Buon Appetito!

Well, our Italian night dinner was a hit! While it wasn't as good as Walter's it was pretty close. The Penne Aurora was almost spot on, I think I used just a touch too much cream as it was a little too sweet. That being said, we ate it all and the kids raved on. While it wasn't the same as Regina's, it was the most authentic pasta we've had since returning to the states.

And the bruschetta tasted nothing like Walter's but it was delicious! I think I used the wrong tomatoes but it was really good....like so good that even Ryan and Logan each ate a piece and those kids HATE tomatoes. It smelled really good and the mozzarella bubbled up nice and they just couldn't refuse.

Having an "I miss Italy" day

Today I am having an ''I miss Italy day." *sigh*

Last night, I had dreamt that I was back in Italy visiting friends. Now I just left six months ago so I'm not sure it's really time for a visit yet but whatev, a dream is a dream.

In it, I went alone and my bestie Amy picked me up at the airport. That dream-hug we shared felt SO real!

In the dream, I stayed at her house and we did all the things we used to. We chatted about life and had a cappuccino, we ate lunch at Regina's, stuffing ourselves on Penne Aurora and Margherita Bruschetta. We went shopping and I picked up pottery, olive oil and we went to the winery where I bought six bottles and joked that I really hoped the airline didn't check my bags. At some point we were in snow, which was a bit weird but I guess just weird enough to remind me it was only a dream.

So I woke up with that ''homesick'' feeling. Missing friends and a place from my past. Then when I looked outside, it was super foggy. I didn't snap a photo but I should have. It was like northern italy foggy. It seemed like most mornings from October-April, every morning it was a blanket of fog.

This is the kind of fog common to Italy this time of year...

So between the dream, then the weather, I just missed Italy today. I woke up immediately craving a cappuccino and a cornello con crema. 

This is a cup of perfection once I add about 3 packets of sugar :)

Instead I had a cup of coffee from my Keurig and hopped on Pinterest. 

It is officially my mission this week to make margherita bruschetta and penne aurora that tastes at least a tiny bit like Walter's. I found a penne aurora recipe that seems sorta similar. It's on a french recipe site but the others I found just didn't seem right.  The problem is I never asked Walter enough times what was in it to finally break him, lol. He always just laughed when we said we needed the recipe. It's a big feat ya'll. I can't seem to find a photo of the pasta (probably because I inhaled it before I thought to take a photo) but this is drool worthy bruschetta. 

What you can't see under that glorious cheese is that the bread is toasted, then lightly brushed with olive oil and a swipe of pesto, then topped with chopped tomatoes that are sprinkled with sea salt and maybe tossed with a little more EVVO, add in a bit of pepper and basil and then melt mozzarella on top. 

Heaven on a piece of bread, in short. 

So today is Ron's last day at home. It's been 11 days since my surgery and my incisions are healing nicely and I can go all day without a nap. I do get tired and I do get sore but overall I have been pleasantly surprised at how smooth this recovery has gone. Well because it's his last day home, I made us go grocery shopping all together. So I could be sure to get what we wanted/needed and he could push the cart and do all the heavy lifting. 

I bought fresh mozzarella. I bought fresh basil. I bought the pricey pesto. I found and purchased campari tomatoes (because they didn't have plum tomatoes and these look most like the ones I commonly saw at IperSimply). I still have 2 bottles left of my garlic infused olive oil from Bonamini (which apparently I never blogged about...say what!? I need to catch up!) and sea salt. I found the toasted type bread. It's not hard like a cracker but it's not soft like American bread.

Tomorrow is the day. (today would have been the day but I already had chicken prepped in the crockpot). Tomorrow is the day where I will attempt what is probably the impossible. On the menu is Penne Aurora and Margherita Bruschetta. Wish me luck!

Adventures in an Italian Grocery Store...

One of the things that really surprised me when we first moved here (and I meant to blog about a while ago) was the concept of the Italian grocery store. Now there are a few ''big'' grocery stores that would be similar to say 'discount store' like what we have in the states but no where near the same in size. Or in frequency. Where a town of 50,000 in the U.S. might have a Walmart or two, a Target and a K-Mart...you won't find that here. At all.

