some mornings

No more rushing to school, finally.

The morning light-ness!

We are going to Italy and we will be back in September,

The shop will be closed until my return.

Have a great time you all.

Arrivederci.

pizzette

We made pizzette fritte (fried pizzas) today, we all like them very much.

They are quite easy to make, you just need pizza dough, sunflower oil

to fry, a quick tomato sauce, basil (optional), Parmesan.

For the pizza dough go here.

For the tomato sauce you need:

1 tin of peeled plum tomatoes (passata no, no, no, never!)

2 garlic cloves crushed

olive oil or even better extra virgin olive oil.

a frying pan (small)

a tiny amount of sugar (we say "pizzico" in italian)

salt 

Put the olive oil in the pan with the garlic and the tomatoes, add sugar (it takes the acidity away) and salt
(please, please, please no black pepper, I know here is so much loved but if you want the real thing don't do it ;) )

Cover with a lid and cook at high heat for 5-10 min. using a sieve (the italian passaverdura if you have it, which is this) or you can simply crush the tomatoes with a fork and put it back to cook for a couple of more minutes to take the water out.

To make the pizzette:

divide the dough in little balls (roughly like a ping pong ball)  and then flat them with your hand, but not too much! you don't want to take out the air that will make them airy and lovely.

Put a reasonable amount of oil on a medium (or large) frying pan. Make sure the oil is hot 

then fry the dough few batches at a time, when they start to have a gold colour turn them and fry them on the other side.

Put them in a plate with some paper to absorb the oil. Fry them all.

Then put them in the serving plate, add one spoon of tomato sauce on top, grated parmesan and basil leaves to decorate. 

Pizzette fritte are best when still warm...enjoy.

And then of course you need a siesta!

PS: I know I sound  a bit patronising but that is what make the difference, the passata you buy 

in supermarkets is rarely good and the pepper...well let's put it this way, why you want to add more seasoning to an already savoury dish?).

40+2

Today I went into retreat in my favourite place in town: the local bookshop.

Three floors of great books, the smell of wood and paper, 
nice staff who offer you coffee
or tea while you are browsing through the shelves.

Then you can sit down and get lost in your readings.

And I bought this book which made me laugh so much!

The perfect way to celebrate my birthday in peace.

Then of course I made a cake with Anita and she gave me lots of extra cuddles.

I like it like this.
Honestly, I'm not so keen on becoming one year older each year,
can we celebrate after every two years instead?

;^)

sushi

A Japanese friend came over and brought all her equipment to make sushi, 
miso soup and a japanese style salad.

She showed me all the "tricks" to make sushi rolls and a proper miso soup,
which before this tutorial I used to make it with instant miso bags.

Arigatou Chihoco san

seaside

We went to the seaside, in Norfolk.

The English seaside is so different from what I'm used to

but I like it, it's kind of nostalgic and the sky is always amazing.
Hope you had a nice weekend and if it's too hot just follow her example .
:^)

meltdown

My computer had a meltdown yesterday,

Thank goodness to back ups I haven't lost anything. 

Now it is half fixed but I can only use Internet.

Tiding up to get ready for the holidays,

we will go to Italy: sea, sun and lots of ice cream.

The gooseberry semifreddo was delicious.

I do, I undo, I redo

Gooseberries to make this semifreddo.

Crocheting a top for a summer dress for Anita.
"I do and then undo and then redo", this is the third time,

but I think I got it right now, hopefully.

The linen cloth for the dress is a top that I can't 

wear anymore (it shrunk, after an accidental 

wash at 60 degrees).

More recycling ideas here.

A hat we bought in a car boot sale

Homes where some of the clouds cushions went:

here and here

Happy week end to you all.

purple

Knitting a purple shawl (for my mother-in-law).

Cherries from the market.

Purple japanese masking tape.

A 1 pence stamp I found in this suitcase.

A book.

A song and it's not purple rain 
:^)