Happy Republic Day, Italy!

Rome is bustling today.  June 2, 2013 marks Festa della Repubblica, a national holiday with outstanding celebrations to commemorate the founding of The Republic of Italy in 1946. 

The Eternal City attracts visitors ready to revel in an exceptional military parade honoring the anniversary of the declaration of the Italian Republic.  The Carabinieri, military police of Italy, parade through to Piazza Venezia overseen by Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, Giorgio Napolitano, The President of Italy.  Prominent political and military officials attend many of the events in Rome.

Notable traditions of Republic Day include a laying of the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the inception to the day's festivities.  Look up in the sky, not for fireworks, but to view Frecce Tricolori, a flyover by the nine Italian Air Force aircraft that leave streaks of green, white, and red colored smoke to denote the Italian Flag.  Listen to various military bands perform live in Palazzo del Quirinale, the gardens of the seat of the president, open to the public. 

Napolitano has broached the typical traditions with a scaled back parade this year in the name of austerity.  "I appreciate the simplicity of the celebrations," said Napolitano who also highlighted reducing the costs to the essential and shifted focus to the pride of the patrons in attendance honoring the theme "Armed Forces in the service of the country."  John Kerry, US Secretary of State, acknowledged in writing the respectful U.S-Italy alliance, goals, and achievements concluding, "It is in the spirit of this enduring partnership and friendship that I extend to all Italians my sincere best wishes on this 67th anniversary of Republic Day."

Throughout Italy there are a host of several other parties and parades to honor the day.  Festa della Repubblica propels the Italians into festival mode for the busy season ahead.  Enjoy Republic Day! 



Italian President Giorgio Napolitano

Holiday Weekend, Picnic Plans!

Soak up some sun while reveling in friends, family, and a taste of the outdoors. This holiday weekend should include a picnic. Regardless of the social agenda, attending or hosting gatherings or a clear schedule, the picnic will always fit the bill. From simple to over-the-top, the ways to incorporate a picnic this Memorial Day Weekend are countless.

The Italian style picnic can be customized as rustic and simple for two, or as a bountiful, yet manageable option for large crowds. The Italian staples consist of bread, olives, a pasta dish that can be enjoyed at room temperature, and various roasted vegetables. This style picnic is great for anytime of the day and can be spread out in any location, even on a blanket in the backyard.

Sample Italian Picnic Menu:

Fresh Italian Bread, such as Semolina, Bastone, or Ciabatta
Assorted olives
Pappardelle with olive oil, fresh lemon, fresh basil, fresh mint
Roasted zucchini, red, yellow, and orange peppers, tomatoes

Use the more traditional picnic fare but, opt for a theme. Whether it be seafood, sandwiches, or a grill menu. Hosting a backyard party with a food theme keeps the essence of simplicity a picnic boasts in tact. Cover outdoor tables with kitschy plaid tablecloths and newspaper for a lobster, crawfish, and crab boil complete with shell crackers for guests. Arrange dishes of drawn butter, fresh lemon halves, and various spices throughout the table. The boiled seafood, corn, and potatoes can be served straight from the table. The same family-style set up can be implemented for a "make-your-own" sandwich bar or with the necessities for grilling out. All options adhere to a relaxed crowd (and host/hostess) present simply to enjoy being outside, eating, and mingling with other guests.


Photo courtesy of potterybarn.com

Sample Traditional Picnic Menus:

Shellfish Boil
Various shellfish (lobster, crab, crawfish, shrimp, mussels)
Corn on the cob
Red skin potatoes

Sandwich Bar
Variety of each:
Rolls, lettuce, pickles, roasted vegetables, cheese, deli meat, mustard, mayo, hot peppers
Homemade potato chips w/crumbled blue cheese

Grill Menu
Marinated chicken (choose 2 favorite styles, such as Caribbean Jerk and Teriyaki)
Grilled fresh fruit, watermelon, pineapple, peaches
Asparagus
Portobella mushrooms
Assorted salads

The picnic will travel with whatever the weekend may bring. Prep an actual picnic basket (or buy a pre-arranged set with price points from $15-$350 on Google shopping search engine, surely one will be suitable) to have ready for impromptu invitations. Neighbors said come over? The basket is an exceptional means to transport food to contribute to the pooled meal. A more thoughtful approach, such as for a host/hostess gift, would be to fill the picnic basket with favorite food items (barbecue sauce, gourmet spreads, honey, jam) for their enjoyment in the future. Pack a favorite cheese and fruit pairing to share that day if asked to bring a dish.


A National Geographic Favorite Picnic Spot: Villa Borghese Gardens, Rome, Italy Photograph by Hemis/Alamy

Grab a Frisbee and the picnic basket and go. Host a sensational party, with ease. Share food favorites with great company. In any style, the picnic should be a priority and the pinnacle of enjoyment during the long weekend. Happy Memorial Day!


