Everyone is talking about Diet. The Nutritional Value of Diet and that eating properly keeps you healthy and slim. Nutritionists say that the Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest. All this talk made me think of my favorite Italian Minestra - Minestrone "The Big Soup". It's delicious and healthy. My friend Rossella's father thought so too. He lived to be 101. He attributed his good health and longevity to eating fresh minestrone every day of his life. This soup is so good with so many different possible recipes that it's a crime to repeat it. Every time you make it it's different and every time it's delicious.
As a little girl I would go to the market with my mother and everyday and every season the vegetables were different and therefore so was the soup. I used to look forward to the new season that brought my favorite vegetables; while some children anxiously awaited their summer vacation, all I was waiting for were the tomatoes and the fava beans; when classes resumed in the Fall, roasted Chestnuts were always a favorite but cauliflower and pumpkin made that minestrone oh so sweet;
At Christmas, the traditional sweets were definitely on my list but the artichokes took first place, during Easter break I feasted on asparagus and beets.
This, like many other Italian traditions,I passed on to my daughters, and they enjoyed it just as much as I did. While living in Italy with my daughter and her dog, Nike I was able to give her that same experience I had had. Living near Campo d' Fiori going to the fresh food market in the morning meant no more than a short stroll with Nike. By the time Sidney came home from school there would be a bowl of hot minestrone on the table? in the winter, and a cold bowl in the summer. Nike enjoyed the minestrone just as much as we did and always begged for seconds!
Here are some of the recipes from my Italian childhood that are both healthy and delicious. Of course I am no chef and have never followed a recipe, as a true Italian I make it up as I go along, therefore I will give you the base ingredients and the rest is up to you. First I give you, Minestrone. It can be one of the most creative and inventive minestre. A minestra that gives you a chance to be an artist.
You start by boiling water in a deep pan, to this water you add onions, garlic, carrots, celery, potato, and beans. After about 15 minutes add tomatoes and all the wonderful fresh and in-season vegetables you can find. The more the merrier. I always include chile peppers, not only do they help your circulation but you may never need to spend another penny on viagra. http://www.academiabarilla.com/italian-culinary-tradition/spice-herbs-dressings/peperoncino.aspx. Once all of your vegetables are in the pot, cover it and let it cook for another 15 minutes or until it's done to your liking. Spices are optional and encouraged.
Before serving put a little "first cold pressed olive oil" in the bottom of your bowl and add fresh parsley on top. Sometimes I also grate some Parmigiano Reggiano on top. You can have it over pasta, rice, barley or toasted bread. Toasted bread should be added at the bottom of the bowl with the olive oil. Any combination you choose is delicious and this is one plate that never gets boring. It so much resembles life and all the changes that it brings. 10cc thought so too as they wrote a song about it "Life is a Minestrone" 1975 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKG6CJWISVo
You my ask yoursef what does this have to do with life changes. Everything, changing your diet for the better is always a step forward.
Stay tuned for the next recipe.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Acceptance
After reading "Unbreak My Heart" in Ann Munday's Musing http://annmundaymusing.blogspot.com/2010/06/unbreak-my-heart.html?, about the Five Stages of Grieving, I started thinking about these stages; Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance, and what they really mean to me. The first four stages seem to be automatic, a natural process and easily recognizable. The final stage is the most ambiguous as well as the most difficult to arrive at.
I have had many friends who have suffered the loss of a loved one, through their stories, ones that I have heard, and my own experience, I realized that Acceptance is the most difficult of these stages and for some totally unattainable. That's why there are so many songs sung, so many poems and books and blogs written, so many movies produced. We need to adjust to the loss, make it a part of our life. If we don't go through the last stage all the other stages keep coming back. it's like being on a treadmill unable to get off.
