Italy Retreat

Monday, September 26, 2011

Michelangelo in Florence

“Art has a magic quality: the more minds that digest it, the longer it lives.” ~~~Michelangelo

My Italy Retreat extended this year because we also wanted to explore Florence and Tuscany after our Cinque Terre adventure and workshop.

This is my third time to view David, Michelangelo's 14 foot sculpture. It brings tears to my eyes every time. My heart expands, my mind slips, and my soul soars. Just having read"The Agony and The Ecstasy" by Irving Stone, I had a deeper connection to the David because I understood what Michelangelo experienced from age 13 to his death at about age 90. The 700 page book serves us a delicious treat with every turn of the page. So, in returning to the Accademia Museum in Florence a few days ago, I really feel like I knew the man, the artist and the essence of the Renaissance. Irving Stone expertly invited me to walk beside Michelangelo, sharing his agonies and ecstasies. I hope you can read the book, and then visit David in Florence.

The Renaissance was a period of history where art, life, and the essence of humanity were lifted to extraordinary heights. Now in the 21st century, every day we have a chance to experience our own renaissance. To spend time each day enjoying beauty and upliftment through nature, music, art, literature, conversation, connection....and in our thoughts.

Take notice of the thoughts you are nurturing each day. Do they uplift your personal renaissance, or contract your history? Do they lead you to expansive changes or shackle you to limitations?

It's been said that at least 60% of the world's art is housed in Italy. 100% of the world's beauty is housed in each of you. Are you nurturing that beauty? What thoughts are you sowing for your future production? Yes, art has a magic quality, and so do your thoughts.

I see that if each of us focused on beauty every day, what a glorious world we could create.

May you rise to your own renaissance every day!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Pita Piata, Pit’Impiglianta, Italian dessert

As I prepare to teach at my 3rd annual Italy Retreat in Cinque Terre, (I do hope you consider joining me next year), I visited my Italian American family back east, where I learned to make pita piata. I think the actual name is Pit’Impiglianta, a Christmas cake, made with nuts and raisins. However, it doesn't look like a cake at all.

Even though I grew up eating this unique dessert, I had never made it. My mom and other women at her church make hundreds during the holiday season, and sell them. They are time consuming to make, but well worth the effort. You can see me making them on this YouTube video. My mom, Josephine, and her two sisters, Mary Jane and Angelina, were guiding me along the way.

I'm pretty sure this is a traditional dessert made in San Giovanni in Fiore in Calabria, Italy. I have not even seen it sold in other towns in Calabria. If you've seen it elsewhere, I would love to know.

Buon Appetito!

Recipe Pita Piata (Pit’Impiglianta) traditional Christmas cake from San Giovanni in Fiore, region of Calabria, Italy.

Needed:

Pasta machine

Pastry roller, yard stick, ruler

DOUGH:

5 lbs. flour, all purpose

3 eggs

2 C sugar

2 oz. yeast or 3 dry packets

3 C white or red wine

Whiskey (a jigger)

¾ C Crisco, butter, or oleo

1 stick oleo, butter or oleo

Salt, pinch

Put Crisco, oleo, and wine in pot and heat until melted. Set aside and cool, then add whiskey.

In a separate bowl, dissolve yeast in 1 ½ C warm water. Add 1 TBL sugar to the yeast mixture.

Whisk the eggs. Then add sugar to eggs. Add buttery mix to this. Pour yeast mix into the buttery mix.

Add flour to this. Mix dough and knead until smooth and elastic on lightly floured surface. Dough should not be sticky. Let sit about 5 minutes to rest.

FILLING:
4 ½ lbs raisins. Soak raisins a few minutes and drain well.

1 orange cut and put in processor, rind and all, until crushed fine. (Or zest orange peel, and chop orange and squeeze juice)

3 lbs walnuts (chopped coarse, not fine)

1 ¾ C sugar

1 Tbl cinnamon

½ C. honey

1 ½ C orange orange juice

Mix all ingredients to marinate for two hours or overnight for the filling.

Vegetable oil in small bowl, and sugar shaker needed as you roll the pitas.

