Yvette's Twistedvines

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Pita Bread Pizza

Published by Yvette

You know those days when you have a list of things to do, and in the end you get it all done…but oh no what’s for dinner? Tonight was one of those nights…

Pita bread pizza’s…Quick,easy and delicious…

Pita breads are so versatile…Place pita bread on ovenproof paper,sprinkle a little olive oil and place under grill.When that side is cooked,flip pita and start putting on your favourite toppings.Fresh tomato,red pepper,sliced turkey, mozzarella cheese,sun dried tomatoes,oregano,and chilli flakes.

A few minutes under the grill,until cheese has melted and wow! dinner is ready,serve with a fresh green salad

Enjoy!

After the Storm

Published by Yvette

The early hours of this morning we were awoken by rain,hailstones and violent winds.No electricity,alarms,sirens and an eerie,scary view from our windows.Yesterday,with scorching temperatures,obviously it was natures way of cooling things down.

We were lucky in one respect only one tree fell due to these forceful winds,we were amazed that there wasn’t more damage, the vineyard survived.! One of our friends lost his whole crop with damage from hailstones.

This is the tree that fell on the roadside in front of our house. After harvesting this was the first Sunday morning home in a long time for Silvano, but had to work just the same…

We’ve had grey skies all day, as the hour of sun set approaches however the suns rays are dazzling and playing shadows within the garden.

Oak tree and acorns….

The photo above…plant unknown

The vineyard…these are table grapes,which we’ve grafted onto one vine…

These are Pinot Grigio…

A Sunday full of daydreams,writing and reading…quality time for me and with my man…

My friends,I hope you had a wonderful weekend…and are re-energized for another working week…have a great one! xx

Whistle Stop Cafè –no fried green tomatoes!

Published by Yvette

I’m sure everyone thinks of the Whistle Stop Cafè and Fanny Flagg in her country overalls making famous - fried green tomatoes. But I’m not frying green tomatoes today instead conserving them under oil. One of my Nonna’s recipes.

An image comes to mind of when I was little…helping my Nonna pick green tomatoes ready for conserving under oil…I remember how I use to sit at the farms laminated kitchen table and watch my Nonna prepare jars and jars of green tomatoes.I instantly think of this image every year when the gardens full of tomato bushes with their plentiful supply of juicy plump tomatoes. So sneaking out to grab a few green tomatoes, I’m on the run to get them pickled and undercover before anyone notices…

Recipe: Preserved Green Tomatoes

1 kg of green firm tomatoes

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup of water

fine table salt

estimated guess 300ml of olive oil depending on jar size.

1 garlic clove

oregano and fennel seeds

Slice the green tomatoes into thin slices,layering and salting them,place in a colander to drain.

Place a plate and something heavy on them , (a few cans of peas will do fine) and leave in sink overnight.

The next day, bring to the boil 1 cup of water and 1 cup of white vinegar.

Turn off heat, when this mixture has cooled a little… the fun begins.

Place the sliced green tomatoes,a few at a time into this liquid, leave for a few minutes, place on a kitchen tea towel to dry. Make sure the tomatoes are dry as water can deteriorate the conserve.

Then in sterilized glass jars layer the green tomatoes with a sprinkle of oregano, fennel seeds, and thinly sliced garlic.Layering to the top and pressing down,so that they’re packed in tightly…clearing all air bubbles.Leave the jars over night,opened,but covered,the next morning check the level of oil at the rim of the jar…you may need to add more oil.Close tightly the lid and leave in a cool, dark place.

After a few weeks, this method of conserving , leaves the green tomatoes softened, to be accompanied with fresh bread and a cheese platter,or even an oven roasted pork roll.

It’s a traditional method of conserving green tomatoes, and one that you should try…

Enjoy!

Rose Petal Pink

Published by Yvette

Pink is part of my world. You won’t find any pink in my wardrobe apart from a newly purchased pair of pink pearl earrings…on the good advise from a friend. You’ll however find pink, not lollipop pink more like antique rose pink in my house… rose frosted glassware,freshly cut pink roses,scatted pink rose petals, rose colored champagne, rose cake tins and the list goes on.

However,my childhood memories are lollipop pink. The strawberry pink milkshakes and ice creams, marshmallows and hundreds and thousands. Going to the local fair hand in hand with my Nonno (grandfather) to buy pink fairy floss and maybe you remember those dollies on sticks, antique looking with plastic painted hair,wanting to choose first, the one in the pink dress. I remember my mother dressing me in a Sundays best pink crochet dress and funny enough my 21st birthday party was all pink with hand painted rose invitations, so yes pink is part of my world.

Why all this talk about pink…Today I received a lovely pink award…it’s pretty and pink…and a wonderful pink gift…don’t you agree!

With heartfelt thanks to the kindness of Amanda who nominated me for this award.She is truly a gifted and creative poet, her words, beautiful images and songs always send a message and leaves me within a longing minute of reflection and pure harmony. You are talented my friend.x

Now on receiving this award, there are some pink rules to follow, they’re not too hard to follow..here they are:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award…thanks again Amanda

2.Share 7 things about yourself…a bit of a challenge but here goes…

*I’m true to my star sign, June born, Cancer…a family,home loving person.My life evolves around my “home”.Organized down to the last detail.

