Valentine’s Giveaway from Nife Is Life:
They say Italians make the best lovers. From ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to ‘Where Angels Fear to Tread’ the English perception of Italians is one peppered with romance; dark, elegant men, lithe women with long lashes and velvet skin. Lo Stile Italiano is passionate and sensual.
As if to reinforce that, the pretty bag of Italian Baci (kisses) that I’ve been sent to review by Italian home delivery service NifeisLife (which fittingly means ‘Nice Italian Food Everyday’) is full of delicious hazelnut chocolates wrapped in silver and blue foil. A romantic version of a Chinese fortune cookie, each one contains a love message
si ama ciò che è simile ma anche ciò che è opposto
We love what is similar but also what is opposite
It is, of course, an excuse to eat more chocolate just so that you can find the perfect message.
How about
L’amore non può mai dirsi abbastanza
True love can never know satiety
Now, the man who understands and accepts that would have a place in my heart…
Perhaps my problem is that I buy too fully into my next saying
Gli Spiriti degli amanti preferiscono indugiare tra i sogni
The spirits of lovers prefer to tarry in dreams
Back to earth for a few moments – I’ve been sent a fabulous bottle of Franciacorta and some Baci chocolates to review. I’m eating my way through the chocolates and loving the concept as a Valentine’s treat.
Baci Perugina come in various sizes – from three pieces in a little tube up to a 200g box and although there are no red ribbons or heart-shaped boxes, they seem to me like a far more authentic message of love. The chocolates were originally called ‘cazzotto’ (punch) because they are shaped like a fist. They were created in 1922 by a young chocolate maker in Perugia for the man she loved – wrapping chocolate in a billet-doux to make the perfect tiny gift. They became popular as a gift for lovers, but the name was perhaps not quite so perfect. So, they were renamed ‘Baci’ – kisses.
If you haven’t heard of Franciacorta, it’s from a small wine-producing area in Lombardy. Unlike Prosecco, Franciacorta sparkling wines are produced using the ‘traditional method’ – the same way as champagne, with a second fermentation in bottle to provide the ‘fizz’ and aged on lees. So what you get is a lot more refined than Prosecco. The Franciacorta Blanc de Blanc I have uses Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco to produce a pale straw coloured sparkling wine. It’s an excellent aperitif and works well with fish and cheese.
And with oysters – perfect for Valentine’s Day.
Of course, you can buy this and many other Italian classics on the NifeIsLife website. Why not pop over and take a look? Then, I’d like you to leave me a comment and let me know which gorgeous Italian you’d like to make your own Valentine – and what you’d order from the NifeIsLife website to steal their heart. I’ve already reviewed some of the products from NifeisLife so if you are looking for inspiration do check out my post about their online Italian deli.
Me, I’m going for Alessandro Safina – an Italian tenor who I think looks rather stunning and who could also serenade me with romantic opera classics. I’d feed him on Saltimbocca and offer him some of that lovely Franciacorta to drink. For dessert, well…I think we’d just exchange Baci.
If you’d like to have a go yourself, just follow the Rafflecopter through as normal, remembering that you MUST leave me a comment. Oh, and I know it’s FAR too early – but I’d like you to be able to get your prize to share on Valentine’s day!
It would have to be Gino D’Campo and I would give him salamis,mozzarella and fresh tomatoes.
Robert de nero. Id feed him black rice and vegetables
I think I would choose Robert De Niro so we could chat about his movies and I would serve him up Fresh Salmon Supreme served with new potatoes and fresh vegetables!
Gino D’Campo and we would cook whatever he fancied together – a hot and steamy Valentine’s supper with a very tasty Valentine 😉
Giorgio Armani for great conversation and we would eat OCTOPUS SALAD WITH TAGGIASCHE OLIVES x
Claudia Cardinale . Yes I’m that old and I would give her Octopus salad .
