Silver is My New Favorite Color (recipe: Peperoncini sott’Olio d’Oliva)

There has been a whirlwind of activity and festivities this past month. Virgo Season brings with it very special birthday celebrations and the subtle transition from intense summer brilliance to the rich warmth and longer shadows of the much awaited arrival of Autumn. This is my favorite time of year! Although the temperatures in Southern California are still quite hot during the day, we do experience absolutely beautiful evenings and picture perfect sunsets.

There has been an ongoing harvest from the garden. From heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, chilies, rainbow chard, lettuces and arugula, to all kinds of fresh herbs that are already hanging to dry, my kitchen has seen nonstop daily preparations.

What did we all do before YouTube? I was able to research many different preparations for preserving chilies under olive oil. I had so many beautiful chilies this year that I just couldn’t see them going to waste. So, with a little patience and a few canning jars, Mom and I created an amazingly delicious concoction of brined

Peperoncini sott’Olio d’Oliva.

There was not an exact science to this recipe, but a few common sense steps put into place created a fun and rewarding product.

The purpose of allowing the chilies to sit in a salt and vinegar solution for 48 hours is to kill off any unwanted bacteria. It also gives the chilies a crunch with just a hint of vinegar taste when the olive oil is added. The proportion of vinegar to salt that I used here is about 4 cups vinegar to 1 tablespoon sea salt.

After the chilies have sat in the Sea Salt and Vinegar solution for 48 hours, each jar is strained. I used a small tea strainer so none of the seeds would escape the jars. Each jar was then filled with a good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

At this point, it is important to push all of the chilies under the olive oil so that the air cannot touch them. Place a top on each jar and store in a cool dark place for at least a couple of weeks before use.

Please note: These jars are not pressure sealed. That is why it is so important to push the chilies under the olive oil.

After sitting for a couple of weeks, both the chilies and the flavored olive oil are ready to be used. I like to use these chilies to enhance the flavor of roasted chicken or pork chops. The oil is fantastic drizzled over a homemade pizza, too! There are so many ways this can be used! What preparations would you use these in?

If you haven’t guessed by now, I have embraced my SILVER! There are many different options for achieving my goal.

My choice: Going Cold Turkey! I am now 16 weeks into my transition from colored brunette to natural silver.

I have wanted to start this transformation for at least the past two years. If I am truly honest, my hair grows so fast that I literally had to color it every 10-14 days, just to keep my silver from peeking through. There are immediate positive things that are happening: firstly, I have stopped losing copious amounts of hair each time I wash it and brush it, and secondly, it is fuller with so much more natural body and movement. I’m very excited to watch this transition happen.

I decided to start with a great cut to get all the old ends off. I had about 6 inches cut from the length and was able to get rid of a lot of the fading ends. The method to my madness is to now be able to allow the length to grow again, faster and healthier, without having to worry about the coloring routine. Stay tuned! I’m going to either love it, or…

As we continue to journey through this year, I am ever grateful for all of the love and support from my beautiful customers who have and are supporting La Zingara Designs. It makes my heart so full to know how much you all are enjoying and using your handbags and straps.

It is truly a passion of mine and I love creating these special and unique pieces.

Please be on the lookout in the coming days for new arrivals!

I find a little more of myself each morning when I arrive at the garden. I leave a bit of my soul there, too. I am after all, the Soul that lives and loves from within.

As we transition into fall, I hope humanity will choose more benevolence and a kinder way to treat the inhabitants of the World we all share. Nothing is impossible when it is done with LOVE.