Italy Retreat

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Florentine Lace Cookies

I wanted to bake a light cookie for the Christmas holidays, and the Florentine Lace Cookies fit the bill. This recipe is from An Edible Mosaic which was adapted from Food Network Kitchens. I made a few changes also. For one thing, I used agave liquid instead of corn syrup. There are only three tablespoons of flour in the whole recipe, so almost gluten-free, if that matters to you. I love the nutty orange taste combination, and the kitchen smells deliciously of nuts and citrus for several days after. Besides, they are so lacey thin, how could they have many calories!?

Please note: Only place 9 cookies on the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, or else they will run together. It's highly suggested that you just bake one pan at a time, which keeps you in the kitchen longer, but well worth the effort.

Florentine Lace Cookies: 6 dozen (3-inch) cookies

1 3/4 Cups sliced blanched almonds or pecans (5 oz), finely chopped
3 TBL all-purpose flour
1 orange zest, finely grated (about 2 TBL)
1/4 tsp fine salt
3/4 C white sugar
2 TBL heavy cream
2 TBL light corn syrup (I use agave as I do not use corn syrup).
5 TBL unsalted butter
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2-4 oz semisweet chocolate (I use ghirardelli)

Place a rack in the center of oven and preheat to 350 F; line a baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

In food processor, pulse almonds until 'finely' chopped but not pasty.

PHOTO #1: In separate bowl, stir together the nuts, flour, zest, and salt.

PHOTO #2: In small saucepan, add the sugar, cream, liquid agave, and butter. Cook over medium heat (stirring occasionally) until sugar dissolves and comes to a rolling boil; continue to boil for 1 minute. Turn off heat and add vanilla.

Then pour liquid into almond mixture and stir just to combine. Set aside until cool enough to handle, but do not let it cool as it will harden!

NOTE: (I've read that the dough must be dropped onto cookie sheets while it is still warm. Once it cools, it crumbles and becomes unworkable. So, you may need to place cookie balls onto many pieces of parchment paper, while dough is warm. They will then be ready for the oven, as soon as one pan comes out. If cookie dough gets too cold, try adding 1/3 C water, so it is workable, NOT crumbly).

PHOTO #3: Scoop 1/2 teaspoonful onto parchment lined cookie sheet. 9 to a sheet. (Cookie balls should be smaller than a quarter). Cookies will end up being about 3 inches in diameter, as they spread a lot.

Bake one pan at a time until the cookies are thin and an even golden brown color throughout, about 8-10 minutes, rotating the pan after 5 minutes. Set the timer as they can burn easily. Once cookies are out of the oven, slide the parchment paper off the cookie tray, and allow cookies to cool completely before removing from parchment.

PHOTO #4: Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, or place chocolate inside a smaller pan, that fits into a larger pot with boiling water. You can drizzle chocolate on top of cookies or sandwich it between two cookies. Or add chocolate into a sandwich bag, then place the bag in a pan of barely simmering water to melt. Remove bag when chocolate is melted and snip off the corner of bag to squeeze chocolate squiggles onto cookies. Allow chocolate to set on cookies before storing.

Store in an air tight container at room temperature. They freeze well also.

Enjoy your holidays! Buon Natale! Merry Christmas. May your cookies fill your house with sweetness.

Let me know how your Florentine Lace cookies turn out.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Floods, mudslide in Vernazza Italy

Video of the flood in Vernazza, of the Cinque Terre, and cars being washed away on Tuesday, October 25.

Hiking Trail and the Vernazza Harbor BEFORE THE FLOOD:

Last week I wrote about the flooding and mudslide devastation in Monterosso, and today, about another beautiful Cinque Terre town, Vernazza.

It's hard to believe that only a month ago, I was hiking the Cinque Terre Trails, and marveling at the beauty of the five villages. When I think of Vernazza, I remember eating pesto pizza under colorful umbrellas on the promontory by the sea, and then lying on the stone walls in the harbor watching the Italian water taxi owners navigating into the idyllic turquoise waters of the harbor.

Artists and photographers love capturing this perfection. Participants of my Italy Retreat for Women and I passed a lazy afternoon digesting the pizza and resting from our 90 minute breathtaking hike from Monterosso to Vernazza, which included hundreds and hundreds of steps. A wedding was taking place at the church, and my group and I thought we were in heaven or shangri-la. We truly deeply experienced la dolce fa niente, the sweetness of doing nothing.

Then, like a horror movie, on Tuesday, October 25, this jewel on the Italian Riviera was covered with up to 12 feet of mud. Cars, boats, and possessions were sucked like corks in an undertow, into a mudslide and street turned into a raging river.

I have spent a week each year, for the past three years, in Cinque Terre, and this year I repeatedly commented that the water was crystal clear, more beautiful than any other time. It reminded me more of the Caribbean. Now the harbor water is muddy and the streets and piazza covered with mud.

But, they will recover, although our support is crucial.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Firstly, plan to visit the Cinque Terre during the tourist season, so that their businesses can prosper. Secondly, please give to their recovery fund. Every small amount will add up. This is a part of the world that is paradise, and we can help insure that it rebuilds.

Several ex-pats from the US, who now live in Vernazza, have created a website called Save Vernazza ONLUS, so you can donate DIRECTLY to Vernazza. Please spread the word.

If you have ever visited Cinque Terre, you would know this is a cause worth supporting. And if you have not had the pleasure, please add Cinque Terre to your travel list in 2012, or join me in September 2012 as I will be returning there for my Italy Retreat for Women.

The residents of Vernazza were evacuated, however, members of the army and rescue team have continued with the clean-up.
You can view a video of the clean up progress that has been made so far at YouReporter.it.

Be sure also to visit Nicole at CulturalComments Blog for more photos and updated information on Vernazza.

Photo credit: Before photos I took in September of Vernazza Harbor and some of the steps on the Vern-Monterosso Trail
Photo credit: After the flood: from Come To Liguria Blog.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Cinque Terre Flood

The people of Cinque Terre, Italy are open-hearted and strong spirited. It's a little paradise on earth.

I lead the Italy Retreat for Women to live la dolce vita in Cinque Terre, and I must say, it charms all of us every time.

Shockingly, on Tuesday, October 25, mudslides and flash floods turned beautiful Monterosso and Vernazza upside down (along with other towns in southern Liguria and northern Tuscany). Cinque Terre, a World Heritage Site, consists of five pictueresque villages, where annually tens of thousands of tourists hike the connecting trails, and visit the quaint stores, restaurants, and hotels. Even more distressing is the idea that hundreds of the local people are homeless.

Before and after photos of Monterosso can be seen in The New York Times in an excellent article, or you can see videos posted in The Telegraph from London.

FOR DONATIONS: The Red Cross has made it possible to donate using a credit card. Any amount, small or large, is appreciated. The Cinque Terre is very dear to many of us, and if you haven't been there yet, please do yourself a favor in the future and go! One way to help them, is to vacation there, in the future.

Please see Kate's blog at Little Paradiso. You can view photos of the devastation. Mud and debris have filled the ground floors, six feet of mud left behind against first floor doors and windows of the buildings.

Vernazza is the beautiful town next to Monterosso, and it looks like Pompeii. Rick Steve's has a slideshow on his site that is heartbreaking to watch, but maybe if more of the world sees this, they will rise to the occasion to help bring back this delightful town.

Any small donation is hugely appreciated and put to good use, like buying wheelbarrows, gloves and rubber boots.

Photo Credits: After the flood, CNN.com of rubble in Cinque Terre

Photo Credits: Before the flood, Lenora Boyle

IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE OF ITALY AND WOULD LIKE TO DONATE-

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.

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