Quanto Basta

I talk about threads often in my work. For me the word succinctly defines one of my major beliefs.
Threads, as in those used in sowing, and now used to define a single subject in the context of a large scale forum on the Net, also run through our lives, whether we are aware of them or not. Most often we aren’t aware of a thread until two separate threads somehow come together. When this happens the threads begin to weave, as if by some magic alchemy, a story we urgently need in the present moment of our lives.

Awareness is critical in recognizing the happy happenstance of apparently unrelated threads coming together. You can improve upon the process by making yourself susceptible to the weave. You can do this by being open to all that is happening around you: read, listen, ponder, meditation, and converse without restriction, to inhibition. When you do this the magic happens.

So what is Quanto Basta? Loosely translated from the Italian it means, as much as you need, or, as much as you like, to maintain a balance. You’ll run into this concept if you are devoted to Italian Food as I am.

I have heard this phrase many times in my reading; however, I received a wonderful and so far anonymous gift of a wonderful cook book called David Rocco’s Dolce Vita
, after the show on Food Network, which popped the phrase to the forefront of my awareness. In his introduction, David Rocco talks about Quanto Basta, and how it not only relates to food but to life itself. (The cookbook is over the top, one of the best I have read in at least a year. More about that in another article.)

Now add in a book called `The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
by Timothy Ferriss, another book that found its way under the Christmas tree this year. In the book Mr Ferriss asks us what it is we really want and then goes on to suggest it is not the money, or the things, but the life style itself. He goes on to suggest we don`t need all the toys and we certainly don`t need to be millionaires, to enjoy a free and mobile life style; we just need to think differently about how we structure our lives.

Join those threads to my own inner desire to pare things down to the essentials, to find a way to live more simply, more in touch with the earth, to be more in harmony to the rhythms of life and you have the beginning of a story which will be told as this soon to be New Year progresses.

In my office the process of Quanto Basta has already begun. I shifted off the book self some of those books that are just collecting dust and found room from all the inspirational books I`ve read over the last couple of years and to which I refer to often.

Next up is my online activities which will be pared down to focus exclusively on my publishing business and nothing else. This means I can unsubscribe to a host of programs and emails I down follow to keep me updated in many, now irrelevant programs. The time savings alone should multiply my productive in the area where it most counts.

That`s just the beginning, and the new year not yet begun.
My question to you is: How can you apply the idea of Quanto Basta to your life in a way that increases your enjoyment of life?

Let me know what you think.

Nick

PS Here is a Prime example of Quanto Basta as applied to the art of Bread Making.

This is my Recipe for the Hearty Tuscan Bread. It uses no salt an no oil.

Make the Sponge:

1/2 cup of hot water
2 table spoons of yeast
1/2 cup of bread floor.

Mix in a medium bowl, sprinkle with I tablespoon more of bread flour, cover and let rest for ten minutes.

Making the Bread.

If you’ve never done this before I urge you to try making this bread directly on your counter instead of using a bowl. It’s easy and saves on clean up.

Mound five cups of flour on a large bread board or your counter top.

Make a well in the center.

Add the sponge yeast mix to the center and 1/2 a cup of hot water. (By hot I mean that you can feel the heat but it doesn’t scald.)

Using your bare hands, start to mix some of the flour into the liquid from the wall of the mound. Keep the well intact to hold the water. Once you have incorporated the flour into the mix, you have 1 1/4 cup of hot water to add slowly a bit at a time, while you mix in more flour from the wall of the well. You hand will be sticky with the dough but don’t worry.

Continue to incorporate all the water and start to Knead the bread. At this point you can clean your hands by rubbing them with the unincorporated flour. Continue to Knead the dough using a scrapper to pick up some of the sticky dough. You knead until all the flour on the board has been incorporated and you have a smooth, elastic dough.

Now you take a clean kitchen towel and sprinkle it with lots of flour.( I keep this towel in a plastic bag and use it over and over again.) Form the bread into a log then roll it up tightly in the towel. Let rise for about 45 minutes.

When it is just about double in bulk preheat the oven to 400 degrees. I use the bottom of a cookie tray and carefully unroll the bread onto the tray. On the lower rack of the oven I put a pan with ice cubes. Then I put the bread in to bake for 55 minutes. Do not open the oven during cooking time.

When the bread is done, wrap in in a clean towel and allow to cool completely before using.

This bread is best with your best olive oil and a wee dusting of sea salt.

Quanto+Basta, food, life, Italian+food, spirituality, finding+balance, bread+recipes, Tuscan+bread, threads,

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