Thursday 28 July 2011

Books I've read and loved lately

I love reading novels. I've read various genres, just a good one I don't mind if it's a romance, comedy, tragedy or thriller but particularly I'm likely to choose those which retrace the history of a country or those which give you the sensation of staying and experiencing life in another country. Talented writers are able to render the history and cultures enjoyable and light. There're two books of the same author that I've appreciated a lot at the moment. One of them, I read it last year in original language; that is English version and it's called "A Thousand Splendid Suns". The other, I just had the chance to read it this month in Italian version, and it's "Il Cacciatore di Aquiloni" or "The Kite Runner" in original version. The Afghan author Khaled Hosseini just passed on life in Kabul and the outskirts into your eyes as if you could really feel it. I just think the two novels worths a read so I'd like to recommend them, perhaps you may not know them yet!


Friday 15 July 2011

Editing pictures

This's just for fun. I don't know why but last evening after cooking a simple dish for myself, using the organic long beans from my friend's garden, I thought of the way my daddy loves to eat. Each meal, my mom always prepared the table in this way: 1 plate,1 spoon and 1 fork for herself and her children but 1 bowl and 1 couple of sticks for her husband. My dad loves to have food from a bowl and pick the food with chinese sticks. He holds the bolw in the left hand and the sticks in the right one...as if he tasted the food better than having it from a plate and fork. My mom, me, bro and sis use the sticks only when we have noodles, never use them when we have rice.

So last evening, after thinking of my dad and his bowl of rice, I decided to have rice and the long beans & shrimps in red curry sauce (obviously cooked by meself) in a bowl and to use sticks. I just wanted to fantasized a little bit with the pictures of the meal editing them by the program photoscape. And the results are...




Friday 8 July 2011

Budino di uova morbidissimo!!

Le uova sono buone in tanti modi e non possono mai mancare dal frigo! So che suona strano...budino di uova...non l'ho inventato io ma da noi (intendo in Thailandia) è un cibo comune. Si può aggiungere degli ingredienti con fantasia. Mia mamma lo preparava con diversi ingredienti come cipolle, gamberetti essicati e funghi shintake. Questa volta l'ho fatto con un pò di cipollotto e carota grattuggiata. E' semplicissimo, vediamo che cosa ci occorono!

Per 2 porzioni:
-3 uova medie (io uso le uova bio che sono un pò piccole)
-un pò d'acqua
-un piccolo cipollotto (ho usato uno di quelli thailandesi dall'orto, sono molto più piccoli e vanno usati anche la parte verde che è buonissima!)
- un pò di carota grattuggiata
-2 cucchiaini di salsa di soia o un pizzico di sale

La preparazione:
1. Preparate una pentola per cottura a vapore.
2. Sbattete le uova in una ciottola poi aggiungete l'acqua a temperatura ambiente. La quantità dell'acqua è circa 1/3 di quella delle uova .
3. Aggiungete la salsa di soia o il sale come preferite.
4. Versate il contenuto in 2 tazze o ciottole tramite un colino (in questo modo ottenete il budino senza le bolle)
5. Mettete un pò di cipollotte tritate e carota grattuggiata. (Se volete, aggiungete un pizzico di pepe)
6. Quando l'acqua nella pentola bolle, mettete le tazze del budino a cuocere a fuoco medio per circa 15 min. (il tempo dipende dalla grandezza delle ciottole che usate)

Fate attenzione: se l'acqua nella pentola bolle troppo forte il budino verrà troppo duro. Per ottenere un buon risultato, coprite le tazze con la pellicola che resiste al calore o la carte d'alluminio per non far cadere dentro le gocce dal coperchio.

...e voilà!


Questa ricetta è ottima per i bambini, e così ho deciso di partecipare al contest "Cucina a prova di bambino" di Gianni nella categoria Preparate per loro.

Wednesday 6 July 2011

An excursion into nature

I'd like to post some nice pictures taken during our short trekking. It was on Sunday 26th of June. Our boy Dylan loves walking up the mountain. Actually he didn't walk but he ran! After a couple of hours of walking among the nature, I really felt healthy and relaxed, nevertheless the contrast effect causing by my allergy to grasses. The location is a passage near my mom-in-law's house on mountain in the province of Bergamo. Let me show you the pictures of some wild flowers and the panorama.






When Nanà is "home alone"!

Who has read my older posts would know who is Nanà. She's our 4-year-old Birman cat. She has quite particular characters. Normally cats are independent. Ours instead needs someone to stay with. Actually it's said the Birman cats are very proper to who need a pet as companion.

I noticed her behavior when I was packing stuffs before going away in a weekend. I pulled out a big baggage, she turned around and around and sniffed. The next morning we went to my mom-in-law's house on mountain. My in-laws already arrived there the day before. We left Nanà at home because, from the previous experiences, she suffers a lot the trip, strangers and the new environment. Moreover, we were mostly obliged to close her in the loft in order that she couldn't stray in relatives' apartments or go down to the neighbour's garden. So we concluded that it'd much better leaving her home when we go away for only a weekend.

It happened that the next Monday, I was packing stuffs again to go for a short holiday at sea. When I pulled out the 2 baggages, she came close to me. Each time I put a piece of clothes there, she bited my hands, trying to impede me. We quarreled for a while but, becoming impatient, I stopped doing the baggage and went to another room. She followed me and was still biting my feet. I thought she's gone mad! That night, she slept on one of the baggages. Incredible! She understood we were leaving her home again.

This time yet, my in-laws took care of her. They told us on the phone that Nanà was angry with them. Anything they did for her never satisfied her; giving food, brushing her fur, etc. It seemed she did go mad. The day we arrived home, she finally stayed calm and returned normal. My in-laws said they almost couldn't stand aggressivity. How come! Nanà's used to stay with them. She might not want us to leave home.