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While our indoor dining room remains closed, Proper Brick Oven & Tap Room is now offering full-service outdoor dining on our spacious new patio! Patio hours are Tuesday through Thursday from 5:00 to 9:00PM, and Friday and Saturday from 4:00 to 9:00PM. Patio hours may be subject to change based on the weather, and COVID-19 safety measures such as social distancing and mask wearing will be enforced. If you’d prefer to order takeout, please utilize our new online ordering and payment system which allows for a truly contactless experience. Online orders will be accepted from 3:45-8:30 Tuesday through Saturday.

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While the Perseids typically appear in the night sky starting in late July through late August, the peak night of Aug. 11-12 is when they’re at their most spectacular with upwards of 80 – 150 meteors per hour streaking through the night sky (though this year the quarter moon might wash out a bit of the view). It’s a grand show as only Mother Nature can put on!

How to develop a Winning MindYou don’t need to look far to find negativity these days. Scroll the headlines or turn on your TV and you could quickly come to the conclusion that we live in a dark and angry place. But you can change that; both your belief about the world, and the world itself. The quickest way to change how you feel is to change how you think. Part of my purpose in life, I believe, involves contributing positively to the world. I want to be remembered for making a positive difference; therefore, I strive to live that legacy now, every day, with every interaction. Do I always succeed? Probably not. But I hold this aim high and give it my best. We have been programmed our whole lives to think negative and we didn’t even know it was happening. Listen to the news or the weather they always say partly cloudy, why not mostly sunny? What do we call traffic lights in America? STOP lights why not GO lights, or what type of clock do we set at night to get us up in the morning ALARM clocks, why not OPPORTUNITY clocks. We must be aware of the environment and purposely make a paradigm shift even if it makes us an outcast. If you could use a boost of positivity in your work and life, consider some of these ideas: 1. Surround yourself with positive peopleWho in your life seems to glow with positivity? Who inspires, uplifts, and challenges you to up your game? Consciously build a network of people who motivate you to be your best, then spend ample time with them. Be that source of light for others, too. 2. Infuse yourself with positivityPutting poor quality gas in your car will not help it run at peak performance. Similarly, how you fuel yourself will determine your experience as well. Read inspiring books, download helpful podcasts, watch encouraging movies, follow positive people on social media. Share acts of kindness at staff meetings. Create a physical environment of positivity. 3. Focus on what you can controlSo much is out of our hands, isn’t it? Focusing on that, however, can leave you feeling depleted and helpless. Determine what you can control and put your energy there. For example, you can control your responses, actions, words, and thoughts; you can, as Gandhi advised, “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. You have more power than you realize, and when you keep your focus there, that power expands. 4. Look for the goodHave you ever decided to purchase a certain kind of car, then suddenly you see that car everywhere? We tend to find what we focus on: If you believe things are awful, you’ll find evidence to support that belief; if you believe life is a gift, you’ll find evidence to support that. Look for positivity. 5. Examine your daily routineHow do you start your mornings? How do you close out each day? How might you bring positivity into the activities you do regularly? One of my coaching clients uses her commute to send silent blessings to other drivers; another reflects on gratitude’s every evening as she brushes her teeth. Shine positivity into your already-established routines. 6. Choose to be positiveCan it be as simple as a choice? Like most things in life, positivity is a decision we can make in every moment. Set affirming boundaries in your work and life. Take action to support growth and joy. Begin the habit of pausing and thoughtfully choosing your response to situations rather than just reacting. Just remember that the outside world may seem negative and that it’s spinning out of control but it’s your inside world that you have 100% control of, as long as you control your thoughts, feelings, perception and actions. After all it is your choice and we live with the choices we make.  
Fortune is determined by our actions … it is in our mind that we decide to win. Winning Minds is all it takes!~Matt De La Cruz

Parting ways with pretty packaging that accompanies perfume bottles is always a difficult thing to do. As is throwing away quirky tissue paper (we all have a collection that we hope to frame one day, right?). Upcycling old candle jars is as close to the Creative Gods that we have ever been. Luckily we now […]

Upcycling Ikea And McDonald’s Packaging Into Classic Bags

Home Cooking: Insalata di Riso (Italian Rice Salad)

by Daniela Savone contributor
July 17, 2020

An ideal summer dish for picnics or lunch at the beach. Learn how to prepare it.

Since I was a baby, my family and I would board the 8-hour Alitalia flight out of New York City’s JFK International Airport, bound for Italy’s Rome Fiumicino Airport, where my Zio Angelo, and cousin Stefano would anxiously await our arrival. We would spend 3 weeks in August vacationing in my father’s hometown of Lucxa. We always made sure to book our trip around August 15th, a national holiday in Italy, similar to the United States’ Labor Day, known as Ferragosto. To celebrate the holiday, Italians across the country traditionally take off work – heading either to the mountains for a big family picnic or to the beach for a couple of days’ escape. My fondest memories of Italy in the summer as a kid are celebrating Ferragosto and driving up to Prato di Campoli, in the mountains and picnicking with all our family and friends, or going to la Spiaggia di Sperlonga and sitting under a huge ombrellone (beach umbrella) at the beach, feasting on my families  insalata di riso.

Zio, is my father’s younger, loud, vibrant, sharp-tongued brother – always bursting with personality, much like his famous Italian rice salad: It’s colorful, refreshing, packed with flavor and you just can’t get enough! And while I know that rice may sound bland, when it comes to this salad – delicioso!

