THE WEDDING PEOPLE

THE WEDDING PEOPLE

Sep 28, 2025 | BOOKS

The wedding people, published by Bollati Boringhieri, is another book I read thanks to Monica.

The author is Alison Espach, who is also a Vogue writer.

The story takes place in a hotel overlooking the ocean where a wedding lasting several days has been organised. During this time, the protagonist finds herself interacting with the bride and, consequently, with the diverse group of guests: people who are very different from each other but forced together for the event.

Would you like to attend a wedding that lasts several days?

Do you like weddings?

How long would you like your ideal wedding to last?

The story told in the book emphasises how even the most meticulous planning can always involve a degree of variability.

How do you deal with unpredictability?

Do you hate it when things don’t go as you expected, or do you love the surprises that fate throws at you?

And how can there be magic in a bad moment?

First of all, it’s an extremely positive point of view.

You would tend to think:

1. The magic of bad moments: great! I want to find out and understand.

2. The magic of bad moments: absurd, it’s nonsense.

On page 122, coffee is mentioned with particular reference to the so-called coffee distributors but above all to black coffee.

La magia dei momenti no

‘Do you take your coffee black?’ Lila picks up the phone.

‘Milk and sugar,’ replies Phoebe.

“Thank God. People who drink black coffee are so pretentious, you know? Like Marla this morning: ‘Oh no, no, I don’t put anything in my coffee. I like it black, thank you. Well, excuse me, but I happen to be a human being and I appreciate sugar.”

Are you more like Marla or Lila?

Are you a human being and do you appreciate sugar?

And if you like black coffee, like me, what would you be?

Sugar aside, going back to the magic of bad moments, has there ever been a time when pain, an unpleasant episode, a nasty inconvenience, or trouble represented a turning point towards a new and unexpectedly happy phase?

COFFEE CREAM

COFFEE CREAM

Aug 31, 2024 | RECIPES, RECIPES

Fresh and tasty in summer: coffee cream.

Do you make it at home?

You can find many recipes and various tips on how to prepare coffee cream, I decided to follow Grandma Angelina‘s instructions that Monica sent me.

But as you know I am obsessed with avoiding sugar, so I personally decided not to put sugar in.

Grandma Angelina says to use icing sugar and put it in the bottle first.

Yes: Grandma Angelina’s coffee cream is made in the bottle and the only energy you need is your arms, so in the end you eat it with well-deserved satisfaction.

Here is what I used

  • cream
  • cold coffee 
  • cocoa powder

Crema di caffè

Crema di caffè

I put first the cream and then the coffee into a plastic bottle.

Crema di caffèCrema di caffè

After closing the cap, all I did was shake the bottle for a few minutes until the desired consistency was reached.

Crema di caffè

I poured the cream into the cups and added a sprinkling of cocoa.

Crema di caffè

What do you think?

Crema di caffè

Have you ever prepared coffee cream?

The plastic bottle, including cap, is practical in this case.

How did you get on with it after the so-called ‘solidarity cap’ under the European regulation SUP or 2019 Single-Use Plastics directive became mandatory in July?

When the caps did not stick to the bottles did you behave differently?

Starting with the example of the bottle, perhaps you know of other alternative systems to the classic tools used in the kitchen, would you like to tell us about them?

MODICA CHOCOLATE

MODICA CHOCOLATE

Jul 6, 2024 | ITALY, ITALY

Modica chocolate is the exquisite gift from Valeria, whom I thank again!

I had heard a lot about it but had never tasted it, had you?

It was a total revelation at the first bite: I did not know its uniqueness.

The Modica chocolate is grainy, it has a very crumbly consistency, but at the same time the bar is compact.

You can feel the sugar very much. 

A perception made possible by the processing completely unique: cold.

I use the words of Hanns Josef Ortheil to explain better:
great is the amazement when I taste Modica chocolate because suddenly sugar crystals are on my tongue: like a whirlwind of seeds they slide across my tongue from side to side.

This astonishment is described in the book Die insel der dolci or The Island of Sweets in which the author speaks of miracles made of fruit, sugar, nuts, nourished by the aromas that only the southern sun produces.

A journey to discover sweet Sicily, from Catania via Palermo to the chocolate city of Modica, always on the trail of mysterious delicacies, together with his daughter: Lotta Ortheil, photographer, to represent the magic of the Island of Fragrances and Sweets.

