Chilies are everywhere at the moment…sweet,hot,and fiery, couldn’t resist making a sweet chili sauce…not too hot, with just enough kick to spice things up…
I used both red and orange hot peppers, so the sauce wasn’t a rich red colour,however tastes delicious just the same…
One of those days, I’ve been working in doors and needed some fresh (slightly chilly) air. The afternoons sunrays are those of Autumn, shadows playing games…throughout my garden…
Focus is a little strange, but I like this photo of the last roses in my garden…
It’s amazing how light changes a photo…really low sunrays…all natural light…
This pita bread pizza has contrasting tastes the sweetness of pumpkin combined with the intensity of the mild aroma of red torpedo Tropea onion. An Autumn seasonal delight.
Put some colour into your middle of the week evening meal or that quick dashing lunch. These seasonal colours and vegetables,pumpkin,Tropea onions,silver beet and feta cheese make a delicious combination,
Sweet Red Onions Of Tropea One of Italy’s prized onions, it’s super sweet, and has the added bonus ,the lowest lacrimal factor, the onion which dose not make you cry.A great bonus, don’t you think, slicing onions without burning eye’s.
It’s grown in region of Calabria, Italy , along the coastline between Capo Vaticano and Vibo Valentia.
It has a slightly elongated shape and a deep red, wine color. The onion itself is not only famous in Italy, but is known all over Europe for its unusually sweet and mild flavor.
Read on for the recipe…
Why is it called a pound cake, well…originally all the ingredients were equal parts,a pound of butter,a pound of sugar,a pound of eggs and a pound of flour.
These days although the same ingredients are used, we’ve diversified the quantities and added a few more.
Today’s pound cakes are still buttery, rich and moist with a golden crust. In Italy this cake is called Bussolano or Ciambella Mantovana – Mantovana Ring cake. It’s usually made plain or chocolate flavour and served in the morning for dunking into coffee or hot milk.I found this recipe with it’s twist of using seasonal grapes both white and red and adding a glass of sweet white wine to the mixture.
It has a delicate taste, nothing sweet at all to it, moist with the golden buttery crunchy crust. You’ll love it!
Read on for the recipe…
The perfume of mushrooms open the Autumn season, as does the season for mushroom hunting through the forest.
Rising early morning, with a slight chill in the air, old jeans and long sleeve shirt, boots and double socks, walking stick and woolen cap, ready are those who go on Sunday’s morning stroll in search of mushrooms.
Dampness, moss, old leaves and abandoned tree trunks, the perfect undergrowth of the forests environment to find these wonders.
Italians call Porcini mushrooms “un trionfo di bosco” meaning the triumph of the forest. Porcini mushrooms fresh with their flavour, perfume and meat-like texture are just an exquisite and overwhelming flavorsome mushroom. These large capped mushrooms are also easily found in dried form available in supermarkets. Dried Porcini with their concentrated flavour and aroma can be added to risotto, sauces and soups. 
A few facts about Porcini mushrooms.How do know the best of the best for their freshness?
Signs of aging are if the undersides of the caps have a yellowish-brown tinge, the mushrooms are over-ripe. Best those ones leave behind.
Never clean fresh porcini by soaking in water…shake of excess soil around the stem, and undersides of cap then with a damp cloth gently clean the cap of the mushroom.
Porcini are also delicious sliced, grilled with a drizzle of olive oil and parsley, nothing fancy just pure flavour.
Porcini are also made into delicious sauces for fresh pasta: pappardelle (thick ribbon pasta) with porcini and pecorino (a strong goats milk cheese) penne with porcini and speck (cured meat) pasta shells with spinach, porcini and creamy white sauce.
Risotto with porcini both fresh and dried is one of my favourites.
Read on for the recipe…
Some things are just too valuable to throw away. Some might think this tractor is one of those things, it’s not used anymore for work,its… Full of rust and broken bits, let’s just get rid of this rust bucket. But this tractor will never leave
the hearts of our family, and will never be thrown to that steel yard.
