Organic Easter this Spring

Spring has begun! Fresh, premium ingredients are desired by consumers when shopping for a numerous range of products.   Quality items have become more readily available and often, even surprisingly affordable. The fun can begin.  Transition during the change of seasons, especially into Spring (yes- it is here), brings with it a reminder of the variety of bountiful seasonal produce. Spring marks an opportunity to easily embrace “the healthy” found in aisles and at markets, but there are more routes to truly embody fresh, natural and premium product scouring.  Easter is the perfect holiday to depict the select food, craft, and household products easy to adapt to during the awakening Spring.

photo credit: etsy

Pastels, perennials, and pie illustrate Easter. Organic products and food are more frequently becoming the top choice in many categories, yet not all switches to the natural version are attainable whether due to cost or demand. The eco-friendly and healthier options are actually more accessible than the preconceived notion surrounding the steadfast trend.  

Dying Easter eggs is a tradition, instead of the chemical laden box dyes use the following suggestions for natural produce egg dye decorating that turn eggs amazing colors!

Photo credit: serious eats

Beet Juice (boiled eggs can go right into a jar of fresh beets for a couple hours).

Gently warm fresh berries on a stove top or double boiler then crush berries in a strainer over a dish to extract the juice.  Add ¼ cup of water and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar to each extracted juice.

Raspberry juice.  Intense pink!

Blueberries/blackberries: same as above, but blue!

Spinach (truly, works) : boil fresh spinach leaves then extract juice as above.  

Carrots: boil carrots in as little water as possible and use the marigold colored water for dye, add vinegar as above.

Easter flowers/plants are customary to bring to households hosting the holiday gathering.  This year, select perennials from a local farm stand or take it a step further and give the gift of an herb garden starter.  Supply handwritten instructions for organic garden care if in possession of a green thumb or direct to Organic Gardening for herb sustaining tips.  Basil and mint are exceptional gifts.

Easter Pie, not of the dessert variety but a savory Italian Easter Pie filled with meats and cheeses is typically made on Good Friday and served on Easter Sunday.  For more on Easter pies visit the 2013 Easter post be sure to make the pie at home with the freshest, quality ingredients sourced from Italian specialty stores.  Actual dessert? Simple, fresh, premium berries or homemade berry pie with a scoop of gelato harmoniously blend with the natural options used to celebrate this Easter and Spring.

Italian meat selections used for traditional Easter Pie.

Enjoy a fresh approach. Happy Easter and Welcome, Spring! How will you incorporate organic in Easter this Spring?

Gelato, Forever!

As dessert fads come into cities and towns only to quickly vacate and make room for the latest treat, rest assured that gelato is more than a trend.

Lucianna Polliotti

To pay tribute to the immortal and delectable treat that is this Italian ice-cream comes Carpigiani Gelato Museum. Just outside of Bologna, Italy set to open September 27, 2012 the museum pays tribute to the history, culture, and technology of gelato. Enthusiasts planning a trip to Italy must explore the breadth of thousands of years celebrating the life and tradition of the infamous Italian frozen treat. Exhibits planned by a gelato historian and museum curator, Lucianna Polliotti, encompass more than 20 original machines, 10,000 images and documents, and interactive workshops. Admission to the museum is free, but you will need a reservation, gelatomuseum.org

Photograph: Gelato Museum Carpigiani Archive

To plan the ultimate tasting tour of gelato’s homeland gear up for a few other mandatory stops. For those marveled by the existence of gelato wanting a hands-on approach to complete the venture started, schedule a course on gelato making at Carpigiani Gelato University. Yes, a university dedicated to gelato with a mission on gelatouniversity.com which states, “Carpigiani Gelato University has the objective of sustaining the development of gelato shops everywhere and educating the public regarding the pleasure and flavor of genuine Italian gelato.” Profound craftsmanship is built here, undoubtedly. After developing a thorough knowledge of gelato, it is time to put newfound skills to work via taste test.

Photograph: Gelato Museum Carpigiani Archive

Gelato proves withstanding time through acclaimed gelato shops and festivals. Rome’s famed Giolitti, Via Uffici del Vicario, 40 is the highest regarded gelato in the Vatican City. Coordinate this entire feat with Firenze Gelato Festival in May where attendees purchase a gelato card to taste, and likely skip, their way through the participating piazzas.

Italians are known for their love of decadent food that provides more than impeccable taste, it induces joyous occasion, beholds tradition, and indulges in the excellence of their cuisine gifts to the world.

Awarding gelato and the creative history behind this Italian staple confirms it is much more than the trendy, and typically transient, dessert-of-the-moment boutique.


The celebration of gelato strengthens the party it delivers with this well-deserved honor, The Gelato Museum.

Photograph: Gelato Museum Carpigiani Archive

-Maloof, Ashley for Pino Gelato

Labor Day in Italy

Primo, Happy Labor Day to all our American friends!

Hopefully you are enjoying the Holiday… but if you are working, well so are we!

I’m afraid we are a bit late for celebrating Labor Day with our Italian counterparts since it was on May 1^st.... Better late than never, isn’t it?

May 1^st or “Primo Maggio” is a national holiday in Italy, as well as in most European countries.
The celebration also known as “la Festa dei Lavoratori” originally began when farmers and seasonal workers took the day off, ate, drank, and danced together on the first day of May, forgetting — for a few hours — the long days of summertime hard work that awaited them.

Now, it is a day to celebrate workers, especially all of those who fought for rights like an eight-hour work day and safety regulations. In much of Europe it is synonymous with labor movements and demonstrations: left political parties traditionally hit the streets and protest their various causes. 

In Italy, the celebrations end with the big, free music concert held in Piazza San Giovanni in Rome, where the most important Italian singers and many foreign guest stars perform before a festive audience.
Since May 1 fell on a Thursday this year (2012), Italians made "il ponte" (the bridge) from the holiday to the Sunday for a nice loooooong weekend.

Should you find yourself in Italy for on May 1^st, expect public transport to be limited. Hotels and restaurants usually have less personnel and most museums are closed. So why not  go on an adventure off the beaten path for the day?