OOhh has to be Gino! I would serve him a lovely fresh starter of mozzarella, cherry vine tomatoes and pesto on a toasted ciabatta and I’d let him decide on the main
Gino D’Campo and we would cook
Another vote for Gino here!! I’d feed him the Buitoni Chocolate Cake. Yum yum!!
RAOUL BOVA and would have CHICKEN ESCALOPES with a creamy mushroom sauce and CAMEO CHOCOLATE MOUSSE with strawberries
Colin Firth and some vegetarian Timbale…
Is Nicholas Cage part Italian? I would let him choose the menu as long as I was on it lol
I’d pick Geno D’Campo
We’d have a pizza followed by lot’s of Chocolate and a fabulous bottle of Francisco Blanc de Blanc.
Why waste to much time cooking 😊
Gino D’Campo and i would give him fresh Salmon
Valentno Rossi and Chocolate Caprese Cake
gino de campo and id feed him black rice and vegetables
Robert De Niro and I’d feed him the Buitoni Chocolate Cake.
Monica Bellucci and I would feed her whatever she wanted! Buitoni choc cake for sure though love choc cake
Valentino Rossi and messy spaghetti
Roberto Cavalli, I would feed him some Salami Napoli! I’m sure he would love it !
valentino rossi – spaghetti
Gino D’Campo and it would have to be some yummy octopus salad with taggiasche olives
I’d invite Michael Buble round (I know he’s Canadian but he is of Italian descent) and be serving a sharing platter that included buffalo mozzarella, mixed olives,, San Cario crostini and porcini mushroom pate with truffles, along with a glass of Mezzacorona Rotari Brut,
Robert De Niro , We could have a bottle of Meczan Pinot Nero J. Hofstatter and some Chicken Escalopes & Green Beans in sesame xx
Eros Ramazzotti will share some soft nougat pistachio over a cup of tea.
Monica Bellucci I’d feed her Tiramisu!
Carluccio. god rest his soul! I literally didnt find out he had passed away till new years eve! i was devastated! he is my all time fave chef! let alone italian chef! he is from the same Region (campania) that my dads side of the family is from 🙁 i never got to meet him and always wanted too! So it would be him. x
gino de campo and we would have gnocchi
Valentino Rossi – tune up pasta brake
Robert Di Nero oysters 😀
adoro
I would share The burrata with Dawn French it sounds fresh and sweet
Gino D’Campo, mainly for the food!
Francesco Totti and I’d feed him pizza as he probably needs to eat lots of carbs.
Galileo and i would probably need him a really lovely tomato based fish stew.
rack of lamb with Gianfranco Zola
I wouldn’t be overly disappointed at sharing aubergine parmigiana with Giulio Berruti.
I’d love to wine and dine Sophia Loren and I’d feed her chocolate covered hazelnuts.
I’d wine and dine my hubby we had a life changing experience after an accident I lost use of legs so now in wheelchair but it’s made us stronger I’d love to win to show appreciation
I think I would choose ryan gosling and a lasagne
I’d wine and dine the Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi on Freshly Made Chocolate-Covered Sicilian Mini Cannoli
I would choose Gino D’acampo and we would have the delicious Risotto Milanese.
Frankie Muniz is part Italian, he’s funny. We would dine on pasta putttanesca
Gino DiCampo, and we’d eat Freshly Made Sicilian Maxi Cannoli
I would choose Gino D’acampo as he’s very funny we would have Risotto Milanese.
Has to be Gino D’Acampo <3 we would shared Buitoni Chocolate Cake
Gino D’Campo 🙂
Gino D’Campo we could have the Buitino Chocolate Cake mmmm
GINO hes always talking about pasta my turn to feed him the best hes ever tasted!
How you doing ? Matt le Blanc ( Italian mother) or the rugby player Martin castrogiovanni -a rugby legend ! Feed them both lots of chocolates 🍫
has to be gino, only for the cooking of course!
Embarrassingly I’ve never tried Franciacorta, however as an enjoyer of both prosecco and champagne, I imagine I’ll be a fan!
