You never know what you'll find on Internet!

I've been fooling around on-line today. Got a bad cold and don't feel like doing very much that involves dragging my body around!

So, I discovered this neat gadget that determines the reading level of your blog. This blog was rated "College Undergrad" level...

Movie Reviews

Well thank goodness, considering I teach at the university and all...at least I'm up to my students' speed! But what's got me confused is that my other blog "Molfetta Daily Photo" is rated at "Genius" level! What does that mean? That I'm more intellectual when I talk about Molfetta then when I talk about home life? I guess recipes, poems and conversations with my children don't require a lot of big words! Sticking to the basics works fine around here!

Next, I found a great site for registering to vote overseas. The Overseas Vote Foundation will take care of everything for you...get you registered, get you an absentee ballot...all on-line! You can even vote on-line! I'm excited since (gasp!) I haven't voted in a US election since I've lived abroad...that means for the past 21 years! What a lame citizen I've been! Well, that's about to end!

And on a lighter note...if you love bags, but despair about the high prices, guess what? I found a great contest where you can win a free handbag from handbagplanet a handbag producer that will be celebrating the launch of their on-line site by giving away one free handbag every hour on October 15th. Check it out!

Okay, it's time to drag my cold-infested body away from the computer and start cleaning up around here. Why don't mommies get sick days?

What is this...a zoo?

The other day my younger son, G., came home from school dead set on getting a hamster. He had never talked about wanting a hamster before. And it's not as if we don't have animals around the house. Take a look here and here for proof!

D. and F. were against the new addition, but my thought was that it would perhaps be a good idea for G. to have a responsibility all of his own. Generally, F. takes care of the dogs, I take care of the cats and D. takes care of the bunny. And it was a heck of lot better birthday gift idea than *another* Nintendo DS, which is what he had wanted. So, we now have Boris, a Russian hamster, living with us! He is very cute and innocuous...I just hope he likes red, that was the only cage they had at the pet shop!

No sooner had we pulled into the driveway with Boris and his supplies in tow, did I find a little birdie lying on the ground! Now, I have to admit that I do not like birds. I mean, they're great to look at as they fly by at a distance (the greater the distance the better!), but I do not like getting up close and personal with birds. So, we sent F. out to the rescue. This little guy, who G. promptly named Tino, seemed perfectly fine, but he had one leg pulled up and seemed unable to fly. We made him as comfortable as possible in a basket lined with some soft rags and decided that if he survived the night we'd take him to the vet.

Well, this morning he was alive, though not especially well, and I took him off to the vet's in a shoebox. Her diagnosis was neurological damage rather than orthopedic, as in the leg isn't broken. Later today a friend of hers who studies veterinary medicine at the university, and knows more about birds, will pick up Tino and take care of him.

Tomorrow we're due back at the vet's with Tigro, the kitten, for vaccines and we'll let you know about Tino's progress.

D. was a bit exasperated by all this animal activity yesterday and cried out, "What is this...a zoo?!" But, really he's just as crazy about all our pets as the rest of us!

Sveta's Turkey Loaf

One of my favorite resources for discovering new recipes is to ask a friend, "What are you cooking today?" If it seems like something that might go over well at my house, I cook it that very day.

Because often I do get stuck in a recipe rut...fixing those "sure hit" recipes time after time. Well, yesterday I spent the morning on a wild shopping spree with my Russian friend, Sveta, who told me she wanted to fix a Turkey Loaf. And guess what we had for lunch at my house yesterday?

Here's her recipe...

Ingredients:

1/2 small onion
300 g. deboned turkey breast
300 g. fresh ricotta
1 egg
some bread crumbs (how much? depends on how compact you like your loaf)
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of ground nutmeg
some parsley
a dash of extra virgin olive oil
300 g. sliced speck ham

Heat oven to 180° celcius. Blend all the ingredients (except the oil and ham) in your food processor until you have a fairly smooth mix. Lay your slices of speck on a sheet of waxed paper (in Italy they have what's called "carta forno" which is similar to waxed paper, but without the wax) and form a loaf on top of the ham. Wrap the ham around the loaf, using extra slices to close up any uncovered areas. Grease your cooking dish with some olive oil and gently roll your loaf into the center of the dish. Bake for 1 hour, approximately.

Optionally, you can use a slightly larger baking dish and add diced potatoes, seasoned with a bit of salt and olive oil, around the loaf.

My kids were still raving about how good it was when they went to bed last night! Now, that's my measure of a successful meal

I Fell Down and Went Boom

Two days ago I blithely sauntered out my front door, down the steps and across the raised concrete pathway when...suddenly...my right foot slid out from under me in a completely unexpected direction and I started to fall.

