Carl Lewis parla di Usain Bolt

Comprensione orale: livello medioSegna con una crocetta solo le affermazioni VERE: C. Lewis è a Roma per una manifestazione di solidarietàLewis non pensa che il giamaicano Bolt sia un grande campionePer il doping, Lewis dice che bisogna fermare il fenomeno alla radice, lavorando sui bambiniLewis ha dichiarato in passato che la medaglia più bella che ha vinto fu quella revocata a Johnson per

Not Again

What the hell, Gustav? While you're all headin' toward my hometown, all I can think is, am I gonna have to kick some hurricane ass?

'Cause I totally will.

I hope everyone will be ok...please leave if you have to. My door is open.

Cannoli Filled Cream Puffs!! August Daring Bakers Challenge

This months Daring Bakers challenge was taken from a book called, Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Herme'.
I knew I was going to like this the minute I saw the recipe, because it only had 3 elements to it! Choux pastry, or cream puff dough, some kind of pastry cream, and a chocolate glaze.

Then there was the fact that our dear Host's MeetaK and Tony Tahhan, kindly gave us culinary leeway to choose what ever filling we wanted, along with the size and shape of our choice, which made it even better!!


Of course my choice was to stuff these little mini babies with cannoli filling. The filling consisted of ricotta, which was made smooth by putting it into a food processor, along with some powdered sugar for sweetness, after which I added some rum, grated orange rind, just the slightest hint of cinnamon, and mini chocolate chips.


To make it less dense, I folded in some freshly whipped cream.


After glazing the top with chocolate, I finished it off with some chopped pistachio's.


The biggest problem I had was working with the pastry bag! Everything was squishing out the top, I think my bag was too small. So after one attempt with it, I quickly switched to a gallon size Ziploc bag. I would appreciate any hints to working neatly with a pastry bag!


Other than that only issue, everything else was a breeze! I would definitely make these again!


For the complete recipe please click on our Host's link above.

And please go check out some of the other Daring Bakers creations here.



Buon Appetito!!

La contessa della moda

Piante officinali

Comprensione orale: livello avanzato
Segna con una crocetta solo le affermazioni VERE:
I frati coltivano le erbe officinali...
per curarsi
per venderle
per fare liquori
l timo è indicato nelle patologie...
del sangue
delle vie urinarie
del fegato
La malva cura...
le flebiti
le stomatiti
l'asma
Del crespigno si possono mangiare...
le cime
il fusto e le cime
il fusto
Con l'aspragine si preparano..

Family, Friends, and an Evening with Tony Bennett!!

This past Saturday our family and friends joined together again for our annual trek to Ravinia Festival, for the Tony Bennett concert.

Ravinia is one of the oldest outdoor music festival's located in Highland Pk. The venue is a gorgeous park like setting with old trees, a sprawling open lawn area, an open air pavilion where Tony Bennett actually performs. Scattered along the grounds there are wine bars, espresso bars, ice cream stands, food areas where you can pick up some gourmet treats and baked goods, and even a sit down restaurant.

If you live in the Chicagoland area and haven't been to Ravinia, you are missing out on one of the best times!! You just have to go! I repeat!...."Go to Ravinia!" Stealing a quote from my son, "It's just not summer unless we go to Ravinia at least once!" And it's so true!

The whole thing about Ravinia is the picnicking that takes place on the lawn. Yes, the lawn seating is the best! But there's a strategy to it, you have to claim your spot quickly,you must have all your plans thought out ahead of time. And when the gates open, send in your best runners to claim your spot, all you have to do is lay out your tarps and mats, and then the fun begins. We have our "secret ways" and it works every time! Did you check out the crowd?

As far as the picnic fare, you will see a whole spectrum of things, humble eating straight from a pizza takeout box, to a turkey dinner on china with candelabras. It's fun to walk around and see the different picnic's going on, We actually saw a small wedding reception picnic there with the bride still in her wedding gown.

This is the Pavilion where the artists perform, it's open, and there is seating for 3200 people, but you will pay at least $75.oo per ticket. Lawn seats are $15.00 per person and you will hear Tony being piped out from all the speakers they have set up in the trees. We always manage to get near the stage where the sound is great and if we want too, we can walk up to the fence and take a look at Tony performing. Many times you will see couples dancing on the lawn.