There are a handful of "discount'' stores in Vicenza that sell groceries and have a small home-goods section with pots and pans, an area with laundry room/bathroom items, a small electronics section and maybe even a small clothing section. An aisle or two for toys and maybe a corner dedicated to outdoor gardening. Emisfero, Iper Simply, Auchan and EuroSpar would be those stores. And keep in mind Vicenza is a ''large'' city (795,123 was the population of the province in 2004). But rather than getting a vacuum at Emisfero, you would go to MediaWorld for a selection of more than two models. If you needed Tylenol, you're better off going to a Farmacia. They just don't do the ''one stop shopping'' like we're used to, in fact I would almost go so far to say that is the biggest difference between living in the states and living in Italy (aside from culture/history): convenience. There isn't a 24 hour grocery store. There aren't drive thru's (and I mean drive-thru anything...banks, restaurants, quick coffee stops, pharmacy...nothing). There is no such thing as a "Convenience store"...it just doesn't exist.

So while we do shop ''on the economy'' at our local little grocery store, it's about once a week/every 2 weeks. There are certain things we get every time we go: fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, breakfast pastries, hot food {lasagne} from the 'deli', Coca-Cola (made with real sugar, not HFCS), pasta and a few frozen foods/treats. But it isn't very convenient. First off, the parking lot is tiny and driving a minivan means parking a ways out. Secondly, in order to use a cart you have to have a .50cent piece or a €1 coin to get a cart (just like the quarter you need to shop at Aldi) which I seem to have €20 in change when I don't need it and only american change when I do. Third, their hours can be...wonky. They are closed on Tuesday, they are only open until 1:30 on Sunday, some days they aren't open at all and I don't know why. And it seems like every time I go, it's insanely crowded! Long checkout lines but skinny checkout lanes make it an ordeal.

But lastly some of it is just so different than everything we're used to. I went to the store on Saturday morning as I wanted produce but not huge quantities like what we get at the street market. I snapped quite a few photos while there so that years from now we can remember why we never bought eggs in Italy.

Okay, so for example...eggs. In every grocery store in the states, usually in a back corner is the dairy section: milk, eggs, butter, yogurt, cream, etc. Well Italians, they do it different. They don't really "do" fresh milk. Here in the Veneto region, we do have ''milk machines'' (check out my BFF Amy's post on those here) but most places in Italy and most stores, they sell mostly shelf stable milk. UHT milk. In tiny little cartons. Cartons far too tiny for our family of six. So there isn't so much a dairy section as a milk aisle...

And the milk, it isn't horrible. It is different, it leaves a film in your cup. I don't usually drink a glass of milk {unless it's with a sleeve of Oreos} so I can't comment on the direct taste but I use it in cooking/baking and on cereal. I try to keep a few boxes on hand just in case we run out of fresh milk (which we buy 3 or 4 at a time from the milk vending machine). Sissy drinks it straight and doesn't complain. To each their own I guess!

So if there isn't really a dairy section...where are the eggs you wonder? Oh, right here...on the end of aisle 3. Not refrigerated. Not cold. Not even sold in ''dozens'' but in packages of six. I'm all for experiencing Italy while we live here, but I cannot eat warm eggs. I can't.

So the 'dairy' section that there is, I didn't get a great photo of (I already stand out as an American, taking photos isn't earning me any street cred) but it's usually with the produce. 

That narrow picture of the cold milk above? That's the entire cold milk section. Next to it is yogurt and across is cheese. Lots of cheese. Stinky cheese, Philadelphia cream cheese, fresh mozzarella...more cheese than you can imagine.

And again, I couldn't get a photo without looking like a total creeper but when you get produce in Italy (if it's not prepackaged by weight in a bag/plastic carrier) you have to wear gloves. Plastic disposable gloves, as you don't touch the fruit with your hands. If the above photo there is a woman standing near her husband and shopping cart, you might be able to see the glove on her right hand.

So while those are the three biggies that shocked us (small dairy section, hot eggs and protective wear for produce) there are a few more that you just don't think about unless you're there. Like, pasta. Obviously this is Italy, there is going to be pasta. What you don't think of is the fact that there is an aisle and a half, JUST for dry pasta. The photo below, that's just the Barilla pasta section...nothing but pasta spans the entire aisle...

So if you can picture it, imagine that section times four...it's the entire aisle and I am not exaggerating. We always buy our pasta "on the economy'' and never at the commissary. Pasta at Ali is anywhere from €.38-€1 a box, usually with some sort of ''buy one get one free'' special. Way cheaper than the commissary! There is also 1/2 an aisle for sauces/canned tomatoes and another 1/2 aisle for olive oil. Both items we typically buy at Ali.

