Italy as seen from the Women’s Perspective

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Lenora

Pizza Snack in Monterosso, Italy

The women who adventure with me to ITALY are THE BEST. Here are three happy women living the ‘sweet life’, la dolce vita (Cindy, Mary Ellen, Mary G.) enjoying pizza before we hop on the train to Vernazza to shop.

“Traveling to Italy has been on my bucket list for a long time. So happy I went with Lenora who is a compassionate guide and took into consideration our needs. I felt so taken care of. I also pushed my boundaries a little and faced my challenge of fear of heights by walking on some of the trails in the Cinque Terre. Besides experiencing the magic of Italy, I loved learning more about manifesting my dreams, and breaking free of old patterns on this retreat. I loved the deep sharing and closeness created with women also. I highly recommend that you join Lenora and live more of la dolce vita.”
~~Mary Ellen

Janey & Cindy’s first gelato in Italy

Janey, (left) from our 2012 adventure, writes a blog about her adventures during our Retreat on her blog. jmac12.blogspot.com. Check it out! Cindy (on right) shares her experiences and delights in Italy on the Retreat in this short video posted in my blog post from December 2012.

“I loved this trip and have to say it was the best decision I’ve ever made!! Loads of fun. Great preparation by Lenora. So.Much.Fun!!!! and I made the best new friends EVER!
Trip of a lifetime…” ~~Janey

Enjoying the view of Lake Como in 2011. Mary C, Lenora, Betty

We just wanted to have fun and be creative in our picture poses! Girls just wanna have fun.

“I have wanted to join Lenora on her retreats since she began them in 2009, and I kept procrastinating. Now that I have finally experienced the Retreat in 2011, all I can say, is “Go now to Italy with Lenora. Do not put it off! You will never regret this decision. I carry Italy and all the fun in my heart every day.” –Betty

“I love discovering the culture, enjoying the pace, generosity, richness. The entire atmosphere of Italy is thick with culture and history. I feel it in the ground when I’m walking, and in the beautiful buildings. It’a also great to have biking integrated into the trip in Lucca as we bicycle on top of the Renaissance wall. Join Lenora. It was wonderful. Experiencing another culture with other women actually enriched and expanded my own experience. Discovering the culture, the food, the history. I really liked the camaraderie even though I didn’t know before I registered how it would be to travel with a group.” ~~Jerrie

On our rooftop class room overlooking the ocean in Monterosso, Italy

Enjoy a sweet sidewalk cafe

Sharing food and drink has always been a time to tell stories, laugh away your troubles and bond. In Italy it is a time-tested tradition.

As if Italy in itself isn’t enough to transform a woman’s belief in what’s possible, the sweet life practices you will learn and adopt make it even more profound.

Like a fine, delicious Italian meal served over a long evening spent sharing stories and enjoying each other’s company, I serve my workshop on dissolving limiting beliefs to live the sweet life in small, artfully prepared, portions throughout our trip.

Another scrumptious meal in the Cinque Terre

Refresh in the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean

Mater Natura (Mother Nature) scupture in Portovenere with Marie and Joanne

Beautiful sculpture of Mother Nature looking out at sea watching for the fishermen to return. Marie and Joanne joined her watch.

ITALY: Do you enjoy beauty, art, architecture, food, nature, mountains, ocean, shopping, wine, beauty, food again!? Then you will LOVE ITALY.

What’s holding you back from traveling to Italy?! Let me know.

Pita Piata, Pit’Impiglianta, Italian dessert

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Lenora

As I prepare to teach at my 3rd annual Italy Retreat in Cinque Terre, (2011) (I do hope you consider joining me next year), I visited my Italian American family back east, where I learned to make pita piata. I think the actual name is Pit’Impiglianta, a Christmas cake, made with nuts and raisins. However, it doesn’t look like a cake at all.

Even though I grew up eating this unique dessert, I had never made it. My mom and other women at her church make hundreds during the holiday season, and sell them. They are time consuming to make, but well worth the effort. You can see me making them on this YouTube video. My mom, Josephine, and her two sisters, Mary Jane and Angelina, were guiding me along the way.

I’m pretty sure this is a traditional dessert made in San Giovanni in Fiore in Calabria, Italy. I have not even seen it sold in other towns in Calabria. If you’ve seen it elsewhere, I would love to know.

Buon Appetito!

Recipe Pita Piata(Pit’Impiglianta) traditional Christmas cake from San Giovanni in Fiore, region of Calabria, Italy.

Needed:

Pasta machine

Pastry roller, yard stick, ruler

DOUGH:

5 lbs. flour, all purpose

3 eggs

2 C sugar

2 oz. yeast or 3 dry packets

3 C white or red wine

Whiskey (a jigger)

¾ C Crisco, butter, or oleo

1 stick oleo, butter or oleo

Salt, pinch

Put Crisco, oleo, and wine in pot and heat until melted. Set aside and cool, then add whiskey.

