Roman Holiday: The Pantheon

I'm joining for the first time The Tablescaper in her terrific new blog party, “Oh, The Places I've Been!”  The wonderful memories of our trip to Italy in 2008 keep coming back to me, so I thought I'd share this excursion to one of the most remarkable buildings in Rome - The Pantheon.

Located at the Piazza della Rotonda, originally built as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt circa 125 A.D. during Hadrian's reign.

Fontana del Pantheon, designed by Giacomo della Porta and built by Leonardo Sormani, located in front of the Pantheon.  I was so fascinated by all the architecture that I took copious notes during the trip.  I was such a geek!  For this post, I dug out my little travel notebook to refresh my memory and it was like going back again.

Robert, my husband's brother, and Barb, my sister-in-law, traveling companions extraordinaires.

Entrance to the Pantheon.

Pope Urban VII (1623-1644) ordered the bronze ceiling of the Pantheon's portico melted down.  Most of the bronze was used to make bombards, an early form of cannon that fired stone balls.

The oculus, the Great Eye, is the opening at the top of the Pantheon's coffered, concrete dome, and is the only source of natural light in this building.  The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 142 feet.

Pope Boniface IV converted the Pantheon into a Christian church and consecrated it to Santa Maria ad Martyres.

The tomb of Raphael Sanzio, usually known by his first name alone (in Italian, Raffaello), one of the great masters of the Italian High Renaissance.  The  inscription on the tomb was written by Pietro Bembo, a brilliant intellectual of the period:  “Here lies Raphael, by whom Nature feared to be overcome while he was living, and while he was dying, [feared] herself to die.”

And as we came back outside, awed by all we'd seen, we found this stand selling the same book of Rome in, oh, at least 30 languages!  A little modern capitalism to counter all those centuries of history.  From the sublime to the ridiculous!

Clematis

“The common hill-flowers wither, but they blossom again. The laburnum will be as yellow next June as it is now. In a month there will be purple stars on the clematis, and year after year the green night of its leaves will hold its purple stars. But we never get back our youth.”

Oscar Wilde, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

Paeonia Festiva Maxima

This peony bush followed us from our old house in the city.  It is one of three varieties my husband, Lee, gave me in the Fall of 1989, the year in which my first son was born.  When we moved, we took a cutting and planted it in our new home, and it has continued to thrive beautifully.

This is a pure white double peony, with crimson flecks at the base of the center petals.  It has the most wonderful fragrance.  These are the first of the peonies to bloom every year, and when they do, we can usually get at least 30 flowers from one single bush.  It's such a treat!

The blooms are huge, much larger than my hand!

The Vera Wang vase that I received as a 10th Anniversary present from my job was perfect for these heavy blooms.  The leaded glass is sturdy enough to hold all these flowers.  Here's a link to another post about this gorgeous vase. 

For me, this is truly one of the great pleasures of summer!



The Raven

Our old Dodge Caravan, affectionately known to us as Moby Dick, the great white whale, because it was huge, and, well . . . white, has finally gone to that big ocean in the sky, or wherever it is old, beat up, seriously used whales . . . er, vehicles go after they've completed their run.  Here's a farewell shot taken with my phone as I said good bye . . .

Moby Dick never carried strollers, or wheel chairs, as our previous minivan did.  Instead it carried our children through the teen years, taught them how to drive, and moved my son to college and back many times.  It took me to work for a decade and was a comfortable ride for the long commute, albeit, a mite expensive.  It also hauled a lot of construction material:  Cement board, lumber, cabinets, floor tile . . .  Its roof bore the scratches of many Christmas trees . . .  Happy memories . . .

But!  Here's my new love:  Our brand new Toyota Rav4.  It has all the bells and whistles.  My favorite new feature is power adjustable driver's seat with two settings, one for me and another one for my much taller husband . . . bliss!

Yup.  It was a thing of beauty . . . for exactly 3 days . . .  Then I took it to work, where a tow truck proceeded to take a bite out of it in the parking lot, all while I was working and minding my own business . . . Arghh!

I'm taking it to the body shop tomorrow morning to have them fix it.  Thankfully, the damage was not extensive.  (Sigh!)  I just didn't expect to have to deal with repairs so soon!