Well as this is just a fantasy I’d choose the poet Dante and feed him the smoked tuna carpaccio.
leonardo and mozzarella, cherry vine tomatoes and pesto on a toasted ciabatta
Definately invite Gino! He would have to cook! although i have no oven at the moment sop that could be interesting!
Aww Gino 😍
Robert De Niro and I’d go for the Buitoni Chocolate Cake. as chocolate is the way to his heart I think!!
Can I pick Inspector Montalbano (young or old!) and I’d definitely have truffles on the menu! The carpaccio of summer truffles on the nifeislife website looks delicious!
Gino D’Campo
Gino
Cristina Chiabotto and i would feed her Gluten Free Lemon Caprese Cake
Valentino Rossi – spaghetti
Robert De-Niro!
Stefano accorsi id make a classic Italian pizza
Monica Bellucci I would let her eat the chocolates
I would choose Gino D’Campo because he has such a cheeky fun spark so I know it would be a really fun time with him.He’s always a great laugh. We’d eat Buitoni choc cake because it’s my favourite and I just love anything chocolate.
Sophia Loren and would feed her Truffle Polenta with eggs
Mary Contini – it would have to be Porcini mushrooms pate with truffle as a special treat
Ooh, I’d love to have Francesco Totti around for some Chocolate Caprese Cake!
Leonardo DiCaprio for an intimate dinner chez moi. I’m vegetarian and so is he but I would ask what he would like for dinner. Frankly, I don’t think I’d be able to concentrate on cooking if he were there though!!
Gianluigi Buffon the footballer and feed him Chocolate Caprese Cake
Gino D’Campo and i would give him olives
Gino D’Campo and we would have chocolate, strawberries and champagne
Monica Bellucci, without a doubt.
Gino D’Campo and i would service him fresh pasta in a tomato and basil sauce x
Has to be Gino D’Campo and I’d order Gluten Free Chocolate Caprese Cake and serve it with a sweet white wine and strawberries.
Rosabell Laurenti Sellers with conversations and Calamarata.
Gino D’Campo and I’d show him the wonders of chicken nuggets & chips!
Gino D’Campo and i’d feed him something lush from M& S.
Gino D’Campo and serve salmon
Andrea Bocelli and I would serve Sicilian chocolate covered cannoli..
tom hiddleston id feed him buscuits and tea
Isabella Rossellini for some fried-off prosciutto & mushrooms, with added creme fraiche and poured over fresh pasta! Lovely!
Gino D’Campo we would romantically look in to each others eyes and eat pasta putttanesca
My partner is half italian, so I choose her! And some lovely proscuttio and crostini would be perfect.
I’d love to share some Chocolate Caprese Cake with Gino D’Campo!
Monica Bellucci i would feed her some tiramisu
Has to be Gino….😘😘😘what a fun meal we would have…think we would have the meal on a yacht in the sunshine..with Gino barbecuing
Defo Gino DiCampo and we would have the Buitoni Chocolate Cake and we would have one each 🙂
I will love this
Gino Di Campo as long as he was cooking and then some Italian Baci
Robert De Niro pizza
Gino D’Campo but I don’t know what to serve a chef as good as him maybe just enjoy an Ameretto
Sophia Loren with a Buitoni chocolate cake.
Gino D’Campo and I’d cook a lasagne
Franky Dettori, and I’d give him a tiramisu
Me, Robert De Nero and a pizza.
It would have to be Gino D’Campo and I’d cook him pasta with sauce.
would like serve Gino D’Campo coffee and Buitoni Stracciatella Cake
Gino D’Campo . I reckon he’d like chocolate cake
Monica Bellucci – I’d make her my Prosecco Tiramisu!
Robert de nero would have the finest pizza and geleto
IT WOULD BE GINO D’ACAMPO FOR ME! OCTOPUS SALAD WITH TAGGIASCHE OLIVES WOULD BE THE MEAL
Gino De Campo,would be ideal,He could cook too.we could have prosecco tiramisu
Gino D’Campo would be welcome to make me some lovely cheesecake!!
