marketing idea!

imageRight now, gold is at an all time high at over $1,200 an ounce. It was interesting to compare what they were selling now on the bridge from jewelry styles a few years ago.

I spoke to a German woman who lives in Florence and works at one of the jewelry shops. She said because gold is so expensive right now they have to make what will sell and that means jewelry that is lighter in weight and hollow inside. She had me feel the weight of an older bracelet versus the new styles. There was no comparison. I told her it is the same with clothes and purses. Designers cut corners, so that leather is thinner and clothes have no lining. This is the new way.

Oh, I have to share with you a sculpture of a man riding a turtle. When I walked into the Piazza della Signoria I noticed immediately this gold looking sculpture. It was really beautiful. Sounds like the artist has it on display for a few months. The sculpture is by Jan Fabre, “Searching for Utopia,” silicon bronze, 2003.

I leave you with YOUR thoughts on this sculpture…

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Pasta Galore!

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image1If you like pasta, there is nothing better than going through an Italian super market. I was walking through the isles of the grocery store in Florence, Italy with my Italian mother and we came to the pasta section. As I looked at the choices with amazement, I asked her WHY with ALL the pasta choices she ONLY used spaghetti or penne pasta when we were growing up. She didn’t have a clear answer, she just kept dinner simple.

My mother was not a typical Italian cook. We did not have ravioli or tortellini.  NO — it was image2always spaghetti with bolognese sauce. Nothing wrong with that mind you, but when I went to another Italian’s house for lunch or dinner it was totally different from my house. My Italian girlfriend would cook with different pasta shapes and add vegetables to her pastas.

Lasagna was different too. My mother made lasagne with béchamel sauce, while my friend made hers with ricotta cheese. If you’ve ever had lasagne with béchamel sauce you can NEVER eat it with ricotta cheese again — it just tastes wrong! My opinion, of course.

image3As I continued on with my mother, we stopped by the produce section to find some tomatoes. Well, I had to smile… they had all kinds of tomatoes to choose from in big bins and our shopping adventure would not have been complete if we had not bought our parmesan cheese!

I think I was especially happy to see all the pasta, because in America the latest diet trend is “no pasta,” “no rice,” etc. and here I was in Italy, my Italian heritage, seeing all this pasta and thinking it’s not necessary to give up pasta completely.  Clearly, I was missing my “Italian heritage.”

So, here’s to exploring new recipes and going “beyond” the spaghetti style noodles! Changing your noodle shape does change the taste of your pasta.  AND REMEMBER, the pasta MUST be “al dente.”  This trip, I have to say, the pasta was almost “too” al dente.  I imagined the cook with his chef hat crooked trying to get pasta out as fast as possible!

Buon appetito (translation: Enjoy your meal)!

Museo Stibbert

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Photo of the Museum Courtesy of www.Wikipedia.org.

Yesterday I heard the sound of a freight train and a sudden memory of being at my grandmother’s house in Italy flashed by. She lived close to the train tracks and in the middle of the night very loud freight trains would go by.  At first, it was annoying, but then it became a welcomed hum in the middle of the night. That sound is still a connection to Italy, the memory of “staying at Nonina’s house.”

Another fond memory of being at Nonina’s house was visiting the “Museum Stibbert.” Most people who have visited Florence, Italy do not know about this special museum. When my mother was young she spent many afternoons at the Stibbert gardens and going through the museum. She said that is where her love of travel and seeing the world came from.

Frederick Stibbert was fascinated by antiques, especially military armour (European, Islamic and Japanese), which he collected and staged in battle scenes. In the photo you can see how he staged the armour in life size form, so you could appreciate the armour and the men going into battle. It’s fantastic to see. Frederick spent a lot of time, thought and money into creating each individual room.

Visit the main website for Museo Stibbert where you can view more photos of the different rooms — you’ll be amazed. Frederick’s father was from England and his mother was from Florence. His father left him very wealthy, so that he could pursue his passion in life. When Frederick died in 1906 he left this museum to the city of Florence. They opened it for visitors in 1909.

Every tourist should have this on their list of sites to see when in Florence. Of course, I am partial to it, because it was about 10 minutes from my grandmother’s house, so I have many memories of visiting this museum and its gardens.

Here’s to special memories that come to us when we least expect them – this time it was the sound of a freight train.