TO MIX:

Weigh dough 7 ¼ oz. for each pita piata. Pat into ball and then use a rolling pin slightly before using pasta machine. Make oblong pieces of dough so they are uniform to fit through the pasta machine. Start machine on #1, then 2,3,4 as you run the dough through pasta machine. Measure dough 27” by 3”. Use curly edged pastry cutter to cut edges. Yard stick to measure the 27”. (Or cut the dough in half to more easily use pasta machine. Then each piece will measure 13 ½”. You would join the two pieces together after they were filled.)

Brush vegetable oil along the strip of dough. (Have small bowl with oil and brush)

Sprinkle sugar generously on strip. (Extra sugar to shake or sprinkle)

Use 1 Cup filling along dough toward top edge of strip.

Fold dough over the filling. Press firmly to hold the filling in, but DO NOT seal edges. Start rolling at one end grabbing the dough with the one hand. Start by putting finger in and roll loosely so it will cook in center. Complete rolling like a snail in a circle (see photo), and put 3-4 toothpicks on the outside to hold it together. Cook on parchment papered cookie sheets, about 45-60minutes till golden brown. Pitas should not touch the edges of the pans as they burn more easily.

325 degree oven.

Makes approx 17 six inch pita piatas, rosettes.

Cool on racks, then lightly pour honey in circles over the tops of each pita. You can freeze these and they taste fresh when you take them out of the freezer.

Buon appetito!

Do you have any favorite Italian dessert recipes?

12/13/11: This is the photo that Rosalie sent showing how her husband's family makes the 'Pita Piata' in a pan:

Friday, June 3, 2011

Fred Plotkin's ITALY

Fred Plotkin is a pleasure activist, expert on opera, traveling in Italy, and Italian cuisine.

I've interviewed him a few times in previous posts, and on our local grassroots KRUU radio with Steven Boss during Steve's Great Taste Radio Show.

The 5th edition of Italy for the Gourmet Traveler, came out on book stands in 2010.

An article in The Guardian gives you some samplings from the book.

I love that this is a fully updated 5th edition of Fred's classic book that covers 504 towns in every Italian region. It's not a directory of where to eat in just the major cities like Rome and Florence, but he takes us to small towns in all the 20 regions of Italy, even San Giovanni in Fiore, in Calabria, where my paternal grandparents are from. I used his book to sample restaurants in the 10 towns on the Italian Riviera that we visit during my Italy Retreat for Women from September 10-18, 2011.

This is not only a gourmet guide for food and wine in Italy, but an encyclopedia of knowledge Fred has gleaned from traveling, working and living in Italy for much of the last 35 years. You'll find lists of cooking schools, festivals, and even museums dedicated to pasta, olive oil and wine. I also love how he weaves stories with a wealth of information about opera, history, and the culture of Italy.

Besides, how can you not love a book written by a ‘pleasure activist’? Fred’s short explanation of this passionate title is “a vibrant and positive approach to everything we experience.”

One of the reasons I teach annual Italy Retreat for Women is so we can discover the sweet life, “La Dolce Vita”. To me, this means that you create your life by choice not by default. That you find joy in the moment, that you dare to dream and think of bigger possibilities. Dare I say, that we all can become 'pleasure activists'?!

Fred further explains the meaning of a ‘pleasure activist’ on his website:

If we meet a new, interesting person and open all of our senses to him or her, we have a much stronger experience of why that person is so compelling. In the media and in our social training, our minds are filled with so many strategies for happiness and success, but they all involve calculated behavior that may be counter to our nature and instinct, which form the sixth sense. When we are alive to all that we see, hear, smell, savor and feel, we refine what we call taste and, moreover, add to that mysterious but essential human characteristic we call instinct.
I would never say that the fullest use of our senses is the secret to happiness and fulfillment. Such an assertion is too pat and general. But any behavior that can contribute to our becoming more fully human and insightful is one that should be prized. And that, to me, is pleasure activism.

Do yourself a favor, and order Italy for the Gourmet Traveler now. Do yourself another favor, and join me in Cinque Terre, Italy on my Italy Retreat for women to live La Dolce Vita, the sweet life, this year from September 10-18, 2011.

What's your favorite place in Italy? Leave a comment and let us know! Have you been to Cinque Terre or the Italian Riviera?

