Author: Alessandra

Lines and poke dots.

~ Alessandra ~ 1 Comment

After the all male deliveries in my husband family, and our own beautiful little boy, we had managed to brake with tradition and got two baby girls. By the time the first one was in nursery school her brother was dropped off at the big kids school around 8:15 am, while the nursery school’s doors didn’t open until 8:45. We usually spent that lass of time with a special cookie at the bakery and chatting between us girls in the car parked near the nursery school entrance. Once, while waiting in the car my darling May girl declared, “Mommy you have lines on your face!” REALLY?! I was in my mid thirties and until then had never bothered checking my face for lines. My darling daughter must have noticed the shock in my expression because she sweetly added, “Don’t worry mommy, you don’t have as many as grandmother!” PFEW!

The look in those eyes…
So sweet when they sleep!

Then, while both her older siblings were in the big kids school, it was our third child’s turn to wait in the car with mommy until the nursery school’s doors opened. We were looking at our faces on the rearview mirror once, and I was pointing to her the similarities between the two of us, “The same eyes, the same nose…” “But, mommy, not the same skin!” WHAT?! “Why?” I asked her. “Because you have poke dots on your face!”

My bicycle…

In a family of repeatedly just boys I had desired to also have girls. What is it that they say? “Careful what you wish for!” Or, like we say in Italy, “You did want that bicycle, now pedal!“

Summer fruits sugared herbal iced tea.

~ Alessandra ~ 1 Comment

This has been and still is a particularly hot summer and it is very important that we all make sure we keep our bodies hydrated. Iced tea is one of the most common and refreshing summer drinks; here is a caffeine and sugar free version that children can and will enjoy too, and adults who avoid sugar and don’t want to overindulge on caffeine will appreciate.

Ingredients for 1/2 a gallon of water:

four to six herbal tea bags (depending on how dark you like your tea. You choose the herbal tea flavors you prefer; here I used peach and raspberry)

any summer fresh fruits you have available; the best for flavor are the juicier ones like peaches, watermelon, pineapple, mango; also great are halved cherries, raspberries and sliced strawberries; in my opinion bananas are a must. All should be ripe, not mushy

a handful of fresh mint leaves.

What to do:

While the tea kettle brings the water to a boil put the herbal tea bags, diced fruits and mint leaves in a heat resistant glass container. I use a large flower vase.

Pour the hot water into the glass container and stir the ingredients together.

Let the tea rest while the hot water ‘cooks’ the ingredients mixing their many flavors.

When the tea is lukewarm filter it into a capped glass container to be stored in the refrigerator.

Add fresh mint leaves to the refrigerated iced tea for added flavor.

Btw, make sure to put aside the filtered ‘cooked’ fruits you made your tea with; some of them, like peaches and bananas are true delicacies .

CHEERS!

Aggiungi un posto a tavola!

~ Alessandra
Don’t wait up for us!

After the initial disbelief about not being able to return to the factory his baby sister, although she had been delivered missing the birillino… (see: Papa’ can fix it!), our first born and his new sister fell into an amicable enough relationship. He was protective and sort of possessive around her, and she seemed to trust her brother’s often less than orthodox initiatives definitely more than their elders did, mostly sporting an enthralled cheeky-toothless smile on her face when they were together.

Occasional sleepless nights, chronic exhaustion and the likes aside, we felt blessed and were enjoying our little offsprings when there was another knock at the door. My “I will keep going for the girl!” (see: Gun’s collection.) warning had been taken seriously because after our May girl, the first in my hubby’s family in 73 years, we welcomed another beautiful baby girl!* Add a seat to the table!

*Nope! No birillino, again! The factory must have discontinued them.

Our newest baby got into the groove of things in no time, soon managing to boss around her attentive older siblings who seemed happy to tend to most of her needs and whims at any pointing of her fingers towards what she wanted or wanted them to do for her. Because of that our Goldilocks didn’t need to actually speak for a while, the only word she felt was needed, mastered and uttered with great abandon was NO!