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Photo of the outside of the Museum courtesy of www.Wikipedia.org.

 

The traditional espresso machine…

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imageLike a good Italian, I owned a Bialetti Moka Express that I bought in Italy. I say, “owned,” because like a good mother I gave my little espresso machine to my daughter when she went off to College.

Shopping for my new Bialetti felt like car shopping. You know what you want, but every store you go to doesn’t have the exact size, color, price, etc. It’s exhausting, but you are determined NOT to go home without the car, or in my case, the espresso machine.

My efforts were fruitless – no one had the Bialetti brand! I was frustrated and we know what happens when we get frustrated and tired.  YES, we make “wrong choices!” That is what happened to me.

I stumbled on an espresso machine called, “Forever.”  As I picked it up, every thing inside me was saying, “NO, you can’t do this!”  Keep shopping and find Bialetti, stick with Italian tradition, but laziness took over. I was done, no more shopping.

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My “Forever” brand coffee maker.

In my defense, I “did” examine this Forever brand. On the outside, it appeared to “look” like the Baletti Moka Express. I unscrewed it, so I could see how it felt. I admit, it felt inferior like a “generic brand,” but I convinced myself that generic could be good and this machine was cheaper!  Why buy a Mercedes when you can just as easily get around town in a Honda, right?  It seemed so logical.

The reviews on Amazon say the “Forever” brand is fantastic! I am here to say that it has never worked 100% AND worse look at the discoloration of the coffee machine. Every time I made coffee I cringed and wondered if I was getting aluminum poisoning. Amazon says this is made in China. The Bialetti is still made in Italy.

SO….I went out and bought the Bialetti!  Why did I wait so long?  I don’t know!

I am so happy. I looked up to Heaven as the cashier was ringing me up and said, “Ok, Nonina, do you see?? I’m buying the Bialetti and I will have some biscotti in memory of you to celebrate our Italian tradition! I REALLY miss you!”

P.S. Just so you know, you NEVER use soap to clean your espresso machine. My goodness, my grandmother really yelped when I tried to clean her Moka Express with soap… she didn’t speak English, but it was clear to me from her huge eyes, quick hand movements and loud Italian voice that I was about to “ruin” the espresso machine. Phew, she stopped me in the nick of time.

P.S.S By the way, it is with sadness that I tell you that Mr. Bialetti died in February, 2016. Here is the article from the New York Times, February 20, 2016.  At the end of the article it says that his children cremated him and put his ashes in a large model of the Moka Express. It sounds like the genie in the bottle, right. Even better, if you were to rub the espresso machine, you’d be able to discuss your three wishes with Mr. Bialetti over an espresso. Brilliant plan!

Chicago – Potholes become Mosaics

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Artwork by JIM BACHOR

Artwork by Jim Bachor

I grew up in the Chicago / Northwest Indiana area. Winters with snow and salt were tough on the roads. If you are from Chicago you know that road construction is a way of life. We seemed to never catch up with it.

We all cringe when we hit a pothole, our car jerks, and we immediately hope our axel survives and curse ourselves for landing in the pothole — bad maneuvering, right!

Photo: http://weburbanist.com/2014/06/06

Photo of Jim Bachor: Web Urbanist

As I live on the West Coast now, I am not always up on Chicago news. Thanks to Bon Appétit Magazine, I recently read a wonderful article about artist Jim Bachor who lives in Chicago and decided to add art and beauty to our city by covering potholes with mosaics that he makes. This was a brilliant idea!

Bachor has a passion for this art form, which he learned in Italy. He started out with flower mosaics for the potholes. As the cost is $70-100 per mosaic, and he wanted to do more, he raised $4,600 through a Kickstarter Campaign to create 10 more mosaics. He chose ice cream as his next pothole theme.

artist-bachor-fills-potholes-with-food-and-flower-mosaics-6Certainly this is a labor of love, each piece takes 8-10 hours to make plus 2+ hours for installation. As an artist, this allows him to be creative in a positive way making a lasting impression in Chicago and hopefully the world. Finland brought him there to install some pothole art for an end of winter festival they were having.

My mother was born and raised in Florence, Italy, so for me, it is a true pleasure to see this special art form being sprinkled around Chicago!

I can hear Pavarotti in the background while Bachor installs these pieces of art. FANTASTIC!