Baked Feta Cheese ~ my recipe

Hello everyone!!

It's been a crazy year....maybe the longest break I ever had from my blog. Many things have happened, I'm now back in Colorado with my family probably for good. I will always keep California in my heart as well as all the wonderful places and people I've encountered these last 11 years. My new daily routine helps me now to go back to writing and posting things I like, here on my blog. 

As you already know, cooking is one of my favorite hobbies, I love to share my recipes and try new things. Yesterday I tried a NEW one!! It's a Greek dish. I've never been to Greece, I've seen many pictures of the beautiful sea, which reminds me of the sea where I grew up in the South of Italy.. {it's only 300 miles from my hometown...}

Milos, Greece

Gorgeous, isn't it? So...with images like this in my head, dreaming to be floating on those crystal waters, I decided to cook one of their typical dishes: Baked Feta Cheese.
It's incredibly simple and so delicious!

This is the one I did

All you need is this {it serves 1 or 2 people} :

• FETA cheese, 8 ounces (not crumbled)
• Extra Virgin OLIVE OIL, a generous drizzle
• Kalamata Olives, a handful (I used green olives, they were also good)
• 1 Red Onion, thinly sliced
• 2 Ripe Tomatoes, sliced
• Salt
• Oregano

1. Drizzle a baking dish with the olive oil, add the sliced onion, tomatoes and olives. Add a little salt and oregano.
2. Add the whole piece of Feta cheese on top of the veggies. Sprinkle some oil and oregano on top.
3. Bake for 1 hour in oven at 350 degrees.
4. Enjoy with a piece of bread!

.1

.2

Buon appetito!!!

Let me know if you try this dish and how it came out! I'd love to hear!

Love for now.

xoxo,

A scent of Italy.

Hello Friends!!!

what a beautiful hot day we had here in California today!! After a few days of rain, the sun is back again! It really felt like summer... and when I feel that type of warmth I can only think of my South of Italy {where I come from}. I recently had the opportunity to purchase something I had on my "I-really-want" List for a long time and it arrived two days ago all the way from the beautiful Calabria (Italy)!!! 

I purchased a pretty locket with a deliciously homemade solid perfume called Scirocco. I first fell in love with the name as it takes me back to the South of Italy... for those who don't know, it's the name of a wind that originates in Africa (in the Sahara desert) and blows through the Mediterranean sea. It brings with it the scent of summer, of the jasmine, the oranges and other citruses.. well, that perfume contains it all! I can close my eyes and smell the countryside where I grew up.

I want to thank so much Mariu', the owner of the beautiful Etsy SHOP called LaMiaCasaNelVento, meaning My House In the Wind {she makes also organic soaps and candles}. She also writes a BLOG where she shares the most amazing pictures! You should check it out!!

Her talent is great and the care she takes in bringing every little detail to perfection is what touches me.

I feel honored to have one of her pieces and to be able to smell Italy. If you are curious... you should go order one of her perfumes as well and let me know what you think!! :)

this is what I received.... 

Here is something you can find in her shop:

Natural Solid Perfume

Organic Chamomile

Hugs to you all!!

..and tanti baci...

Best Summer Drink ~ Lemon Italian-Ice Recipe

What can I say.. summer heat is on and it's time to get refreshed with a delicious drink!

Today I want to share with you a secret recipe of the most delicious "Italian-ice"... in Italian it's actually called GRANITA {probably because it's as hard as granite??}, it's a very popular homemade summer treat. You can eat it by itself in a cup or enjoy it in a drink. It's really good mixed in a glass of ice-tea... but my favorite way to eat it is in a big glass of Coke! {did you know I'm addicted to Coca-Cola?}.. just add a few big chunks to your drink, they will replace the ice-cubes and will slowly give a lemony flavor... :)

Ok, here is the recipe:

Lemon Italian-Ice  { a.k.a. ~ Granita di Limone ~}

• 4 big lemons
• 4 cups of water
• 1 cup sugar

Boil the water with the sugar, until dissolved. Let it cool down.

Squeeze the lemons and add their juice to the sweet water.

Pour the mix in a container (preferably with lid) and put it in the freezer until completely frozen (it should take a couple of hours).

Take it out of the freezer 20 minutes before trying to serve it... it will be very hard! Use a strong spoon to scrape the ice.

Serve it in bowls or in your favorite drink.

 

Enjoy!!!

 

 

xoxo,

 

 

Our One Day Camping Experience..

Well, here I am!! This is my first summer post from the beautiful Colorado! Yes.... I made it... I didn't get lost in the forest... :)  I say this because for the first time, me and my husband decided to break our 18 hours usual road-trip {from Cali to Colo}spending one night in tent!!! I think it was a great idea because we all had a blast!