And I don’t know if you have had a chance to see another magic of nature these days, as astounding as it is frightening: volcano Etna  in activity.

Back to taste explosions, which are undoubtedly less dangerous, I would like to conclude by adding that Modica’s PGI product  contains antioxidant and anticoagulant properties, but above all, as with all types of chocolate, stimulates the production of endorphins.

And endorphins induce euphoria and therefore a good mood, something we all need, do we?

SPOONS

SPOONS

May 27, 2023 | WHO CARES

The magical world of spoons was the title of the exhibition in Vigevano that I missed.

I was able to retrieve the images here but I would like to chat about spoons with you.

First of all, I admit that I have stopped using spoons since I do not put sugar in my coffee, although in doing so I violate the rules of bon ton that requires that the spoon is always served.

Not only that: I’m also wrong because I don’t follow the advice of experts who say that espresso should be stirred anyway.

Do you use a spoon?

Do you have a favorite spoon?

There are some really fancy spoons actually, here for example the New Wave by Villeroy & Boch

or the Alessi set, again we are outside of the Etiquette though, which requires that the spoons be equal to each other

 

And had you ever seen Lavazza’s ESpoon?

 

There is even a “cream-saving” spoon.

Then if the cream is matched with this choc… spoon, isn’t the result sublime?

 

What spoon do you use?

Among the spoons we have I prefer the white and yellow checked ones, which are not elegant, but are very nice.

Would you believe it if I told you that I managed to lose two of them?

Who loses them, who drops them … Salvador Dalì made the spoons symbol of his research on the oneiric.

Have you ever woken up during a dream and felt the desire to memorize the images in your head the instant they vanished?

Salvador Dalì used to fall asleep after lunch in his armchair with a spoon in his hand, knowing that when his sleep was deep, his fingers would drop the spoon, and expecting that the thud of the spoon would wake him abruptly allowing him to remember.

Undoubtedly he gave us dream works, if you will allow me this pun.

 

Incidentally, spoons are also a symbol of good luck: the tradition of giving silver spoons to new babies still continues.

This custom comes from the Middle Ages: when newborns of noble families received a silver spoon as a gift as proof of wealth from birth.

Born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth.

What did yours look like?

I didn’t get any silver spoons, but I consider myself equally lucky, and I can always fill my empty spoon with a nice dose of Nutella, can’t I?  🙂

Have a good coffee then, perhaps inspired by Liz’s elegance to stir it, what do you say?

 


LIVING THE SWEET LIFE

LIVING THE SWEET LIFE

Jan 3, 2022 | WHO CARES

Living the sweet life these are words that came to my mind when I discovered this incredible find.

Honestly, I didn’t really believe it right away, but in fact it was really communicated by an official source.

Galina Georgievna Fiódorova, an artist-restorer of the Hermitage Museum from St. Petersburg, while she was working on a dress of the Grand Duchess Ksenia Aleksandrovna Romanova Ксения Александровна Рома, noticed that one of the sleeves had been sewn for some reason, but the stitch was light enough, so she decided to remove the thread.

At that point something pink fell on her hand, it looked like a pebble.

Many have talked about chocolate.

A chocolate no less than 118 years old!

It is true that I have always maintained that chocolate cannot expire … laughing but here we would be over !!

Actually I would say that it is more of a candy.

Sugar.

The ubiquitous sugar.

Also long-lived …

The funny thing is that Ksenia took a bite and then, not knowing how to get rid of it, is supposed to have hidden the candy up her sleeve.

But there is something even more absurd: Galina declared that she had the instinct to… taste it !!

Here’s how she realized the sweet taste.

Some ancient instincts have probably been triggered …

Infants actually study what happens in their hands by bringing it to their mouths, but honestly I would never have the instinct to “taste” an unidentified object.

What about you?

I know, it’s incredible, yet here you can find the video published on the official profile of the museum.

Galina and Nina Ivanovna Tarasova, curator of the costume fund of the Department of History of Russian Culture, talk about the restoration of the dress created for the famous 1903 costume ball and explain the unexpected discovery.

One of the sleeves was sewn for some reason, but the stitch was light enough and the restorer decided to remove the thread …

I know it’s a who cares news of the most extreme kind, but because of its absurdity I thought it should be told, above all to understand, have you ever hiding food in an unusual way? I know a slice of salami in my pocket, a sandwich in the leg …

And what could you have up your sleeve?

Better the classic “aces” perhaps, or not?

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