tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342929042024-03-13T07:57:10.322+01:00Abruzzo nel cuoreThe nostalgic and sentimental journal of Barbara Summa, Italian writer living in Amsterdam.Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-87266474325483163752012-03-27T09:19:00.003+02:002012-03-27T10:40:08.908+02:00Heritage trip to l' Aquila on 16 September 2012First a couple of words to those new to this blog. As you might have noticed, it has been very quiet round here the last couple of years. This is because the earthquake of L' Aquila has taken its toll of mourning from me and I concentrated on other things. Point is, I cannot use my house in Ofena, so visits to Abruzzo have become a bit ackward. But I have received so much in return: I wrote a Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-79078578450015088142010-06-02T11:37:00.004+02:002010-06-02T11:44:24.415+02:00Spring is in the airJust a few images of spring: above a stazzo, this is to say a stone wall to keep the sheep inside at night blossoming in full glory. Wild flowers at Campo Imperatore.back side at Castelnuovo last June.The future frogs nursery.Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-78059714912805525962010-04-06T16:23:00.002+02:002010-04-06T16:27:53.728+02:00It is one year todayFrom the day the earthquake destroyed the city of L'Aquila and the daily lives of my friends.A prayer for those who left us, a wish of getting back in track to the surviving.A curse to those who made a mess out of the aftermath just to get richer. To those who sold lies. To their accomplices. There is a human justice for this, it took long to get proof of their crimes, but it will all get out. Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-50348354723351521472009-12-02T09:07:00.005+01:002009-12-02T09:46:08.901+01:00All you can do yourself with (raw) milkThis is my home made cheese. Looks a lot like those made in abruzzo by handy housewives with a farming background, but it is absolutely different. It is no ricotta, as it may seem, but labna. Tastes lots like a stracchino made from yogurth. The following recipies are as strange to Abruzzo as you can imagine, but it is my village youth in Ofena and Tortoreto, I believe, to get me the feeling for Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-79632913103335158282009-06-26T22:36:00.002+02:002009-06-26T22:40:42.470+02:00Folk-music festival and workshops in Civitella AlfedenaIf you are around Abruzzo in August, don't miss the Folk Festival at Civitella Alfedena (AQ), organised by Associazione Mantice LatinaI have no time to translate it completely but I trust you can follow quite well the artist's names and the dates. For info on the workshops you can contact the addrees at the bottom. PerformancesDomenica 23 Agosto ore 21,30 Abies alba - Musiche e canti dal Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-91074227561265553822009-04-27T18:47:00.003+02:002009-04-27T19:02:44.517+02:00News from the Charity for Abruzzo in AmsterdamLast Thursday, 23rd April, we held in Amsterdam a charity evening for the victims of the earthquake in Abruzzo. The University of Amsterdam (UvA) participated in this event in order to collect funds to help the academic life in L'Aquila to start again.We could use their beautiful Aula Magna, located in the Old Lutheran Church in the centre of Amsterdam, and the president of the University, dr. Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-59340906403854807062009-04-22T22:18:00.002+02:002009-04-22T22:22:46.936+02:00the 49 towns eligible for special earthquake supportProvincia dell'Aquila: Acciano, Barete, Barisciano, Castel del Monte, Campotosto, Capestrano, Caporciano, Carapelle Calvisio, Castel di Ieri, Castelvecchio Calvisio, Castelvecchio Subequeo, Cocullo, Collarmele, Fagnano Alto, Fossa, Gagliano Aterno, Goriano Sicoli, L'Aquila, Lucoli, Navelli, Ocre, Ofena, Ovindoli, Pizzoli, Poggio Picenze, Prata D'Ansidonia, Rocca di Cambio, Rocca di Mezzo, San Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-60561222832275833112009-04-17T08:49:00.004+02:002009-04-17T09:06:21.926+02:00Quake sisterhoodI was reading the online papers this morning. First baby to be christened after the earthquake today in one of the camps around L'Aquila. One to come to light any moment. All good news, because children and new life can give a perspective of future even in the darkest moments.Insurance companies are sending inspectors and detectives to collect cement samples and information on the collapsed Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-73708262907095703032009-04-16T08:30:00.003+02:002009-04-16T08:36:43.231+02:00Pictures from OfenaI will start, now and the coming days, to publish a few pictures of Ofena and Abruzzo in general, made by Antonio Di Maggio a couple of years ago for a guide of the region with recipes and local stories I am working at.Antonio is one of the best photographers I know and he is particularly gifted with portraits. This time it's mostly landscapes, but you will notice his eyes for the details and hisMammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-70042302034222310992009-04-10T08:08:00.000+02:002009-04-10T08:17:18.209+02:00Here a picture made in L'Aquila by Marianna Sansone, who now is in Pescara and does all she can to help the escaped friends from L'Aquila who lost everything.I recognize this urge of doing things, now. I feel exactly the same. Doing, just to avoid any too negative, alas realistic, thinking. But it's not about that.What I invite you o consider is how new houses may be damaged. Modern building Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-9611125519634070142009-04-09T21:29:00.000+02:002009-04-09T21:30:45.253+02:00Tomorrow the funerals in L'Aquila. All the dead have been brought at the caserma della guardia di Finanza. May their souls rest in peace.Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-31927103337292104092009-04-09T19:15:00.000+02:002009-04-09T19:16:47.796+02:00God bless corporate communication! TNT is taking initatives to help the victims of the earthquake, and since I commend any initiative in this sense, I am publishing this:Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-21770916664589853182009-04-09T09:29:00.000+02:002009-04-09T09:43:07.184+02:00Here is a picture of zia Vittoria my cousin Dan Emanuele send me. It is so very much her, with the typical Silvestroni features (yes, that's where my nose comes from). And typical her in her terrace, bursting of pots, plants and flowers (remember the picture of her house in the previous post? In the broken down part you see her big agaves's).Today I decided to get into some healthy action. All Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-42066813434969145582009-04-08T15:38:00.000+02:002009-04-08T15:39:29.675+02:00A provisional list of the victims of the earthquake si to be found here: http://ilcentro.gelocal.it/dettaglio/articolo/1615339Except from my auntie Vittoria Silvestrone, no other known names. But I read it very fast.Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-71450420290880150632009-04-08T10:30:00.000+02:002009-04-08T11:05:44.506+02:00The earthquake in Abruzzo has kept all of us busy the last three days. But I knew from my friends in L'Aquila that already for a couple of months they felt weekly some small shocks. Point is, nobody ever talked about this. In Italy people are discovering only now how bad the situation is.You get an idea from the picture above, it is the helft of the house of my aunt Vittoria. She slept in the Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-25639557175550722232009-02-14T21:26:00.000+01:002009-02-14T22:20:01.562+01:00You always wanted to learn how to cook yourself a real italian meal Dont'cry, it is much easier than you think. No matter how many different recipes go under the label "true Italian cuisine", there is a basic philosophy all Italians follow when cooking.It is calling something Italian that causes the main problem. You should know that in Italy only there are at least 22 recognised Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-5088777770694682122009-02-12T21:49:00.000+01:002009-02-12T21:51:06.007+01:00Tomorrow I am living. I am going to introduce my children to Italian Carnival, to have them experience an Italian school (hoping it will be good for their language skills) and, of course, report on everything.So, stay connected.Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-21294258666772426042009-01-28T12:09:00.000+01:002009-01-28T12:16:02.044+01:00 Italian vinaigrette might be the title of this picture. Finally Silvia send me the pictures of the Olive-oil tasting we held for a bunch of Dutch heiresses last June. The ladies were delighted, the sun shone in an almost Italian way and we had lots of fun.Here the most simple and delicious of dressings: your best olive-oil from Southern Italy, which is the oil from Ofena as far as I am concernedMammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-52169467390466133012009-01-22T13:59:00.000+01:002009-01-23T14:56:19.318+01:00Yes, my cooking courses in Abruzzo start again coming summer. The last one was in 2006, and now the house in Ofena is renovated and the kids are old enough to entertain themselves (i.e.: they don't need constant supervision anymore) I can start again. Next to it, since I am officially a sommelier at AIS (Italia sommeliers society) I can integrate this competences in the cooking courses I give.ButMammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-23142712751597376652008-11-19T09:40:00.000+01:002008-11-19T09:43:38.518+01:00Looking for a restaurant? Try this one: L’Angolo d’Abruzzo, in Carsoli, 0863.997429.Chef Valerio Centofanti is concurring in San Sebastian (Spain) as lo Mejor de la gastronomia, an international award for recipes using oil as a main ingredient, not as a dressing. And send us your feedback, if you happen to eat there.Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-67946943722917428162008-09-03T11:09:00.000+02:002008-09-03T11:32:27.162+02:00I love maritozzi. And this summer, because I went to Pescara, I managed to go back in the temple of maritozzi con la panna, sweet bread-rolls with raisins, filled with whipped cream. And I am talking here of Cremeria Bresciana.If you have half-an-hour to spare, walk from central station to the sea, and just before piazza Salotto, take the last alley right, turn right again so that you end up on Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-13189448163799141612008-08-01T15:18:00.000+02:002008-12-10T20:31:38.274+01:00Dance on the beach! One of the misteres of life is: why Italians like so much group-dances? Just these formal, boring, social-control freaks, can get all loose and shake their bellies in swimmers en plein air on the beach, without a thought on what people may think of them.In the picture you see the regular program of dances on the beach at our favourite hotel. Kids love it, grandma's too (you Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-81511685332963194982008-07-31T08:18:00.000+02:002008-12-10T20:31:38.675+01:00You love Italian design? Here something new from Abruzzo. Creakit is a brand new company founded by two architects and their first product are these lovely baby-shoes everybody (even I) can make by itself with the kit they sell. Roberta is a passionate DIY creature, and at a certain point her husband suggested she put her professional experience into creating a DIY-kit for the shoes she made for Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-44617649860271619292008-06-26T16:02:00.000+02:002008-12-10T20:31:38.782+01:00Water has many faces. So you will find everywhere the so called mascheroni di fontana, fountains in the shape of a face.Sometimes you don't even need to bother to build such a mask. You just need to look carefully.Credits picture: Antonio Di MaggioMammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34292904.post-54948069097134121752008-06-26T12:03:00.000+02:002008-12-10T20:31:40.380+01:00Iconicelle (which means as much as small, lovely icons) are en expression of simple popular faith. You see them all over the place in old Italian towns, and sometimes I wonder if there are also modern versions of it. They are holy images and symbols placed in all places visited by many people: usually at crossroads, under arches. The idea used to be that people, on their way to work, could say a Mammamsterdamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03081264728752700578noreply@blogger.com0