You need to know more

When next in Italy shop for dried Kumquats.

Ask for them at any Frutta e Verdura.

Sometimes they are hidden,  behind a secret door.

This is the way to eat Kumquats.  They are better than chocolates. 

The recipe is too complicated for me to try.
I'll just have to go to Italy again.  

Gina

It is pink

It hasn't bloomed in years.

It was forgotten, in a corner.

To my surprise a flower spike appeared a couple of weeks ago.  

I was hoping that it would be pink.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, is growing outside. 

Thank goodness for my greenhouse.

My orange tree is blooming in my greenhouse.  

The Kumquat tree has been bearing fruit since last summer. 

How do you eat Kumquats?

Do you pop them into your mouth whole?  

Or do you eat only the sweet rind? 

I love seeing the faces when my little friends eat a Kumquat for the first time.  

Happy Surprises to you, 

Gina 

Remembering

Remembering a special Valentine celebration.

The cost of this Valentine Heart

Price of Gritti cooking school for two, a splendid room at the five-star Gritti...you get the idea

Here is my Valentine gift to you

White Chocolate Heart with Passion Fruit Jelly

Executive Chef  Celestino Giacomello of the Hotel Gritti Palace, Venice, Italy 

White chocolate Bavarian Cream

250 g milk

100 g egg yolks

50 g sugar

10 g fish gelatine

250 g white chocolate

600 g whipping cream

Passion Fruit Jelly

200 g passion fruit pulp

60 g sugar

2 leaves fish gelatine

Biscuit

100 g egg yolks

50 g sugar

100 g plain flour

100 g potato starch

meringue (150 g egg whites and 75 g sugar)

Preparation time:  50 minutes

Difficulty:  Medium

1.  Prepare the Bavarian cream.  Bring milk to the boil.  Beat egg yolks with sugar until smooth then add the milk gradually, the gelatine previously soaked in cold water and squeezed, and lastly, the white chocolate cut up into small pieces.

Once the mixture has cooled down, fold in the whipping cream.

2.  Meanwhile prepare the jelly.  Soak the gelatine in cold water and squeeze it, dissolve it in a double-boiler, add sugar and the pulp of the passion fruits.

3.  Then prepare the biscuit.  Beat egg yolks with sugar (50 g), add the sieved flour and potato starch.  Lighten the mixture by adding meringue (made with the egg whites and 75 g of sugar).  Spread this mixture in a 1/2 cm thick layer on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.  Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes.

4.  Line the bottom of a heart-shaped mould with the biscuit base.  Fill the mould to mid-height with the Bavarian cream and add a layer of passion fruit jelly.  Place the mould in the freezer for 15 minutes and then top with the remaining Bavarian cream.  Smooth the surface and leave the rest in the refrigerator for a few hours. 

Unmould to serve and decorate.

It was divine

Happy Valentine's Day to you, 
my dear friends. 

Gina 

Mary is to blame

Biscotti was on her mind

It snowed all day.
A good day to bake Biscotti.

Biscotti di Noce will last 2 months if placed in an air tight tin. 

Ready to go back into the oven. 

(Biscotti, twice baked) 

There was no vin santo for dipping.

My sour cherry Kirsch Likör was even better. 


Traveling through a small town  in Italy we noticed  a long line of women standing outside a bakery.  
Of course I had to investigate.  I came home with a large sack of biscotti because I didn't know how to tell the nice lady that I only wanted a few pieces.  

Biscotti was piled into the window well of the small bakery.  
There were flies.  Yes, you guessed it.  The next generation of flies made it home with me.  


Gina 

Here is the traditional Biscotti Recipe

https://ginaceramics.blogspot.com/2015/11/i-just-had-to.html

For Lorrie

A few hints about keeping orchids happy.  



These orchids have been resting in an east facing window.  They were dormant for about 6 months.  All they needed was light and a little water now and then.

Or place in south and west exposure.  After 4 to five months orchid blossoms will drop.   Look out for thickening nobs along the stem.  Cut 2 to 3 inches above that.  It will throw a secondary spike and bloom for another 4 to 5 months.  

  

When I leave for a couple of weeks I place several orchids in a large, waterproof container, stuff with newspaper and pour water over everything.  
Orchids tolerate standing in 1 to 2 inches of water for a short period of time. 

Only 2 days ago I discovered this new spike on one of my Cymbidium orchids. 
I had no idea that it was forming.  I have ignored it for many, many months, watering it only when I walked past. 

I hope it is this pink color.  

I had this cymbidium for many years and then it had an unfortunate end.  A mouse came along and.....

https://ginaceramics.blogspot.com/2010/12/of-mice-and-men-and-my-cymbidium.html

A little moss on top is a very good idea.  

Once an orchid begins to bloom you can enjoy it in the rest of the house, even in a dark place.
You can even cut a stem and place it in water. 

Good Luck,
Gina