Burrata, Mozzarella Cousin
Imagine making a cheesy pouch out of fresh mozzarella, then filling it with cream and mozzarella strands. That's "Burrata". "Burro" means "butter", so it gives you an idea of the fatty, smooth...
Father’s Day Blooming
Happy Father's Day to my own "Pop", and to the other men that I know that get to say that they are "Dad". Sunday morning, 10:00 a.m. Father's Day. The sun is bright in my courtyard and I'm out...
Figs and Borlottis
Fresh figs are in at the Saturday street market just a couple of blocks away, and they share the display with the magenta-splashed Borlotti bean pods! I bought some of both green figs and black, and...
Sweet Mary
Mary was sitting there at her desk when I stepped into the little back room adjoining the chapel at Milano's Cimitero Monumentale - the Monumental Cemetery. Now 87, she's given her time for close to...
Late Night Walk Home
A bunch of friends and I met up for a lecture at 9:15 pm at the Design Library. I walked almost a mile along the canals and side streets to meet them there. Afterwards, we all went out for a bite to...
Fairytale Riviera Wedding
Warmest congratulations to Glenda and Massimo! Congratulazioni! The two were wed on Saturday, June 9, 2012 on the hill of Cimiez, in the city of Nice, France, along the jewel-toned Côte...
Language Overload
Journal Entry: Sunday, June 10 - On the train returning home to Milano after a weekend in Nice, France, on the Côte d'Azur. My brain hit "overload" sometime yesterday (Saturday) in the language...
How to Eat 100 Steamed Mussels
Having spent the morning walking all over old-town Nice, on the jewel-toned Riviera coast of France, it was time to eat a bite… or maybe a hundred. Miriam and I passed many little cafés with people...
Porcini and Brooms
This is real Italian food. They're not over here just eating pizza and spaghetti. And they're NOT eating "Fettucine Alfredo"! (If you see it on a menu, it's only there for the tourists.) The range...
Talking Over the Fence
Standing in my skinny kitchen, washing the dishes, I heard a couple of women talking. I looked out my kitchen window and its security bars, across the long, common courtyard and saw two women...
Scented by Jasmine
Journal Entry - June 1, 2012 "How blessed and full of grace are these days, scented by the jasmine vine along the courtyard rail and set to music by songbirds! The hours are, at last, warm embraces...
Hurled Rain!
What rain in the night! The raindrops must have been a half inch apart and hurled at the ground with such velocity! And I haven't heard thunder, or seen lightning like that since living in the...