[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano]
The inspiration for this post is provided to me by Elga of Semi di Papavero (poppy seeds) Italian blogger and fellow Daring Baker, who a little while ago asked us to show what we see from our kitchen window.
Kitchen in Italian is cucina. The word comes from the late Latin cocina, a variant of coquina, from the verb coquere, to cook. From the same verb comes the Italian cuocere, to cook in the sense of applying heat to foods to prepare them for eating, as in cuocere la pasta. To describe the act of cooking in general, we use the verb cucinare, as in io cucino molto (I cook a lot).
Since we split our time between two places, I have two kitchens, a small one and a nice-sized one. The latter has two windows, both over the sink. The photo on the left shows how they look from the outside. The little green bushes on the right are part of my herb garden, which I started last year and of which I am very proud.
Looking through those windows is not very comfortable for a short person like me, because of the presence of the sink (lavello). The view will be better when we change the old windows, which are also hard to open. The following images were therefore taken behind the glass. First a look at my herb garden, with its parsley jungle.
Then a look at the Pacific Ocean, which, on this particular occasion, was living up to its name. It is not always as calm as it appears here.
Some days, like last Sunday, you can hear the ocean so you know it is there, but you can hardly see it, because of the fog. I actually spend more time at the stove (ai fornelli) than at the sink. There I have a white wall in front of me, which is definitely not worth photographing.
Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:
or launch the dalla finestra della cucina audio file [mp3].
[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]
[jump to Comments]
dalla finestra della cucina
L'ispirazione per questo post mi è stata data da Elga di Semi di Papavero, una Daring Baker come me, che qualche tempo fa ha chiesto di mostrare quello che vediamo dalla finestra della cucina. Dal momento che dividiamo il nostro tempo tra due residenze, ho due cucine, una piccola e una più grande. Quest'ultima ha due finestre, entrambe sopra il lavello. La foto a sinistra mostra le finestre viste da fuori. I cespugli in basso a destra fanno parte del mio giardinetto di erbe aromatiche che ho piantato l'anno scorso e del quale sono molto fiera.
Guardare fuori attraverso quelle finestre non risulta molto comodo per una persona non molto alta come me, per via del lavello. Il panorama migliorerà quando cambieremo le finestre, che tra l'altro non si aprono bene. Le foto le ho scattate dietro il vetro.
Prima di tutto uno sguardo al giardinetto e alla giungla di prezzemolo. Poi uno sguardo all'Oceano Pacifico che per in questa occasione ha fatto onore al suo nome, ma non è sempre calmo come lo si vede qui.
Certi giorni, come domenica scorsa, l'oceano si sente ma non si vede, a causa della nebbia, un fenomeno particolare della costa californiana. La foto in basso mostra la stessa veduta di prima, ma con la nebbbia.
Certamente passo più tempo ai fornelli che al lavello. Lì ho davanti a me una parete bianca che decisamente non vale la pena fotografare.
Nice view. I'd love to see the garden or ocean from my kitchen window. I have a lovely kitchen, but from the window I only see the side of the house next door!
Posted by: Kalyn | April 30, 2008 at 05:38 AM
This is a great post. I love the subject matter. I see the Pacific from my kitchen too, but it is a view of the ships leaving the port of Los Angeles going out to sea. Maybe I'll try to photograph it, thanks for the inspiration, Simona.
Posted by: Lori Lynn @ Taste With The Eyes | April 30, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Hai delle bellissime vedute: la giungla del prezzemolo e la voce dell'Oceano.
Bellissima l'iniziativa di Elga che ci ha permesso di conoscerci un pò di più.
Ciao
Posted by: lenny | April 30, 2008 at 03:25 PM
Wonderful views! Lucky you!
Paz
Posted by: Paz | April 30, 2008 at 04:34 PM
Simona, You have a view of the Pacific ocean?? I could only dream to wake up to that!
Posted by: Marie | April 30, 2008 at 07:03 PM
Che bello dare un'occhiata dalla cucina di tutte voi. Incredibile che tu veda l'Oceano. Un abbraccio
Posted by: Alex | May 01, 2008 at 06:15 AM
Hi Kalyn. I guess it would be nicer if you could see your beautiful garden.
I'd love to see what you photograph, Lori Lynn.
Ciao Lenny. La mia giungla di prezzemolo e' piuttosto comica.
Thanks Paz. I am very grateful for the view.
I do, Marie, and it is very nice.
Ciao Alex, sono d'accordo: Elga ha avuto una bella idea.
Posted by: Simona | May 01, 2008 at 10:32 PM
You must have wonderful dreams as you fall asleep to the sound of the ocean. (or is that too romantic..haha) Anyway, lucky you. The herb garden is wonderful! :)
Posted by: Maryann | May 02, 2008 at 10:57 AM
I love your parsley jungle! What a great herb garden. And your view of the ocean is to die for. I'm with Kalyn; the window over my sink looks onto the house next door! I liked hearing you pronounce the words and phrases, as usual. I'm going to be going around saying, "Io cucino molto" from now on. ;)
Posted by: Lisa | May 04, 2008 at 10:06 AM
Ma che meraviglia! Amazing, to see the Ocean from the kitchen. And I love Elga's idea! I'm going to put pictures from my kitchen in one of my next posts. :)
Posted by: Marta | May 05, 2008 at 11:13 PM
The sound of the ocean is kind of reassuring: no matter what's going on in my life, the ocean waves keep coming in.
Indeed, Lisa, that sentence applies nicely to you.
Marta, I know that you will have great shots too.
Posted by: Simona | May 06, 2008 at 03:12 PM
The ocean is 5 hours away but I have 2 lakes within a 5 minute drive. You are very lucky to have these views from your kitchen windows:D
Posted by: Bellini Valli | May 19, 2008 at 06:59 AM
I love lakes too: good for kayaking on. I know I am lucky, Valli.
Posted by: Simona Carini | June 07, 2008 at 08:41 AM