Pink and lacey summer shawl.

Here we go again. I can't stop making shawls. Is there a cure for this?

Looking back.

As a child seeing my mother knit was the most normal thing in the world to me. She was always either cooking or knitting, and excelled in both . She was always teaching or giving advice about patterns and stitches to friends, neighbours, relatives. The knitting needles must have seemed to me extensions of her arms. I don't remember having worn as a child a sweater or a cardigan that wasn't handmade by her. Her eyes lit and she smiled timidly at the nice comments that other ladies made about how pretty and elegant my sisters and I always were.
Take a look at this:



I must have been not more than three years old. Doesn't this cardigan look machine knitted? Well, I have never seen anything made by her that wasn't a masterpiece and the thing that amazes me most is that she never followed patterns or written instructions.
Believe it or not, I still keep that little beauty she made for me over fourty years ago!
Here it is:





Being so old and having been washed many many times it has obviously lost a little of its original shape and perfection but it is still in extremely good conditions.
In spite of the yellowish light and the poor quality of the photos my mother skill is quite visible. It is made with the thinnest pure wool. The stitches are very small. I would say she must have used 1.5mm or 2mm needles.
I simply love this little cardigan and I dream of making one exactly the same one day, maybe, who knows....for a grandchild!
Meanwhile I'll keep on making shawls.
The pink crochet one needs just one more round. I can't wait to get it off my hands!
Look at what I fished out of my knitting basket the other day:



it's just one of the numerous ufos that I have carefully hidden around the house trying to forget they exist. But they mercilessly appear when I least expect them to, seeking revenge! I can't blame them. They seem to say: "Shame on you, Rita! How could you do this? What ever happened to all the loving attention you dedicated us for days, weeks.....?"
Oh well. Mea culpa. I guess I will have to make amends. Yes, how right you are, Red Venice Shawl! I humbly apologize and yes, I will devote my best attention to you and your fellow ufos as from next week.
It's a promise.

Damn hot!

43°C yesterday and we're heading for about the same temperature today too. I can cope with in the daytime but not at night. I have hardly slept at all in the past 3 nights. Lack of sleep has a strong effect on me, body and spirit. I feel like a walking zombie ( and look like one too!) as I move around the place doing a little cleaning and tidying up, just the necessary to prevent having to call the cleaning service (haha) by the end of the week. I try to keep our meals as simple as possible but I still end up cooking for about and hour twice a day. I can live on fruit for weeks, but the boys need at least one proper meal a day. Why haven't we got air conditioning? Well, up here it's normally well ventilated and even the hottest summer days are mitigated by a pleasant breeze, but I'm seriously thinking we will need air conditioning at least in the bedrooms if this kind of weather persists.
The pink crochet shawl is growing very slowly, not more than one round per day and, believe me, it takes all of my willpower to achieve such a small result!
Three more rounds to finish the pattern then maybe another two for finishing it off nicely, that makes...five days?? Too long. I'll try hard to have it washed and pinned before the weekend, weather permitting.

5 weeks.

Has it really been five weeks since I last blogged?
My emotional state seems to have influenced my perception of time.
The events of the past weeks have had a negative impact on many aspects of my everyday life, including my enthusiasm for this blog. Whenever I'm depressed or worried I become clumsy and accident prone. I don't think I have ever broken so many things before, glasses, plates....they just fall out of my hands. And I accidently knocked down of my favourite table lamps while vacuuming the other day.
I will not bore you with details. I am a reserved person and , anyway, who wants to hear someone else's whinings and complaints about how much it hurts to be slapped across the face by life?
Everyone has to face problems, right?
Needless to say there has been very little knitting progress on my current projects. Ufos piling up in my hobbies room. I just can't seem to concentrate on anything.
A few days ago I picked up a crochet hook and a ball of yarn and started crocheting a simple mesh shawl. My idea is to make a plain triangle and add some kind of pretty edging. I have some swatches I like and one in particular looks appropriate.



This is it for the time being.
Oh, I have a couple of nice summer recipes for everyone to enjoy. Will post them very soon. I promise.

Recipe: Couscous and meatballs.

Ingredients:

For 4/5 servings you will need:
Couscous
2 medium zucchini
2 large carrots
1 small onion
2 medium capsicums
celery
parsley
4 tblsps pure olive oil
2 tsps curry powder
salt
pepper.


For the meatballs:

400 gr. very lean beef or veal mince
1 large egg ( or 2 small ones)
5 tblsps mature cheese, grated
2 heaped tblsps fine dry breadcrumbs
finely chopped parsley
pinch salt
pepper
few tblsps milk
extra oil for frying.


Heat the olive oil in a large casserole, add the chopped carrots, capsicums, onion, celery, parsley, curry powder and a little salt. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes stirring often. Meanwhile prepare the meatballs: mix all the ingredients together adding a little milk if mixture is too dry. Roll into round balls of about 1in diameter. Heat extra oil in a frying pan and seal meatballs quickly on medium-high flame till they change colour. Do not brown. Drain on kitchen paper and add them and the chopped zucchini to the casserole. Cook on low flame for about 30 minutes.
You might find that there isn't enough liquid at this stage. Add a little water, but remember that the zucchini will release a lot of liquid when they are cooked. For this reason I usually remove the lid after about 20 minutes and let the liquid in excess evaporate.
Prepare the couscous following the instructions on the packet and top with the vegetable-meatballs mixture.
Here's the dish ready to be enjoyed!