By the way, can I just say that Tony Bennett still sounds amazing! You'd never know he was in his 80's! He's as sharp as a whistle, and doesn't miss a beat! He talks to his audience, and makes sure he plays all there favorite songs. Needless to say, "Chicago" was sung!

For our group of 14, we had 3 tables that we put together to make a buffet. We had a separate table that was for our beverages where homemade Sangria was made. The gates opened at 5:00 and Tony performed at 7:30, so we had 2 1/2 hours of " grazing" before the concert started. Everyone all chipped in a brought something! The only thing we ever buy is coffee at dessert time.

For Appetizers we had:

Brie and fig, Goat cheese with Lavender, Spinach and Artichoke Dip, Olive Salad Dip, Salsa and Chips, Feta Dip, Baba Ganoush, Hummus, and Pita Chips.

Main Courses:

Chicken Kabobs, Falafel, Spinach and Artichoke Quiche, Mini Prosciutto and fresh Mozzarella sandwiches, Breaded Chicken Fingers, Tortellini Pasta Salad skewer's, Spicy Capicola and Mozzerella skewer's, Mini Pizza's of Caprese, and a Gorgonzola and Artichoke one, Stuffed Tomatoes, Roasted Veggies, Cucumber Salad, and, an assortment of Olives.

This is my son Tony, going in for the desserts which consisted of:

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries, Oreo Truffles, Mini Cheesecakes, 2 kinds of Brownies, Banana Bread, Lemon bars, and 2 different Fruit Kabobs!

It truly was a great evening had by all! Thanks everyone!

This is something I made which is great for a party, sort of a deconstructed pasta salad. In this case it is pre-cooked Tortellini that was marinaded with lemon and olive oil for 30 min's, then skewered with fresh basil, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and fresh mozzarella. Grate some fresh cheese over top. Mmmm!!

And finally, I just want to mention that this post makes it my 100th post!! Woo Hoo, I finally did it!

Buon Appetito Everyone!!

Grilled Scallops with Roasted Tomatoes and French Beans!

If you love scallops, I'm certain you will love this dish! Every time I make it you will hear sounds like "Mmmmm!" "Oh, Wow!" "Yummm!" around my table, (me included).
Believe me, it isn't any skill on my part, it's very simple to make, it's just that the flavors go so well together. You have the intense concentration of the tomatoes which have been roasted, balanced with the sweet and slightly smoky flavor of the grilled scallops, added with it all, are those thin french beans that still have a little bite to them, I'm telling you, it's a match made in heaven!

The other great thing about this dish is the fact that the tomatoes and beans can be done ahead of time, even the day before. Scallops take no time at all, so I actually recommend you doing that, this way when the scallops are done, everything comes together so quickly.

Roasting the Tomatoes:

You must use those little tomatoes on the vine! I used the Campari ones from Costco, but you can get them almost any where. They have such terrific flavor already, and when you roast them they get even better. Take a foil or parchment lined baking sheet, cut each tomato in half, over a bowl lightly squeeze a little of the juice out, place cut side up , drizzle with olive oil, s&p, and crushed garlic. Roast in a hot 400 degree oven till they shrivel up and have a deep red color with still a little moisture.

Forgive me, I'm not sure how long it takes, I know its less than an hour and more than 20 min's.

Again it depends how much moisture is inside, just keep checking. Let them cool, and gently lift them off with a spatula and pack them into a container till ready to use.

Scallops:

Good quality scallops, big ones, that are dry, you don't want to put a wet scallop on the grill it just won't sear right. So place them between paper towels to get any moisture out. Toss them with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and cook them on a very hot grill and don't flip them till you get some good grill marks. I can't tell you exactly how long they take, it depends on how thick they are.

But don't over cook them OK!

French Beans:

Cook till crisp tender, rinse in cold water, put them into a Ziploc bag till ready to use.

Now when you're ready to eat, take a large saute pan, cook some shallots and more garlic in olive oil till tender. Now take your roasted tomatoes, place them in the pan and heat then gently through, as well as the beans.

When scallops are done, just incorporate everything together! That's it!

Buon Appetito!!!

Winner of my Blogoversary Giveaway!

As you can see, Michelle, of Le Potage is the winner of my Blogoversary giveaway! I only wish I could send you all a gift. Michelle, send me your address in an email, and I'll send the gift right out to you. Also, if any of you are not familiar with Michelle's blog, please go there for a visit! Le Potage means soup in French, and boy can she cook up some great pots of soup, among other things! In fact her tortilla soup is on my to make list.