Okay, this next thing I saw literally over a year ago and never blogged about but I have to, as I never want to forget the opportunity I had but never gave my kids while we lived in Italy....Italian baby food.

 Look closely...there is Beef, Horse, Turkey, Rabbit and Salmon flavors to choose from...

 BLAH! Seriously. Can you imagine opening a jar of "Filet of Salmon'' and feeding it to your kiddo? How about cracking the lid on some Rabbit? I know it's a culture thing but geez does that skeeve me out!

Now that you've got that lovely smell on your mind, lets move on to....Vino!

Three aisles of Vino to be exact, at our tiny little corner grocery store. Go to Emisfero and there is a HUGE section of wines. They range in price from €1.80 (About $2.40 a bottle) and up. It's typically sorted by type "prosecco, frizzante, brut, etc" then by color or region.

But, it's cheaper if you just grab the wine ''to go'' in little self serve vino ''juice boxes''...

My fat thumb is covering up the writing but those little boxes average 11% alcohol by volume! I'll be honest, I've never tried it but at €1.20 for 3 boxes, I'm guessing it's a pretty average table wine. 

So that's this American's take on the Italian grocery store. Just like I have my opinions on Italy, they have their opinions on America. 

I leave you with this frozen pizza that is ''AMERICAN'' Style Supreme...

"Soft, crunchy with mozzarella'' crust topped with pepperoni, ham, peppers, mushrooms, CORN and tomatoes. Can we say 'Yum'?
Ugh,
I've been away from the states for 18 months now but can someone please reassure me that Pizza Hut hasn't added corn as a pizza topping? If that's so, I'll hit up the vino aisle and never leave...

Exploring Italy with Nanaw and Papa: Venice!

On Sunday we opted to stay near home. We went to the big open air market in Camisano, then Papa and B went to see the new Batman movie. We were all still a little tired from the day before and we knew that Monday we were going to....Venice!

I love Venice. I don't love the crowds or all the tourist crap, but I do love the back alleys, the canals, the gondalas...it's adorable!

While we had been to Venice before, this was our first time taking a gondala ride and I have to say, we loved it! Our gondalier spoke English and talked enough to point on interesting buildings but not so much that it took away from the experience. We rode in one gondala and my parents rode in the other. It was fascinating to see them maneuver these long boats through tiny canals alongside other gondalas and boats. It was on my ''must do/bucket list'' while in Europe and I'm so glad I can cross it off. I'm not sure if we'll do it again as it's pretty pricey but it was well worth it for the experience!

Another pricey but well worth it stop in Venice was Hard Rock Cafe. I love Italy, I really do but I'm a Kansas girl. I'm used to meat and potatoes. I like pasta and pizza and tomatos and paninis but there is only so much one can eat before practically shouting ''I JUST WANT A CHEESEBURGER". A bacon cheeseburger that is so juicy it drips down your arm when you take a bite, kinda burger. Not a frozen patty ''maxi burger'' that they sell in other restaurants.

So when I was telling a friend about my craving she said "go to Hard Rock Cafe, it's truly American and their cheeseburgers are perfect''. So while in Venice, here I am insisting on a cheeseburger. {I do justify this by saying, it's not like I'm a tourist only here for 10 days seeking a burger...we've lived here almost 8 months, I just wanted a taste of home!}. We get there and it's like I stepped into a HRC in Chicago...I no longer felt like I was even in Italy! The staff spoke English, Styx was on TV and I was given a buzzer to wait til the table was ready! We were seated very quickly and I immediately opened the menu and there it was! The "Legendary 10 oz Cheeseburger" is €16.95...or almost $22. For a burger and fries. I didn't even care. I ordered it, cooked medium, and waited. When it came...oh my gosh was it everything I had hoped for and more! I didn't get a picture of it, I was so excited to dive right in. And I'm not even ashamed to admit that I ate damn near the entire thing. I don't think it was the lack of having had a burger in so long either ,as it was truly delicious.

So we ate at Hard Rock and wandered around St. Marks Square:

 

 All in all, we had a blast in Venice. And it wasn't even that crowded!

