Lifestyle – Page 16

Barilla Shares the Table

Posted October 14, 2009 by Sharon 1 Comment

Anyone who has spent time in Italy knows that meals are about so much more than the food. Meals are daily opportunities for fellowship between family and friends. To promote that life enhancement here in the U.S., Barilla has launched “Share the Table,” the Barilla Family Dinnertime Project.

By registering on the site and making the promise to improve the time you spend with your family around the table and join the Share the Table community, you’ll receive a “Guide to Making Family Dinnertime More Meaningful” with exclusive recipes from Chef Mario Batali, as well as access to online information and support.

For each person who promises to “Share the Table,” Barilla will donate $1 to Meals on Wheels Association of America–up to $150,000–to support senior nutrition programs serving more than one million meals per day.

Mad Men Rome

Posted October 6, 2009 by Sharon 3 Comments

250px-Madmenlogo Inner Italians who are fans of the award winning AMC TV program Mad Men received a gift-within-a-gift with Sunday night’s “Souvenir,” the eighth episode of the third season. (You can still catch it at various times on October 6 and 7. (Check the AMC schedule for days and times.)

We learn that gorgeous Betty Draper, frustrated early 1960s homemaker and wife of sizzling ad man Don Draper, has an Inner Italian that’s been stifled in the suburbs (just in case we don’t “get” that Betty’s really trapped, the Drapers reside in Ossining, NY, where Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison is located). Betty’s along for the ride on Don’s two-day visit to Rome (hmm, let’s see . . . fly across the Atlantic, have dinner, fly back across the Atlantic?) to check out client Conrad (call me Conny) Hilton’s property, the Rome Cavalieri.

To many Americans in the early 1960s, Rome seemed the height of jet-set glamour -- la dolce vita -- the sweet life.

Betty no sooner says grazie to the bellman than she’s on the phone in fluent Italian (albeit, not with a fabulous accent — not sure here if creator Matthew Weiner wanted her to speak with an accent or if actress January Jones had bad coaching) making an appointment at the parrucchiere (hair stylist). Next we see her in an outdoor cafe straight out of Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, which was released in the U.S. in 1961, just a couple years before the Drapers fictional jaunt.

Betty is straight-up channeling the sultry ‘60s Italian actress Virna Lisi with a blonde updo, major eyeliner, and a very little black dress. Two Italian men at the next table take notice. Betty chooses to go with the man at the opposite table, who is her own husband Don, acting mysterious, just as he does when he’s away from her in Manhattan. (Check out the insightful blog commentary by Adam Wilson How Betty Draper Learned Italian (and Why I Don’t Care) at thefastertimes.com.

Rome has revitalized the troubled Draper marriage as we see when Don and Betty return to their room after dinner. The view from their window, with St. Peter’s dome in the distance, looks like the photograph on the “Deluxe Room” page at the Cavalieri Hilton Web site. (This show is known for its near fetishism in period detail, but seriously, this view looks like the art department just enlarged the photo.)

Back at home in her knotty pine kitchen, Betty — usually seen in demure shirtwaists — is wearing a vibrant Emilio Pucci (or maybe a knock off) silk jersey print dress, cutting edge fashion at the time. Pucci was a Florentine nobleman whose early ‘60s designs cut the thread with the staid ‘50s.

Although she looks fabulous in the Pucci, Betty’s boring old life is not a good fit. As she tells Don, “I hate this place. I hate our friends. I hate this town.” She’d rather be in Italy, certamente. But all she gets is a souvenir charm of the Colosseum from Don.

What would Italians make of this episode? I’m not sure and they won’t have a chance to find out until probably 2011. The second season of Mad Men premieres December 28, 2009 on Fox TV Italy. Click here for some amusing clips of the hard-drinking, hard-smoking, hard-loving, and occasionally hard-working Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency gang speaking in Italian.

Bed & Breakfast Cavallino

Posted September 21, 2009 by Walter Leave a Comment

B&BCavallino

By Walter Sanders

Sharon and I wanted to explore Lecce, the spectacular capital city of Puglia — often referred to as the “Florence of the South.”

We needed to find a place to stay that would position us near Lecce, yet keep us within easy striking distance of nearby attractions and points south. Plus, we didn’t want the hassles of city parking.

It was my turn to choose a place so I perused booking.com for accommodations near Lecce.

The B&B Cavallino looked perfect: an intimate property (3 suites), outside of Lecce, reasonably priced and boasting some of the highest customer ratings of any lodging establishment in the area. We e-mailed and were able to procure a room.

B&B Cavallino proprietor Paola Danielli (right) and her husband Paolo Mercurio.

Upon arrival, we met the luminous proprietor Paola Danielli. Efficient, lovely, charming (and fluent in English), she showed us to our “room.” What an exciting surprise! We had a spacious apartment with two floors, two terraces, a kitchen, and a huge bedroom overlooking a quiet green campo.

