The Best Company In The Dining Room

In the last years of high school I read different books about the rules of etiquette. It was interesting, specially, because we did not learn them in the school, and our parents, simple persons, hardly could know many of them.

One of the rules was about the optimal number of the persons at the table during the meals. They had to be not less than 3 and not more than 9. Many years later I read about one scientific research that confirmed that rule from the point of view of our health.

The research said:
Good conversation durin the meal helps to create right athmosphere and conseguently it helps good digestion etc. =good health.
The company at the table has to be not less than 3 persons because 2 persons are not sufficient to maintain the conversation.
The company has to be not greater as 9 persons because too big company can not maintain interesting conversation for ALL the members of the company.

Last time I was in museum I remembered about these rule and told it to Pietro. Pietro thought a little and than said: do you know for how many persons were built the tables in triclinium?
Sincerely I did not know what was that triclinum. Here is the description from a dictionary:

Nell'antica Roma, complesso dei tre letti a tre posti, collocati lungo tre lati della tavola, sui quali si disponevano i commensali per mangiare

In the Antique Rome, it was a complex of 3 beds each with 3 places posted on 3 sides of the table where the guests settled for meals (more or less)

So, this rule has nothing with good health, nor with good conversation, mmm? Vestiges of the Roman past. Look at this picture from Wikipedia

But my mother said us always when we were at the table: The rule is "when I eat I'm deaf and dumb. I'm sure, you know this rule too.
Do you know where comes this rule from?
This rule comes from the monastic life.
When the monks ate in the refectorium of the monastery they had to listen to one of them that read the Bible. Therefore they could not speak in this time.

Lasagna And Carnival

This day is the day of Carnival here. It's not a national feast but most fabrics etc do not work. We wanted to visit a great supermarket today just because I was in Salerno this morning and my husband has nothing to do. So, he came in Salerno and we went in Pontecagnano. There is a bee keeper in that town too and I wanted to buy pollen and could not find it in our zone.

On our return we saw the preparations for the carnival procession and here are the photos. As I just wrote, carnival is an event for children here.


In our house, the event of carnival is celebrated with Lasagna. I told you that there are plates that are prepared only for this or that event. Lasagna is a plate for carnival. My husband wanted that I cook it myself this year and it had to be so as he likes. The second day I remembered to make photos and will tell you how I cook it. It is not the right, classic receipe of lasagna. It's lasagna how my husband wanted it.

I have to say that he found a really GREAT lasagna (a sort of macaroni, we can call it so too), very fine sheets and good taste and... we don't need boil them before we want to use them. They go directly in the oven.

First of all we spread béchamel sauce and put the first sheet on it. Than spread ragout made maybe with cottage cheese with more tomatoe sauce as on my photo. I used all the sauce the first day and here is only what remained for the second day.



Second sheet, eggs, mozzarella, béchamel sauce, grated hard cheese (parmigiano reggiano in my case) and salt.

Than you have to repeat the ragout and béchamel layers. I had 2 and 2 this time.
Finally you put it in the oven for 15-25 minutes.
Believe me, this not classic lasagna receipe is goooooooddd...

Acrobatic And Martial Art's Trics

As I said many times I like acrobatics and martial arts. Here are the videos with the best trics. I understand that not many of you like them but I am afraid to lose them.


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Vesuvius In Snow

As I said, it is unpossible that the temperature remains so high. Even if some plants are flowering and roses have new leaves. And I was right.

I'm not very brave with the seeds and am afraid to sow them when the cold weather can kill young plants.

I bought good seeds in autumn and wanted to have great flowers this year. There are not so many plants that feel good in this mountain-rock frying pan, so I buy what I know will enjoy me. I have this year about 15 or more varieties of Petunia to sow, some varieties of ipomoea and want to try with Dichondra once more. A year ago I had Dichondra in silver color, but this good man, my husband, made it dry when I was in Russia. It is a splendid plant, a real joy of a gardener. Unfortunatelly, I could not find that silver kind of Dichondra. This year only green...

Well, I was right. The last 2-3 days we have polar cold here. About 8°C or maybe less. In the night surely, because this morning the earth was ice-coated. There was even a sort of snow yesterday. It arrived not as snow till the soil, but it was snow. Mountains are not very high near us, about 1130m and they are as they were before today. But Vesuvius is some meters higher, about 1200. So I can demonstraite you what a terrible cold we have here now!

Life In The Street

Maybe you will not approve me for these photos. There is nothing too beautiful to see these persons living in these conditions. I have to say, it's not "normal" for Salerno to see something like that "bed" on the first photo. By the way, the white bedspread was very clean and beautiful. Sincerely, it was the first I've seen when I looked in that direction. And the man seemed very relaxed and content. Logically, I did not want he sees me making that photo, so it's not very clear.

If you walk in Naples, in the center, you can see persons sleeping on the ground practically everywhere. Naples is not very advisable place for walks. Specially in the most populated, central parts of the city. Well, all capitals have this problem.

But Salerno is not a big center. The life is quiet here. Not that you can't find strange persons. Like this old woman on the photo in the bottom. There are, I think, 2 or 3 of them in the central part of the town. First you see them, you think those are poor beggars. They drag themselves along the streets, wash their clothes in the toilet of the station, sit so as on the photo under shops... One of them has a bag with weels and you think she takes all she has with her...

Next day you see her wearing other clothes, even a fur coat -not the worsest you can imagine, an other day she is weared differently... You understand that this woman has to have a house -something where she lives. Is it the mode to have some money? To communicate with others? To receive attention that they need? I haven't seen them enter in the shops, but they have those plastic bags always full...