Ravello
Sequestered on the side of a cliff, is a jewel of a tiny town where flowers bloom profusely, meandering walkways and pathways zig-zag all over the hills and life runs at a slower pace.
Attending the wedding of the daughter of a sweet friend of mine gave my friend, Phyllis and me, an opportunity to visit this lovely place. In the midst of the rush and swirl and demands of a too busy life here in America, I was slowed down, and forced to see life from a different pace where people took time to talk together, stroll hand in hand and notice the beauty of the ocean views surrounding each corner of the old village.
One of my favorite finds was an artisan’s shop where the beautiful Italian pottery that I had seen in shops in America was being designed and painted by an artist named Pascal.
As I entered his shop, I was surrounded by rainbows of color and exquisite pieces that he had designed and hand-painted himself. In a world of mass-production, I was struck by the beauty and value of a man giving his life to his art and crafting pieces of pottery that light up a table, that grace a corner of a kitchen with color and design.
Pascal holds up the plates I picked out to bring just a little taste of His lovely pieces to my dinner table.
His wonderful designs and dishes can be found on his site here where you can find all sorts of exquisite pieces for your table.
Since I was a young wife, I have regarded feasting at our table as a sacred time. Sharing of warm food, on a well-laid table, with crafted ambiance has been one of the ways I think Clay and I have most influenced our children over the years. I take great care in choosing centerpieces, colorful table cloths, always candles, and colorful dishes and cultivating recipes that delight our family.
I knew that bringing home something, crafted by a true artist, to my home table would remind me, as the town and my new friends had reminded me, to enjoy the art of life, and to revere and treasure our times of soul-sharing over meals.
I wanted to let you know about his wonderful shop and lovely offerings because even a small piece, a lovely platter, a salad bowl, a plate for cookies, becomes a cherished treasure in your home when it serves your family with memories of the cookies you always served on the special plate, the small bowls of steaming soup on a cold winter’s night, or a favorite mug for hot chocolate.
Pascal and his lovely wife, extended a warm welcome to me and offered to give away a charming spoon rest, painted with the traditional lemon design that reflects Ravello, for someone’s stove top.
To enter to win, please leave a comment on my page of one of your favorite recipes or meal traditions. For extra entries, connect this giveaway to your facebook or twitter and leave me a comment to tell me what you have done! (Giveaway ends Monday.) I want many of my friends to have the opportunity to visit his lovely shop and see his designs online in case you want to bring a little of Italy right to your own table! (Ceramiche D’Arte)
They also have two lovely apartments that they rent out for holidays in this lovely town. You can see these here.
Oh how I hope I can take Clay with me back to this lovely town, to savor the beauty and to slow down our days once again.
Ciao!
I put your giveaway on my FB – spreadin’ the love
So glad you had a wonderful trip.
Hi Sally,
Every night we come together as a family and pray before the meal in unity and holding hands. Thanks for the giveaway! Beautiful pieces.
Love the spoon holder. Very beautiful. One of our family favorites is pot roast w/ potatoes & carrots. Cooked the crockpot. It was always a Sunday meal when I was growing up, so I have carried on that tradition. We don’t have it every Sun, but when we do have it, it is on a Sunday.
Thank you.
Wonderful giveaway. Love the spoon holder and the beautiful color on all his products.
I guess one of our favorite tradition the kids look forward to is Christmas morning breakfast: chocolate crescent rolls, cinnamon crescent rolls, and egg & sausage casserole.
Thank you for offering this giveaway.
i love to make chicken and dumplings, white beans and cornbread. Reminds me of meals back home when I was growing up.
Right now, my young girls love our taco night. I think it is because they get to noose the toppings and make it themsels. My 4 year old takes great delight in making her creation and is very eager to make one for daddy too!
I love to make my grandma’s beef stroganoff. Yum.
My kids are 8-2 and can’t wait to have nice place settings. I do light a candle to represent Christs light and we pray. God bless <3
OH…I am Italian…nothing is better than my mom’s spaghetti and meatballs…it’s all about the gravy…or sauce as it is called here. I don’t have FB… thanks for the opportunity to win such a lovely piece of pottery. blessings~
Since I have three rather picky children (in addition to one who is not), it can be a challenge to find foods everyone likes. Five out of six of us LOVE my homemade fettuccine Alfredo, and we all like my homemade cornbread.