I was overwhelmed with all the comments and enjoyed reading each and every one!

Thanks Again,

xoxo, Marie

Overheard at Texsomm

Me: Oh, that's way too extracted.

Other: No it's not!

Me: Yes it is.

Other: No it's not!

Would you expect anthing less than such brilliant banter from a group of wine people?

Breaking news from Texas Sommelier Conference

I just might be blogging today and tomorrow. I've tasked mahself with bringing you the latest gossip from this crazy group of enophiles.

Stay tuned...

Grab A Cannoli, And Come Share My Blogoversary with me!! (And a Giveaway)

Well it's finally here, the 1st anniversary of Proud Italian Cook! I can't believe a year has gone by already. I remember before I started this blog, I would browse the Internet and check out all of the food blogs out there, looking at all the beautiful photo's and reading great stories , and learning about different cultures and food traditions. Having a passion for cooking I wanted to have my own blog but thought it would be impossible for me, how would I start it? How did they get those pictures on line? Remember, I'm from the non-techie generation!

One day my daughter was over and I was showing her some of my favorite blogs and I was saying to her that I wish I could have one of my own. Of course her response was,"I can set you up in about a half hour with your own blog!" What? really? I said. "Yeah, pick a name for it" In the meantime she was typing faster than the speed of light asking me what color background, what font, etc and all the other things you have to do to set up a blog." Come on Mom! Pick a name I gotta go home" Are you kidding me? You're just going to leave now? I said. As soon as I came up with Proud Italian Cook she was done with everything else. " It's all done, see? I gotta go now". "Read up on it Mom, you can do it, Bye!"

Needless to say her phone was ringing off the hook from me, question after question, I even gave her my passwords so she could upload my photos from her house, she's a night owl and so am I,
so many a night I'd be calling her to help me.


Then I noticed the answering machine going on a little more often then before, Hmmm, was that a hint? I did hear her say she created a monster once! So baby step, by baby step, I slowly learned about blogging.

All that being said, if it wasn't for her, no way would I have started this! So thank you Vanessa! and the rest of my family, for putting up with me.

Now I want to give a big "THANKS" to all of you, my readers, who have made this year so much fun! You have all have inspired me more than you'll ever know. I appreciate everyone of your comments, and the awards you bestowed on me! I truely feel I have made friends all over the world! I will be forever grate full!!


Now on to the giveaway, I wish I could give each and everyone of you a little something, but this will be given to the one person I pick out of a hat. Just leave a comment on this post, and next Thursday I will pick a name, OK?


The gift includes... A decorative bottle for your olive oil, 2 dipping bowls, a dish cloth with tomatoes on it, a salt and pepper cellar, and 2 glass candies that I purchased in Venice, in San Marco square, when we went to Italy. Remember, all you have to do is leave a comment!

I'm looking forward to the year to come, maybe I'll even figure out what bandwith is, or how to do a widget, or even a gadget!!

Fresh Strawberry Mousse! Something Pink, for the Chicago 3-Day, 60 Mile Walk for Breast Cancer!

This weekend in Chicago was the Susan G. Komen, 60 mile walk for Breast Cancer. My daughter, daughter in law, niece, and a few of their friends joined as a team, and together they walked 60 miles in 3 days along with thousands of others to fight breast cancer.

I did a post here about some of the highlights of it, and the training and fundraising part of it.

Day 1, at 6AM, Team Boob Patrol assembled together all fresh, motivated and ready for their 60 mile walk! some of the team names were hilarious, Babes for Boobs, Titty Commitee, and The Rack Pack, to name a few.
From left to right, Tenley (friend), Vanessa (daughter), Christa (daughter in law), Julie (niece), Elena (friend), Michele (friend).

Before they started their journey there were so many motivational stories they told of those who were walking and why. The loved ones that they had lost to this disease. Moms, daughters, wives, aunts, cousins, best friends, co workers. And then the survivors came in and thanked them all for doing this. Some of the survivors are pictured in the circle here with the flags, holding hands.

To watch over all these walkers there was a wonderful crew looking out for them every step of the way, here was an "angel"all in pink who rode along the walking route.

Day 2, This is one of the cheering stations set up for friends and family to cheer their walkers on. This one family set up a "red carpet" right on the side walk, complete with music as the walkers walked by. Everyone cheering, clapping, and thanking them as they passed. Cars that drove by were beeping there horns in support of the walkers. Police that were directing traffic had pink shirts on. Ambulance and fire department trucks were decorated with pink ribbons and encouraging words.