So what do we do, we try meditation, we read what Buddah and the Dalai Lama have to say, we try new interests, we surround ourselves with family and friends. We try everything possible, but to no avail. We still miss our losses, they will always stay with us. We have to find a way to incorporate them into our lives. These experiences make us richer, more understanding and compassionate people. I grew to understand that Acceptance is not stopping the pain, it's merely learning to live with the pain and the loss.
So how do we deal with the loss of a loved one, the loss of our home, the loss of our careers, the loss of our finances and the pain that comes along with it. Of course we all have our different ways of dealing with them. John Lennon conveyed it well - that 'Whatever Gets You Through The Night', 'is all right',meaning that we must do whatever works for us to get us through our pain, and from my mother's generation a similar directive from Eduardo di filippo, Italian playwright and philosopher, who ends one of his plays with "Ha da passa' 'a nuttata," which translated is, you got to get through the nights.
For example, my Zia Mara, lost her daughter through leukemia over 30 years ago, when Ines was still in her teens. Every night from the day of her death to this day, she writes beautiful letters to Ines, telling her all that is happening in her life and in the world, she tells her how much she and everyone loves her. My aunt saves these letters and she is convinced that through these letters she is communicating with Ines. This is how my zia deals with the loss of her daughter. Is this acceptance?
Growing up I have had several friends who lost their mothers at a young age and yet all of them felt that their mothers were right there protecting them. Still, these women today, in their sixties, are missing their mothers. Yes, they have had happy lives, have succeeded in their careers and had wonderful families of their own. Yes, they all spent many many years in therapy. So, is this Acceptance?
As I have learned through my life experience, our loved ones will never be forgotten, we have a special place reserved inside of us for the special people who have touched us. Our life is still beautiful, but there will always be that empty space that no one can fill; that space reserved for that special person. This to me is Acceptance.
I have had many friends who have suffered the loss of a loved one, through their stories, ones that I have heard, and my own experience, I realized that Acceptance is the most difficult of these stages and for some totally unattainable. That's why there are so many songs sung, so many poems and books and blogs written, so many movies produced. We need to adjust to the loss, make it a part of our life. If we don't go through the last stage all the other stages keep coming back. it's like being on a treadmill unable to get off.
So what do we do, we try meditation, we read what Buddah and the Dalai Lama have to say, we try new interests, we surround ourselves with family and friends. We try everything possible, but to no avail. We still miss our losses, they will always stay with us. We have to find a way to incorporate them into our lives. These experiences make us richer, more understanding and compassionate people. I grew to understand that Acceptance is not stopping the pain, it's merely learning to live with the pain and the loss.
So how do we deal with the loss of a loved one, the loss of our home, the loss of our careers, the loss of our finances and the pain that comes along with it. Of course we all have our different ways of dealing with them. John Lennon conveyed it well - that 'Whatever Gets You Through The Night', 'is all right',meaning that we must do whatever works for us to get us through our pain, and from my mother's generation a similar directive from Eduardo di filippo, Italian playwright and philosopher, who ends one of his plays with "Ha da passa' 'a nuttata," which translated is, you got to get through the nights.
For example, my Zia Mara, lost her daughter through leukemia over 30 years ago, when Ines was still in her teens. Every night from the day of her death to this day, she writes beautiful letters to Ines, telling her all that is happening in her life and in the world, she tells her how much she and everyone loves her. My aunt saves these letters and she is convinced that through these letters she is communicating with Ines. This is how my zia deals with the loss of her daughter. Is this acceptance?
Growing up I have had several friends who lost their mothers at a young age and yet all of them felt that their mothers were right there protecting them. Still, these women today, in their sixties, are missing their mothers. Yes, they have had happy lives, have succeeded in their careers and had wonderful families of their own. Yes, they all spent many many years in therapy. So, is this Acceptance?
As I have learned through my life experience, our loved ones will never be forgotten, we have a special place reserved inside of us for the special people who have touched us. Our life is still beautiful, but there will always be that empty space that no one can fill; that space reserved for that special person. This to me is Acceptance.
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