My favorite tradition is Christmas Morning breakfast… Fresh Cinnamon rolls shaped like a Christmas tree, Breakfast Casserole, fruit, sausage and bacon and of course coffeee.
Reading the Christmas Story and reflecting about years past…
Currently, I love my 4 year old’s long winded blessings before we eat. And on these summer evenings, my husband and I secretly like when the kids are really busy playing outside, so we decide to let them eat later and have a quiet meal just the 2 of us!
The spoon rest is lovely…
Our favorite summer recipe is grilled chicken salad (we have seasonal favorites.) I put marinated chicken breasts into foil pockets and grill outside, then chop up the meat and top on some fresh greens. It is so easy to make and all of my little ones love it!
We love to sit at the table and us conversation starters. I have a container filled with different things to discuss or games to play that involve us talking and sharing our thoughts, opinions, etc. We have done this for a couple of years now starting when my now 7 year old was five.
Recently a new tradition has started. My 7 soon to be 8 year old son is learning how to cook. So on Monday nights he makes dinner (with my help of course). He is enjoying learning how to make simple foods and seems to enjoy meal time even more when he makes it. Our five year old wants to start having a night where he makes the meal. So I think the tradition is going to grow a bit more.
Thanks for sharing we too enjoy eating together as a family in my home and have made it a tradition by playing a fun game at the table and by preparing meals together. I recall making pizza and stromboli with our kids recently and how we all talked about the tastes and flavors of our meal as we ate it. It was a memorable experience. Pascal’s shop looks like a true gem. Thanks again for sharing!
A new tradition my daughter and I have are making muffins together. At just 2 years old she is a great helper and it is wonderful time spent together.
I love your post about life and your journal entry from your trip to Italy! I also loved my time in Italy and the beautiful pottery. You were blessed to meet the artist ~ thank you for sharing this with us. A favorite recipe for my family and friends are my chocolate chip cookies. I started “Sally’s Cookies” in 1986 and now enjoy giving my home-made cookies to family and friends on special occasions.
P.S. ~ “Sally’s Cookies” ~ Over each batch of cookies, I prayed that they would bring as much joy to others as I had in making them.
I love our nightly prayer before dinner while my husband and I hold hands with our two children, a three year old and a 3 month old. I don’t care what we are eating this little bit of heaven means the world to me!
Since my 3 year old is a picky eater anything I make that he enjoys makes me happy. The last thing was guacamole! I love to see him eat!
Love your blogs and books! Thank you for being an inspiration to me!
Our children are all grown and out of the house but I still try to make meals special. One of my favorite meal is a recipe I made up called Spinach and Bacon stuffed Pork Chops with Zucchini Fritters. On of our favorites. God Bless
For every birthday or other special day, I use our “You are special” red plate to serve a special cake. Sometimes the red plate ends up at someone’s place to eat dinner, although my 4 year old insists that it should be only for cake!
He has started helping me bake the cakes as well and is learning the joy of preparing something special for someone else. Every time my son sees the plate come out, he knows we are celebrating something! We usually try to make the dinner extra special by eating in the dining room with the good china and lit candles.
Thank you for your writing on this blog!
We have a blue plate that says ‘You Are Special’. We have had it for about 10 years. We use it for every occasion possible – birthdays, Mothers day, first book read by child on their own, riding bicycle without training wheels, etc. The special person gets to eat their celebration meal and dessert on it.
The pottery is just beautiful. Thanks for sharing~!
Traditional first day of school breakfast: homemade cinnamon rolls with lots of frosting, and a big pot of tea in my fancy teapot……..and bacon for the boys!
I’m a college student living in a house with some of my friends, so tradition here is seldom. I look forward to being able to have a table of my own where anyone who stops by is offered tea/coffee and 100% homemade food. My favorite recipe is the clam chowder recipe my mom used growing up.
Thank you for sharing your experiences in Italy!
God bless!
I LOVE the photo of the coast!
I’m glad you had such a nice time on your trip, Sally…and thanks for sharing about family meals. I’ve been needing some inspiration lately…I think the heat makes me want to run away from the kitchen!! 
Oh and one of our favorite traditions is a cookie pizza (just a batch of chocolate chip cookies baked on a pizza pan) on your birthday!
Soups in the fall and winter ESPECIALLY our taco soup is a hit and it’s so easy to add to for crowds! 
We make bread every Friday, and my kids love it. They love to help, love to eat the dough (eww!) love to eat it fresh out of the oven!
