Mary Day Celebrations

Mary Day Celebration Candle

Every year some women friends and I celebrate the Goddess with in us on the 15th of August. It is the Catholic holiday set to commemorate the Assumption of Mary, the Mother of Jesus as she is whisked into the Heavens. I pick this day not because I am particularly religious but because it reminds me of my childhood. When I was a child, living in Bavaria, in southern Germany, Maria Himmelfahrt  was a really big deal. As I have written in other posts on similar topic, on that day of celebration, the whole town comes out, children in traditional costume and crowns of flowers on their heads.  The statue of Mary is carried through town from the Abbey to the main church. It is a beautiful spectacle and I always see it first and foremost within that childlike vision.

I especially always loved the way kids adorned their favorite cows with wreathes of herbs and flowers accenting their beautiful long eyelashes and luminescent big pink noses, gentle nature.

Cow & Friend

In the last 10 years it's been a way  to connect with women friends that are dear, share stories - some of them about being women, some of them childhood memories, others are myths we know or half know and want to explore.

Our Lisa is the story teller and fascinates us with her memory of women stories, both learned and intuitive.

We read our coffee cups and have  wine, let our daughters join us in the lighting of the candles and writing of secret messages on little scraps of delicate paper that we then send up in smoke to the sky, hoping that our daughters too will find some fascination in the mysteries and bounty associated with the Mother.

It's About Carlo..

Just finishing up my article for Denver News about Italian activist Carlo Petrini, who I had the chance to interview during the Slow Money Gathering Boulder this April.  I came on this trailer about a documentary coming out exactly today featuring the Italian environmentalist/bio gastronome rock star himself!

Interview @SloMo with Carlo Petrini

The Slow Money Gathering  winding down on Tuesday morning in Boulder, Colorado,  Carlo Petrini, Founder &Visionary, Slow Food and Woody Tasch  of Slow Money meet with Journalists for an 'intimate' Coffee Kvetsch session ahead of the day's agenda. I wrote about the last Gathering in San Francisco and the Denver News invited me to follow up on this very important event in my monthly Go Green column. 

This video is from the Walk the Talk Show, produced by Waylon Lewis of Elephant Journal fame and I think that it sums up a lot of what was fantastic about the 4th Annual Slow Money Gathering 

Slow Food is about Food, but not just.  Carlo Petrini talks about civil society and how we must do our part in making the world a better place. As often my focus is on women in business and otherwise it was up to me to ask about the role that women play in this forward looking movement.  At 28:50 you can hear his answer to that question.

{Video recorded by and property of Elephant Journal}

Ritorno alla Terra

Questo mi fa piangere per quanto e forte il Sig. Petrini, il poeta del movimento Slow Food

'It is not a Utopian world I am talking about, it is human nature to overcome these types of challenges but let me tell you now, the biggest challenge humanity faces today is how to return to the land'

Food & Culture

Follow my Food & Culture board on Pinterest for tantalizing views of how people the Globe over present what sustains them, their families & guests.

http://pinterest.com/silvanamondo/food-culture/

A Day @San Lorenzo - Traveling with Anima

At the San Lorenzo Flea Market today with Ani. Just a quick walk through because it was so hot I started feeling a bit wilted, had to head back to the hotel. Not of course without first getting a bite to eat at the inside market,

Porcchetta

where the meat, fish and vegetable vendors are. It's Ferragosto, so there were slim pickings as far as open stalls but there was still plenty of produce for sale for tourists and housewives alike. Meats (Mortadella, Prosciutto di Parma, Finocchiona Salami)

are always a source of hunger inspiring recipes. I noticed some of the vegetables stalls were really popular with the Chinese restaurant guys (well, I assume Chinese restaurants but maybe they ran Italian restaurants - I really don't know) picking out eggplant

and fish

Ani had a big breakfast at the hotel but I was starved and our Florentine friends suggested we had to try the Porchetta sandwich and the Lampredotto, which is a type of trippa with special sauce.

At the Leather Market, Ani had fun buying trinkets for her friends with the lily symbol of Florence and for herself, a lovely leather purse. It's her first (and it cost a whole lot of euro)...and very beautiful, hand crafted leather in  luscious cow eye brown with a long strap and gorgeous stitching.

Lunch @San Lorenzo

Of Cats & Fish

Walking around Montalcino the other day, looking for a particular agency I needed to get to, I spotted this minuscule shop selling fish. I know I have passed that way before to get to the "Why Not" Gelateria at the end of the corner, but I had really never noticed this door before.  It's underneath Piazza Garibaldi, built right into the wall - and apparently very popular when it is open on Tuesday mornings. Elderly towns women gossiping up a storm and sharing information and some feline admirers as well...