Photo Credit: Sophocles Alexiou

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Women Travel in Italy

You owe yourself the experience of taking a transformational workshop with Lenora in Italy. If the purpose of a retreat is to experience more of your true nature, to celebrate your own essence, and to ignite your passion for life, what better way to do that than to be in a place of great beauty, such as Italy, where every day can be experienced as a day of joy, passion, and celebration.

--Sallee Haerr, Italy Retreat participant

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Experience two thousand years in eight days.

Have you ever dreamed of traveling to Italy? This safe and fun travel adventure I offer is a trip of a lifetime. The date this year for the Italy Retreat for women to live la dolce vita (the sweet life) is September 10-18, 2011. Arrive on Saturday, September 10 and depart on Sunday, September 18.

Even though modern life is vibrant in Italy, when we walk through the towns, we are taken back into thousands of years of history. It's awesome. I feel that Italy’s gift to the world is to teach everyone to enjoy beauty and pleasure in every aspect of life—food, family, fashion, art, language, nature and love.

I have combined my passion for all things Italian with my love of helping women expand their possibilities to create the life they want, free of limiting beliefs. During the eight days in Italy, we will travel to eight towns along the Italian Riviera in addition to experiencing my two-day self-discovery workshop learning the Option Method. Learning how to live la dolce vita, 'the sweet life' for the rest of your life.

We will stay in a wonderful hotel in Monterosso al Mare, a few minutes stroll from the beach, for eight nights and take day trips along the Italian Riviera. Travel includes some hiking, ferry and train rides. You can choose to stay in a single or double room. In a double room, you would have a roommate. Rooms are chosen on a first come first serve basis. In order to offer more personal attention during the workshop part of the Retreat, space is limited to a small group of women, so please register before May 9. Feel free to share this email with friends and colleagues.

The $500 deposit is due on May 9. However, I am offering a Mother's Day discount where you can SAVE $100. So, a $400 deposit is due, IF PAID BEFORE midnight eastern time, Monday, May 9.

Payment can be made through Pay Pal, credit card, or by check to Lenora Boyle, P.O. Box 1624, Fairfield, Iowa 52556, USA. Please see the web page for more details: http://www.changelimitingbeliefs.com/italy_retreat2011.html

After teaching and coaching for 20 years, I realize that so many women spend their lives giving and supporting others, whether they have careers in or out of the home. Now it is time to give to yourself. Grant yourself the gift of happiness—a chance to travel to Italy with a group of like-minded women for the purpose of learning to live each day of your life as an adventure.

Please email or call me at (641) 472-0414 for more exciting details. Click here to view photos, price details, and deadlines: http://www.changelimitingbeliefs.com/italy_retreat2011.html

Whatever you do, don't give up your dreams. Know what you want. Never quit until you have it.

photo: Lenora on the Via Dell' Amore easy hiking path between Riomaggiore and Manarola, two of the five l villages that comprise the Cinque Terre.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Walking the Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera

I have talked to many people who have loved visiting Italy. It fills them on so many levels, (not just gastronimically) but on a deep soul level--the beauty is breathtaking because you are surrounded by gorgeous natural landscape, in addition to a people that are very welcoming.

These are some of the reasons I am teaching my 3rd annual workshop in Cinque Terre, Italy. We can all reconnect with ourselves by spending time in the natural beauty of an ancient land. It is a place where we can find deep contentment and freedom.

As written in the wonderful New York Times article in August 2007, "It's almost unfair how much intense beauty, great cuisine and amazing aromas are jampacked into such a compact space."

In fact, the only way to truly experience the sensory overload that this small area has to offer is by getting off those well-trodden paths.

There are benches where you can sit and admire the view or just watch all the people wandering by. There is a small restaurant on the Via dell' Amore where you can get something to eat and drink. Picnic tables with a spectacular view are located above the restaurant. You do have to walk up a number of steps to get to the picnic area.

Details about each of the paths that connect the 5 villages of the Cinque Terre is from the Discover Walking Blog.
It would take at least 5-6 hours to hike through all five of the Cinque Terre villages.

Monterosso al Mare to Vernazza: This is a difficult trail that is 2.5 miles (4km) with many up's and down's. It will take most people between 1.5 and 2 hours depending on how many stops you make to admire the view.

Vernazza to Corniglia: This is the most difficult of the four trails and has the least number of ocean views. It will take most people about 2 hours to hike this 2.5 mile (4 km) trail. The terrain is uneven in places and you will have to be able to hike up and down hills.

