Year: 2020

What We’re Loving This Wednesday

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Last night a family member called in need of company while cooped up in a hotel room away from his home. For work naturally.  Usually he would joke and send interesting text messages, but his tone last night had me worried. So we engaged in conversation, him comparing mostly all the new ordinances being put in place for the state he lives in to the one we’ve mastered here in California – now going on six weeks or more in some places. By the end of the conversation he thanked us for being there for him and I reminded him to avoid panic, that everything will be okay. It’s a hardcore transition we are all going through, but one we need to see the good more than the bad so we can endure and come out the other end stronger than ever. Afterwards, I lay in bed, as usual reflecting on all the events that shaped the day, and I smiled, because I was more fixed on the positive, like these…

Food: My Choice of Comfort Food – Pasta

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Even on the warmest of these days, I crave Pasta paired with a glass of wine.  So, when I am asked ‘what’s for dinner’ I simply smile and everyone around me gets it. In fact, while on zoom with family yesterday, we compared pasta recipes, which naturally got me craving again – you guest it –  pasta for dinner tonight and the wine of course. Now, I normally don’t mix ground beef and Italian sausage, but I think for the sake of tonight’s efforts for positive thinking – this is the recipe I’ll be following: RECIPE 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced 1 pound Italian sausage, hot or mild or a mixture, cut into coins or crumbled 1 pound ground beef 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste 1 stick cinnamon, if you have one 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (optional) 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, if you have them 2 teaspoons dried basil, if you have them 1 (28-ounce) can peeled whole or crushed tomatoes 1 big glug of red wine, if there is some to hand Kosher salt and freshly ground black …

Monday Updates and A Few Lovely Things

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Hello Everyone – hope you had a lovely weekend, or made it lovely in your own creative way during these difficult of times.  I have to say, I tried my best to focus only on the good over the weekend, even while the weather outside was gloomy, and the lockdown in full force, I felt the goodness of Easter by… Watching the heart-warming concert – by Andrea Bocelli   Made Easter Sunday Roast with my mother – which is both funny and sad, because I am forcing her to remember all of her old-world recipes and after the challenge of producing the final meal,  she reminds me she’d forgotten an ingredient or two.  I took several virtual tours of Italy and allowed the experience to take me away  Watched a pretty funny – cheesy rom-com on Netflix which reminded me so much of Four Weddings and  A Funeral  And for sure the winner of happiest moments  was watching  an in-home Easter egg hunt over FaceTime with loved ones currently on lock down in England  It is …

Happy Easter From Our Home To Yours

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I watch my neighbors take turns in entertaining their energetic sons while in their backyard, in between home-schooling breaks. The husband would stand at the top of the stairs, scrolling through his phone while the kids play in the garden below, while on the alternating days, the wife rolls up her sleeves and actually makes the kids help her with gardening.  It’s an interesting watch from where I have set up my home-office. I find myself looking forward to their playtime, and then get sad on days when they are not outside – feeling all sorts of out of proportion. So no matter what is happening in your neighborhood, or lack thereof, spend today in appreciating  the smaller wonders in life – and have faith that soon life will be back to normal. {featured image source here and here}

Food: Will Bake Cross-Buns For Easter Sunday

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After forty minutes in line at the grocery store aiming to buy essentials, I was surprised to find a good portion of a pot roast in the meat section. Which of late has been only stocking up on ground beef, some turkey, and chicken. So I grabbed it thinking we’d have roast for Easter Sunday Dinner. Which I announced, the second I shed my outdoor clothes off in the garage, and took a hot steaming shower. It felt like a small accomplishment being able to treat the family to a special dinner – a variation of a British traditional Sunday roast I love when in England. But today – being Saturday, I will attempt to make cross-buns which I normally buy from my favorite bakery – on my way home from work on Good Friday, I stop by the bakery and grab a dozen perfectly wrapped in a cellophane bag, and tied with blue, yellow or green ribbon. Something I look forward to every year. For this year however, while we are all trying to …

Decorating Easter Eggs Is A Form of Art

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This year, being the most unusual, some traditions should be improvised. To an art project for the kids and adults rather than a holiday ritual. I get it, this suggestion may offend some, but under the circumstance, consider the exercise a positive distraction.  Besides, who wouldn’t want to crack open a beautifully decorated boiled egg – I’m just saying. Article and featured image source

Food: Cooking Traditional Dinners

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After seeing this video online, and watching it a million times and tearing up every single time, I realized just how thankful I am for deciding to stay with my mother before the shelter in place became the criterion for survival  – for San Francisco since the beginning of March. The beauty of our time together – is that every day she shares with me stories about her childhood, and we discuss recipes for all the wonderful cooking ritual her clan embarked on for each season. I remember them fondly and some she tells me about with her own experiences with her mother – way before I was born. Last night, we made stuffed grape leaves. I wanted to learn the process, since it is one of our traditional dishes or a version of it since so many around the world pride themselves of the dish. It didn’t turn out that well, because after we made it, she told me, we forgot a few key ingredients and steps. 🙂 That’s okay. I was fine with …

Food: Easy Recipes While Sheltering in Place

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As we all know grocery shopping has become the most challenging – where we need to stand in-line, or shop certain hours, take home only 1 or 2 of a product even if feeding a family of 4 or 5 and after spending an excruciating amount of time walking from aisle to aisle, holding our breathes, or wearing a mask and gloves, and avoiding even eye contact with anyone – we come home forgetting something or that what you may need the most isn’t on the shelves  – so you improvise. The next step is finding creative ways to make a meal – after the usual pot full of spaghetti, or lasagna.  Is it just me, or most of us are craving more carbs these days? So, while awake at night – worrying about my aging dog, and working from home or my mother – I find myself thinking even more about our dinners. Not because of me enjoying cooking but for some reason the survival mode we are now in. Weird how our minds …

Weekend Updates and Monday Happy Finds

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I hate the fact I didn’t realize it was Palm Sunday yesterday – a celebration I take very seriously. The only way I discovered that it was, was when I went upstairs to visit with my mother – who was seated on her favorite armchair, hands pressed together, praying while mass was streaming on the television screen. I actually wanted to cry seeing her, with eyes closed, praying the way she does and especially now even more. Have I told you all recently just how much I respect the elderly and their traditions and values and approach to all things life is throwing their/our way? Anyway, after the crying, I came back to my studio downstairs and watched the heavy downpour from my window for about an hour and it was probably the most soothing thing I’ve done from the indoors. Normally I find my comfort with all the walks I embark on throughout the city. Staring out of the window, I realized how beautiful human beings are…really…truly. Something that’s gone unnoticed forever it seems …

A Burst Of Hope and Our Collective Love For Italy

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I felt a burst of hope yesterday when, after standing in line for 40 minutes to enter the grocery store, I saw stacked cases of my favorite water. I thought it was a mirage, but I walked up and managed to secure  my two-per-cart cases of water feeling as if I were on top of the world. Baby steps. Don’t give up hope, we are going to get through this. Lately, or let’s just say, every year around this time, I experience much wanderlust-particularly anywhere in Italy. Funny thing is, I keep sharing photos of Italy with my loved ones courtesy of Instagram to up their moods, or maybe mine – with a note saying remember this? or can’t wait to travel with you here or  how about that restaurant in Venice?  What is it about Italy-time and time again, that I feel the need to include this fascinating destination to my annual travel plans. Except this year, it will just have to be an imaginary tour of what these editors have detailed here. Here’s …