In this page you find all the translations available at the
moment.
I will do my best to translate as much as I can for you. So
keep popping in if you are surfing around!
A flag in a post/page means “Translation available”. You
just need to click on the link next to the flag and you will go to the
translation.
I hope you enjoy my blog!
Pinny Pat
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Pinny Pat
That's me. After
thinking about doing this for quite some time, now I'm putting my money where
my mouth is.
I've been thinking about
setting up my own blog - or blogs - for a while. I want to talk about the
things that I love doing and I like the idea of communicating, of sharing, of
passing on the things I know. I like to be useful and I'm sure that this is a
great way to "share culture". I don't mean a pompous type of culture,
the culture of those who think they know it all; what I mean is a simpler, more
immediate type of knowledge that goes straight to the heart. I love people who
can explain complicated things and make them sound simple, without sounding
like a show-off. Such people are rare, but they show us that if you really want
something, then it's possible.
Food has always been a
big love of mine, and both my family (father from Puglia, mother from Friuli
but originally from Sardinia via Piedmont) and my life have shaped my style,
which is based on "fusion".
I've been lucky to be
surrounded by people who love to cook, who respect food and the seasons and who
know how to pass on this love.
My passion for words,
for communication, and foreign languages led me to choose the career of
translator, successfully running my own business until 2005. Then a serious
health problem suddenly changed my life.
I began treatment for
depression, but I didn't feel depressed: I didn't cry; I didn't even feel sad.
The only thing was that I wasn't able to do what I had been doing before.
Luckily for me, in July 2006, I suddenly began having problems with my sight
and this marked a turning point: MRI scan, diagnosis, and emergency brain
surgery. When I woke up in intensive care two days later, I was back to my old
self. Thank God and thanks to the excellent neurosurgeon, who removed a giant
meningioma the size of an orange from my olfactory groove. I was alive. I could
have died from a brain haemorrhage at any moment, if they hadn't diagnosed the
problem in time. And to think that the psychiatrist I had been seeing for
months (pointlessly), didn't even consider sending me for tests, even though I
asked him to... But that's another story, and one that is too long to tell you
here.
When I left the hospital
in August 2006, everything seemed to be alright. I had no problems left over
from my illness (aside from a greatly reduced sense of smell), so I was very
lucky. But my values, my outlook on life had changed dramatically.
What happened showed me
that all it takes is a "gust of wind" to overturn your life completely.
In my case, it was a meningioma. It took away the life I had built up. The
recession did the rest. And since August 2006, things certainly haven't
improved.
What happened to me,
along with other various health problems (I've had a total of 11 different
operations, to date), before and since 2006, has made me far more aware of how
precious life really is and how important it is to live it to the full.
As a rule, I like to see
the glass as being half full, to find a positive spin for everything and
everyone. This has been a great help through all that has happened to me and to
tell the truth, with all the uncertainties I face nowadays, I think I am much
happier now than when I spent 90% of my time working. Now I want my life to
have enough room for friends, family and the things I love. I don't want to
give up everything or almost everything: life's too short, too fragile for us
to be sure of having enough time for all the things we want to do.
I want to follow my
heart and my heart tells me to focus on my passions and perhaps thanks to them,
I may find a new path in life. Passion is what made me become a translator and
now this career can no longer guarantee me any sort of continuity, so instead
of letting myself get upset about it, I prefer to fill up my time with other
things I know how and like to do. And who knows...?
The name Pinny Pat came
to me one morning. It was dawn and half asleep, I began planning the day and it
just came into my head. I didn't know how I was going to sign off this blog,
and I got to thinking that I wanted something to do with the short version of
my name, which is Pinu in the north of Italy and Pinù in the south. Since I
didn't want to upset either branch of my family and because I am convinced that
no one should take themselves too seriously, I was looking for a name that
would sound fun, a bit like a cartoon character.
Languages and
communication being my field of work, before I used this name I decided to
check it on the Internet to make sure there was nothing that might be
considered "strange" and also to see whether or not it had any
meaning. Surprise, surprise! "Pinny" is a short, less formal way of
saying "pinafore", an "apron" in English, while - also in
English - "pat" means a "dab" of butter! Perfect for a blog
about cooking!
The blog title
"Appena un pizzico di..." means "Just a touch of..."
because I am convinced that in the kitchen, like in the rest of life really, a
touch of something can really make a difference. This goes for salt, pepper,
liqueur, in the same way as it does for luck, sensitivity, patience, attention,
love, fun, kindness, tenacity, friendliness, silence, peace of mind, good
manners, understanding, responsibility, consideration, care, humility,
courage... I think everyone has something to add to this list, which is a long
one.
I designed the icon for
this blog myself, because I wanted it to reflect something I have always
believed in: food is a great way to express love. Love for your children, your
partner, of living, all of these types of love can be expressed in
"pampering that you can eat": a special cake; your favourite
sandwich; those pots and boxes filled with goodness, that for children who are
studying away from home are another way of saying "We love you".
 |
| Food is Love... |
My aim is to bring you
tasty recipes and to show you some tricks and short cuts - things I dreamed up
or learned when time really was of the essence and if I couldn't find a way to
save time, then I would have had to give up any idea of being creative in the
kitchen and of eating a variety of well presented dishes.
I will also add what I
call "Features," based on food and of course, the way I see things...
Lots of ideas that I
hope will get this blog off to a good start and which I hope will appeal to
those of you who have decided to dedicate some of their time to me.
Happy reading and...
enjoy the blog!
Pinny Pat
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