In that millisecond of time between starting to fall and landing, I thought to myself, "Self, how can I stop this fall?" and the only answer that came to me was, "Self, you can't. Go with it." And, that fast, boom I was down in the mud.

The next thing I saw was my younger son G. looming over me in the sky, looking rather concerned.

G: Mommy, are you laughing or crying?
Me: Both. Ha, ha, sob, sob!
G: Why?
Me: Crying because it hurts. Laughing because I feel really silly.
G: Yeah, you look pretty silly. (eruption of relieved giggles...)

And then he had to pull me up off the muddy walkway and help wipe the mud off my jeans, and away we went on our original outing.

As if nothing had happened at all.

Until that evening.

When everything started to hurt real bad.

Older son D. wanted a bedtime cuddle with Mom, so I invited him to curl up with me on the big bed on the condition that he not move too much 'cause Mommy was not feeling too well.

Me: D., you're moving.
D: Yeah, so?
Me: Well, when you move, you move me and right now I don't want to move 'cause everything hurts.
D: Why?
Me: Well, you know, Mommy fell down today.
D: So?
Me: So I hurt myself when I fell down.
D: Why?
Me: Well, I banged my ribs and my hip and my arm and they hurt.
D: Why?

This was not a very fruitful conversation up to this point, two people talking at cross purposes, until I realised exactly *who* I was talking to. This is Mister "Fall Down All Day Every Day and Pop Back Up as if Nothing Had Happened." Mister "Basketball and Soccer on Concrete? No Problem."

Me: Okay, right. So, when you get older it hurts when you fall down.
D: Why?
Me: Well, your body just kind of gets tighter and less elastic.
D: Oh, I get it! Like when babies fall down and they just bounce back up 'cause it's like they're made of rubber!
Me: Yeah, that's it. Mommies aren't made of rubber!

Forgotten Language

Remember when you were little and it all seemed so clear to you? I remember being 10 years old and vowing to myself "I will *never* forget what it feels like to be 10 years old!" And now? I can't imagine what I was going on about at the time!

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to return to our childhood point of view every so often? Just to remember what it was like? And to feel what our children are feeling right now?

Forgotten Language
by Shel Silverstein

Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go?
How did it go?

Fried Nolca Olives

Right. So, by now you've figured out that I live "amid the olive trees." And a great by-product of living in this particular setting is....we have lots of olives!

Today's "If It Ain't Easy, I Don't Cook It" lesson is on the preparation of fried black olives. These are Nolca olives and they have a lot of "fruit" to them. They are completely inedible raw (like all olives, as far as I know), but fried they are quite delicious!






The olives should be washed in cold water and then dried thoroughly. Heat a fair quantity of extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan and throw in your olives, plus some halved cherry tomatoes, some fresh basil and a pinch of salt.

Cook over a medium-high flame to get started. Then cover the pan and reduce the flame to the lowest possible setting. Shake the pan to mix the olives regularly. Cook until the olives soften.









Serve as an appetizer with bread and cheese, if you like. Yum, yum!

Anastacia

This powerful and exciting singer is apparently not well known in the States...is this possible? She has such an amazing voice and upbeat style, plus she's beautiful.

She was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at the age of 13 and then with breast cancer at age 35, but she has always fought back and is definitely a fighter and a survivor! Check out her website!

This is not one of her more recent songs, but I love it...and her!



Paid My Dues, Anastacia, 2001

[Spoken:]
You can say what you want about me
Wanna do what you want to me
But you can not stop me

I've been knocked down
It's a crazy town
Even got punched in the face in L.A.
Ain't nothing in the world that you keep
me from doing what I wanna do

'Cause I'm too proud, I'm too strong
Live by the code that you gotta move on
Feeling sorry for yourself
Ain't got nobody nowhere

so I...
(Held my head high)
Knew I (Knew I survive)
Well I made it (I made it)
I don't hate it (Don't hate it)
That's just the way it goes
Yeah

I done made it through
Stand on my own two
I paid my dues, yeah
Tried to hold me down
You can't stop me now
I paid my dues

[Spoken:]
so like i told you
You cannot stop me
I paid my dues

Now I'm still tested everyday
people try to mess with Anastacia
gotta nothing in common
cause I handle mine
and I thought I better let you know

I'm no punk I can't get down
I don't give a damn about who's around
that was just fine 'til now

So I...
(Held my head high)
Knew I (Knew I survive)
Well I made it (I made it)
Oh I (Don't hate it)
That's just the way it goes
Yeah

I done made it through
Stand on my own two
I paid my dues
Yeah yeah

Tried to hold me down
you can't stop me now
I paid my dues, yeah
yeah yeah yeah

Took so long to get me here (here)
But I won't live in fear (fear)
You try to steal my shine (shine)
But first they wanna build you up (up)
Then they tear you down (down)
It's a struggle tryin' to bubble
so I...