These are all the original parts. Don’t you just love the hexagon shaped key.
There’s something about Black and White photo’s that give that vintage, old look, but friends this old motor is still running, and has been running since Nineteen Sixty Three – 1963.
One of hubby’s comments was that this motors been ticking as long as his heartbeat…this tractor was bought by his father in the same year he was born…
A true family treasure.
As +pire
intransitive verb aspired / aspiring
1. to be ambitious (to get or do something)
2. Seek (after)
Webster New World College Dictionary
As +pire
intransitive verb aspired / aspiring
1. To have a great ambition or ultimate goal, desire strongly
2. To strive toward an end: aspiring to great knowledge
3. To soar
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.
A little stepping stone.I’ve reached one hundred post’s and I’ve enjoyed every minute of the time I’ve spent sharing my travels, my home , garden and recipes.
Who would have thought only a few month’s ago starting this blog would have meant so much to me,today. I’ve entered into a whole new world, meeting on line,new friends from all over the world. Those who inspire me with their photo’s,recipes,creative hands and poetry. Sharing their little piece of their world and entering into mine.
New Years resolutions are often hard to complete, but I’m on my way aspiring to achieve new things in my life. Achieving those ultimate goals…
I found a quote at the beginning of the year:
“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete,everybody will respect you.” Lao Tzu
I wrote this quote on a piece of paper and have been looking and reading it every day since then…there are many obstacles that bump into our lifetime and to be simply true to yourself isn’t always easy.
Through this blog,I can be myself and strive through my photo images of work on the land,creations with my hands and cooking with passion… this is me and I love sharing it with you.
I thank all of you who visit, the new friends whom I’ve met on line and who leave me those encouraging comments, and those of you who visit but haven’t yet met I thank you also…
So as I move on through this little adventure, creating and sharing this little blog I start each day with a smile and look forward to reading your adventures…
Thank you
Yvette…x
So an Italian without polenta in their pantry, not likely! Polenta is the name given to both cornmeal and the dish made from it.
This recipe is all yellow my friends, cornmeal, lemons and eggs. I was a bit skeptical about the amount of eggs in this recipe there’s eight…but in the end all turned out fine, and one single piece left for the photo and the rest is crumbs!
Polenta is a major Italian staple dish. Dry polenta ( a coarsely ground cornmeal) is added to boiling salted water or stock and stirred using a wooden spoon, until it’s thick and creamy. These days a one minute wonder polenta can be purchased, so it’s cooked in a flash, otherwise the normal grounded polenta can take up to twenty minutes.
Read on for the recipe…
This weekend marked the start of our harvesting of Prosecco grapes. Our grapes are harvested by hand,and it’s a family affair.
Our grapes form part of a communal winery.To produce great wine, the fruit should have a high sugar content…we have a certain quantity of grapes to produce and sugar content to abide by under the DOC guidelines: Denomonizione di Origine Controllata. DOC wines are produced in specific well-define regions, according to specific rules,designed to preserve the traditional wine-making practises of the individual regions. Ours region, Piave or Vini del Piave produced in the provinces of Treviso and Venice.
We check the sugar content by pressing whole grapes (using something similar to a potato presser) using only the juice and measuring the sugar content…
Our grapes are transported to a communal winery where they continue their journey in the wine making process.
Due to the privacy act I wasn’t allowed to photograph in our winery, however our friend has his own winery, a beautiful old restored building and he was happy to let me take some images of the wine process..read on to see these images…
This is my favourite of Autumn soups, warming the soul, soothing the chill in the air and giving a wonderful perfume to the kitchen.
Capturing the midday sunrays, enhancing the warming colours of this plate,I served it with petite cheese sandwiches…
A light creamy texture with a dollop of natural yoghurt and a sprig of thyme…read on for the recipe…
Yvette's Twistedvines 