The Yolk

The Girl has never liked eggs. Doesn't like them fried or scrambled or anyway at all. The only thing she will accede to is eating the white of a boiled egg. Otherwise her nose turns up.  A bit because of the fuso orario or time zone change and a bit of course because we are in a different country, our eating habits have changed drastically (with the exception of cookie eating). Lots of different food. Not anything unrecognizable really, just regular items that we are used to at home  - but with color!

Technicolor local Olive Oil

 In showing the Girl around I hear myself saying over and over again; 'taste it, it's different here', 'try it, you will like it'.

Last night, long after dinner passed when we were too lazy to go into town to eat we became hungry. Lazy, hungry and jet lagged people usually have few choices when in a state of sudden crazed hunger except for crappy room service or fast food.  Since we crazed and hungry two are, however, living in a tiny Tuscan village, we are luckier than most even when there is 'nothing' to eat.  Here food is revered, adored, eaten with gusto and respected. It is normal to eat good food. So we... Had this......

Olive Oil, Aceto Balsamico, Pane Toscano

along with this....

Uova

and for the first time the Girl, who has always said eggs are 'disgusting' finds that this is not always true after trying and then eating, all of this.....

Tata Luanna's farm frash eggs 

This simple meal was as satisfying as if we had eaten at a stared restaurant anywhere in the world.

Pot de Crème & Rosé

At Z Cuisine with the almost teens for a bit of dessert. Pot de crème for them & Rosé for me. Great mother daughter bonding during Spring break. & you know I had to stop at the 'Big Picture' wall and take some quick pics.

The light is so weird on that corner and works beautifully no matter what you do.  I've written about it in other posts and hope you don't tire of the repetition but really, how can you? The huge posters wheat paste smudged onto the west side of the restaurant wall is a project (one of so many!) created by dashing Denver based photographer Mark Sink & has garnered local & international note. Looks, btw, more beautiful with age. Some things do, you know.

 

....street art combined with organic French deliciousness ...Denver really can be quite fab if you know who and where...

A Ticket for an Airplane...Traveling with Anima

Living in the United States, Miss A and I usually travel by plane, mainly because the distances are so great. Plane travel, when airfares are within our budget, becomes the most cost and time efficient method of transportation. There are people that love to travel by car and take long trips 'on the road' to all manner of places in the 50 States. We are definitely not that family. In our time here, we have found that the journey, which is said to be half the fun, is just not really exciting and engaging much of the time for the kids, even if the destinations are ok. Very often  the actual experience of driving takes too long and again, the spots along the road often lack in authenticity. Camping can be fun. Going to specific destinations can be exceptional. But for my money and 'feel good', the American road trip is no longer all it's cracked up to be for a seasoned traveler.

 If on the other hand you are traveling America for the first time and have not yet seen some of the natural beauty, strange canyons and gorgeous mountains, otherworldly forests and grand oceans - which are all truly spectacular and breathtaking - then you are in for a real treat. Otherwise, after a few times around the block, speaking for myself, the highways are endlessly uninspiring and boring.  This is why, a long time ago I decided that we would only travel by plane to get from one destination to another for trips that are more than a couple of hours from home.

Both Anima and I like the palpable feel of the hustle and bustle at the airport and it is always something that we look forward to when flying. Once we get to the airport its fun to see the expectant look on peoples faces as they are coming out of the airplanes looking for a kindred face or a surprise apparition. The romance of flying is still a big part of our travel agenda, I'm happy to say!

I do think that it would be fun one of these days to rent an RV or a roulotte and go on an extended trip to a particular corner of the US, like the Southwest canyons or the Northwest forests. Traveling in our own 'mobile hotel' as it were, would allow us to buy our own food and make home cooked meals. We would avoid the reliance on the ubiquitous fast food outlets located almost exclusively along the roads in America that is so disappointing. This is the way, I imagine, with plenty of time and traveling the back roads, that it would be a lot of fun!

On the contrary, when we are in Europe, we have most commonly traveled by car. On the excellent highways in  Germany and Italy, and many other countries,  it is altogether possible to drive for a few hours, kids, dogs and all, and then stop in a quaint village off the beaten path, find a nice, hospitable cafe bar or Osteria to have a coffee or some delicious home style type meal to make the drive even more pleasant. Then, it's off again towards your destination. Traveling by car is a much better way to make connections with people from the places you are wanting to discover  and since distances are not quite so great you have the luxury of taking your time, viewing the countryside and sampling the local sights, entertainment and cuisine along the way.