(Held my head high)
Knew I (Knew I survive)
Oh I (I made it)
(Don't hate it)
Said that's - just - the - wayyyyy
(I done made it through)
(Stand on my own two)
I said I paid my, I paid my dues
Yeahhhhh

(Tried to hold me down)
But you can't stop me now (you can't stop me now)
(I paid my dues) I paid my, paid my dues
(I done made it through) oh
(Stand on my own two) oh

(I paid my dues) I paid my, I paid my dues
yeahh (Tried to hold me down)
But you can't stop me now (you can't stop me now)
(I paid my dues) I paid my dues

Motherhood: sound bites (2)

G: Mommy, if you entered a beauty contest, you would win, for sure!

Me: Oh, I don't think so!

G: Oh, yes you would! (pause) But maybe you're a little bit too old...

Me: Too old?

G: I think you have to be between 20 and 30 years old.

Me: Actually, there are beauty contests for older women, you know.

G: Well, they wouldn't even let you participate if they saw you.

Me: Why not?!

G: Well, you are just *too* beautiful. They would turn you away at the door. All the other women would be afraid to compete against you.

Me: You know, honey, external beauty is really not the most important thing in life. I think it's more important to be a good person, to be friendly and kind to others...

G: Oh, I know that. I'm just trying to flatter you!

Me: ....

(This boy has been watching too many episodes of "Le Veline"!)

O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. In honor of Gina DePalma, author of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen and Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy, Jenn of The Leftover Queen, and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are asking you to donate to the:
Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (via FirstGiving.org)
and then, out of the goodness of your hearts and to be eligible for the O Foods for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month Contest, please do the following:

1. Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato) and include this entire text box in the post;
OR
2. If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word about the event and Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.
AND
3. Then send your post url [along with a photo (100 x 100) if you've made a recipe] to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on September 30, 2008.
We will post a roundup and announce prize winners on October 3.

Prizes:
1 Recipe Prize for best “O food” concoction: $50 gift certificate to Amazon;
1 Awareness Prize for only publicizing event: Copy of Dolce Italiano cookbook.
———
From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:
Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
The American Cancer Society estimates that 21,650 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the U.S. in 2008 and about 15,520 women will die from the disease.
The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose. There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.
In spite of this patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.
When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.

Please donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fundand help spread the word!

Lunchtime!

Lunch is generally the main meal of the day for most families here in southern Italy. Many people are either finished with work by midday, or able to return home for the lunch hour.

On those mornings when I don't have to work, I like to prepare a complete homemade Italian-style meal. That means a first course, a second course, a side dish and, perhaps, even a dessert.

But, as you probably have guessed by now, I am a lazy cook. If it ain't easy, I don't cook it, right? Today's lunch was right up my easy cookery alley.

Here's what we had...

First course, Pumpkin Soup. This pumpkin was one of the volunteers that grew in our garden this year.
Ingredients:
pumpkin, potatoes, water, boullion cube, seasoned croutons

Directions:
Chop pumpkin and potatoes into cubes and place in cooking pot. Use about one third the quantity of potatoes as compared to pumpkin (that means less potatoes!) Add water to just below level of vegetables (more water makes a thinner soup, less water makes it thicker). Depending on quantity of water, add one or two boullion cubes. Bring to a boil. Cook until vegetables are soft. Blend with a hand blender. Serve with seasoned croutons.

Second course, breaded chicken cutlets. These got eaten up so fast that I hardly had time to take the picture. This is the last piece left...

Ingredients: chicken cutlets (chicken breast sliced into thin flat pieces), 1 egg, bread crumbs, milk, salt and pepper to taste, olive oil.

Directions: Beat egg in a dish, add a splash of milk and salt and pepper to taste. Put bread crumbs in another dish. Heat oil. Dip cutlet in egg mixture and cover both sides with egg. Next, place the cutlet in the bread crumb plate and cover completely with crumbs. Fry in hot olive oil till golden brown. Place on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Dessert: chocolate chip cookies! I always use the Original Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe with a couple of variations. I use only half the quantity of chocolate morsels that they advise and I double the quantity of walnuts (I love walnuts!). I also take the cookies out of the oven a couple of minutes earlier than recommended, so that they remain soft!

So, there was no side dish today...but, hey, nobody's perfect! We got our veggies in the soup!

Buon appetito!