What I brought back from Italy: food & recipes, photos, memories and more
| August 5, 2011 | Posted by ameliaps under Italia, Italian, italy, summer, travel |
“All the pathos and irony of leaving one’s youth behind is thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveler learns not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time.” ~Paul Fussell
You might have noticed that I have been missing in action for the last few weeks…I was in Italy, enjoying some time with my family. I live 5,000 miles away from them, in the U.S., so this once-a-year return-to-homeland is very important to re-member, re-charge, re-connect, and de-compress. My children get to immerse themselves in the Italian culture, language, food, traditions, places, and lifestyle. And I get to re-live my childhood vicariously through them. Magical. But then it’s so incredibly sad to leave, as many of you that have moved throughout their lives have experienced. Once you leave your original birthplace to live elsewhere, you are always a nomad, a traveler, a migrant, a de-rooted tree that belongs everywhere and nowhere. There is sweet and sour to that. There is loss and there is wonder. There is freedom and there is growth. There is independence and there is detachment. There is longing and there is strengthening. There is nostalgia and there is “being-present-ness”. There is a mysterious feeling of belonging to the Universe, rather than to one small place on Earth. You end appreciating every place you live in or have lived in with much more depth and gusto. For that conscious awareness I am grateful.
So, from my trip, I brought back lovely memories, savored moments and heightened taste buds, plus plenty of notes for stories, flash cards full of photographs, scratched-on-paper recipes, mental imagery, new and old flavors that I want to share with you (just not all at once!). I also brought back sun-dried sour-cherries, salt-packed capers, Sicilian tuna in e.v.o.o., bottarga, a braid of garlic, Parmigiano Reggiano, and vino…but, sorry, that’s not for sharing (LOL).
Here below is the first of many other posts. It is a visual diary to give you the flavor of my voyages. The places I visited while in Italy on this trip include: Rome, Sorrento, Naples, Pompeii, and Apulia (the heel of Italy – which I will narrate in one of the next posts: scenery, history and food). Forgive me if I don’t write a pamphlet about it: I promise I will catch up and share more later.
On a separate note, while I was gone there were also some fun blog happenings:
- I won a trip to Italy (Si! Si! Si! I know, crazy cool!) as the Grand Prize winner of the or the Barilla and Foodbuzz Recipe Contest. So thrilled that they addressed me as “the Ultimate Italian Foodies”. See my winning post here.
- I was aired on Atlanta’s channel 11 making a spicy tomato-red-onion jam: (RECIPE on my blog here).
- Tori Ritchie featured my chocolate-cherry crostata on her wonderful website, Tuesday Recipe (http://www.tuesdayrecipe.com/)
- My article “Il caffé” was featured on the well edited and super followed “Food News Journal” on June 24
- My piece “Le mie estati (my childhood summers, in Italy)” was featured on SippitySup’s blog for the series “savoring summer”
- My husband and I were interviewed over at GastronomicDuo
- I reached 1,200 followers on twitter: thank you tweeps: I <3 you!
And now a few pictures to make you travel virtually to Italy with me:
To see my recount of Rome, read this post.
Sorrento:
The cloister in Sorrento where I got married years ago (San Francesco):
My cousin’s fun wedding in Naples:
The Amalfi Coast, Capri and Positano:
Pompeii:
Apulia / Puglia:
And a taste of the foods:
Food artisans:
At the fishmarket:
ARRIVEDERCI Italia, until next time…
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So much has happened - wonderful! These photos make me so ready to jump on a plane and hop over to Italy. So glad that you had a chance to reenergize.
Belinda I do re-energize and re-charge my batteries when I got back, and get so inspired. It lasts a winter, until the next summer!
Such exciting news…felicitá!
Wonderful photos. I looking forward to your elaborations.
Joan: the pressure is on for more “elaborations”…
I was a bit worried not seeing you post! But I’m so glad to hear that you were soaking in all the wonders of your native country- from your photos I can see it was time well spent!
From one nomad to another, welcome back to your home away from home, or vice versa?!
-Nicole
Nicole: you are sweet to think of me. We are kindred nomad spirits indeed… “Home” is all relative.
Si! Si! S1! You ARE the 800 pound gorilla in the Barilla room – congratulations!! Amelia, the photos are sublime. Thank you for this little taste of Italia (i’m almost there)- your soul is spilling out all over the place
Donna: LOL. It’s wonderful when the soul comes through: I loved that you said that.
Gorgeous! And “a de-rooted tree”, yes, I think I understand that feeling, the bad and good.
Denise: it’s an image I can’t get out of my head. Fortunately there are good soils and water in many lands around the world and we are very adaptable beings.
Ok… ora mi manca l’Italia… e’ ufficiale! Hai scritto esattemente quello che sento anch’io. Io non torno a “casa” da oltre 3 anni ormai (per via delle bimbe) ed e’ un po’ che comincio a sentire la necessita’ di un bel viaggetto. Bellissime foto Amelia! <3
Manu: porta anche le bimbe la prossima volta che vai… se puoi. I miei bimbi sono innamorati dell’Italia e mi chiedono sempre: quando possiamo andare a vivere li’?
Outstanding! Lovely. Makes me want to go right now!
It looks like it was a lovely trip. Can’t believe you’re going to be going back so soon!!
Lucky you!
Such a pretty spread for a gloomy rainy Monday morning here.
Thank you!
David: I know: I am so thrilled that I will get to see my family and home soon (don’t know the details yet…so curious!). Glad I brought some sunshine to your rainy Monday!
What a dream…
I will happily sit down with over some chocolate cherry crostada and coffee when I am ready to plan my trip Italy. Your photos are absolutely gorgeous, and you know all of the places I would want to go!
Congrats on all of your accomplishments~
Amelia,
I think it’s fair to say I feel like I just got to take a mini trip to Italy with you. Congratulations on all the milestones and prizes these past few weeks. You deserve all of it! Congratulations and thank you so much for filling up my senses with the beauty of Italy!
I can’t wait to go back!
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