Andrea Pirlo Crumbly Chocolate Covered (Torrone) Nougat
Gino de campo, for fun, laughter , pizza and wine x
Leonardo dicaprio 😉 😍
for me Dylan Sprouse and I would feed him the Nifeislife Pastiera Napoletana.
I’m just imagining re-inacting the scene from Lady & The Tramp with Gino D’Campo where we would share a spaghetti strand from the meatballs and sauce we would have had fun making! How funny 🙂 x
Leonardo Bonucci and I would serve Octopus Salad with Taggiasche Olives
Gino, preferably making sea bass in salt accompanied by any of the delicious vegetable accompaniments please!
Gino D’Campo and let him make the meal
Gino
Fabulous prize thank you so much for the opportunity
Gianfranco Zola. I would feed him with Capers in Salt and Milk Chocolate Covered Hazelnuts
Antonio Conte & we would have OCTOPUS SALAD WITH TAGGIASCHE OLIVES
Frankie Dettori – and technically it wouldn’t be a date, but we could talk race horses all day. And munch over black olives.
Helena with a deep pan pizza from Asda with chicken, ham, pepperoni, and bacon.
I’d choose Carla Bruni (she is the same age as me) and she could have anything she wanted. I’d have the Prosciutto Riserva
Gino D’Campo Id feed him the mozzarella
Why Gino, of course. BELLA!
Gino decampo and I’d cook him chicken escalopes
Brillaint prize!
Leonardo DeCaprio – I would feed him Chocolate Caprese Cake :o)
Gino de csmpo
Gino De Campo
Al Pacino and I would feed him some delicious tiramisu
A perfect coupling 🙂
Geno D’Campo and we’d eat chocolate Caprese cake
Giuseppe Verdi and I would serve him Italian sausages with Fennel
Gino D’Acampo and I’d feed him on Girasoli with Pumpkin 🙂 though I’d live in hope that he would be cooking for me!
Gino D’Campo, and why would i cook when he is so amazing at it lol
Al Pacino a brilliant actor loved him best in The Scent of a woman, he would enjoy polpette with me x
Valentino Rossi – I’d fed him pasta xx
Valentino Rossi, I would fee him OCTOPUS SALAD WITH TAGGIASCHE OLIVES
Giorgio Armani because I think he would be very interesting to talk to. We would eat Octopus Salad with Taggiasche Olives……
Gino D’Campo and i would feed him Pizza.
I would share The burrata with Dawn French it sounds fresh and sweet
Gino D’Campo
Gino – i’d make him cook!
Gino D’Campo and we would share Octopus Salad with Taggiasche Olives
Gino so he can cook me a yummy meal and we can have a laugh x
Going D’Campo, I would hope he would do the cooking. Seafood Risotto would be delicious. Minestrone as a starter and delicious Italian ice cream for dessert.
Gino D,Campo. Definitely the chocolate cake x
Geoffrey Dean Morgan he is yummy 🙃
Professor Alice Roberts and we’d have chips and curry sauce.
gino d’acampo. I’d do a stone baked pizza
As we’re talking about food it would also have to be Gino D’Acampo for me (as I believe David Gandy sadly isn’t Italian!) and we ‘d eat Bauli Panettone Di Verona. Looks delicious.
Andrea Bocelli with chocolate cake
Gino D’Campo and I would feed him lots of italian pizza!
Giulio Berruti and we would eat Octopus Salad with Taggiasche Olives and Green Beans in sesame followed by Nutella Crostata
Joey Fontane and the chocolate cake mmm
Gabriel Garko yummy
I’d feed Gino Di Campo some Buitoni cake! Or he can feed me!