*I love entertaining in my home,friends gathering for a home cooked meal, sharing their loves, life and laughter with a good glass of wine.Nothing better!

*I stand out…I’m a red/blonde,blue eyed,pale skin and freckled Aussie living in Italy.

*My heart was captured by a gentle Italian man and life’s an adventure living in his homeland…That’s Amore!

*I love old photographs,every photo has a hidden story,white linen – first things to pack in my suitcase,cooking and creative hands.

*A country bumpkin,at an early age went to boarding school in the city…finished school went off to study, graduating in Graphic Design.

*Last one…My dream one day is to own my own B & B, capturing home comforts on foreign soil and sharing my love of Italy, for now I love my blogging time, meeting new talented friends and sharing the little things that mean so much to me…

All done lets continue with the pink rules…

3.Pass the award along to: I chose 7 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason.

4.Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know all about the award

Here are my nominations for this lovely pink award

Celia, who is one talented cook,sharing her love of cooking and baking skills and urban living.A great story teller…check out her chooks!Makes you feel at home…

Brydie,a creative home-style girl who shares her love of food and family stories, beautiful photo’s, a real gem.

Cathy, an aussie living in Italy, sharing her love of her “little” Italy with a touch of Oz always thrown in.

Diane,Spoon & Chair…a precise account of her kitchen and garden…a home makers blog…

Lorenza,A taste of my life…a young cook, who is eager to capture new styles and tastes in her cooking…writes in her mother language Italian,and sometimes takes the challenge of translating into English…a real achiever…

Phatfoodie,just love her creative writings on home cooked food…every recipe tells a story… a real charming blog…

Wendy,a vegetarian cook/baker, a new found blog,…a real bakers delight!

So my friends have a look at these fantastic cooks and their blogs,they’re all worthy of this pink award… and enjoy!

The vineyard…water

Published by Yvette

On the land this week. With the ever increasing temperatures,it’s time to irrigate the vineyard.

It was an early start…5.30am to be exact.

The view from my window,a soft spray of water…

Depending on the weather,and the supply of water from the canals which run along side our property, we may irrigate three more times.After a few hours, the vineyard is finished,we move all the steel tubes to another area where we irrigate corn crops.

Our wheel of agriculture keeps turning!

Wednesdays Word

Published by Yvette

Tramezzini –plural

It’s an Italian sandwich. The difference is in the bread. Pre sliced, no crusts.White and plain.But the fillings are way beyond boring.

Tramezzini are packed with flavour. The filling combinations are never-ending with new flavours popping up everywhere on bar chalkboard specials. From chic char grilled vegetables, prosciutto,cheese and fig jam to the classics of mozzarella,roast beef and pesto.

The fillings are usually an overload on mayonnaise, however making them at home, mayonnaise can easily be substituted with light cream cheese , ricotta or fresh goats cheese.Tramezzini can be found in bars everywhere available for a mid morning snack or lunchtime break.

Two of my favourites are bresaola – (dried,salted beef thinly sliced), rocket and parmesan,or prosciutto,goats cheese and cherry tomatoes with freshly ground black pepper.

So my friends,this is Wednesdays word,one to remember when in Italy and ordering your lunch.

Tramezzini.

Iced Centerpiece

Published by Yvette

This centerpiece is just fabulous to jazz up your fresh fruit an ice-cream platter.Made from a silicone cake mould,its very simple to make. There are so many designs nowadays available in silicone, your choice is unlimited.Here’s how to prepare your centerpiece.

I used this one,a flower and bow design,also as wreath design it has a hole in the middle to serve ice-cream,cream or yoghurt.

Fill the mould with water or fruit juice,add fresh small fruits such as blueberries,strawberries,or pieces of chopped fruit and mint leaves,place on tray and leave overnight in the freezer.

When frozen your iced shape is easily removed from the silicone.

Fill the platter with assorted fresh fruit,place scooped ice-cream in the center and wow! Easy Entertaining, and a fun Summer Dessert.

It’s also a great way to keep your Summer punch iced. Just place the iced mould into you punch bowl and it keeps it cool and iced for the rest of your serving time.

Enjoy my friends, and happy entertaining!

Italian Summer Food Fairs

Published by Yvette

In our Summer months, there’s always a local sagra –fair to visit. It’s a celebration of food, and family entertainment.If you visit Italy during this time of the year, it’s a great opportunity to support local groups,volunteer “cooks” with a passion for food, eat cheaply, trying traditional dishes and enjoy live entertainment.There’s fairs of food like asparagus, rice, chicken,tripe, and even larger fairs with an event like a music/singing contest,a bicycle race, a water craft boat regatta , country line dance contest and rodeo, to name a few.

We had the opportunity to visit the “Festa dea Sardea” meaning Festival of Sardines in Silea,Treviso,Italy.