Sharing what our favorite part of our day is my favorite part of dinner. Especially when one of the participants is a two-year-old
We eat every evening meal together as a family, many times sitting at the table well after the meal is over laughing and sharing about life:) I love it when we sit for hours!!
Beautiful pieces of art!
Ooops, forgot I shared on FB
Beautiful giveaway! This post truly inspires me to bring more ambience to our meals. Our favorite tradition is a special restful dinner together on Saturday evenings. We make a more time-intensive meal and enjoy a night together.
Dearest Sally,
What a wonderful post! I’ve missed you (because I’ve been on the go so much lately). I am not a cook – but God had other plans for me when we discovered that my daughter has Celiac Disease, (a severe reaction to gluten). I suddenly found myself baking from scratch, using new ingredients, failing a lot, but learning so much. One of our favorite meals is gluten-free pizza. I buy or make the pizza crust and top it with hamburger and rice cheese. Nothing fancy, but it makes my daughter happy and satisfies our longing for pizza.
My daughter (at age 8) made me my first-ever apron for my 50th birthday! It’s a treasure.
Love you!
What a beautiful place! So glad you got some needed time away. My family loves bbq and outdoor picnics. We seem to connect more when we are in nature and the sounds of the inside aren’t distracting.
My favorite recipe is green pepper stuffing. 1 lb of sausage, 4 cups of cooked rice, diced green pepper, and 1 lg jar of Cheez whiz. My husband does not like blanched green peppers, so I got the idea to dice up the pepper and stir it into the mix
OOOhhh, what a pretty spoon rest! My family is in transition right now, from Alaska back to the lower 48, so traditions are scarce. However, when we are settled I want to get back to dinner together. My kids love candles and my moose meatloaf.
Glad you had a great trip!
Thanks for the chance to win….
Our sons all love to hunt. Each winter we have a large stock of deer meat. I started making deer chili out of necessity and it’s evolved into a family tradition! We enjoy several meals of deer chili with all the fixins throughout the winter months. We all look forward to ‘deer season’ in anticipation of our family meals of my, now famous, deer chili. I posted our recipe to encourage other moms with a freezer full of deer meat and it’s the blog post that gets the most hits. Obviously, I’m not alone.
We visited the Amalfi coast and the drive there is a thing of beauty. I too, like to entertain small groups and use my good dinnerware. A favorite recipe is ‘Italian Beef AuJus’. Using a slow cooker, a pkg of aujus mix, a pkg of Italian salad dressing mix, beef broth and a boneless beef roast is just the easiest and best tasting main course. Thanks for the chance to win a hand painted spoon rest.
What lovely pieces if pottery! Thank you for the chance to win it.
One of my favorite memories growing up was our Christmas Eve tradition that my mom started when I was a teenager and I continue now with my family. We would attend the Christmas Eve service at church and then head home to eat Vegetable Cheese Chowder and assorted deli sandwiches and Christmas dessert goodies. Even though not everything stays the same, the chowder and sandwiches remain on our tables each year and it is very special to me.
Oh goodness, I love to cook! My favorite “recipe” is having one of my young girls with me while I make something for the entire family. I’ll have them sniff the vanilla and tell me what they think it is, or taste the basil, and I’ll explain what it is…. The one thing we always do is sing “sleigh bells” while we beat eggs to the beat of it… something MY mom and grandmother did when I was a kid;) What I love most, is that I teach them about what I am using and doing. In the end, they are also more inclined to eat what I’ve made, and we have shared a lovely time in the kitchen together.
Lovely!! it would be wonderful to visit that spot of Italy! Favorite traditions would be homemade cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, Blueberry muffins on Thanksgiving morning & the whole family making Chocolate Chip cookies on Easter ( we wanted something other than the traditional egg stuff) Thank you for sharing all your wisdom & ENCOURAGEMENT with us!
Favorite tradition is homemade breakfast in bed on our birthdays. The spoon rest is lovely!
Sally, your blog is a bit of joy in my life I look forward to everyday and this is such a special gift you are offering, thanks. I am a widow and my kids are grown, but I love to entertain friends & have my family here often. But even if it is just me alone at the table, I love to take time to thank Him who has given me everything as I do through out the day. I think that’s the most important tradition we can incorporate into our lives!
Our favorite meal is Pakistani Kima. A beef veggie and curry dish.
