>> "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is brought to you by the following... >> That flower feeling.

♪ At home.

♪ At work.

♪ Or anytime.

♪ CalFlowers is a proud sponsor of "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom," where flowers and wellness go hand in hand.

>> We have fresh in all our stores, from soups and steaks and all things flour to all things flowering.

Custom fresh arrangements designed by our in-store florists at Albertsons Companies.

>> With additional support from the following... Dollar Tree.

♪ >> Today on "Life in Bloom," our projects are infused with the facets of Italy and Italian culture.

I'll create an arrangement in a Della Robbia style and a bouquet with lemons, reflecting the famous Amalfi Coast.

Plus, we'll enjoy some Italian food, spirits, and inspiration with my friend Chef Jenna.

♪ ♪ I'm J Schwanke.

Welcome to "Life in Bloom."

Today, I'm creating flower arrangements inspired by Italy.

I love to arrange flowers that include a theme.

And I realized that many types of flower arrangements have origins in Italy.

Whether it's lemons from the Amalfi Coast or including fruit for a Della Robbia-style compote, a simple addition or technique can shift the feeling of your flowers in a specific direction.

The shift can be obvious, but many times, it can be subtle while still evoking the desired effect.

However, I can't theme a show on Italy without food, right?

My friend Chef Jenna joins me for some fun with flowers and vegetables and shares tips on authentic Italian cuisine from her mother-in-law in Maniago, Italy.

With that inspiration, let's explore flower arrangements that call back to Italy in both earthy and stylistic ways.

♪ Della Robbia refers to an artistic style that was characteristic of art produced by a 15th-century sculptor, Luca della Robbia.

As a decorative element in borders, his artwork often incorporated various fruits, usually oranges, apples, pears, and grapes.

This fruit motif eventually found its way into live arrangements, mostly garlands and wreaths.

These creations became known as Della Robbia style.

Enthusiasm for the Della Robbia style continues to enjoy popularity, especially during the holiday season.

But today, I'll show you how beautiful it can be at any time of year.

Let's create an arrangement now in the Della Robbia style, including fruits and, of course, flowers.

I've selected a compote so that the flowers and the fruit can drape over the sides.

I've filled the compote with soaked flower foam.

I've beveled the sides of the foam and covered it with moss.

Both our flowers and our fruit will attach into that foam.

We'll start with the fruit.

I'm using bamboo skewers to attach the fruit.

We can attach a bunch of grapes to one side or poke the skewers into the fruit and then place them in their desired locations into the flower foam.

The skewers are a convenient way to keep the fruit in place, although it doesn't make the fruit last as long.

♪ I'm leaving room for my flowers.

They'll go in next.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ We'll fill in the spots in between the fruit with flowers.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ We've got beautiful hydrangeas and peonies and Cloni ranunculus.

I like that the hydrangeas and the peonies and the ranunculus have an Italian heritage, and they'll look beautiful in this arrangement.

♪ ♪ ♪ Then we'll add the ribbon.

This is a burgundy ribbon with a wired edge, and I can simply tuck it into place using the bamboo skewers.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Now we have a beautiful centerpiece that's gonna last for a week or more.

♪ The Amalfi Coast in Italy is famously known for growing lemons.

Lemons there have been cultivated since Roman times on the terraced geography, holding the earth in place while providing the revered fruit to the enjoyment of generations.

Lemons were the inspiration for decorations on beautiful ceramics as well as the key ingredients for limoncello, both plentiful in the area and beyond.

Today, I'm combining lemons with flowers in an arrangement perfect for entertaining around the sunshine fruit.

We'll start by placing soaked flower foam in both of our containers.

I'll bevel the edges because it's easier to make a rounded arrangement once we've beveled off those square edges.

Our smaller container will just have lemons and ivy.

These are bamboo stakes or skewers.

We're placing two into each lemon.

That way, they won't turn when we've placed them into the foam.

♪ ♪ Then we can add some fresh moss.

We'll place it in between the lemons.

♪ ♪ Now it's time for our ivy.

I like big, long strands like this, and we'll place the end into the flower foam.

That's great 'cause it'll have a water supply.

♪ We'll start the other one the same way, with the beveled foam and the moss and the lemons.

♪ ♪ We're also adding ivy to this arrangement, again, placing the ends down into the saturated flower foam.

That way, they have a water supply.

