Real bravehearts

Sorry if this post isn't so cheerful. In this tough period of flood crisis in Thailand, the Thais do need much encouragement. Thank God my family is fine, they're handling things in the best way. My parents' home is still safe but who knows when water comes! Until now, people have learnt to help themselves.

In such a hard time, we've known the heroes. They're all normal people who just have such a great heart. Among them, who never leaves the people are soldiers. Yesterday, I've learnt a very sad piece of news. A soldier died when saving a life, other 2 were seriously injured. I just felt I couldn't ignore it, so I'd like to dedicate this post to all the Thai soldiers who are doing more than the best. Thank you for not leaving Thai people...and Rest In Peace, the brave heart.

ทหารกล้าช่วยปชช.น้ำท่วมจนตัวเองตาย - ดูวิดีโอทั้งหมด กดที่นี่

Patata dolce & Zenzero / Sweet potato & Ginger

For English, please scroll down.

Uno tra gli ingredienti che non devono mancare dal frigo di mia mamma è lo zenzero. Ha un profumo pungente ed un gradevole sapore piccantino. Nelle cucine asiatiche, lo zenzero è usato in tanti modi; per esempio a fette sul pesce al vapore, a strisce in padella con la carne, grattugiato fresco nel piatto d'insalata ed a pezzi da bollire in acqua per fare una tisana.

Mia mamma molto spesso usa i rimedi antichi per mantenersi in salute. Sono stata abituata da bambina a bere delle tisane fatte in casa per curarmi dalle tosse, raffreddore, mal di pancia, ecc. Stavolta vorrei parlare dello zenzero che ormai è diventato più conosciuto anche in Italia. Mia mamma ritiene che lo zenzero aiuta nella digestione, elimina il gonfiore nella pancia, purifica le vene e ci tiene lontano dal raffreddore. Ho cercato le informazioni da alcune fonti ed ecco qui un link dove potete consultare per avere una versione più ufficiale delle proprietà dello zenzero: http://www.lerboristeria.com/articoli/2005_06.php

Ora che le giornate cominciano ad essere fredde ed umide, mi viene in mente di bollire le patate dolci con lo zenzero come preparava mia mamma nelle giornate piovose. Stamattina ho procurato gli ingredienti da un minimarket etnico in città.

Ingredienti che ci occorono:
500 g. di patate dolci
1 pezzo di zenzero (lungo circa 10 cm)
4 cucchiai circa di zucchero di canna
800ml. circa d'acqua

Le preparazioni:
- Sbucciare le patate e lo zenzero e tagliarle a tocchetti.
- Fare bollire acqua.
- Quando l'acqua comincia a bollire, aggiungere le patate e lo zenzero che avete preparato. Lasciare bollire con coperchio semichiuso per circa 20 min. o fino che le patate sono cotte.
- Aggiungere lo zucchero a piacere. Ho usato quello di canna, se usate quello bianco l'acqua rimane chiara.
- E' pronto da servire caldo!!!

Per preparare una tisana senza patate dolci, fate bollire un pezzo di zenzero (schiacciatelo un pò prima per ottenere il gusto e l'aroma il più possibile) in una pentolina d'acqua per circa 15 min. e poi aggiungete lo zucchero o miele (che viene molto bene). 

Con questa ricetta partecipo al Weekend Herb Blogging # 307 che sta ospitando Elena del food blog Zibaldone culinario di cuil'organizzatrice italiana è Brii Briggishome. Indico qui il link della fondatrice Kalyn di Kalyn’s Kitchen e l’attuale organizzatrice Haalo, Cook (almost) anything at least once.

Flooding disaster at Bangkok in the eyes of the world

http://cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2011/10/20/ireporter-thailand-disaster-aid.cnn

Living with the flood (as 2nd-handed experience)

The most serious crisis at the moment in my native nation; that's Thailand, isn't only the economic one but also the continuos flooding in many provinces and today people in the capital is preparing themselves as water is arriving. In these years, we the Thai people have been through so many hard situations: the great earthquake that caused tsunami in 2004, outstanding political conflicts, the so-called red-shirts that set fire to the centre of Bangkok...and so on...and so on. Right in this moment, the nature is that cruel to send unceasing water that knocked out many provinces in the North. Disasters after disasters...what Thai people is saying right now is: "This too shall pass!" In my opinion, no other people in the world is as optimistic as the Thais. We've such a great capacity to face problems and to adapt ourselves in order to live with them. We're always able to smile in the dullest period. In the picture above (which was taken from a Thai on-line newspaper), an amount of residents in a hit area is helping each other to pass on bags of sand to be formed as a water block.