This is my Granddaughter all decked out to cheer her Mom on. She along with other kids, handed out freeze pops to the walkers as they walked by. Other people had bottled water, licorice, Tootsie Roll pops along the way.

Many of the walkers decorated their own shirts, some had names of those they were walking for on the back. This was done by my daughter in laws crafty sister.

We just loved this sign a man had made for his wife!

I have to say my son and son in law, did a terrific job to encourage and support their wives. They were both there acting as their private crew members for whatever they needed, bandaids a change of socks, shoes, whatever.
Here is one of 6 huge signs that my son placed daily on the walking route so his wife could see it and be motivated to keep going. He blew up pictures of her workmates (pictured here), her grandmother, her parents, and her sisters family, glued them on poster board and with the help of my DIL's crafty sister wrote encouraging words to her.

These signs were so big he had to hammer them in the ground!

Day 3, The walk completed, hand and hand team Boob Patrol walked proudly into the closing ceremony together, relieved it was over,bistered feet, a little sore, but very proud of what they accomplished, as well as all of us, their family!

The closing ceremony took place in the parking lot of Soldier Field, what a sight to see when all the walkers took off one shoe, and raised it high above their heads in honor of those who have survived breast cancer. Not a dry eye was left!!

Victory to team Boob Patrol!!! You guys did it! Each and everyone of your family members are so proud of you!! Cheers to you!

In finishing, I had to show you a picture of this. Upon arriving home after her 3Day walk, my son had 60 pink flamingo's placed in the front of their home. One for each mile she walked!

Wasn't that sweet?

If anyone is interested after reading this post, the mousse I made was simply chopped fresh strawberries,that were sweetened to taste, folded into some freshly whipped cream that was flavored with some Amaretto, and placed into a white chocolate rimmed glass.

The ribbon was made out of warmed white chocolate, piped onto parchment, and immediately decorated with sprinkles.

Garibaldi e Sicilia

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

What to do with an over abundance of veggies!!

I just can't resist buying veggies this time of year, I'm happy when my frig is stocked full of them, but I think I went a little overboard this past week! Knowing I had a busy week and weekend ahead I knew I had to cook these up, so I decided to fire up my grill.


I call this a Grilled Vegetable Torte, it's so easy to prepare, it has a WOW presentation, and it goes fantastic with grilled meats. After grilling your veggies, which have all been brushed with olive oil, salt and pepper, layer them into an oiled spring form pan, any size will do it just depends how many veggies you have.

Each layer a different color, a different veg that is topped off with shredded parm or in this case pecorino romano, you might want to put a few basil leaves in between too. Repeat untill you get to the top. Press veggies down.

Cover and wrap the bottom of your pan with foil and place on a baking sheet in a 400F oven.
Bake for about a half hour, giving it enough time to melt the cheese which acts like "glue" and holds the veggies together when you slice it. Let it cool, unmold and eat it at room temperature. Garnish with shredded romano or your favorite cheese on top.

Don't cut your veggies into small pieces, you'll want to cut them into nice big slices it's easier to layer that way.

Believe me it cuts into perfect wedges, just use a sharp serrated knife and take your time, pulling it out with a pie spatula. I would have showed you a wedge but I took this whole thing to a friends house for lunch, minus my camera.

Adding some grilled veggies and ripe tomatoes to orzo pasta along with fresh herbs and grilled shrimp tossed in a fresh lemon and olive oil dressing, makes this a light summer pasta salad.

Tomato Bread, this has great flavor and goes with just about anything! Take a good quality baguette, and scoop out a well down the middle, stick in some grape tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper, place on a baking sheet and bake in a 350 degree oven till tomatoes are soft around 30 min. When the tomatoes pop the juice runs into the bread and flavors it. Garnish with fresh basil.

Hope these ideas help you out a little in using up any of your veggies you have laying around!

Buon Appetito!!

vacation, all i ever wanted...

My mom arrived today, on time, and WITH her luggage. What do you know! Suprise, suprise, suprise.

We leave tomorrow morning, for Côte d’Azur, and will be gone for three weeks.

I am bringing my computer and will try to pop in every once in a while. Post a pic or two.

Have a great August, and travel safe! :O)

Il museo del rasoio