It will be interesting to see how  Anima will adjust to the change of traveling in Europe as compared to the United States. So many new things to experience. She has never been on a high speed train or a ferry that crosses over to an island, in a helicopter flying low over the rooftops of an ancient city or racing on a motorino in city traffic. In the next year we will probably be experiencing all of this and more!

What are your favorite modes of transportation, in the United States or in anywhere else in the world?
At Il Circolo delle Mamme Viaggiatrici  (The Traveling Mom's Club in English) we are six women travelers who are also mothers.  Melissa and I are American while Silvia, Alessandra, Valentina and Monica are Italian, although I think it is fair to say that in a way we are all women of the world.

Every month we will individually be posting a story of travel or travel related situation on our own blogs which we will then share with each other and our followers. This will give a wonderful and wide variety to families looking for suggestions, special fare notices and in general a good overview for other mom's and families that travel.

My virtual travel companions often write in both Italian and English and have truly amusing and informative articles for you to read and enjoy. Ciao Ciao!

The Ritual of Tea

Such a goreous ritual is focused on in this video I had to show it.    via Kari Anita Moe

Some Thoughts about Food Culture

{My monthly article for the "Go Green" section in The Denver News - formerly the Downtown Denver News}

Recently, I met up with a couple from Italy passing through Denver and other big name cities for a PR tour of America. They run a resort and cooking school where they come from and are not incidentally interested in how we eat. I imagine they will want to give feedback to their customers and friends once they get back home. I saw their website and their quaint operation on the Adriatic Sea looks charming and inviting. I sure do hope they have a good time and it leads me to wonder what they will think of us once they’ve gone.

Since I lived in Italy for many years, I can vouch that the way we eat in America is very different from the food culture there. In the States, we relish in the faster pace and love the fast food nation we have become. We don’t like to go to the trouble of spending too much time in the kitchen. To Italians though, the kitchen is sacrosanct. There is no need for a “structural overhaul” of the food system that is often talked about in our daily news. There is no “rampant child obesity” caused by inactivity and processed food that is eaten everywhere in the US.
One of the reasons they don’t have these problems is that Italy still has small farmers and butchers, bakers, sheep herders, vegetable growers, small dairies and cheese mongers, to mention just a few enterprises. Fresh food grown sustainably is the norm, not something that needs a ‘movement’ to attract attention to it. Every day you can see small markets offering fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as independent grocery stores that do a booming business selling deli meats, locally sourced food and wine, fresh pastries and breads. Restaurants know their farmers and who butchers their pork cutlets. Living ‘the good life’ by sourcing real food, from real people, instead of factories is everyday life, ingrained in their culture. Anyone that has been to Italy has experienced what I am talking about.

So, why am I talking about Italians in my ‘green’ column? Well, making their acquaintance made me think about how I would show off our own local food culture. Sitting at the foot of the Rocky Mountains our visitors will surely experience Denver as unforgettable. They will no doubt delight in our spectacular views and sunny winter skies. They will see the museums, Botanic Gardens and the Micro breweries, even Coors Field and Buffalo Bill’s Grave. After that, unless they spend their entire visit skiing our majestic mountains, where should they engage in that favorite Italian and American pastime, mangiare?

Past the Starbucks, the Outback’s, the Malls, the All-you-can-eat places, the fast food mecca’s and Mexican dives, how will they experience our local food? Sure, there are loads of restaurants everywhere but the food served is not necessarily a showcase of Colorado products. Fewer in number but important to the local and organic scene are the venerable farm-to-table restaurants in and around the city that have been in the forefront of the Colorado food movement. I feel the European travelers will want to experience some of that.
Italians are known for their reverence of the earth and the fruit that comes from it, especially the wine. So I really would like our guests to feel that as Coloradans we too are proud stewards of the land. I’d like them to see that we have the food to prove it. I want them know that we support our local, smaller scale agri-oriented enterprises. There is, I told them, a fresh food revolution that is struggling to emerge right beneath our noses on the Front Range. It would be nice to see a strategy of supportive infrastructure geared towards those who are interested in hand craft traditions, like artisanal bread baking, common just a few generations ago. But I didn’t mention that. They probably won’t notice what is lacking and just go with the good stuff available.
I’m not too worried. We show up pretty good, what with the sheer physical beauty of where we live; the snow capped mountains, the pristine lakes, the hiking and biking and especially, the friendly people - those are the stars of Colorado. I’m just hoping the Italians find our local food culture something to write home about in addition.
 
Silvana Vukadin-Hoitt, is a creative entrepreneur and currently lives in Denver. She writes a monthly column for The Denver News and advocates for sustainable living.