We have a tradition in our family of naming our cars after literary characters, beginning with my father's 1970 (or 71?) Chrysler Plymouth Fury III, which we called “Rocinante” because it plodded along, just like Don Quixote's horse.  From the first, The Raven seemed like the obvious choice for the new car:  Raven . . . Rav4, the words were so similar . . .  But Edgar Allan Poe's poem is so dark that I thought to wait a little longer to make sure the name fit such a pretty car . . . 

And then, almost prophetically, the accident happened.  I suddenly recalled that Poe said that the raven was meant to symbolize “mournful and never-ending remembrance.”  Clearly, this is something that I'm not likely to forget.  No matter how good a job the body shop does, and even if no one can tell that the car was hit, I'll know.  It will never be the quite the same again . . . nevermore.

The Raven it is . . . but I still just love this car!  It rides beautifully, uses less gas, and I feel hugged by the comfortable seat and smart interior.  Toyota does a great job of laying out the interior features.  I can't wait to take it on a long road trip!  This Raven is gonna fly, baby!

John's Fine Arts Senior Exhibit

My son, John, a Fine Arts major at Northern Illinois University, exhibited his work at his Senior Art Show last night.  I couldn't be more proud.

It was absolutely thrilling to see his work displayed so beautifully!

John exhibited thirteen pieces, which, I'm told, is a pretty substantial show . . .

The artist and one of the models hamming it up at the exhibit . . .

John asked me to coordinate the reception for the exhibit, and, well, he didn't have to twist my arm very hard . . .  There was a savory table with veggies, cheeses, and sandwiches . . .

And a sweet table, with some unbelievably delicious treats from new bakeries I had never used before.  Sometimes we take a leap of faith and land on our two feet!

The cupcake “artiste” - because this is no mere baker - made painter's palettes from fondant, including the brush, to top the cupcakes.  They were delicious to boot!  What a hit!

But I must say, the glory of the dessert table went to the cake pops.  They were so moist and flavorful and beautiful!  Here are the chocolate ones . . .

And here are the vanilla ones . . .

I wish I could take credit for the baking but I was too busy to bake, so I recruited Miss Joan's Cupcakes and Sweet Tooth Confections, both local vendors and bakers extraordinaires.

We had a non-alcoholic punch since the show took place in the school campus.  I found the recipe on Pinterest.  Click here for the recipe . . .

We made lemonade ice cubes, to keep the punch flavor vibrant as the ice dissolved, and we floated lemon slices for an extra kick - and because it looked so pretty . . .

Here I am, setting up the sweets table . . .

Here are the loves of my life:  My two sons, David (red shirt) and John, and my husband, Lee.

My brother and wonderful sister-in-law, Kathy, drove all the way from the Wisconsin border to see the exhibit . . .  My friend Patti and her husband drove an hour and a half from the city, to be with us, even though they had to get up early the next day to go to work . . .  We are so lucky in our family and friends, and so grateful that they were able to come!

And here are my three handsome boys . . .

I didn't notice this plaque until almost the end, which is a good thing, for I would have dissolved in a puddle of tears . . .

Did I mention how proud I am of this boy?  My cup runneth over . . .

The return of the beans!

Eight months ago, I received some unwelcome news about my health:  I have been diagnosed as a diabetic.  This means, for the first time in my life, medication.  It also means lifestyle changes.  Ugh!  There was no choice but to attempt to rise to the challenge, meaning dietary changes and . . . exercise!  I have been making progress and have seen positive results, but emotionally, I'm just beginning to wrap my head around the whole thing.

My faith has been renewed through this challenge, however.  It's so true that the Lord carries you when you are not sure you can handle it on your own.  The results, so far, are pretty wonderful.  My sugar is completely under control and I've lost about 70 lbs.  I have also joined a gym and have been working with a trainer since January.  I wouldn't describe me as fit by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm making progress.  I definitely feel more flexible, have less pain on my knees and I'm sleeping a lot better!  Of course, the trainer goes on and on about how I'm building muscle and strengthening my core . . . yeah, yeah, yeah . . .  I don't see the muscles yet but I'm going to keep at it.