Pretty much the reality of those days…

Our Three Musketeers soon established an alliance that, harmless skirmishes aside, is very deep and strong to these days; to the delight of their elders they truly are each other’s best friends.

Tutti per uno, uno per tutti!
All for one, one for all!

Sciroppo di lamponi fatto in casa; la ricetta della nonna. (Granny’s home made raspberry syrup.)

~ Alessandra

One of the great treats we would get at our nonna’s for merenda was sciroppo di lamponi fatto in casa, home made raspberry syrup. It is a delicious drink, and can also be used to flavor cakes, cookies, on top of fruits. It is fabulous on dark chocolate ice cream!

Ingredients:

10 and 1/2 ounces of raspberries

1 ripe lemon, not mushy

17-18 ounces of white sugar

What to do:

Gently wash, dry the raspberries and put them in a kitchen sieve covered with about nine ounces of sugar.

Cover with a kitchen towel and leave overnight.

Filter the mixture and put it into a saucepan adding to it the remaining sugar and the juice of a lemon.

Gently boil the whole mix for about five minutes then let it cool off, pour in a glass bottle, plug and refrigerate it.

If the syrup is too dense it can be diluted with some cold water before serving.

BTW:

The Italian version of The Scary Monster is also available on Amazon, for all Italian bubbling little children scared of the monster under their bed at night.

A girl’s first and lasting love.

~ Alessandra

It is probably natural that little boys have a greater connection with their mother and little girls with their father. I actually shouldn’t say little as my father was always a very special influence in my life. Before I was 20 I already thought that I wasn’t going to bother getting married unless I found somebody like him. Our relationship wasn’t all roses and flowers, rose e fiori, like we say in Italy. There actually were times of deep disagreements and grudges, but he ultimately was the person I was trying to make proud of me, not an easy task!

There have been many fun and some awkward episodes concerning the two of us. The first time I had somewhat of a serious boyfriend I put a framed picture of him in my room. I soon noticed that my father didn’t look pleased when looking at that picture and brilliantly resolved to put a larger picture of my father next to the one of my boyfriend. (Daughter/Father Diplomacy Course #001)

One time, when I was around 20, my mom and younger siblings had moved to the country side for the summer while I had stayed in Florence with my dad because of my summer job. My dad and I often went out to dinner those nights. While at one of the restaurants a couple of gentlemen that knew my dad but didn’t know who I was entered and, although they passed right by our table, pretended not to see us. “Who is the young woman with him?”, they surely thought. Boy, gossipy Florence was sure to wake up to yet another juicy story! Too bad my mom knew all too well who the young woman was, and with much laughter, that became another fun morsel of our family folklore.

The girl/father special relationship was again obvious to see when it came to our first baby girl and her dad. The little creature was weeks old when she was claiming her father as her own, period! When their dad was coming home from work her older brother, a toddler, would gambol towards the door and throw himself to embrace his legs to greet him; his baby sister would start reclaiming her father’s attention, not stopping her shrilly remonstrances until he took her into his arms.

To these days she is the one who knows how to wrap her often stern dad around her finger, managing to achieve more of what is on her mind than the rest of us put together. Never underestimate a girl’s influence on her father! And vice versa!

Hurray for my first and most trusted critic! Benji, 22 months.

~ Alessandra ~ 1 Comment
Silence please!
MMMH interesting.

The round cheeked expressions and little body language of my cutest and most trusted critic so far while thoroughly critiquing The Scary Monster are precious! That is what makes me going with passion! Thank you Benji!

Today I feel like celebrating The Scary Monster on Amazon and its critical acclaim sharing with you a deliciously easy summer dessert; don’t we also need some sweetness to finish in bellezza (literally in beauty) our pick nicks, pot locks, and all kind of happy gatherings with family and friends?

Fluffy Pineapple Cake.

What you need for 8-10 people:

One can of crushed pineapples, including their juice

1 box of Angel Cake mix

2 tbs of pine nuts*

*In case of allergies, substitute the pine nuts with dark chocolate chips.

From Celery Charles & Pals.

What to do:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.

In a bowl, pour the Angel Cake mix, the crushed pineapples with their juice, and mix very well.