♪ ♪ ♪ I'm using sunflowers and yellow snapdragons.

We've got some beautiful chamomile.

♪ ♪ We'll add a few accent flowers, like the zinnia and the coreopsis and this beautiful cottage yarrow.

It gives it a wonderful Italian feel.

♪ We'll add a few more pieces of ivy and then bring our trailers up and wrap them around the container.

♪ Now we have two great companion pieces we can use as a centerpiece on our table.

♪ You've met my friend Jenna Arcidiacono on the show before.

I've known Chef Jenna and her husband, Maurizio, owners of Amore Trattoria Italiana for more than 10 years.

How time flies, and deliciously so in this case.

I wanted to share an earlier appearance with Chef Jenna where she showed her expertise in Italian cuisine with me.

Maurizio is your husband.

>> Maurizio's my husband, yes.

>> And that's how this kind of came about, too, 'cause I love the story about how you learned to cook.

>> Yes.

He took me to Italy.

Like, after we dated not very long, he's like, "Come to Italy," and I was like, "Okay."

>> Oh, yeah?

>> Just a whirlwind trip to Italy.

It was beautiful.

Of course, I fell more in love with Maurizio and Italy and his mother, who is who taught me all of what I know about real Italian food, which I didn't know about at all.

>> When you said that she kind of, like -- you were both in the house together, and she was like, "Okay.

We're not just gonna sit in the house, you're gonna learn to cook."

>> Right, right.

Well, and I loved to cook already.

She didn't speak English, I didn't speak Italian, so we basically got around pointing at things, and I would watch.

>> Okay.

>> And slowly, I would learn the words.

She never learned much English, but I learned Italian.

>> Right.

>> So now I'm fluent in Italian, and I'm fluent in Italian food.

>> So now we're gonna cook today.

>> Yeah, we're gonna cook.

And we were kind of racking our brains, talking about what has flowers in it.

>> Right.

>> And the number-one thing I get, like, this crinkled nose for when I tell people specials at the restaurant is dandelion greens.

They're like, "Dandelion?

What?"

I'm like, "Yes, you can eat dandelion greens."

We made our own ravioli with dandelion greens, our homemade sausage, ricotta, and Parmiagiano.

So, I've pre-cooked those so we can make a little sauce for them, and the best, simplest sauce for ravioli is butter and sage.

So, we're gonna make brown butter and sage.

And these turn into the crispiest little potato chips.

They're so good.

>> Oh, wow.

>> So, before we even put it on there, we're gonna eat a little sage crisp.

>> Oh, cool.

Okay.

>> So what I'm gonna do is turn this on here.

I melted it a little bit, but we're gonna brown the butter.

And since it's got salt in it, browning butter makes the crystals in there kind of brown.

And so, you can see it.

It's gonna start to bubble a little bit, and I'm gonna put these sage leaves.

And you can start to -- You can smell it.

>> Right.

Oh, absolutely.

>> These are already cooked.

>> Okay.

>> And I'm gonna wait till those are nice and crisp.

And then, we're gonna toss the ravioli in there.

But like I said, I want you to be able to try one of these.

And I think while we're doing that, I'm gonna show you that I have tomatoes, and we're gonna make a little tomato rose.

Have you ever done that before?

>> No, I haven't.

Okay.

>> Get a tomato.

Oh.

Ah!

Paring knife.

See that?

That's what we want it to look like.

Now, we don't want it to burn.

>> Okay.

So, should we pay attention?

>> Yep.

I'm gonna turn that off while we make our tomato... >> Okay.

>> ...roses.

And our tomato roses, here's one, and I made that with a... >> It's beautiful.

>> ...with a bigger knife.

But if we make it with a smaller knife, we're gonna have a fuller rose.

So what we're gonna do is get in here and slowly twist around.

>> Uh-huh.

>> You're gonna want to go around like you would be, like, almost pealing an apple.

And we're gonna slowly just get the skin.

>> Okay.

Just the skin.

>> Yep.

You don't want to go deeper than the skin.

>> Okay.

>> And now I'm going to the next layer down.

So it's kind of like a curlicue.

♪ So, you're done?

>> So, do I just finish up?

>> Yep, finish up.

>> Okay.

>> And then you're gonna turn it inside out, backwards-style.

>> Then I'm gonna turn it inside out.

>> So, you don't put the shiny side, you put the other side, and you start to twirl it around itself.