In a separate bowl, dissolve yeast in 1 ½ C warm water. Add 1 TBL sugar to the yeast mixture.

Whisk the eggs. Then add sugar to eggs. Add buttery mix to this. Pour yeast mix into the buttery mix.

Add flour to this.Mix dough and knead until smooth and elastic on lightly floured surface. Dough should not be sticky. Let sit about 5 minutes to rest.

FILLING:
4 ½ lbs raisins. Soak raisins a few minutes and drain well.

1 orange cut and put in processor, rind and all, until crushed fine. (Or zest orange peel, and chop orange and squeeze juice)

3 lbs walnuts (chopped coarse, not fine)

1 ¾ C sugar

1 Tbl cinnamon

½ C. honey

1 ½ C orange orange juice

Mix all ingredients to marinate for two hours or overnight for the filling.

Vegetable oil in small bowl, and sugar shaker needed as you roll the pitas.

TO MIX:

Weigh dough 7 ¼ oz. for each pita piata. Pat into ball and then use a rolling pin slightly before using pasta machine. Make oblong pieces of dough so they are uniform to fit through the pasta machine. Start machine on #1, then 2,3,4 as you run the dough through pasta machine.Measure dough 27” by 3”.Use curly edged pastry cutter to cut edges. Yard stick to measure the 27”. (Or cut the dough in half to more easily use pasta machine.Then each piece will measure 13 ½”.You would join the two pieces together after they were filled.)

Brush vegetable oil along the strip of dough. (Have small bowl with oil and brush)

Sprinkle sugar generously on strip.(Extra sugar to shake or sprinkle)

Use 1 Cup filling along dough toward top edge of strip.

Fold dough over the filling.Press firmly to hold the filling in, but DO NOT seal edges. Start rolling at one end grabbing the dough with the one hand.Start by putting finger in and roll loosely so it will cook in center.Complete rolling like a snail in a circle (see photo), and put3-4 toothpicks on the outside to hold it together.Cook on parchment papered cookie sheets, about 45-60minutes till golden brown. Pitas should not touch the edges of the pans as they burn more easily.

325 degree oven.

Makes approx 17six inch pita piatas, rosettes.

Cool on racks, then lightly pour honey in circles over the tops of each pita.You can freeze these and they taste fresh when you take them out of the freezer.

Buon appetito!

Do you have any favorite Italian dessert recipes?

12/13/11: This is a photo that, Rosalie, one of my readers sent showing how her husband’s family makes the ‘Pita Piata’ in a pan:

A Calabrese American Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2010 by Lenora

Family Christmas!

~Christmas with my extended Calabrian Italian family in West Virginia~

For the last 29 years,my husband and our 2 kids drive 12 hours each way to join my parents, aunts, uncles, cousins of all ages, to eat the seven fishes dinner on Christmas Eve. Of course, there will always be spaghetti, vegetables, salad. This year there were 40 of us. Then, we sing Christmas carols before we disperse to our cars to our individuals childhood homes to open presents and then attend Midnight Mass with full stomachs, heavy eyelids, and even fuller hearts.

Family is all important to Italians.

For the large Christmas Eve lunch (il pranzo), Aunt Angie makes clam chowder, we have shrimp, baccala, smelt, sardines and whiting. Aunt Mary Jane, Aunt Angie, and my mom, Josephine, and two of their brothers work hard for hours preparing. Cousins arrive and pitch in.

Desserts include: pannetone, pita m’pigliata (we say pita piata) which is a traditional dolce from San Giovanni in Fiore, my paternal grandparents’ home (and where I am a new citizen).

My daughter covered our feast on her food blog here, as well.

My four grandparents immigrated to the US when they were all teenagers, then they met here in the US and married. They each had eight children—two of which are my parents.I have 34 first cousins.We may have Americanized some of the traditions, but they pretty much continued with the customs of the homeland when they arrived in America.Relatives who stayed behind in Italy would often send food items from the homeland.

There are usually over 40 relatives celebrating together:

Uncle Frank wears my grandmother’s flowered half apron while frying the fish in the attached garage-turned-family room, the second kitchen.

Cherrye over at MyBellaVita blog in Calabria, Italy shares with us her personal experience of a Calabrian Christmas tradition – and there are so many things to love about Calabria.

Cosimo was my maternal grandfather, born in Caulonia Italy, Calabria. He was 17 when he voyaged alone on the ship to Ellis Island, never to return to Italy until he was 84 years old, (67 years later).

Around four million southern Italians immigrated to the US between 1900-1920 during a time when they were starving.It is a sad mark on Italy, losing so many families.They worked hard in America, many bought land, homes, education, and most of all raised their families.

I hope, wherever you are, you experience the peace and love of the season with friends and family.

Buon natale!

What traditions do you enjoy?