What are some of your favorite picnic foods?

Share pictures to our Facebook page of your Memorial Day picnics... we'd love to see Pino Gelato quarts/pints Scooping Some Happiness during celebrations this holiday weekend!

La Famiglia

 

Mamma Agata, facebook.com

Family is everything.  Beyond raising wholesome, successful, and loving individuals that conduct themselves with regard to society, family life as Mecca is the ultimate goal of many households in our country.  Italy and the USA share many similarities as far as family and celebration are concerned. 

A mecca is a point of recreation, gathering, and center for a particular group.  Italian mothers are known to be the axis on which their family spins, the matriarch is held with the most regard.  Italians are drawn to their homes by mamma to dine on traditional cuisine and share stories from the day (or  at least on a weekly basis, even once grown).  Italian-Americans typically do not move far from each other considering this tradition and the glue the Italian mother has laid doesn't stretch very far. 

In Italy, Mother's Day is celebrated the second Sunday in May, same as ours this year! The day starts with church and focuses on showering the mother with love, gifts, and treats throughout the day, she is not expected to cook or work.  Though certainly most do not hand over their kitchen to just anyone.  Mother's Day is a chance to bring about tradition to the epicenter of love in the family and to dine and to help spread the joy to all that she provides all year.  Families are there for each other, daily, in business, and in a place that draws us back time and again.  Family is home. 

Certainly all families have traditions that bring them together, allow for those to shine bright this Mother's Day. The base of the family, the love that keeps the group together, the mother created core, is what family is all about.   Show appreciation for family-based culture and become proof of that time being worth everything.  Make being together a bit sweeter and a bit more Italian this year and allow us to  Scoop Some Happiness to your family on Mother's Day!



A scoop of Pino Gelato for Mom = smile!

Party Time at Italian Festivals.

Italians love to throw a party. Festivals are a component to life in Italy's many regions with celebrations marked by just about anything from a lemon to the world's largest frying pan. The Spring and Summer months bring some of the top festivals of the year with those rounding up as noteworthy mandate the revolving praise of bona-fide food.



Lemon Tree in Monterosso

Sagra del Limone, in Liguria attracts people to dabble in all things lemon, the region's specialty. The 3rd weekend in May the village of Monterosso hosts The Lemon Festival where revelers can expect samplings of the finest limoncino, lemon fragrant soaps and candles, and lemon desserts (gelato, of course), of the prestigious produce. A window decorating competition starring the yellow gem as well as an acclamation for the largest lemon in town are two components of the festival. The restaurants typically have festival menus as their tables spill into the live music and dancing on the walkways throughout the village leading to the large party in the main square.


Dancing in the main square

Italy has a resounding fame for the original food it has brought to the world, and the significant items are justly honored with festivals of their own. Primavera del Prosecco celebrates the Prosecco wine production region from March-June with a slew of villa getaway vacation packages inclusive of tours. Travelers to Italy can plan their trip to incorporate numerous possibilities of the events with a Risotto Festival in Sessame, a Polenta Festival in Avigliana, and a Chianti Wine Festival in Tuscany. The Sagra del Pesce, in Liguria is a classical festival honoring the patron saint of fishermen, San Fortunato. The port village fish is prepared in the largest frying pan in the world after a night of a religious ceremony with bonfires.


Sagra del Pesce, Largest Frying Pan

There are even meat filled deep fried olives (known as olive ascolane) currently being celebrated at the fried food festival, Fritto Misto. Pick me.


Art in Italy will never go unnoticed. Major festivals to pay homage are Festival dei Due Mondi, Festival of Two World's, a famous performing arts festival featuring opera, ballet, film and The Tuscan Sun Festival celebrating spectacular live music. Tomorrow, May 1, is Labor Day in Italy and is recognized as a public holiday, though tourists can expect large street festivals to celebrate, of course.



Summer in Cinque Terre

Spring has sprung, and the glory of Summer is quickly approaching, with the outdoor season officially here much celebration will ensue. Wrap up the Spring cleaning and get outside to party as the Italian's do!

Are there any local upcoming festivals you are looking forward to?

Pino Gelato's lemon gelato!

 

Mud and Gelato

One of the better ways to celebrate Earth Day, is to be covered in mud! Mud runs with variables meant to test physical, mental, and social strength have become a fitness trend across the nation. The Citadel's 17th annual Bulldog Challenge this Saturday, April 20, 2013 is the ultimate endurance course featuring The Lowcountry's pluff mud or "life draining marsh" as it is referred to on the challenge official website. Pino Gelato is proud to be on board as a sponsor of The Bulldog Challenge hosted by The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina.