Robert De Niro with Macaroni Cheese
Robert De Niro, Carbonara
Montelbano and a croquette. Fans will get that one!! 😉
Gino DiCampo for spaghetti carbonara
Joey from Friends and I would feed him all of it in the hope that Joey might share food!
Gino D’Campo and I would give him a selection of Italian meat, fresh mozzarella and sun dried tomatoes
Greatamundo
Gino de Campo
I would cook him a Thai green curry
with Raffaella Fico, it would be a Cherry Crostata
I would invite Andrea Bocelli and feed him Nutella Crostata then he can sing to me.
Monica Bellucci and we‘d eat Bauli Panettone Di Verona
Gino D’Campo and i would give him Carbonara
Christopher Columbus and I would take him to my amazing fish and chip shop by the beach
It would be Martina Stella and I would feed her oysters, squid and prawns to start with followed by pizza, all accompanied by Franciacorta.
gary sinise or Robert davi and I would serve them spaghetti carbonara
Romani and i would cook steak and garlic mushrooms
I would choose Marco Pierre White, I would feed him fresh Salmon with a white wine and dill sauce, with baby veg and new potatoes
I’d probably choose Kasia Smutniak, I’d go with Calafuria Negroamaro Rosato Tomaresca and beef lasagna.
Valentno Rossi and Chocolate Caprese Cake
Robert De Niro and we’d have steak and garlic mushrooms
Leonardo da Vinci – we would have so much to talk about!
Another vote for Gino here!! I’d feed him the Chocolate Caprese Cake!
gino with carbanara
gino all the way
Robert de Niro, and we’d share a pizza.
I would invite Reinhold Messner to eat BUFFALO MOZZARELLA FROM CAMPANIA with me.
OOOH that’s an easy one. Do love Graziano Pellè – who used to play in the English Premier League. Main reason for watching Italy play football though.
I would serve Avricchictto with Barilla Bolognese sauce, Chocolate Caprese cake and Lavaazza Coffee Qualita Ross for afterwards.
would have to be nero!!! might be a bit old though now…
Gino
We could make pasta
Gino de campo – I would ask him to cook for me!. If I had to cook for him I would go out doors have a romantic walk in the woods collecting wood for a camp fire and cook BBQ style with camp mess for pudding followed by dampers, s’mores and toasted marshmallows around the camp fire under the stars
Gino D’Acampo and would have to fee him the oysters 😉
Robert De Niro. He’s still sexy, even now!!
I would serve Chateaubriand! My favourite dish, which I am sure he would love!
Giulio Berruti
Robert de niro
Oysters
Gino D’Acampo of course – aubergine parmareggio! 🙂
Al Pacino – The Godfather
For looks and charm he’s a winner,
The perfect guest for a Romantic dinner..
With Franciacorta I couldn’t lose,
I’d offer some Baci he couldn’t refuse!
X X X X X
Monica Bellucci and i would have steak and mushrooms
Id love to share a cherry crostata with Valentino Rossi. He could take me for a spin on his bike after 🙂
Gino D’Acampo and i’d serve him the Lemon Caprese Cake
Gino because he’s so funny. I’d serve him my bolognese😜
Gino D’Acampo!
I’d feed him Beef Lasagne, followed by Nifeislife Pastiera Napoletana Cake with a bottle of Chianti La Piuma to wash it all down.
would love gino to cook something for me
Gino as he could cook for us and keep us entertained! Gnocchi for me 🙂
Gino D’Campo and we’d have lobster x x
Gino & Chocolate Caprese Cake
Robert De Niro – just my age- Octopus salad with taggiache and gluten free lemon caprese cake
Gino D’Campo ! Would be great fun date with him! Would serve him my pasta with king prawns!
Fabio Cannavaro and I would feed him chocolate covered cannoli 🙂
Valentino Rossi-I,d treat him to Lasagne & Limoncello
Robert De Niro as he’s so funny and a brilliant actor I’d love to cook for him, maybe a spaghetti bolognese as that’s my signature dish and ask him tons of questions
Gino and would have pizza