Hello lovely friends! I am so
excited to share the photographs of our recent Italian dinner with all of you
today...
To celebrate the completion of a study on a specific country, we like to
plan a special dinner from that country, incorporating as much of the
traditional cuisine and decor as possible.
If you have been a regular reader of this blog for some time, you may
remember the French dinner we had a few years ago... What fun we had preparing and researching for
the celebration and how I loved sharing all the happenings with you! {Read In
a French Frenzy Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4)
Although I no longer join my sisters for Five-in-a-Row, I still enjoy listening and learning right along
with them and helping them in the food preparation, as it is a passion of mine. They have been busy with the book Clown of God and learning a little about
the Renaissance, Italy and much more.
This Sunday past we delighted in the delicious flavours of Italy and had
a few friends round to partake in the tasting and feasting...
Nancy and Beth, with just a little supervision from Mom, put together a
spectacular table and menu, and I had the pleasure of helping make the pasta,
ciabatta and side dishes and taking the photographs... I was also elected as chief dish-washer,
floor scrubber, cleaner-upper and what have you *smiles*...
Now do enjoy and I hope this
post leaves you excited and inspired to take a few Italian cookbooks out the
library and get cooking! And I hope you
enjoy the few sayings I added to this post which truly capture the essence of Italy...
The beautifully laid table, complete with red checked tablecloth and
napkins (sewn by Mom and Nancy),
white crockery and white candles in wine bottles...
Adults enjoyed Italian wine while we children were content with red
grape juice...
...
“A tavola non si
invecchia” (While at the table, one does not age.) - Italian
Saying
...
We had lovely Italian cafe music playing in the background which really
created such a wonderful ambiance...
Napkins were rolled up and secured with fresh
rosemary stalks...
...
“The trouble
with eating Italian food is that five or six days later, you’re hungry again.” -
George Miller
Candlelight...
Place settings, made by Nancy and Beth were placed in a traditional pastry
twist...
“Tomatoes make
it Italian, garlic makes it good.” - Alice May
...
“I have measured
out my life with coffee spoons.” - TS Eliot
The menu was printed out and placed on the table for the guests to see
what was to be served and when...
And now for the courses...
Everything was made from scratch, including the ciabatta for the
bruschetta, and the breadsticks... A few
of the delightful recipes to follow in part two in a couple days!
...
Aperitivo ~ Garlic Dip,
Breadsticks and Olives...
Primi ~ Rustic
Bruschetta...
Beth being busy
in the kitchen...
Secondi ~ Italian Meatballs with Tagliatelli...
Contorni ~ Creamed
Spinach and Mashed Butternut...
Dolce ~ Tiramisu...
Caffe ~ Espresso and
Crostoli (Italian Pastry Twists)...
Buon Appetito, dear readers!
Italy is at the top of my list of places to visit and tour... Do you want to visit Italy? If so, what places would you most like to see?
Hoping your week
has been blessed!
~ Kelly-Anne ~