The Bulldog Challenge is self described as a grueling six mile (10k)endurance course that will push a competitor and their three team mates to the limit with obstacles encountered throughout meant to cause "friction" to those daring to compete. Previous course involvement has boasted a USMC rope climb, carrying 25 lb sand bags through pluff mud, and wrestling of giant truck tires. With The Citadel, known as The Military College of South Carolina, playing host to the event participants should expect the extreme (one obstacle is dubbed "The House of Pain") as far as difficulty. Luckily, the enrolled and truly brave, Citadel Marines and NROTC cadets are on course for encouragement along the way.


Bulldog Challenge competitors!

The Bulldog Challenge has grown in popularity with national awareness attracting 724 competitors to last year's event, this Saturday's event is likely to surpass that number according to The Citadel. The growing attendance and attention is welcomed with the clause of the race proceeds raising a donation to Semper Fi Society Scholarship Fund, which provides financial aid to a participating member of the society enrolled in NROTC and working toward a commission in the United States Marine Corps.

Ready to Scoop this Saturday!

Mud runs certainly engage contestants with Earth and are widely used as recreation to commemorate Earth Day. Beyond the climate of race day, even beyond the mud, is a celebration of community and encouragement played out with prizes given by numerous sponsors and donations. To sweeten the finish line Pino Gelato will be at The Bulldog Challenge with our gelato cart Scooping Happiness to participants as they breathe in relief after completing the grueling course.

Yes, join this military style mud run or perhaps spectator at this event whilst consuming gelato and engage in another activity in spirit of Earth Day, say by planting a small tree.

For more information or to register for The Bulldog Challenge visit: www.bulldogchallenge.com

For info on Earth Day, Monday, April 22, 2013 visit: www.Earthday.org/2013

Gelato Cake, Golf Ball/DIY Version!

Our customers are creative and talented so we want to share an at home version of our spot-on golf ball gelato cake. For simplicity's sake call us and order a gelato cake from a Pino Gelato location !

Or give it a try and let us know how it turns out in the comment section below or on our Facebook and Pinterest pages .
 
DIY Golf ball cake instructions:

Favorite box of cake mix recipe or a simple from scratch version, prepared according to instruction in either a ball shaped cake mold (Google, a surprising number of these exist!) or carve a smooth half circle from a deep cake pan.
Frost an even thick layer with the following thick butter cream recipe. After frosting the cake use an actual golf ball to make impressions all over the surface into the layer of butter cream. Feel free to use creative materials to serve on "the green" such as a green cake plate, green sprinkles, or a slab of actual green turf, any and all outlets apply! Just be certain to get ready to impress avid golf fans and become a cake making idol with these Pino Gelato golf ball cake tips! 

Butter cream icing instructions: 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup vegetable shortening such as Crisco

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

3 tablespoons milk, separated

Mix first 3 ingredients together, and then add confectioners’ sugar followed by milk in

3 additions until incorporated. Beat with mixer on medium speed until smooth.

Buon Appetito!

Palio della Rana



Fermignano, Italy

"Ribbit, ribbit", accompanied by massive crowd cheers isn't all that unusual in Fermignano, Italy this Sunday. Frogs are taken very seriously at the annual Golden Frog Race, Palio della Rana, held the Sunday after Easter in the Marche region to celebrate Fermignano's independence from The Duke of Montefeltro 1607. So seriously that the frogs are examined by a doctor before and after the race, to assure health and lack of tampering. Of all the oddities, the event also includes Medieval costumes, Renaissance garb, and food and beverage that certainly would displease the featured participants.


Fried Frog Legs

Young men representing one of the five regions in Fermignano dress up Medieval style accordingly by color to operate a frog occupied wheelbarrow through the street race. If the frog jumps, the lad must stop to retrieve it and resume once the frog is back in place. Intense.

The cheering and celebration form with a kick off parade welcoming the party weekend that includes historical attire including falconers and a spotlight on, rather ironic, eats. Fried frog legs are the widespread menu offering during the famous festival. Attendees can expect live music, fireworks, and ancient craftsmen in addition to the main attractions. Fired up patrons root for their district contender until the first lad/frog/wheelbarrow ensemble crosses the finish line declaring the winner of this year's Palio della Rana.


Falconers on parade goers.


The famous frog race is accurately described as hysterical, unusual, and amusing. Festivals of all varieties are a draw to Italy, Palio della Rana is certainly an event that does not disappoint in terms of tradition and entertainment. Festivals are a popular attraction for planning and choosing travel destinations. Many regions host versions of their city's independence days, but Fermignano is the only to feature frogs in this outlandish and swell festival.

Does your city have an unusual celebration? We would enjoy having a variety of offbeat traditions at events from all over the globe in the comments section below!