Category Archives: Miscellaneous
A Visit To Assisi
The second day started kind of late. We assembled out in the garden with a big tray of toasted bread, cheese, jam and of course- coffee. This is the first place in a long time where I have not brought my own coffee contraption- they have it in the apartment, three of them. They also have the yummiest ground coffee. The breakfast was very enjoyable and we lingered for a while.
We then strolled around Spello and landed at a Gelateria for a snack. We had delicious hazelnut and coffee gelato and a few paninis (fish, proscuitto and eggs) and of course a cappucinno- I have to have at least one if not two everyday.
It was quite hot and we decided to get in the car and drive around. We ended up in Assisi– another small old town. It was nice to walk around and have gelato again- it really is all about the food. We also bought delicious marzipan and pistachio cookies- yum!
Dinner was back in Spello at a tiny wine bar. We started with fabulous glasses of red and white wine. We were served a platter of brushchetta- very different than what we know in the US- the toasted pieces of bread had a smear of the different pastes. These were 5 or 6 different kinds- two were doused with different olive oils. The rest were with black truffles, white truffles, sundried tomatoes and my favorite- arugula and capers. It was like a pesto- I asked the lady for thean ingredients and she told me arugula, almonds and capers- I will make this when I get home- it was delicious!
Dinner continued with a plate of ham and salami and a platter of 5 different kinds of pecorino cheese served with honey. I had no idea there were so many different kinds! Well, needless to say- we all had a wonderful time sitting outside in the late evening enjoying the local food and wine and listening to our neighbors speak Italian.
Today – it is Perugia- famous for it’s chocolates. Will report back tomorrow, as, right now I need to go in the kitchen and make my fabulous coffee. Ciao!
Arrived In Spello!
I am up at 8 AM local time- that makes it about 2 AM New Jersey time! I can hear a dog barking and an elderly gentlemen watering the plants outside. Speaking of plants, this little town is full of flowers and planters everywhere. It is gorgeous- a tiny medieval town named Spello. It has tiny, curved, cobblestoned streets.
We drove about 2 hours from Rome airport yesterday morning to get to this charming Umbrian town. It was very difficult to find our destination even with the gps- but eventually we got there.
We are staying in an old buiding that is divided into small apartments. Ours, has a great view of the hills.
We walked around in the evening, completely jet lagged, as no one had slept on the flight over- not even my daughter, Sia. We stopped at a gelato place and satisfied our cravings. We saw many small charming restaurants but at the end decided to do a picnic in our garden instead. We went to a tiny store and bought proscuitto, wild boar salami and a sheep milk cheese. The shopkeeper had some fresh olives marinated in a spicy mixture- delicious! We had red wine in the apartment and all we needed was some bread.
We sat in the garden and ate the yummy cold cuts and drank the delicious wine just in time to enjoy the beautiful sunset- can life get any better than that??
The charming garden is full of rosemary, sage, basil. It also has lots of fruit trees including grapes. We enjoyed lovely green grapes after dinner. When we came inside, while cleaning up, I discovered a jar of homemade apricot jam from the garden- I will be experimenting it for breakfast this morning!
Off To Umbria Next Week
I have been planning our trip to Umbria for 6 months now- it’s coming up- we leave on Friday, August 28th. It took me a while to convince my husband to go back to Italy. He wanted to go somewhere new- but I feel a special connection to Italy. Not sure if it’s the food, wine or the good looking, well dressed people. Oh- yes the gelato helps as well- and the cappuccino- the best I have ever had! We were there almost ten years ago- and I have been wanting to go back for ever. Now that it is almost here, I am excited and sad at the same time. I love booking a vacation months in advance so I can think and anticipate the trip-that is my favorite part. The trip itself goes so fast and the anticipation is much sweeter.
I am very excited about learning how to cook a few local umbrian dishes from an Italian woman who does not speak any English- and I don’t speak any Italian- this should be very interesting. We will go to the market to buy the ingredients and then come back to the apartment and cook a complete dinner. Did I mention we will be staying in an apartment in a small medieval town, Spello. Spello has tiny cobblestone streets and is known for it’s olive oil, truffles and pottery- I am in heaven!
My plan is to blog from Spello documenting my eating and drinking adventures- I will not be emailing my usual recipes next week. I am looking forward to learning lots of new techniques and recipes to share with all of you while I am there and once I get back.
Enjoy the rest of the summer!
So Busy Cooking- You Forget About The Hungry
As a Cook and a Mom, I am always thinking of what to cook next. I am so busy concocting the next meal that it is hard to imagine there are people out there, especially kids who go hungry every day. I am at a grocery store almost everyday thinking about healthy ways to feed my family. Shop Rite is one store that is helping people who are desperate to eat anything at all- there are over 36 million Americans who go to bed hungry every night and 12 million of them are children.
I am writing about this problem on behalf of The ShopRite Partners in Caring program. It is a program that fights against hunger by supporting 23 regional food banks and more than 1,400 charitable agencies with food or meal components.
You can help by purchasing products with the ShopRite Partners in Caring shelf tag. This will help support the brands that help the fight against hunger and ultimately help fill empty bowls for thousands of hungry families in your community.
Please go to ShopRite and do your part.
As a thank you, General Mills and ShopRite will donate one box of cereal to a food bank in ShopRite’s trading area for the first 30 people who comment on this post.
Thank You!
Plane Food- I should have had water instead!
My daughter and I are sitting on a plane heading to Seattle. When I started thinking about our trip, especially the plane ride, food came to mind. What will we eat on the plane?? These days they don’t give much on board and if they do, it’s not worth eating! Ours was an early morning flight so I was not sure if the usual restaurants would be open. I decided to pack some food for us, especially since my daughter does not care for sandwiches- that is what they ended up serving on the flight! I initially thought of packing something just for her but then decided to pack for myself also. I make a veggie sandwich for lunch most days (I am a creature of habit and look forward to eating the same thing everyday!), which seemed like a good idea to pack. The problem was that it had mayo and tomato chutney, which would make the sandwich soft and wet. It had to be something that would keep well and easy to eat! I thought of the lunch my daughter takes a couple times a week. I always have chicken tikkas (recipe on the blog) made in the fridge or freezer. I make a homemade whole-wheat roti (Indian version of a tortilla), put some chicken pieces in it and roll it up! It is very easy to eat and has two important food groups- whole grains and protein. I decided to make two for us. I also had two apples left in the fridge which I decided to cut and pack. I packed a yogurt in a tube for my daughter as an additional snack.
When it came time to eat, we got two trays with a sandwich, muffin and fruit. I decided to open the egg and cheese sandwich on a biscuit because I was curious and was prepared to eat it. It didn’t look very appetizing but I thought one couldn’t really mess up an egg sandwich!! I was wrong- all I could taste was a little salt and a lot of fat and grease! I was very glad I packed food for myself. I had the rolled up chicken roti, the muffin and the fruit. I washed it down with something they called hot tea- it vaguely tasted like warm soap water with milk- I should have had water instead!!!