>> Oh, so it's gonna be like a ribbon rose.

>> Yep, inside out, backwards.

♪ I'm almost done... >> [ Chuckles ] >> ...with mine.

I'm gonna set it next to this one.

>> I'm gonna make you arrange flowers in a minute.

>> Oh, great.

[ Both laugh ] There's my rose.

And then, just for fun, I'm gonna put a little basil leaf next to it so it looks like a little petal.

While you're doing that, I'm gonna scrape up one of these sage leaves for you.

>> Aha.

Oh, it is like a little potato chip.

>> Mm-hmm.

It's delicious.

Isn't that good?

[ Laughs ] All right, I'm gonna throw these in here.

>> So, now, tonight -- tonight, Kelly and I are gonna be making up little sage chips.

>> I know.

They're awesome.

>> Mmm!

Yum!

>> Yeah.

Just goes right in there.

I'm gonna throw these in the pan.

So now you can hear it sizzling in there, and that's just the simplest sauce ever, right?

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Browned butter and sage.

>> Right.

>> And what we're gonna do is, throw these into your dish, and we can also make really pretty, um...basil strips.

What you do is kind of roll it.

>> Uh-huh.

>> And then slice it.

It makes these really, really pretty strips that you can throw on the edge of your plate.

So, see how those pretty little basil... >> Uh-huh, I love those.

>> We made a pretty little dish there.

>> You did make a pretty little dish there.

Okay.

So now do I get to taste it?

>> Yes.

>> Okay.

>> So, what is inside, like I said, is the dandelion greens that you have to cut and sauté -- we sauté it in olive oil, garlic, and onion -- and then we add our homemade sausage that we have a little special recipe for.

And then, we make our little pasta and roll it out.

Isn't that good?

It's just simple.

>> It is so good.

And, you know...

I have told you this many times -- I have never had a bad thing at your restaurant.

>> Oh, good.

>> Never.

Whatever comes out of that kitchen is gonna be perfect.

And it's fabulous.

>> It's good, and it's just simple.

♪ >> Italian Cloni ranunculus are available in many bright colors and shades.

Cloni ranunculus are remarkable for their many petals and very large flowers.

Members of the genus are also known as buttercups, spearworts, and water-crowfoots.

In nature, buttercups are mostly perennial, but occasionally annual or biennial, herbaceous, aquatic, or terrestrial plants.

What makes Cloni ranunculus unique is that the bulbs used for these flowers are propagated in a laboratory.

This in vitro process, also called "cloning of the bulbs," results in a much healthier plant without viruses or diseases.

Ranunculus prefer a cool environment and, therefore, may be hard to find during the summer and fall.

Thanks to the improved varieties, microclimates, and modern growing techniques, ranunculus are now grown year-round.

♪ Here's another arrangement with an Italian flair that would be great for entertaining or a themed event.

I'm making it with all sorts of different green vegetables, and we'll create it in the Della Robbia style, and maybe we'll add a few flowers, too.

We'll be placing all of these fruits and vegetables into our flower foam, and we'll be using bamboo skewers.

And then, we can tuck our flowers in between.

We're filling our container with soaked flower foam.

I'm using three bricks, and I've cut one at a 2/3 and 1/3 division.

We place the larger piece on top of the other two bricks and the smaller piece on top of that.

We're building a pyramid that will be inside our arrangement.

I use three bamboo skewers at opposing angles down through them to hold the foam in place.

♪ Then, we can start adding our fruits and vegetables.

We'll start with the artichokes.

These artichokes have a nice, long stem, so I can cut them at an angle and insert them directly into the foam.

Things like broccoli have a fatter stem.

I still cut those at an angle, but then I place two bamboo skewers in so that it won't twist or turn around when I've placed it into the foam.

We use the bamboo skewers to attach our white grapes, or bianco.

We simply place the bunch of grapes where we want it and stick two or three bamboo skewers through the bunch directly into the foam.

♪ Things that don't have a stem, like the bok choy, get two skewers, and then we go directly into the foam.

♪ Apples and peppers get added with the stakes again.

The same thing with the limes.

♪ Here's a fun technique that you can do with a bunch of celery.

I cut off about 3 inches of the bottom.

The bottom looks like a rosette, and it can be added into the arrangement.

♪ Once all my fruits and vegetables are in place, I can go back and fill in the little spaces with my flowers.