Corniglia to Manarola: This is an easy 45 minutes walk and you have an ocean view for the entire walk. The trail is less than 2 miles (3km).

Manarola to Riomaggiore: This .5 mile trail (.6 km) is an easy stroll on a paved walkway. It will take about 30 minutes to walk the path.

If you'd like to see more photos of the Cinque Terre and find out more about the September 10-18, 2011 workshop and travel experience that I'll be teaching, check out my website at ChangeLimitingBeliefs.com.

Photo #1: I climbed down to the rocks off the hiking trails. You can see some of the trails in the distance.
Photo #2: I'm walking on the path from Corniglia to Manarola (two Cinque Terre towns)

Friday, February 11, 2011

Free Hugs in Italy

The Free Hugs Campaign was started in Australia in 2004 by a man with the pseudonym of Juan Mann. Hugs are offered to strangers in public places, and are meant to be a random act of kindness. While feeling depressed and lonely at a party in 2004, a stranger came up to Mann and hugged him. He said, "It made me feel like a king."

Love this video of free hugs, abracci gratis, in Sondrio, Italy. At first people seemed suspicious, but once the ice was broken, there was real joy and connection.

Free Hugs Day is celebrated on the first Saturday after June 30. Have you ever seen someone carrying a sign that said, "Free Hugs?" Did you walk away or go for it?

Friday, December 24, 2010

A Calabrese American Christmas

~Christmas with my extended Calabrian Italian family in West Virginia~

For the last 29 years, my husband and our 2 kids drive 12 hours each way to join my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins of all ages, to eat the seven fishes dinner on Christmas Eve. Of course, there is always spaghetti, vegetables, salad. This year there were 40 of us. Then, we sing Christmas carols before we disperse to our cars to our individuals childhood homes to open presents and then attend Midnight Mass with full stomachs, heavy eyelids, and even fuller hearts.

For the large Christmas Eve lunch (il pranzo), Aunt Angie makes clam chowder, we have shrimp, baccala, smelt, sardines and whiting. Aunt Mary Jane and my mom, Josephine, work hard for hours preparing. Cousins arrive and pitch in.

Desserts include: pannetone, pita m'pigliata (we say pita piata) which is a traditional dolce from San Giovanni in Fiore, my paternal grandparents’ home (and where I am a new citizen).

My daughter covered our feast on her food blog here, as well.

My four grandparents immigrated to the US when they were all teenagers, then they met here in the US and married. They each had eight children—two of which are my parents. I have 34 first cousins. We may have Americanized some of the traditions, but they pretty much continued with the customs of the homeland when they arrived in America. Relatives who stayed behind in Italy would often send food items from the homeland.

Uncle Frank wears my grandmothers flowered half apron while frying the fish in the attached garage-turned-family room, the the second kitchen.

Cherrye over at MyBellaVita blog in Calabria, Italy shares with us her personal experience of a Calabrian Christmas tradition - and there are so many things to love about Calabria.

Cosimo was my maternal grandfather, born in Caulonia Italy, Calabria. He was 17 when he voyaged alone on the ship to Ellis Island, never to return to Italy until he was 84 years old, (67 years later).

Around four million southern Italians immigrated to the US between 1900-1920 during a time when they were starving. It is a sad mark on Italy, losing so many families. They worked hard in America, many bought land, homes, education, and most of all raised their families.

I hope, wherever you are, you experience the peace and love of the season with friends and family.

Buon natale!

What traditions do you enjoy?

Details of the Retreat in Italy:

JOIN ME IN CINQUE TERRE, ITALY... for my Italy Retreat for Women September 2012
I would be honored to be your travel guide and workshop leader for my 4th Annual Italy Retreat for Women to Live La Dolce Vita, the 'sweet life! Explore the Italian Riviera, reside in the lovely Cinque Terre town of Monterosso al Mare and Lucca in Tuscany, while transforming your life: Learn to be happier by dissolving limiting beliefs that no longer serve you!

This adventure blends the best of both worlds. Your eight days in Italy includes two days of personal transformation workshop experience with six days of excursions to beautiful Italian towns in paradise on the Mediterranean.
For more details see my WEBSITE: ChangeLimitingBeliefs.com
or call 641-472-0414