Tag Archives: Italy

Ahhh, Venezia!

During our trip to Italy this past April, we stayed in Venice for two nights. Not enough! I could have toured the Cicchetti Pubs every day for hours, wandered around the Fish Market, sipped on Venetian Spritz, disappeared into the maze of alleys and piazzas…. While we were planning this trip, we had heard that two nights in Venice would be plenty of time and if all you want to do is see San Marco then this is more than enough. However, San Marco was a disappointment to us, by simply being the Disney World of Venice. It was filled with tourists and cheesy ‘made in china’ souvenir kiosks everywhere you turned. Who wants to go to Venice and by a mask made in china??

Now don’t get me wrong, it was remarkable in size and architecture and history, we did tour Doge’s Palace and the Bridge of Sighs which we thoroughly enjoyed. The Bridge of Sighs attaches Doge’s Palace to the Prigioni or Prison’s. The Bridge of Sighs in Venice received its name in the 17th century, because the prisoners who passed through it’s two passages inside, on their way to the prison cells on the other side, would more than likely see the beautiful sight of the lagoon and the island of S.Giorgio and freedom for the last time and sigh.

Venice by night is magical. The daytime tourists have gone and the lights are twinkling on the water. Don’t miss seeing this by way of Vaporetti, it’s stunning! The Vaporetto is a water bus system that runs from Venice to the nearby islands, Burano, Lido and Murano. We didn’t have time to see these and would have liked to.

Things not to miss in Venice according to me:-).

Sipping a Venetian Spritz! The Fish Market! And… Cicchetti (pronounced chi-KET-tee) Pub hopping. Cicchetti’s are an assortment of little foods served with toothpicks. Everything from various forms of Acciuga (anchovy) to polenta and meat balls to vegetables and small sandwiches. These are traditional to Venice and served in “bàcari” (cicchetti bars or osterie). The locals, mostly men, would swarm these bars in late-morning, lunch time. I loved to sit, eating cicchetti and sipping house wine of course, while watching and listening to them all speaking Italian. It was one of my most favorite things we did in Venice.

Oh, I miss Italy and cannot wait to return, soon!

Ciao.
…

I took several handfuls of pictures of lemons on our recent trip to Italy this past April. Lemon trees, lemons in bowls, lemons on vines. They were plentiful and beautiful. You see, I love lemons. I love a wedge squeezed in my sweet tea, I love the look of a bowl of lemons to brighten a room, I love the zest, the juice, the color, the smell….

So when I came across this article about 22 uses for lemon peels, I was immediately intrigued. Now, I already do several things on this list, but I have to share a few new things I found that I can’t wait to try out! Like making lemon extract powder which you can then use to make lemon sugar and lemon pepper or making a sugar scrub! Soften your elbows and lighten age spots too! Sounds good to me.

The Sugar Scrub

Tri-color cheese & sausage tortellini.

Lately, with my ever shifting priorities, I’ve had good intentions to cook more. I’m a good cook, who learned the art from a great cook, my Mom. It would be a shame to let this talent go to waste. Sometimes it’s difficult, I’m easily swayed by all the amazing local eating establishments we have here in St. Petersburg, but the effort is being made. With that said, I do need inspiration and ideas, as I tend to get bored easily, so I thought I’d share with you a few of my favorite blogs and websites that I turn to in my time of need. Enjoy!

Simply Recipes – My current favorite place to find new recipes.

101 Cookbooks – Interesting finds, not your everyday, at least not things I think of naturally, oh and beautiful food photography as well.

Tasty Kitchen – Have you been introduced to The Pioneer Woman yet? Well, this is her food site!

The Nourished Kitchen – Not only great recipes and beautiful photography, but really useful information for just about everything in the kitchen.

Tortellini Recipe.

1/2 pound fresh tri-color cheese tortellini
1/2 pound fresh sausage tortellini (Both purchased at Messineo’s Gourmet Market)
1/4 cup chopped Arugula
parmigiano-reggiano to taste – I use a lot!
extra virgin olive oil
salt
fresh ground pepper

Bring water to boil, toss in fresh torts, about 2-3 minutes until they float to top.
Pull out of water and toss with all ingredients.
Enjoy!

Italy has always been the most important European country for me to visit and my wish came true this April. My husband and I brought Mema and Pop Pop to Florida to watch the kiddos while we whisked ourselves away for two weeks. We focused on Liguria, home of Le Cinque Terre, the five villages. They are Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. This region is rich with culinary splendors and the local wine called Sciacchetrà, a straw wine, typically drank with cheese or desserts. They are fisherman villages, and wine villages, known for the best pesto and focaccia in Italy. As well, you must have the acciuga, anchovies, a specialty of Monterosso.

This region is also a part of the Cinque Terre National Park. There are walking trails connecting the five towns and the difficulty levels range from an easy stroll to a rough and physically challenging hike. The segment of the hike between Riomaggiore and Manarola is called the Via Dell’Amore (“Love Walk”). We enjoyed bringing along a little nosh to sit and enjoy during our hike. The towns are each unique in there own way, our favorite was Monterosso al Mare, it has two distinct sides, the new and old. We spent most of our time in Old Town at the Enoteca’ de Eliseo a beautiful little wine bar run by husband and wife, Eliseo and Mary. They serve bottomless bowls of the most amazing capers, they are huge in size and flavor.

This is where you can buy jars of the best pesto to take home and the little pasta called Trofie, Combine them to make Trofie al Pesto!

Trofie al Pesto

We also loved Corniglia. Unlike the other towns of the Cinque Terre, Corniglia is not located on the sea. Instead, it is on the top of the mountain, surrounded on three sides by vineyards and terraces and the fourth side descends steeply on the sea. We found a lovely place to stop for vino named Il Pirun, run by Mario. After you finish up with a drink downstairs, wind your way up the spiral staircase to the second floor for a wonderful meal.

Whatever you do, DO NOT leave here without buying several bags of the olive oil crackers they serve with the wine. These are addicting.

For now, Ciao!  I’ll be back with Venice on our next tour of our trip to Italy.