This brunia echoes the shape of the bianco grapes.

So does the hypericum.

That's the fruit of St. John's-wort.

♪ These little tufts of moss are actually carnations.

It's a dianthus, called Green Trick.

♪ Of course, I love a Fuji mum, and these green Fuji mums have great texture.

I'm also using some poppy pods.

It's kind of a cross between the flower world and the fruit-and-vegetable world.

♪ Now we've got a beautiful arrangement that's perfect and can be the centerpiece for our Italian-inspired event.

♪ Today, I'm gonna show you how to make an aperitif that originated on Italy's Amalfi Coast -- limoncello.

Then we'll use the results as an ingredient in a unique sangria.

Our first step is to zest our lemons.

We use organic lemons.

That's important.

Conventional lemons tend to be coated in wax or other sealers that make it difficult to infuse the lemon flavor.

You'll get much more lemon flavor in your limoncello with organic lemons.

Use a microplane zester on the lemons, being careful to avoid zesting the pith, or the white part of the peal.

Too much pith will make your limoncello bitter.

Then, we'll infuse the lemon zest in alcohol.

We'll fill a jar with the lemon zest and then cover it with the alcohol.

Close the jar and shake daily to infuse to your taste.

I suggest infusing for at least two weeks.

The alcohol I've used for this is grain alcohol.

Once the mixture is infused properly, we'll strain off the lemon zest.

I simply use a coffee filter and pour the alcohol through the coffee filter.

Once I've got that completed, I'll add a cup more of water to the lemon zest and swirl it around.

This way, I get all of the limoncello taste out of that lemon zest.

Then we can create our simple-syrup solution.

We'll put 1 1/2 liters of water into a pan on the stove and heat it.

We'll add 3 1/2 cups of pure, organic cane sugar.

Once it's completely dissolved, we'll remove it from the heat and let it cool down.

You want to add it to the limoncello when it's cool.

♪ We'll mix the ingredients together in a pitcher.

And then, we can move it to smaller bottles and seal it.

You can give away the limoncello as a gift or store it till later and have it for different types of cocktails.

So let's create today's cocktail.

It's a strawberry-cherry limoncello rosé sangria.

In a large pitcher, add 3/4 cup of limoncello.

We'll also add half of a lemon that's been thinly sliced.

Then we'll add a cup of fresh strawberries and a cup of pitted cherries.

Then we'll add one bottle of chilled rosé champagne.

♪ In our glasses, we'll put strawberries and cherries and lemon slices.

We'll add our ice and then pour our sangria mixture over the top.

It's a wonderful, refreshing drink that incorporates the limoncello we created ourselves.

♪ ♪ Molte grazie for watching this episode, inspired by our amoré for the bellissimo influence of Italia.

Until next time, for "Life in Bloom," I'm J Schwanke.

Arrivederci.

>> And all it takes is a little burner here that's $18.99 at the Chinese market.

>> [ Gasps ] Wow!

>> Yeah, it's perfect for camping, too.

Like, if you ever want to go camping and you need gas.

>> Uh-huh.

>> So I'm gonna turn this on, and I'm gonna brown the butter.

Camping, right?

Your favorite pastime.

>> Camping, to me, is going to your place to eat dinner.

>> Yeah.

Well, that's about as far as I go, too.

Her mother's friends came over for the afternoon, and what men do in Italy is, they go have coffee.

Well, looked like women got together and had a little Rosolio.

>> I'm sticking with the ladies.

>> I know.

That's what I felt.

>> Make some flower arrangements, make some ravioli, drape the roses -- it's perfect.

>> I know.

That's what I said.

>> "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is filmed in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

>> Visit J's website, ubloom.com, for flower projects and crafts, complete recipes, behind-the-scenes videos, J's blog, flower cocktails, and more.

♪ "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom" is brought to you by the following... >> That flower feeling.

♪ At home.

♪ At work.

♪ Or anytime.

♪ CalFlowers is a proud sponsor of "J Schwanke's Life in Bloom," where flowers and wellness go hand in hand.

>> We have fresh in all our stores, from soups and steaks and all things flour to all things flowering.

Custom fresh arrangements designed by our in-store florists at Albertsons Companies.

>> With additional support from the following... Dollar Tree.

♪ Closed-caption funding provided by Holland America Flowers.

♪ ♪