Shared on Twitter.
We like to sing a hymn before we eat dinner.
I love your stories and the photos you post from your travels – I often save them for my desktop background.
Thank you!!!
Our favorite food is probably my deceased grandma’s cookies that are named after her – NooNoo cookies is what we call them – and they’re a mixture of oats, peanut butter, and chocolate chips. I can’t eat them anymore due to food allergy problems, but it’s still a joy to bake them with the kids and watch them enjoy them like I used to! We have special popcorn boxes we use when we watch family movies, special glassware for making toasts on New Year’s Eve and our Passover/Communion bread and wine (sparkling juice) meal at Easter. Special candy dishes for each holiday…
Great giveaway – I’d love to win! Thanks!
We sing a blessing on the food as we hold hands each evening. Posted on Facebook.
I LOVE this!! I would love to have something so beautiful in my kitchen – my husband lived in Italy when he was in the Army, and I KNOW he would be thrilled to see something like this in our kitchen.
One of my family’s favorite meals is just a quick casserole…chopped chicken in a 9 X 13; chicken gravy prepared and drizzled over the top; frozen broccoli cooked part-way and put over the top of that; 8 oz mozzarella cheese; topped with 2 boxes of prepared stuffing. Put that in the oven at 350* and cook for about 45 minutes. Yum! They kind of can’t wait for fallish weather to have this!
I tweeted about this too!
https://twitter.com/cm_gardner78/status/231035053839376384
The kids have started singing a blessing before dinner which we love. We also have a no TV rule at dinner that makes all the difference for family conversation and enjoying our meal.
Being southern, we have plenty of food traditions around holidays, birthdays, etc. However, we also have food traditions around sickness. If any of my children feels the least bit under the weather I whip out my butterfy tea pot and brew up some “Pooh tea,” which is chamomile tea with honey and lemon. When my oldest was a toddler with sore throat I made some and tried to get her to drink it, but she wanted none of it. So, I told her that this tea was Winnie the Pooh’s favorite tea because it had honey in it and that HE would drink it if HIS throat were sore. She drained her little tea cup without hesitation. From then on, POOH TEA has been a staple for any and all ailments. Sometimes I feel I am a “Mama of very little brain,” but in this case a little “fluff and stuff” went a long way!
We very rarely not have dinner altogether. And before every evening meal we hold hands and each say what we are most thankful for that day. We have been doing this since we only had our first two children (now there are 4, and there is a big age gap in there). We do this even when we have guests or are out to eat. It is really nice, especially if the day has been rough, to stop and reflect over the blessings that are there.
Our favorite meal traditions have been going since my children were very little (they are now in College) but we still love them to this day. Everyone cooks or helps, maybe just to shape the dough before baking the rolls or making a special desert. By the time we sit down to eat everyone has already invested of themselves in the meal and already enjoyed working together which opens dinner up to much more in depth conversations. As they are older it is not daily or as often but I cherish every second!
Yesterday I happened to eat a nectarine that was so sweet and juicy it reminded me of the one I had during my travels to the south of France and on into Italy some ten years back, so I decided to read through a few journal entries of that trip and have a nice little ten-minute reverie in the middle of a day full of energetic (and teething) toddlers. Even when we can’t get out of the house for a season, it’s still good to get out of our usual routine to appreciate the memories God has blessed us with.
So a recipe! Speaking of memories, one of my favorite childhood memories is savoring my mom’s chocolate cherry cake, and yes, it’s as good as it sounds. Enjoy!
Chocolate Cherry Cake
2 C Flour
¾ C Sugar
1/8 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
¾ C Vegetable Oil
2 Eggs
2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1- 21 oz. Can Cherrie Pie Filling
1- 6 oz. package (1 C) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 C Chopped Pecans or Walnuts
10” Bundt Pan
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 1 hour
Serves 8-10
Preheat oven to 350˚F.
In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Then combine into it the oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix well. Stir in cherry pie filling, chocolate chips and nuts. Pour into greased and floured bundt pan (no greasing needed if Teflon pan). Cool 10 minutes and remove from pan. Cool completely. Sprinkle top with powdered sugar.
P. S. I would so love to have that spoon rest! I honestly do not have one, and I think a pretty little one like that would add a little happiness (and cleanliness) to my stove top
Thanks for the give-away!