Sweet Memories shawl:

Like all chronic sentimentals I cherish all things and objects which remind me of special moments of the past, my childhood and adolescence in particular.
A few years ago I noticed that a crochet sweater made by my mother in the early
70's for me had been ruined by moths. I won't talk about the disappointment, but after a few days past regretting not having taken better precautions against the nasty horrible insects I decided I could give new life to that lovely creamy white lace weight wool by recycling it, so I ripped the sweater but not before making a swatch of that pretty stitch my mother used for it.
The wool is still in my stash waiting to be turned into some pretty top or something else, but I was eager to use the stitch and so I thought.....why not a shawl? This is what I came up with and I'm quite happy with the result.




Changing the subject, today is my dad's 79th birthday.
Auguri papa'! Ti voglio tanto bene.

Recipe: Orecchiette Primavera.

Just as I promised here's the recipe for Orecchiette Primavera.
For 4-5 servings you will need:

400gr. pasta (orecchiette or some other type)
1 tbsp finely chopped onion (possibly spring onion)
3/4 cup frozen baby peas
3/4 cup potatoes in small dices
1/4 cup chopped Parma ham ( bacon or plain ham will do)
1 tblsp butter
2 tbsps olive oil
200 ml cream
2-3 tbsps grated parmesan cheese ( or any tasty mature cheese)
parsley
salt
pepper

Melt butter in a casserole, add oil, peas, potatoes and saute' gently adding a little water when needed
add salt ( use little salt because the ham and the parmesan cheese will add a lot of sapidity to the sauce) and pepper and continue cooking till the vegetables are just tender.
Add the parsley and the ham.
Cook for further 2 minutes, add the cream ( here in Italy we use a very thick cream for this type of recipe which has the consistency of cream cheese)
fold the cream with the rest of the ingredients and turn off the flame.
Cook the pasta in penty of water and a little salt " al dente" and drain well. I have used orecchiette but other types are just as good , such as pennette.
Put the casserole back on the stove on a low flame, add the pasta and the parmesan cheese
mix everything
serve hot.
This dish is delicious and it can be made in less than 30 minutes! Try it and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

Too many holidays?

Why haven't I blogged much lately? Good question. I guess it happens even to the most addicted blogger to have a moment of "defiance", a time when the events of everyday life seem too banal to share with anyone else except the people who are closer to us.
I have mentioned before that here in Italy spring gives the start to a sequence of local festivities which punctually close with fireworks. Yesterday it was St. George's day here. Although I didn't go out to see the celebrations I did enjoy the fireworks since they were clearly visible from here.



My dogs were simply terrified by the noise, poor babies!
Not much to report on the knitting front. I've been mainly swatching for a couple of projects I have in mind with some success but being the usual perfectionist, I am obviously not satisfied and I plan to swatch, swatch, swatch till I find what I'm looking for. Assuming that what I'm looking for exists!
So how have I been filling the long and warm spring days we are experiencing then? Well, cooking!
Take a look:


these are called "arancine", which means small oranges, because those are what they resemble. They are made with rice and the mouth watering filling is meat, cheese, peas, and tomato sauce.


I have called this dish "Orecchiette primavera". Orecchiette is a type of pasta which can be found dry or fresh and is typical of a region called Puglia. They can be cooked in many ways and I made up a delicious sauce which I will post soon for everyone to enjoy!
And finally I have been trying my new bread machine:
sultana bread....

and...


pizza bread! (my recipe).

And last but not least....cannoli!!



well, I didn't make these actually although the ones I occasionally make myself are just as good.
Imagine a crisp but tender pastry with a light aroma of cinnamon....a melt-in- the-mouth filling made with the freshest ricotta cheese with a hint of lemon and tiny bits of rich dark chocolate...and finally a sprinkle of icing sugar....heaven!!!!!
If anyone is interested in trying out my "orecchiette primavera", stay tuned as I will be posting a recipe in the next few days.

The perfect day.

This is how it started...



....ever seen anything more beautiful?
It happened a couple of days ago. My son decided to take a day off work to get some things he needed and he asked me to join him, and I gladly said yes. On the way back from Barcellona, 30 minutes away from here, we decided to stop at Portorosa to take some photos and visit the new Hilton hotel.




We took a long walk through the canals....


it was such a warm day



and finally a refreshing ice cream in one of the many restaurants of the locality.


Here in Sicily Easter officially gives the start to a long season of local festivities, usually religious, which last two or three days and end with fireworks. So from now on almost every weekend at around midnight the sky will become alive with coloured sparks above at least one of the towns which are visible from up here.


The Easter weekend passed very quickly. After a sizzling bbq....


and the sweets of the tradition...


it's time for spring cleaning, put away the winter clothes and reorganize the wardrobes. This is going to be my mission for this coming week and I can't say I'm looking forward to it, but if I don't do it who will??

Hallo!

And happy Easter everyone!
Have a great weekend with your loved ones.