Sardines at this fair are available grilled,crumbed, and traditional venice style with sweet/sour onions.

Sardines are rich in numerous nutrients that have been found to support cardiovascular health. An excellent source of Vitamin B12 and concentrated in Vitamin D, packed with protein. Sardines are best eaten fresh,and as I don’t prepare them often at home,we decided to venture out to this fair, with a grand surprise of how many people were out eating sardines…. a little bit fiddly to eat ,but if you take your time . . .enjoyable.

Enquiring how many sardines were consumed over the 9 day festival….the answer my friends…3000 kilos.Sardines on the grill…

A local cover band played Thursday night, Toys – Planet Queen. They were great,the main singer even looked like Freddie Mercury. A huge crowd had gathered and being a busy night, I was told 240 kilos of hot potato chips were consumed.That’s a lot of potatoes.

I took some photo’s before the kitchen was opened …everyone was busy with the all important preparation time, and all were excited to start another nights serving of fresh sardines.

Considering how many people were out, organization and professionalism was at it’s highest.

We only waited 30 minutes before enjoying a mixed plate of sardines…

View Full Album

Truly a great atmosphere and an enjoyable evening out.Roll on Summer nights and great Summer fun,with lots more fairs to visit.

Tea for me and Tea for you….Tea for Two

Published by Yvette

Make a cup of tea and stay with me for a few minutes, relax and enjoy.

Sometimes a cup of tea, just does the trick. A soothing cup of tea relaxing with a book, or these days in front of the computer,with fellow blogging friends.Or finishing off an evening combined with five minutes of solitude. A winter warmer, a summer iced treat.

A fragrant favorite of mine is “Tisana Meditazione” – Meditation Tea. It’s a combination of mint, cinnamon, sunflower petals, rose petals,chamomile and lavender.

The fragrance of lavender is known to relax and soothe the mind and body. Lavender tea is known to ease insomnia, help calm nervousness and anxiety. Alleviate colds ,coughs,bronchitis and similar respiratory problems. Fatigue and headaches. Funny enough two of my favourite teas both have lavender in them.

Meditation Tea is very fragrant, sweet and soothing if you can find this combination I recommend trying it. Another favourite is “Tisana Dolce Sonno” meaning Sweet Dreams or Sleep, so I guess the title says it all. It’s ingredients are passionfruit leaves, melissa ,star anise, mint,peppermint and lavender.

From a friend who lives miles away:

“I would like to visit you and have a cup of tea, however as I am unable to,

please have one on me”, a teapot message and a teabag included.

Finding an interesting article titled Think outside the cup.Cooking with tea. I thought I might try one of their recipes. This recipe was the winning entry published by Emily.

I based the preparation of these biscuits on my own recipe which I use for Cantucci.An almond biscuit.Which I usually make around Christmas time.

Recipe: Tea Biscuits

2 1/4 cups All purpose Flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla sugar

zest of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons strong brewed chamomile tea

Preparation:

Pre heat oven 220° C

Sift flour,baking powder,baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl.

In a separate mixing bowl, whisk eggs and sugar until a light yellow colour forms.Add honey,vanilla sugar, zest of lemon and tea, mix well. Combine, by folding dry ingredients into egg mixture and mix well with wooden spoon.

Divide the batter mixture in 3 equal mounds,placing on oven proof paper onto a baking tray.

Cook , for about 20 minutes,until golden brown.Turn off oven.

With a serrated knife,cut medium/thin slices.

Place biscuits back on tray,and leave in oven,re cooking, as oven cools.

Icing:

These biscuits can be left without icing as their flavour is a honey,tea, light flavour a real dunking biscuit. However if you have the time here’s their icing recipe.

1 cup icing sugar

2 teaspoons strong brewed chamomile tea (hot)

mix and with a fork drizzle over biscuit.

Enjoy your tea time my friends,and have a great week! x

Pasta Salad

Published by Yvette

With the harvesting of wheat at the moment, I should be doing a feature bread section, but my friends , no bread baker challenge for this hot weekend wheat 012

So I turn to Pasta…

A great Pasta Salad.

Recipe: Pasta Salad – cavatelli with rocket pesto.

Cavatelli is a pasta originally from the region Puglia, Italy.It’s hand made, forming a hollow rod shape about 3cm long with curved edges. This hollow form is great for capturing sauces,it can be purchased fresh or in dry form.As I’ve used for this recipe.

Ingredients for 4 serves

350 grams dried form cavatelli pasta

100 grams cherry tomatoes

100 grams smoked ricotta (grated)

100 grams parmesan (grated)

100 grams fresh rocket

3 tablespoons pine nuts

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 garlic clove, (optional)

1 jar pitted kalamata olives

Prepare the pasta, as directed on package, this pasta in dry form, usually takes 9 minutes to cook, drain and wash with cold water immediately to stop the cooking process, leave aside. Prepare the tomatoes. Slice long ways,cleaning out the centre,this takes time but is worth it…by de-seeding the tomatoes you don’t add water content to the salad.Place in mixing bowl.

To make the rocket pesto: