“(Not too) Desperate Housewives”

For eight cutesy seasons (2004-2012), Desperate Housewives kept anxious housewives (and meddlesome husbands) on the screen, becoming a first-time media event that acclaimed illustrious fans such as ex-first lady Laura Bush. A series sui generis, difficult to categorize (halfway between soap-opera, comedy noir and thriller)

Through The Mirror

Apple strudel with phyllo dough

(the recipe is from my dear friend Anna)

Ingredients for 6 servings:

-5 medium sized green Granny Smith apples
– the juice of 1/2 lemon
-150g of granulated sugar
-1 teaspoon of cinnamon
-1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar
-1 tablespoon of flour
-20g of melted butter
-80g of raisins or sultanas
-3-4 sheets of phyllo dough
-1 beaten egg with 3 tablespoons of milk
– icing sugar to taste for dusting

Method:

First, we heat the oven to 220 ° and we grease or line a rectangular cookie sheet with parchment paper.

We peel the apples and cut them into 4 large wedges, remove the core and then cut into very thin wedges. in a dish and sprinkle them with lemon juice.

We mix the granulated sugar, cinnamon, vanilla sugar and flour and pour the mixture into the plate of apples. We mix well to…

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“Grazia, Graziella and … «In search of the lost soldier» “

Therefore, we got there after an hour of travel between buses, metro and other buses, we found ourselves in front of a heap of boys in uniform of all origins and ages, who obviously looked at us as if they had just seen a ghost in a dark and stormy night because usually women never entered there. But we did not know that.

Through The Mirror

I have already told you that I have found one of the notebooks-diaries of the adventures of three high school girls who for privacy reasons and for any complaints we will call Grazia, Graziella and okay, the third one is me, of course …

There are plenty of stories to tell, but for shame reasons and because some are probably not yet fall into statute of limitations, I haven’t written about them yet.

Today, however, I walked past the Cecchignola[1], and suddenly I remembered of another crazy feat of the trio of old friends, which made me smile all afternoon.

The three girls at the time of the fact were about sixteen years old, the innocence and malice of that time is now just a memory, in any case, it was an afternoon like many others, we were downtown,  sitting on the Spanish steps, in Rome,  when…

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“Pirožki, Jail and Freedom”

This is exactly what the TV series I want to recommend to everyone is about: ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, by Piper Chapman, played by Taylor Schilling (“Mercy”, “Argo”) a Waspy (white, blonde, upper middle class) 34 years old, who lives her very banal life in New York; she lives with a losing but sweet boyfriend, and leads a quiet and normal life.

Through The Mirror

“If you have pirožki in your bag, it means you are not alone. Someone loves you. “

Red’s Pirožki
(the recipe is taken from an Expo 2015 recipe book)

Ingredients for the dough (dose for about 50 pirozki)

-1 kg of flour
-250 ml of semi-skimmed milk
-35 gr of yeast
-2 eggs
-150 grams of sugar
-1 sales teaspoon
-200 gr of butter

Method

We heat the milk over low heat, stirring constantly until it reaches a very high temperature. We add a little sugar and mix it with the flour and salt.
We combine the yeast, then the eggs and finally the milk. We mix well with a whisk or by hand, until the dough separates from the walls of the bowl. Cover with a cotton cloth and let it rise in a warm place for about sixty minutes.
When the dough has risen, add the melted butter…

View original post 1.437 altre parole

“A Melancholy Kite”

The French writer Victor Hugo wrote of melancholy which is “the joy of feeling sad”. It could be defined as the desire, at the bottom of the soul, for something that one has never had, but which one agonizingly misses.

Through The Mirror

The French writer Victor Hugo wrote of melancholy which is “the joy of feeling sad”. It could be defined as the desire, at the bottom of the soul, for something that one has never had, but which one agonizingly misses.

“She said, ‘I’m so afraid.’ And I said, ‘why?,’ and she said, ‘Because I’m so profoundly happy, Dr. Rasul. Happiness like this is frightening.’ I asked her why and she said, ‘They only let you be this happy if they’re preparing to take something from you.”[1]

There was an Autumn in which I didn’t feel very well, I didn’t have time to recover from one flu that I was having another.

It happens to everyone sooner or later in life, it’s nothing to worry about. It becomes, however, if it is the Autumn of the last year of high school, in which all the professors rage and terrify you…

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“A Long Summer with « My Brilliant Friend» “

Summer is still far away, although the first days of intense heat are coming – even if go together with three or four days of rain and cold. – But, by booking now, perhaps, a trip to the Sorrento’s coast will not cost you a fortune.

There is something magical in the scent of lemons at sunset.

Through The Mirror

Have you ever been to Sorrento in July? with the scent of lemon that spreads everywhere, it mixes with the sea, with fish, with the fried food of street vendors, with freshly baked biscuits.

Have you ever been on one of the wonderful terraces looking at the Golfo, sipping limoncello * and enjoying mozzarella in carrozza[1] or other specialties?

No?

What are you waiting for?

Life is one and some whim must be satisfied!

Summer is still far away, although the first days of intense heat are coming – even if go together with three or four days of rain and cold. – But, by booking now, perhaps, a trip to the Sorrento’s coast will not cost you a fortune.

There is something magical in the scent of lemons at sunset.

Or maybe it’s simply the idea of a holiday, of relaxation, which I don’t see on the horizon…

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“Is it always Spring in Alabama?”

Now, beyond the fact that in this remote village are all beautiful, what has convinced us to watch the TV series is the cast and lightness of the plot, almost a sitcom. We are more and more avid about not only the characters, the love affairs (predictable!), but also careers, food *, places, and we are almost persuaded to make a trip in Alabama as soon as possible, because in all the seasons, it always seems like it’s Spring! But nobody, and I mean nobody suffers from allergies !!!! – who knows, maybe the flowers there do not wildly pollinate like here, or they have heavier antihistamines

Through The Mirror

Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake
(the recipe is from my English friend, John)

INGREDIENTS
– 2  1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1-1/2 cups plus 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar, divided
-4 medium sized medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into ½” pieces
-1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
-1 teaspoon table salt
-1 cup unsalted butter, melted
-4 large eggs, lightly beaten
-confectioners’ sugar

METHOD

Graphic by: Gioia

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan. In a small bowl, combine flour, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Let it cool slightly off heat, about 10 minutes. Whisk in 1½ cups brown sugar until smooth, then whisk in the eggs. Fold in the flour mixture until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in apples.
Spoon half of the…

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“The adventures of Grazia, Graziella and…”

December.

Month of emotional balances and concerns. Of old and new worries. Good intentions, sweets, gifts and spicy perfumes. And of cleaning. The time has come, I cannot postpone it, I am piling boxes of “I’ll put it in its place tomorrow” that soon I will be overwhelmed and become a protagonist of “buried in the house”.

Through The Mirror

December.

Month of emotional balances and concerns. Of old and new worries. Good intentions, sweets, gifts and spicy perfumes. And of cleaning. The time has come, I cannot postpone it, I am piling boxes of “I’ll put it in its place tomorrow” that soon I will be overwhelmed and become a protagonist of “buried in the house”.

With this unattractive perspective, I decided to do a good general cleaning; I was arranging a part of the bookshop – which I think I had left for a decade because I heard the protests of the mites under eviction and the whispers of not well identified objects  – when I found this kind of notebook – three-voice diary, dating back to high school days , in which my two companions (which for privacy reasons will call Grazia and Graziella[1])and I  wrote our life in turn. All our life. It…

View original post 1.220 altre parole

“Chicken Wings, Friendzone And Friends”

he only reflection that I would add to what I already said, is to use it as a remedy “against the Autumn”, the season of swings mood and climate change, the commitments that start accumulating and the first colds. Despite the twenty years after the first episode, it remains one of the most ingenious and modern serial products of the tv program. A therapy, a breath of fresh air, some laughter in these obscure times.

Through The Mirror

Tabasco chicken wings accompanied by Aioli Sauce.
(The recipe is from my friend, Anna)

Ingredients (for 4 people Aioli Sauce):
– 4 cloves garlic
– 1 tablespoon of filtered lemon juice
– Ground white pepper
– 3 Egg yolks, one of which is hard.
– Salt to taste.
– Oil

 Graphic by: Veronica

(chicken wings)
– 16 chicken wings.
– 2 cloves garlic
– 3/4 drops of tabasco
– 50 grams of grated Parmesan cheese
– 100g of breadcrumbs
– 100 ml of oil
– Salt and Pepper To Taste.

Aioli sauce Procedure:

In a mortar join the cloves of minced garlic with the salt and beat very well, we put all in a mixer by adding fresh and whisk yolks; we add the oil until it will not create a thick cream. Add a tablespoon of lemon juice and egg yolk, we have previously prepared crumbled…

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