A Passion for Taste

My first article for The Denver News. September, 2011.

A burgeoning group of restaurants is bringing a more sustainable way of preparing and eating food to their customers and it just so happens that many of them are located in the Highlands district.  Eating locally and supporting sustainable practices is about preserving local food systems and  giving your money to the people that make sure you have food to eat, which ultimately means supporting farmers. In the Highlands, some restaurants are making sure that ‘going green’ is not just a slogan.

One of the most popular and hip to be seen at restaurants promoting sustainable food on their menu opened in 2008 on lower 33ed Avenue as Root Down. The menu touts a ‘field to fork’ mentality and states that they ‘prefer to stay as organic, natural and local as possible’. Chef/owner Justin Cucci just opened his second spot this summer, also in LoHi named Linger, a converted mortuary that has a killer view to the Denver city skyline.

A bit farther up the street going into Highlands proper, chef Patrick DuPays of Z Cuisine, serves classic French Bistrot food with an organic twist and talks about opening his restaurant six years ago before the Highlands transition from dowdy Denver outpost to the fabulous hipsterville that it is today. He will tell you that his passion for quality food comes from going to the farm markets with his grandfather in his native France.  Getting to know the farmers and their produce is how he learned that it’s all about following   the flow of the seasons.  Fresh ingredients are what ultimately ends up satisfying your taste buds at the dinner table.  "The food at Z Cuisine is only as good as the produce that I get from the farmers who I have come to know and trust like my own family", he says.

As a matter of fact, farmers markets are a theme that comes up often.  Chefs like Patricia Perry, of Highland Garden Café on West 32^nd Avenue, John Broening of Duo and Olivea, Patrick Horvath of Venue and of course the inimitable Mr. DuPays talk about their involvement with the earth and her stewards, the farmers. Patricia of Highlands Garden Café says, "I think there is, among cooks, a respect for the land and a mandate to preserve and feed the soil that produces the food we serve".

 Passion. Reverence. Value. Love.  These are the words used to describe a way of life that is available when we seek out establishments where we can nourish ourselves rather than just fill our need for fuel.

At the corner of 32^nd Ave and Zuni patrons wait in line at the venerable Duo, a Farm to Table restaurant owned by Stephanie Bonin and her husband Keith Arnold. Regular people come to experience the bounty of what Stephanie calls their ‘strong relationship with farmers, built over time’.  She also mentions that they can now comfortably say that they are at 80% in serving locally sourced food.  Like Z Cuisine, you can find the Duo chefs at the Boulder Farm markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays, talking to the farmers, getting the scoop on what just came out of the ground and inquiring which ranchers sustainably raise their meat. 

At Venue, Patrick Horvath is dedicated to simple, natural food that he creates from scratch, like the handmade pasta in one of their signature dishes. "Doing the right thing" is important to him. He says that he keeps it simple, using the best local and organic product when it’s available.

Why do they go to all the trouble?  "Taste. You can taste the sun, the soil, the aliveness of the earth and of course, it’s better", says the owner of Z Cuisine.  "You don’t open a restaurant to make business, you do it because you love the act of making good food".

By going the shorter distance and sourcing our local farms for the food they serve in their restaurants, these philosopher restaurateurs create a special space in the nascent Highlands foodie scene that talks the talk and also walks the walk.

Silvana Vukadin-Hoitt is a contributing writer to The Denver News

Mary Day 2011

Mary Day Celebration

Every year some women friends and I celebrate the Goddess with in us on the 15th of August. It is the Catholic holiday set to commemorate the Assumption of Mary, the Mother of Jesus as she is whisked into the Heavens. I pick this day not because I am particularly religious but because it reminds me of my childhood. When I was a child, living in Bavaria, in southern Germany, Maria Himmelfahrt  was a really big deal. As I have written in other blogs, on that day of celebration, the whole town comes out, children in traditional costume and  with crowns of flowers on their heads, favorite cows adorned with wreathes of herbs and flowers and of course, the statue of Mary carried through town from the Abbey to the main church. It is a beautiful spectacle and I always see it first and foremost within that childlike vision.

In the last 10 years it's been a way  to connect with women friends that are dear, share stories - some of them about being women, some of them childhood memories, others are myths we know or half know and want to explore.

Our Lisa is the story teller and fascinates us with her memory of women stories, both learned and intuitive.

We read our coffee cups and have  wine, let our daughters join us in the lighting of the candles and writing of secret messages on little scraps of delicate paper that we then send up in smoke to the sky, hoping that our daughters too will find some fascination in the mysteries and bounty associated with the Mother.

