Eating in Italy

Pastries, pizza, pasta...  Italians sure love their carbs!   With such great fresh pasta I'm not complaining though!

Luckily they also love their gelato :)  I had lots of it, most of the time sticking to my favorite flavors (pistachio, yogurt and coconut).  I was never disappointed!

I also did my best to try the local specialties as I traveled...

Sfogliatelle in Napoli

Pesto and focaccia in Cinque Terre

Ribollita in Firenze

fresh fish along the coast

 Ricciarelli, panforte margherita and a pine nut torte in Siena

the obligatory (and delicious) tomatoes

... and undocumented wild boar, salami, prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella and pecorino tuscano.  I never thought much about pecorino until I tried the tuscan variety- if you're a cheese lover definitely give this a try!!  I don't think I've ever tried buffalo mozzarella as good as I had in Napoli, either, but now I'll be on a mission to find out if I can :)

I'll end this post with the most amazing wedding cake I have ever had.  Hands down.  Millefoglie (thousand layer cake) with chantily cream and flecks of bitter chocolate.  I went back for seconds and even contemplated scrounging off of others plates for a bit more, but decided I'd have to figure out how it was made instead!  Stay tuned ;)

With that, I'm off to dream about the cake and try to get back on Boston time!

What's the most surprising thing you've tried on vacation??

San Francisco

Finally, more pictures from last weekend!

The scene below was featured on a tv show... anyone recognize it???


From the Ferry Building...

Winter Spice Tea

Lavender

Buddha's Hands

Persimmons as far as the eye could see!

(I so wanted to take a box of these home in my luggage!!!)

And more from around the city...

Flax crackers with avocado, tomato & Basil (from Alive)

The Golden Gate Bridge

from our Saturday morning run (thanks for the picture Meghann)

Nature's Pride Brunch

Trolley car

the setting sun peeking through the trees

Exactly.

the loot

Some amazing people (I was bad at taking pictures with people, I apologize to those I should've insisted on catching!)

Sues & Chels, Kelly and I

Me & Tina

And finally, pictures (from Sabrina and Tina) of my Nature's Pride demo.

Thanks again Foodbuzz and Nature's Pride!!!!

Fun in the Sun - AZ

I think I need a vacation from my vacation! It's been quite hard to catch up and get back in the swing of things, but I thought a quick recap of my trip to Arizona would be a good distraction :) My parents and I went out to visit family and get away for a bit. After my luggage arrived (a day after I did :/), I was able to enjoy myself and have a great trip!

Some of the highlights...

Andre Agassi

We caught the last match of a Champions Tourney and it was great to see Andre Agassi in action again. Oh how I love him! I always liked watching him play, and once imagined my backhand to be like his (ha).

Pinnacle Peak

I dragged my dad on a couple of hikes, one day up Pinnacle Peak and another on the Lost Dog Trail. I forgot to find out where the name of the latter trail came from, but we didn't cross the paths of any dogs-- just lots of cacti!

view from the Lost Dog Trail

I know I was on vacation, but I actually went to PT while I was in Arizona! If you're in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area, I would highly recommend Endurance Rehabilitation. I've been to a few physical therapists and various doctors about my knee/heel issues and orthotics, and I can't say enough good things about them. Except I wish they were back east!


Another unexpected treat was the chance to meet an awesome blogger and her adorable daughter! It was great to have a chance to chat with Averie, she's just as passionate and inspiring in real life as on her blog! Skylar's was a little picture shy for me, but luckily Averie had the good sense to snap a quick picture before we had to part ways.

Me & Averie

Later in the week we hit up the Pueblo Grande Museum to escape the escalating temperatures (our last day hit 100!) and I was quite fascinated to see how well the prehistoric Hohokam people cooked ;) By placing grasses and herbs around hot stones and agave hearts, they were essentially infusing their food cooked in their "ovens"! How neat is that?!



While we didn't try cooking like the Hohokam, we did have a few terrific meals. My parents indulged my peanut butter habit and went to lunch with me at a P.B.Loco Cafe. I've already recreated the sandwich I had (Curry/Spicy PB, cucumber and pineapple on wheat, toasted or pressed), and I think they enjoyed it, too! We won't talk about how much of the jar I bought (the Sumatra Cinnamon & Raisin was my fav) there is left...

Curry Spice Sandwich

Luckily our pb-filled lunches held our bellies over through the wait at Pizzaria Bianco. The food was definitely worth it-- their antipasto plate was a wonderful assortment of roasted veggies (butternut squash, zucchini, mushrooms, peppers...) that was quickly polished off. The brick oven is in the corner of the restaurant, and the bread and pizzas it produced were pretty amazing. Thin and crispy, we couldn't wait to dig in to our pizzas! Sudded with rosemary and pistachios, the Rosa took us by surprise, but the Wiseguy with roasted crimini's stole our hearts. Definitely a restaurant I would recommend, if you can get there at 4:30. Grab a drink at the bar next door, get in line, and enjoy each others company until the restaurant opens at 5 :)



My aunt also took us to a fabulous French place, Zinc Bistro, that took her back to the streets of Paris (I've never been, so I can't say ;)). Everything we had there was phenomenal, but the dish that is at the top of my list to recreate is their pistachio ice cream. The waitress we had was awesome, going above and beyond to try and find the recipe for me! She confirmed my suspicion--it had a coconut milk base. When I make room in my freezer, expect me to figure this one out :) As our "last meal" we went to White Chocolate Grill, which was also pretty good. They made their bread pudding with croissants, which won over a few of my dining companions!

I've probably missed something along the way, but it was great to go on vacation with my parents (it had been awhile!). It was also fun to meet my cousins' wives and their kids... crazy to think about how old that makes us! I leave you with one of my new buddies, we had fun flirting at lunch one day ;) Isn't he just the cutest??

Me & Tommy