I have three young boys, and whenever asked what their favorite meal is, they “hands down” respond with Low Country Boil! In a huge pot handed down to me by my own grandfather, I boil a large amount of water, onions, lemon, garlic and Cajun spices. Once the house is filled with the aroma, I throw in halved cobs of corn, halved red potatoes, spicy sausage links and lastly, large unpeeled shrimp. As the boys make their way to the table I cover it in newspaper. I then drain the pot of all liquid, and dump the remaining food smack dab onto the middle of the newspaper covered table. We then enjoy the feast, along with fresh loaves of French bread, with our hands…. No utensils! This is the part I’m sure the boys love most! I also serve it with a lemon and butter dipping sauce. Everything gets dipped! I love more than anything, the excitement the boys get when we enjoy this meal together.
The plates you brought home are breathtaking!!! And I looked at some of the other things on his site – such beautiful work. It must have been so neat to actually see the workshop in person.
My job first and foremost is “mom”, and my hand weaving barely qualifies as more than a hobby… but I have dabbled a little in selling my work, and spend time with others that have put their life into being true artists, and have often heard the discussions on the very sad lack of knowledge and appreciation in this country of the various handcrafts. People are appalled at the prices charged (when the artist is sometimes only making pennies on the hour, if that), because they can go to WalMart and get some mass produced product to take it’s place for almost nothing. They have no understanding of the difference in quality, craftsmanship, sheer beauty, etc. And then there are those that declare we can’t have possibly made some item or other ourselves, we bought it and are just trying to pass it off as hand made – that’s always frustrating as well.
I wish more people in our society had your understanding of the value of these sort of things!
I’m not sure if this really qualifies as a ‘tradition’, but I love lighting candles at dinner – for no particular reason or special occasion, just regular family dinners. Makes even the most normal and mundane meal feel special somehow.
It seems like I had more traditions when I was younger, but things have sort of been in flux the last few years as life changes… There are of course still some family recipes that are used and such though! And I know I’ll build new traditions with my own little family over time.
Linked on Facebook
Off to Twitter now…
Aaaand… On Twitter now too
What beautiful pieces they make, I would love to visit there. My favorite meal Christmas morning breakfast bake, cinnamon buns, coffee, juice, and somehow we always also eat candy canes. Thanks for the giveaway.
I would love to win this! One of our favorite meals is the BBQ Beef Brisket from the Colorado Cache cookbook… recipe is online here: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1833,150169-241206,00.html
A favorite – especially for Thanksgiving which I love!
GREATEST SWEET POTATOES
6 C. COOKED SWEET POTATOES
1 C. GRANULATED SUGAR
1 STICK MARGARINE OR BUTTER
2 TSP. VANILLA
1/2 TSP. CINNAMON
4 EGGS
TOPPING:
1 C. BROWN SUGAR
1/2 C. FLOUR
1/2 C. WALNUTS-OPTIONAL
2/3 C. MARGARINE OR BUTTER
WITH ELECTRIC MIXER, MIX TOGETHER COOKED SWEET POTATOES, GRANULATED SUGAR, SOFTENED BUTTER, VANILLA, CINNAMON & EGGS UNTIL LIGHT AND FLUFFY. MIX TOGETHER WITH PASTRY BLENDER: BROWN SUGAR, FLOUR, NUTS AND 2/3 CUP BUTTER. SPOON OVER TOP OF YAM MIXTURE. BAKE FOR 30 – 45 MINUTES AT 350′.
Every meal is our favorite meal. Our children (14 and 10) bring such joy and wonder to our lives that just sitting down and eating is a blessing. It sounds hokey, but we have been going through some rough times, and GOD is REALLY teaching us to appreciate the small things…
We had such great traditions growing up, and one of my favorite memories is eating pizza on Christmas Eve. Seems so simple now, but back then we only pizza occasionally and it was a real treat! Coming home from Christmas Eve service, driving around to look at lights, and then having pizza for dinner…always a special memory in my heart! Thanks for this giveaway….you’ve made me want to plan a trip to the Amalfi coast
We love Shepherd’s Pie. But, one of our favorite family recipes is a Sugar Cookie recipe from a 1940s Fannie Farmer cookbook. Best cookies ever. We cut the dough out into cute little shapes, frost them, stamp them, eat them plain. Big siblings of new babies get them, friends and family get them for Christmas. Yummy gifts.
Your getaway locale was beautiful. Thanks for sharing!