Add the pine nuts and mix again.

Pour everything in a baking pan and bake until the top is tanned (About 40 minutes)

Extract from the oven and let cool down.

The cake will be ready to eat when it comes out of the pan easily.

You might find that the fluffy cake is delicious with a garnish of strawberry spread, or simply with fresh berries.

The Scary Monster that wasn’t.

~ Alessandra ~ 1 Comment

Scary monsters under their beds might be among the first fears little children can express. Who am I kidding? I remember being spooked by a ghost surely hidden behind a forbidding looking locked door, in the bedroom of the ancient manor I shared several times with a friend as a young teenager... remember Ollie? We didn’t even dare to peek at that door, let alone going near it!. But I am digressing.

My children and I realized that it is easier to soothe the fear by talking about and dissecting the scary monster with some light-hearted reasoning and laughter; the scary monster will magically shrink into a harmless flea and disappear.

Front cover.

I am happy to share that The Scary Monster that wasn’t is now available on Amazon. It is a bed time book to be read to toddlers, a first book for what will hopefully become their library. I firmly believe that gifting books to children from the beginning is going to inspire and support their love for reading. The Scary Monster is a thoughtful idea for a baby shower (I actually wrote it as a gift to the daughter of a friend who was expecting her first baby.) There isn’t much that is more important than instigating a young child’s love for books! Children will soon outgrow cute outfits and toys, the love of reading will stay with them for ever.

OOOPS…Forgot!

~ Alessandra

Hot Dog Donato, from Celery Charles & Pals

Happy International Hot Dogs Day!

Hot dogs like the organic uncured grass fed beef and organic natural uncured turkey ones are deliciously healthier! ENJOY!

Spinach stuffed ‘green eggs’.

~ Alessandra

Yet again, another super simple and fast recipe for a great summer treat. Add a refreshing salad on the side for a complete meal.

Ingredients for 4 eggs:

4 eggs

3 and 1/2 ounces of ricotta cheese

1 and 1/2-2 ounces of baby spinach leaves

nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste

a few pine nuts or raisins

What to do:

Hard boil the eggs (12-15 minutes), shell them, cut them in half longitudinally and remove the yolks.

Wash the spinach and sear them in boiling water, drain them well and mix in a blender with the ricotta, the yolks, the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Blend to obtain your preferred thickness and put the mix into the eggs whites. Garnish with nuts, like a couple of pine nuts or, in case of allergies, with raisins.

TA-DAH!

Papa’ can fix it!

~ Alessandra ~ 2 Comments

I am sure most of you find that young children instinctively give a role to their adults in their mind; it usually is what they perceive one particular adult does the most. In our case it was like: mommy goes to the supermarket and papa’ (dad) can fix it!

Finally, after 73 years of drought, my husband’s family had a baby girl! And I had my May girl! Everybody was a winner. Our little boy, always very curios and observant, while I was changing his baby sister’s diaper one day noticed that something was amiss. “Mommy, she doesn’t have a birillino!” (little pin), he told me surprised and somewhat concerned; in his experience that was a piece she definitely couldn’t function without! Well, he was barely two, what was I going to say? “OH, no! I must have forgotten to put it there while she was in my tummy.” “Don’t worry mommy, we go to the supermarket and we buy one!” was his reassuring answer. “And papa’ can fix it!” Satisfied of the brilliant solution he had just thought of, he went back to his toys. Problem solved!*

Tings where not always smooth after we brought his baby sister home from the hospital. If at the beginning she was a peculiar novelty that fueled his endless curiosity, pieces missing and all, eventually he realized that she was there to stay. On second thought: couldn’t she be returned to the factory like we had done with the fire engine truck that had arrived with out one wheel?!

*On the other side of the coin, like we say in Italy, when one of my younger sisters, also barely two, saw our mother change our baby brother’s diaper, with eyes out of their orbit alerted her, “MAMMA! Look where he has a ditino!” (little finger). In her experience that was an absolutely superfluous item he was delivered with! Missing birillini, superfluous ditini: how confusing!