This cold Italian rice salad is a traditional summer staple in Italy. It’s the perfect dish to make during the sweltering months of summer. It’s so easy to make and requires very little preparation since the recipe often relies on ingredients found in the pantry or refrigerator. Make it easily ahead of time and store it in the fridge for days. Pack it for a picnic in the mountains, at the beach, the lake or even the pool! Or serve it as a side dish with dinner alongside grilled meat or fish, or as a main dish at lunchtime, because this is literally an all-in-one meal!

You can make insalata di riso in so many ways, and every Italian usually has their own recipe, but typically, the main ingredients are a classic combination of cooked rice, pickled vegetables, tuna, ham, and boiled eggs. And sure, the sound of mixing tuna and ham may sound strange – but these ingredients actually work very well together!

Just beware: It’s important to use a high-quality tuna variety preserved in olive oil along with a specific type of rice since the fundamentals of this dish are rice and tuna. The best tuna to use is jarred or canned Italian tuna packed in olive oil because it has so much more flavor than regular canned tuna in water, which simply won’t have the same effect. Italian jarred tuna can easily be found in the same aisle as regular tuna fish at the grocery store or in any Italian delicacy store.

It is best to use arborio or carnaroli rice – the precious and highly-valued rice grown in Italy that you would use for a traditional risotto. They cook well and tend to maintain their shape and texture. These rice varieties also contain the largest amount of starch, which is why it should be cooked like pasta – al dente – to give the salad a nice texture.

The rest of the ingredients needed for the salad can be adjusted to taste. That’s the beauty of this dish: You can customize it to your liking and there are infinite options! As long as it’s colorful and savory, you can use whatever variations of ingredients you prefer, such as the following; marinated artichokes, giardiniera salad, marinated mushrooms, antipasto salad or basically any vegetables preserved in vinegar. I suggest you just head to the deli counter and choose from the selection of antipasto in the salad case, or from the antipasto section of the salad bar. Eating so much of my Zio Angelo’s insalata di riso growing up explains my obsession with any kind of pickled vegetables, especially pickles. Nowadays, I can easily eat an entire jar – juice and all. I just love that flavor combination of salt and vinegar, which is why this rice salad is my favorite summer go-to meal. 

Cured meat is another traditional ingredient used in this dish. You can use either prosciutto cotto, or ham, mortadella, or my Zio Angelo’s secret ingredient: boiled hot dogs. 

 I remember trying his insalata di riso for the first time as a kid and shouting with excitement: “Cane caldo!” And everyone in my family burst out laughing because I thought the literal translation of hot dog in Italian was a dog that is hot. Turns out they refer to hot dogs in Italy as würstel, a German word, which sounded strange to a five-year-old, but I didn’t think anything of it at the time; I was just ecstatic that they actually had hot dogs in Italy. So not only is this rice salad delicious and refreshing, easy to make, and to tote along with you, but kids will enjoy it too, especially if you use my Zio Angelo’s secret ingredient, würstel – better known as hot dogs! 

Another must-have ingredient is a semi-soft cheese: either mozzarella, provolone, fontina or asiago cheese. My uncle also used the following ingredients in her Italian rice salad (but again, you can choose to use as many, or as little, ingredients as you like): cherry tomatoes, chopped fresh parsley, cocktail onions, capers, black and green olives, boiled egg, peas, and corn. Plus, there’s no need for dressing besides a little extra virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and freshly ground black pepper, because, with the combination of pickled vegetables, tuna, and cured meat, the salad already has the right balance of salt and vinegar. People also use celery, pimento peppers or roasted peppers, dill gherkins, scallions, chopped fresh dill, thyme or oregano, swiss or gruyére cheese – and even anchovies! I suggest using my Zio Angelo’s recipe as a guideline, because just like pasta, the recipe is totally open to improvisation, and every time you make it, you can experiment with different variations of flavors and ingredients. 

Anyone who has traveled to Italy from June to September knows just how stifling hot it can get, so even the most avid cook like my Zio would rather not do any major cooking inside the kitchen. And since most of the older homes in Italy, like those in my father’s hometown, were built before the invention of air conditioning, Italians generally opt for easier recipes in the summer – like insalata di riso – because they require minimal to no cooking. That is why this has become a summer staple meal in Italy. It’s quick and easy to prepare, it’s deliciously satisfying and refreshing, and simply perfect for a hot summer day – especially since outdoor eating is such a huge part of Italian culture, where friends and family gather over the weekends in the summer to enjoy long languid meals served alfresco!

And now you can make room on your own picnic table for this Italian rice salad at your next BBQ! You’ll have your guests feeling like they’re sitting under a canopy of olives and fig trees, under a veil of stars, enjoying that aria fresca (fresh air) and feasting on insalata di riso.

Italian Rice Salad Recipe

Prep time: 35 mins
Cook time 20 mins
Serves 12

Ingredients:

3 cups arborio rice
3 6.5oz. jars Italian tuna in olive oil, drained
2 16oz. jars giardiniera salad, drained, chopped into smaller pieces 
5 hot dogs, boiled & sliced
2 cups mozzarella, cubed
6 boiled eggs, quartered
1 can of peas, drained
1 can of corn, drained
1 ½ cups black olives, sliced 
1 ½ cups Spanish Queen olives stuffed with pimento peppers, sliced 
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cups cocktail onions, halved
1/2 cup or 3.5 oz jar non-pareil capers, drained
1 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley 
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 lemons, juiced
Black pepper to taste