Easter at the Lake

                              Easter lunch at the Queens' house on the Lake.

Just the family, small and intimate - my Girl helped make the decorations and No.1 Son filled the empty eggshells with sponge cake to make little eggcakes.

We started off with an Antipasto plate: Prosciutto San Daniele, Mortadella and some Speck. There is always an element of Italian in all our holidays, either bread or sauce or antipasti, I like to be reminded of where we come from and where we can go back to, especially in the sensual experience of sharing food and memories.

Uncle brought some Argentinian rose  in the spirit of celebrating holiday and Spring at once.

Since I never think there is enough food for everyone, I couldn't resist making just a little bit of 'primo' and so un asaggio di Gnocchi with creamy Pesto Sauce found it's way to the table for an interim course.
.
I'm crazy for Lamb but we decided to keep it light this year and so I created an Asparagus feast instead...

 

Asparagus

with Parmiggiano and EVOO

and more Asparagus with Farm Fresh Eggs from Uncle's next door neighbor The Guy with Chickens.

In between the cooking, serving, talking, laughing...I had myself a little dirty martini in this pretty glass that I received as a gift long ago 

...and for dessert we all ate homemade sponge cake with strawberries and almond laced whipped cream.

After

we drank strong coffee and peered into our cups

 Uncle revealed a spontaneous vision of me moving down to Santa Fe to tell fortunes from a  colorful caravan...which we all thought was pretty amusing, each in our own secret way.....

Soon it was over - a beautiful, rainy Easter Sunday came and went, intimate and unusual in it's harmony and simplicity. Here's to more of these kind of days.

Crazy Love Summer

This picture that I found while reading the Ephemeral New York blog makes me dream of summer. Not the beach-y summers of my stuck up 20's, but the loud, sweltering, 15 people milling around a tiny city kitchen on the 4th floor of the projects in Crotone that I spent one summer with boyfriend number 3. Kids everywhere and fresh burrata from the corner grocer and old nonno with the Hitler mustache who wore the Alan Ladd hat even if it was 95 degrees out. Terribly happy in that silly & stupified 'I'm finally living 'real life' kind of way. That is what I long for today.

La Vie en Rose

A pretty birthday celebration, quiet and subtle with Prinz Achmed in the background supping on Z's famous Assiette de Charcuterie and an earthy glass of rouge. An early night, as far as birthdays go, I left before midnight and walked to my car following the noiseless, dark sliver of Z's side street up the hill. Dimmed street light streaming through the trees hightened the atmospheric experience of the evening even more...the duPays magic is truly in every detail.

Was feeling most Parisian when I encountered ....

Food Communion at expat+Harem

My guest post featured today at the  expat+HAREM website. My heartfelt thank you to Anastasia Ashman for giving me the space and time to explore my thoughts and share them with an audience that I both relate to and admire.

 

How the Italians Do It

 Spuntino. Roughly translated it means 'snack' in Italian. Little bit of something to satisfy a desire, not necessarily hunger. A plate of this or that with a short glass of wine, a casual conversation with friends over a small white cup of espresso ....

It was fairly quiet this afternoon,  the rush of the lunch crowd already gone when the Arizona beauty and I came for a quick peek at the new Italian breakfast/lunch spot on the ever hip 32nd Ave in NW Denver.

Decor is simple, the colors are soothing and because we have momentarily entered Italy and not Starfucks, I am overjoyed when I see that Mr. Parisi carries real ceramic cups with which a person can enjoy a single, short,  Italian espresso.

The gorgeous corner windows are the same as before, good for daydreaming and getting a 'through the glass' suntan on a freezing bright winter day.

We split a lovely Piadina sandwich
with prosciutto, stracchino and the ubiquitous arugula.











From there, we just jumped right off the wagon and delved into the gelato.

 The show case was all pretty colors; light greens and delicate pinks, dark chocolate and intense purple berry, pretty little containers of semi freddo desert, mounds of airless gelato.


                   Popsicles with weird but cool combinations like Cerlery and Lime

                                                  and Blackberry Basil.
                                                 
                                                 Not to mention Nutella.

Compliments of the house we were the first to sample the Strawberry/Fior di Sicilia combination which was delightful with a hint of Rose and fresh burst of summer red. What a great little place to visit. Often.

The Art of Communication

The art of conversation and communicating with friends and family is something that invigorates and often inspires. Talking together, sharing stories and experiences with other human beings around a table gives me a chance to open up my heart and mind to others' points of view, beliefs and customs.

Are there daily opportunities that you take to create a space for 'table talk'?