There have been many, many dietary changes, and, truthfully, it hasn't been that bad!  I've been experimenting a lot in the kitchen.  I tried eating according to the recommendations of the ADA, but the program left me ravenously hungry, and my glucose reading fluctuated wildly between morning and night.  Then I toyed with the Paleo diet, eliminating almost all wheat, soy and just about anything that an agricultural society produces.  The Paleo diet recommends eating like our paleolithic ancestors, i.e. fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whatever meat those early hunters were able to kill.

I thought it was going to be soooo difficult.  No bread?  How could I live without bread?  No pasta?  No beans?  NO BEANS!!!  I grew up with beans!  My mother made a different bean soup every single day!  Like most Cubans, she'd make a thick potage to be served over rice, as part of the daily meal.  On Mondays, it was black beans, on Tuesday, it may have been split peas, on Wednesday, red kidney beans, on Thursday, Spanish Olla, a chick pea soup with sausages . . . and so on . . . no beans . . . ?  Well, for the sake of my blood sugar, I stopped eating them as well.  Surprisingly, I didn't miss the bread and pasta as much as I thought I would, but the beans were another story.

Then, recently I read "The Blood Sugar Solution" by Dr. Mark Hyman, and he provided a fresh perspective on my whole new diet.  For one thing, he's validated a lot of the Paleo principles, so that's good, I didn't have to start from scratch, but he recommends beans as part of a healthy, low-sugar diet because of the fiber and nutritional benefits, and, if eaten correctly, perfectly fine for diabetics.  Yay!  Dr. H is my new hero!

So, I've introduced beans back into my diet, and so far, I have seen no adverse results, and my taste buds are so happy!  Imagine my joy when I found this at the grocery store:

Say, what???  16 BEANS!!!  All together???  At once???  This, I gotta try!  I learned to make beans from my mother, the sorceress.  She never followed a recipe, which was extremely frustrating to me when I was younger, but eventually gave me the ability to improvise in the kitchen.

So, Maria, was in the kitchen this past weekend, concocting a magic potion from these dry pebbles.  It was truly a little bit of this, and a little bit of that . . . and then another visit to the pantry to see what else I could throw in there.  And this was the result . . .

I should call this soup “20-Ingredient Bean Soup” since that's how many different ingredients went into the pot:  1) Beans, 2) Onion, 3) Green Pepper, 4) Garlic, 5) Bacon, 6) Spanish Chorizo, 7) Zucchini, 8) Butternut Squash, 9) Carrots, 10) Spinach, 11) Diced tomatoes, 12) Tomato sauce, 13) Chicken stock, 14) Olive Oil, 15) Oregano, 16) Thyme, 17) Bay leave, 18) Dry white wine, 19) Salt, and 20) Pepper!

Lots of chopping!  Thankfully, my husband is the most wonderful chopper in the entire universe. 

He chopped, I conjured . . .

Here's a closeup . . .

That night, I had also roasted a chicken, but let me tell you, we didn't even touch it.  Both, my husband and I had a bowl of this deliciousness and were quite satisfied.  Then we settled down to watch Game of Thrones and The Borgias, with a very contented tummy.

I'm joining the Foodie Friday link party.

Prosciutto, Melon and Mozzarella Salad

I'm spending too much time on Pinterest again (sigh) . . . This delightful salad caught my eye and I knew I'd be making it this summer . . .  Click here to see the original pin on Pinterest.

But the culinary gods were with me today.  I've just found a great source of local, sustainable, indoor farming and they had wonderful baby arugula for sale!  Yes, I do get excited about fresh baby arugula!  So, why wait! 

I picked up the rest of the ingredients at Caputo's, my favorite grocery store.  Their deli was redolent with the aromas of aged cheeses and excellent hams.  A trip to Caputo's always makes me feel like I'm back in Italy.  I've written about Caputo's here, here and here.  Anyway, here's my interpretation of the salad:

The secret to this salad is using absolutely the best ingredients that can be found:  Imported Prosciutto di Parma (pricey but so worth it!), baby arugula, ripe cantaloupe wedges (I peeled mine), fresh mozzarella marinated in extra virgin olive oil, chopped fresh basil, salt and pepper.  One more drizzle of olive oil and a few dots of a balsamic vinegar reduction (click here for instructions on how to reduce balsamic vinegar) . . .  This was food poetry, if I do say so myself . . .

Ahh . . . !  Welcome spring!

Linking to Sunny Simple Sunday Link Party!