We all have cooking tips and techniques learnt through personal experience or because someone else was kind enough to tell us.
Gala Placidia's activity
Questions Asked
 A fairly comprehensive list of words related to food and wine has been prepared by a few of us. It still needs revision, corrections, additions and you may be able to help as it is a Wiki.
Tue, 06/30/2009 - 04:31
 It is official, the old Casino in Bagni di Lucca is reopening its doors after many years; however, it is going to be a modern version, more "little Las Vegas" style than its elegant and exclusive predecessor.
Mon, 06/29/2009 - 09:04
A few weeks ago I started a thread in the old forum about this topic. I still think that it would be great if we could all share our favourite recipes which our families and friends enjoy.
Fri, 06/19/2009 - 05:29
 I think that there are quite a few members who have married overseas an ½ûÂþÌìÌà citizen; however, I am not quite certain whether they have registered their certificate of marriage before the nearest ½ûÂþÌìÌà Consulate.It is advisable to do this an
Tue, 06/16/2009 - 03:43
 It is most important, if you own a property, to have a clear description for it. That is possible through the "visura catastale" which gives you and confirms many facts regarding your title.
Sun, 06/14/2009 - 05:21
 Polenta is one of those ½ûÂþÌìÌà dishes that you either love or hate. Considered in the past as the poor people's staple diet it is nowadays served in the best restaurants.Â
Sat, 06/13/2009 - 17:53
I have just seen on TV some images regarding the Treviso tornado. I sincerely hope that any members in the area have not suffered from this disaster. Â
Sun, 06/07/2009 - 16:44
 The base for many ½ûÂþÌìÌà sauces and dishes is the "soffritto" (sofrit in French, sofrito in Spanish), a mixture of some diced vegetables which are cooked in a heavy pan with three tablespoons of olive oil (although some other kinds of oil and fa
Sat, 06/06/2009 - 05:37
 Hi everyone, this is a warm invitation to joint this group and discuss ½ûÂþÌìÌà food, wine, regional cooking, recipes, tips, cooking utensils, history of cooking and any related subject you may wish to talk about.And welcome, Mimosa, glad to see t
Fri, 06/05/2009 - 08:28
Comments posted
I totally agree with Carole, you need to lodge a complaint as the animal is obviously unhappy and this person does not know the basic rules of living in a community.Good luck and keep us posted.
Grazie, Marcella. Ferragosto is a big festivity for women. Here is a thread that I published in the old Forum for those who were not very familiar with the festivity:QUOTETomorrow is one of Italy's most important days: Ferragosto or the Day of Santa Maria Assunta.Every town has its own way of celebrating this festivity and particularly when the local parish church is named after the Virgin Mary. You can expect solemn masses, processions, etc. But this festival really has pagan origins, the Feriae Augusti, celebrated by the Romans.It is a day dedicated to women, so girls, use your rights! Go to the restaurant, the beach, get yourself something nice.... if you can find a shop open..... have a ball!If you want a bit of extra information about the Pagan-Catholic link, have a look:UNQUOTEBuon Ferragosto!
Hi Brian and Aileen and welcome. Best wishes regarding all your plans. Lunigiana is a beautiful region.
Hi Adri and welcome to the Community. Liguria is a beautiful region that I try to visit as often as possible.
Hi Geoff and welcome. Great to hear from you and all your interests. Enjoy the Community!
Great idea, at least they are tangible assets and far much more valuable than bank statements and certificates. A bit difficult to carry, though.... As they say in the article it is going back to the Middle Ages and who can say that their systems were not better than our present ones?
Ciao Gina and welcome to the Community. Good to hear from you and your plans.Lucca is a very good city to use as a base for Tuscany. The city itself is beautiful and an absolute delight. The train station is easy to reach and there are good regular services to many places from there. It is less crowded than Florence.
There are several studies made in Australia on the subject, even a recent "miracle wine" created by an Australian doctor: From my personal experience, I can tell you that in the 90´s, a well known private hospital in Queensland (Australia), started serving a small glass of wine to their patients together with their meals when they were convalescing. Both my mother and myself were patients there at different stages and we saw it happening. Doctors and nurses were convinced that this had a very beneficial effect on convalescents. Certainly, some people were not part of this experiment because of other health problems, but overall it was a great initiative and they noticed that the patients were asking for less sedatives after their small drink.Regarding how you feel thirsty the following day after drinking..... alcohol, particularly in excess, causes dehidration. It is always a good practice to drink lots of water to counteract.As for olive oil.... yes, it has great beneficial effects, particularly if you compare it with other oils, but we should remember that it is still a FAT. All in moderation... That´s the key word.
Sorry Andrew, no offence intended, but I do not need a medical degree to diagnose that you suffer from the "doubting Thomas syndrome". The benefits of wine in moderation have been explained by a variety of professionals throughout the media. If you are a person who reads papers, watches news and tries to keep up to date with information, you must have seen and heard hundreds of positive comments about this matter; Â however, if you are still have doubts, here is an article from a qualified nutritionist which may help you:By the way, our family doctor has always recommended us to have a glass of wine with our meals.
Anyway, if we have to show our credentials each time we give an opinion about any subject, this would be a very boring and empty place.
Thanks for the info, Gromit. I am glad that they have at least one roulette table as I was fearing that it was going to be all slot machines and, bearing in mind that the roulette game was invented in the old Bagni di Lucca casino, they had to have one. A pity that we cannot be there for the opening because it must be an interesting event to attend.I believe that moving the Tourist Office to a place near the Comune is a good idea. It was a bit lost at the old Casino. Certainly, they will not have room for it now as the building is not very big and the new casino will be taking up all the space available.It will be interesting to watch how it all develops.