The apartment really felt like our home away from home for the next few days. Every morning before we set out, we brewed our own coffee and feasted on a lavish tray of local pastries that Paola had purchased for us. As Sharon always says, “You have to love a country where they eat cookies for breakfast.”

cavallinocolazione The only minor glitch during our stay turned out to be the source of more joking than frustration. Due to local street repairs, access to and from the southern route to the Salento peninsula ran through an AGIP gas station. It was so well trafficked, we took to calling it the AGIP autostrada.

We couldn’t have been more fortunate in finding this jewel of a B&B. It’s easiest to reach by car, however, with proper advisal the hosts will provide transfers to and from the Lecce train station.

B&B Cavallino is the perfect starting point to explore the many attractions of the Salento peninsula south of Lecce.

Sommelier, M.D.

Posted September 11, 2009 by Walter 5 Comments

An Inner Italian Moment

Poggio il Castellare Brunello di Montalcino 2003 may be just what the doctor orders.

By Walter Sanders

Recently, I had a routine medical procedure that necessitated anesthesia.

The anesthesiologist had gone through the drill thousands of times. He used well-practiced patter to recite a comical sedation flavor menu…to put me at ease, I’m sure.

“Today we have orange, vanilla, peach, watermelon, bubblegum, strawberry, and lemon. Which do you prefer?”

I paused.

“What I’d really prefer is Brunello di Montalcino. Is that available?”

That stopped him cold. Real cold.

Seconds passed. Yikes. Had I broken his rhythm? Had I crossed the sacred line between anesthesiologist and patient? Was I stealing his attempt at humor?

Finally, with a touch of wonderment in his voice, he said “That’s my favorite red wine.”

“Yeah, one of mine, too,” I said.

“Where did you learn about it?” I asked.

“Three years ago in Tuscany my wife and I took a side trip from Florence to Montalcino and I had my first glass with dinner there. I love that wine.”

We talked a little more about Italian vino. I felt much more at ease being in the capable hands of a mellow Brunello fellow.

Then he put me under. The procedure was a success.

Unimpeachable

Posted September 9, 2009 by Sharon 2 Comments

Torta di pesche in a tender butter cookie crust.

I’m living in a kind of peach frenzy.

Peaches and ricotta for breakfast. Baked peaches blanketed with pastry cream. Peach sorbetto. Peach tart in a sweet cookie crust.

Pondering how long my supplies will last, I just spoke on the phone to the friendly clerk at Bechtold’s Orchard in Bucks County, PA. She said peaches will be available for about one more week. O-N-E week? Sadly, the days of peaches dwindle down to a precious few.

Like a squirrel frantically stashing nuts for the bleak days to come, I’m stockpiling peaches in my freezer. It’s easy enough to do. Submerge the ripe but firm peaches in a pot of boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds. Transfer them with a slotted spoon to a big bowl of ice water.

A Bechtold's Orchard peach emerging from a refresing ice water bath.

Start peeling with a sharp paring knife at the stem end and the skin slips off as easily as a satin robe gliding off the shoulder of a 1930s glamour queen. Halve or quarter the peaches and lay them on a tray lined with plastic wrap. Place in the freezer for a day and then pack the frozen peaches into a resealable plastic freezer bag or plastic freezer container.

Peeled peaches ready to be flash frozen.

And, while you still have the chance, you can bake a homey Italian peach tart with the following recipe. It’s sweetened with fruit preserves to intensify the flavor of the fresh fruit filling. Sometimes I replace half the preserves with ginger-peach chutney from Tait Farm Foods in Centre Hall, PA. It makes a sweet, slightly hot filling that’s bliss.

[Read more…]

Jim Russell Records

Posted September 3, 2009 by Walter 10 Comments

Denise Russell manages the world-famous Jim Russell Records in New Orleans.

From the shady side of the Magazine Street, Jim Russell Records shop didn’t look like the Top 10 of anything — let alone one of the Top 10 record stores on earth as my daughter Tess had advertised. It was a simple store front with a weather-beaten sign that was probably the original from 1969.

The front door was open. It was warm inside the store. Denise Russell, daughter-in-law of Jim Russell, was behind the counter. She greeted us and we said hi.

The store extends deep to the back walls. Bins of CDs, deeper bins of vinyl LPs and slats of single 45s, 78s, tapes, movies, and all sorts of music-related memorabilia covered the walls. Tess began to explore.

I told Denise that we were visiting New Orleans and Tess had read that Jim Russell Records was famous. Denise nodded and said, “It is kind of famous.” Maybe even more famous to people living outside of the city.

She went on to tell stories about renowned performers who have visited the store. Most were friendly and real like Bruce Springsteen who appreciated the store and Jim Russell himself.

Denise went on to say that she gets lots of international visitors, and that Jim Russell’s has been written up in many foreign tourist guides as a must see in New Orleans.

As if on cue, in walked the Italians. They were a 30-ish couple, casual but stylish, great sun glasses and both sporting nifty miniature backpacks. They began looking around. In a few minutes the woman came up to put some purchases on the counter while her companion continued to shop.
[Read more…]