We are not campers, we have 0 experience. The only two times we went camping in the past we were with friends who put up the tent for us, cooked for us, brought all the tools and food... basically everything. This time it was just us. It was our adventure.

We found a camping ground on Lake Tahoe {huuuge lake!! so gorgeous!}, we built our tent and made the fire. I cooked sausages, fresh corn, melted fresh mozzarella and in the morning I even made espresso!! Everything on our camp-fire... so much fun!

We will definitely do it again... it's also much cheaper than to spend a night in a hotel, as we usually do.

Here's some of the pictures I took:

 

 

Hope you're having a great week-end!!

 

xoxo,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomato Harvest

It seems like Fall is never gonna come. It's still very hot outside.. but I have to say that I'm enjoying these last days of Summer. I can still dry the clothes outside, before the rainy days come... and I like watering the plants everyday, especially my tomatoes!! It's the first time I have my own tomato-plants! Yesterday I picked and ate the first one... so good! 

Speaking about pomodori reminds me of something fun I did last summer.. I gave a few Italian Lessons to a sweet Denver girl who wants to learn my beautiful language! I don't know how much she learned in the end, I wish I had more time to do more lessons, but time really went so fast. During my lessons I taught her also some simple recipes {we cooked pasta with tomato sauce... and Pizza with Zucchini Flowers.. everything from scratch of course... }. It was fun!!! The best way to learn a language is to be somehow part of the culture and that's what I tried to do. ♥

my student showing off our Pizza! Buonissima!!!

...the blessings of my garden...

Fresh from the Garden.

~~~~I can't believe it's already August!!!~~~~ 

One of my favorite months.. it reminds me of the summer vacations spent on the beach in Italy. So, today I looked in my friends' garden and I found 3 Zucchini Flowers!! They told me I could pick them, as they don't eat them.. well... that's exactly what I did!! I LOVE zucchini flowers!! It's an ingredient found mostly in the Roman cuisine, they fry them or put them on pizzas as a topping. 

{So delicious!!!}

I like them fried and I decided to take pictures to show all of you this wonderful and easy recipe. It is a great side dish, appetizer or yummi snack!

FRIED ZUCCHINI FLOWERS 

(Fiori di Zucchina fritti)

This is what you need:

• 5 or 6 large zucchini flowers
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 splash of water
• 1 pinch of salt
• vegetable oil 

Wash the flowers very gently, detach the little stem inside the flower (and throw it away). 

Prepare the egg-batter mixing the eggs with a pinch of salt, add the flour and mix well until creamy. Add a splash of cold water and keep stirring until smooth. 

Dip the flower in the batter and fry it in a saucepan with hot oil until golden on both sides.

Let the cooked flowers rest on paper towel to absorb the extra oil. Serve warm.

* * * * *

Week~End in Nature

Wow! I haven't written in a while! It's because I'm very busy enjoying my vacation time here in Colorado. :) 

I just came back from an incredible camping trip with my family and some very good friends. We all had a great time! We really camped with tents and cooked on the camp-fire.. roasted marsh-mallows on a stick... washed our face in the creek.. fallen asleep listening to the sounds of the forest. We lived an adventure! My children were especially excited to be surrounded by Nature.. what a beautiful gift has been this week-end..

I want to share with you just a few pictures I took and end this post with a quote by George Washington Carver.. Until next time!!

* * *

*I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.*
George Washington Carver

Jane Eyre

my new messenger bag

One of my favorite books is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. If you are looking for a book to read this summer and you like romance, adventure and suspense.. it's the book for you!! I'll share with you a few quotes:

“No sight so sad as that of a naughty child," he began, "especially a naughty little girl. Do you know where the wicked go after death?"

"They go to hell," was my ready and orthodox answer.

"And what is hell? Can you tell me that?"

"A pit full of fire."

"And should you like to fall into that pit, and to be burning there for ever?"

"No, sir."

"What must you do to avoid it?"

I deliberated a moment: my answer, when it did come was objectionable: "I must keep in good health and not die.” 
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“You — you strange — you almost unearthly thing! — I love as my own flesh. You — poor and obscure, and small and plain as you are — I entreat to accept me as a husband.” 
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“Her coming was my hope each day,
Her parting was my pain;
The chance that did her steps delay
Was ice in every vein.” 
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

“Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! - I have as much soul as you, - and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you!” 
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Bohemian Girl

...just a picture to show you my newest creation. I finally finished it today!! A Granny Squares Purse, crocheted in black and white cotton with just a little touch of lime green. :)
I felt a little bohemian today...