Yesterday, the flood was reaching Northern Bangkok. I called my mom and she said they're all fine. Water alrady entered my brother's house and he now has to sleep in the hospital where he works. (He's a medical doctor.) My parents' house was still safe, and so as my sister's one. They piled up the sand bags in front of the gates and stocked drinking water and food in case of necessity. My mom's words were: "The typhoons are crossing the ocean and they're directing to Europe, so just take care!" And Rome was flooded indeed!

Keeping in touch with my family and friends make me feel as if I was living the experience too. Nature is never kind to anyone. The big problems may be the incompetent gorvernment, the nature or what else, in this hard period my family and friends are trying to get relieved in some ways. Somebody bought a paddle boat, some take this occasion of staying home to read books or to watch movies as desired but never found time, others posted pictures commenting that they just had a luck to try life at Venice.

I, who is so far away from them, am sending much moral to everyone of them and certainly "This too shall pass!!!"

The essence of a special evening

After the last post which was dedicated to my only son's birthday, I wanna write about his small party with his best friends at home. We organised it 2 days after his birthday as he had been sick and just recovered in time, so yesterday was a better day as it was Saturday = a school-free day.

The kids are becoming big, they already have a-teenager-to-be look, however they're all kids and still love playing and ruunig up and down stairs. My boy was so happy, he did have a great time and lots of fun with 3 classmates and another friend. I just would like to remember all these simple but happy moments as they're very precious for my son's youth and for us, the parents, as well. Today, there're many places where you can organise a birthday party with the whole class. They're nice places that offer a large space with enormous inflatables and every kid loves them. Dylan had been many times to these parties and we once organised such a party for him a few years ago. The kids enjoyed it a lot. Those parties are funny but they're very confusing, you mostly hear yells and see some figures running here and there. I personally love more intimate and cosy atmosphere.

Yesterday was really a cosy birthday party for my boy. He was very happy to stay with his close friends. I've always been convinced that the "essence" of a great party is to be with the person you love and to do what makes you happy, that's all.

To finish this post, I leave you a picture of snacks I baked myself but I have to refer the food blog where I picked up the recipe. Thanx to "La mia cucina" of Gianni for the idea!!!

Today is special because...

วันนี้เป็นวันพิเศษที่สุดวันหนึ่งของเรา เนื่องจากเป็นวันครบรอบวันเกิดของลูกชาย ปีนี้อายุครบ 11 ปีแล้ว หนูกำลังโตเป็นหนุ่มขึ้นทุกทีๆ โพสต์นี้อยากเขียนทั้ง 3 ภาษา วันเกิดลูกเรารู้สึกว่ามันเป็นวันแม่สำหรับเรา วันที่ได้มีลูกอยู่ในอ้อมกอดเป็นครั้งแรก จับต้องลูก ให้นมลูก รักลูก ทำให้เราได้รู้จักความรักอันยิ่งใหญ่ที่สุดคือความรักของแม่ที่มีต่อลูก ในวันเกิดของลูก แม่คงจะไม่มีอะไรมากไปกว่าความรัก ความห่วงใย ที่มีต่อลูกเสมอมาและจะคงตลอดไป สุขสันต์วันเกิดนะครับลูกดีแลน

จากแม่

Oggi è un giorno molto speciale per me. E' il compleanno di mio figlio che compie 11 anni. Il mio bambino sta diventanto grande. Avevo voglia di scrivere in tutte e tre lingue che conosco. Per me la festa della mamma è oggi, cioè quando è nato mio figlio. L'ho tenuto in braccio per la prima volta, l'ho potuto accarezzare, allattare, amare...ho conosciuto l'amore più grande: l'amore di una mamma. In occasione del suo compleanno, non avrei niente di più speciale del mio amore per lui. Buon Compleanno Dylan!

dalla mamma

Today is the most special day for me. It's my son's birthday! He's 11 years old now. He's going to be a teenager soon. I wanted to write this post in all 3 languages that I know. For me, my boy's birthday is also my "Mother's Day" because the day he was born was the day I could embrace him for the first time, I could caress him, breastfeed him, love him...I could perceive how was the love of a mom like. It's the greatest love. Today, his birthday, I don't have anything that is more special than my love for him. Happy Birthday Dylan!

from mommy

Welcoming autumn with my blooming sunflowers

Summer's gone, I almost lost my hope to see the sunflowers I planted about 2 months ago. There were two plants, given by one of my friends. One died after some weeks but another survived. Its growth has been very slow, but it seemed to resist. It worked out several buds but they didn't develop much. Around the end of summer, I thought they would hardly bloom...but finally they worked out so well! My friend said it was a particular type of sunflowers. Look at the pictures! Their petals are very tiny and they look like round soft pon-pon.

I just wanna offer these beautiful creatures as a virtual gift for everybody ◕‿◕

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                            Wishing you all a great A U T U M N !!!