Milk stands

Italy constantly surprises me...I feel like I never know what to expect. It is obviously very different that the United States but I was surprised by the differences just in grocery shopping {out on the economy}. Here is a quick list of things are so different:

-every afternoon, almost every single business {except the malls} close for 'resposo'. It's an afternoon break...that lasts at least two hours. Business hours on signs in Italy look like this: 9:00-13:00, 15:00-18:30. Note that even closing shop for resposo doesn't mean that they open earlier or close later. Restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations...they all do this. So living out in a small village like we do, well your SOL if you run out of toliet paper at 8pm. Should have planned better. And if it's a Sunday, well you are really screwed as the smaller stores, aren't open at all. 

-a lot of stores, will not take debit cards. It's cash business or no business my friend so you better make sure you have euro before you go to pay.

-milk and eggs are shelf stable items here...the dairy coolers are full of cheese, yogurts, some butter and cold cuts. Some places do have refrigerated milk but it's not a big selection and you pay for it. Look at the shelf nearest the cooler, you'll find it there.

-things come in much smaller quantities. You won't find ''club sized" bulk items here. In fact, you can rarely buy a 24pk of soda; they are sold individually. Milk doesn't come in gallons, but in liters. 1 liter and 1/2 liters to be exact. Eggs come 4 or 6 to a carton. 

-you know how in the states they are really pushing being ''eco-friendly" and shopping with reusable shopping bags? Well if you haven't hopped on that bandwagon, do so before coming to Italy. Here everyone uses the reusable bags and for good reason....each plastic grocery bag will cost you .05-.10 euro. I even stopped at a small toy store/gift shop and they charge as well, not just the ''chain'' grocery stores. 

-you will not find stores like Wal-Mart, KMart, Target....you'll find grocery stores, pharmacies, clothing stores, beauty shops and toy stores but the ''super'' stores are few and far between. The mall does have a store called Emisfero and it's the closet thing to a Wal-Mart that exists. Except you have to walk through security to get in and any other bags you have, will be sealed in a larger plastic bag to prevent shoplifting. 

-similar to shopping at Aldi, most grocery stores will require you to insert a .50 cent or €1 to unlock it from the other carts in the corral. Not a bad idea but it does mean you need to be prepared. 

So knowing all this, remembering that grocery shopping in Italy has to be planned and is not something you can do on a whim, has been a bit hard for me. I am used to going ''oh we're out of x, y and z, let's run to the store kids.'' But now if it's too early, we can't go. If it's resposo, we can't go. If it's after dinner, we can't go. If I can't find change to get a shopping cart, we can't go. 

Knowing all of the above is why I was shocked to find out about these bad boys:

That very poorly taken photo is an automatic milk stand. There are two refrigerated vending machines under that awning and in them, you can buy milk {either whole milk or 4%, no 2% and no skim} as well as several types of yogurt, cheese, butter and creams. I had heard about them from a Facebook group and last week made it my mission to find one. Apparently the one we stumbled upon is pretty high-speed. 

For one, It's actually on the farm. In the above photo off to the right you'll see hay bales. Next to the hay bales, are the cows.  I was fortunate enough that when we stopped the first time, the ladies working were there. One (who spoke English..yay!) approached me and was asking about the van. When she heard we were American, she chatted up a storm. She was excited about us having FOUR kids and no wonder we needed a van. (not common in Italy...at all!). She was also kind enough to show me how to work the machine as well as explain how the whole thing works. Every single item in the machine, is made/comes from this farm. There are cheeses that only they make, that you cannot find anywhere else but this machine. It is apparently a franchise in terms of the machines and labeling (as you'll find other stands with this logo around) but the actual product is local. The milk is pasteurized as well, which I'm more comfortable with for my family. 

And the other reason I say it's pretty high speed is due to the above...while there are milk stands everywhere, not all are pasteurized. Not all sell other items either. Some you have to take your own bottles and then you dispense the milk into the glass bottles that you brought. This vending stand however, has the milk in 1L paper cartons. It's €1.10 a liter (which is about 1/4 of a gallon). It would come out to be about $6 USD/gallon. Surprisingly even the "cheap" milk on post is $3+ a half gallon so not only is this cheaper, but it tastes AMAZING. So much better than the milk from the commissary. This milk from the farm is fresh, it's organic and when we buy it, we're literally helping our neighbors. What's not to love about that!? More excitedly, the boys love the idea that they are drinking the milk from the cows that are right there. They could see (and smell) and hear the cows...when I explained that the milk in that machine, came from that cow, well I've never seen them SO excited to drink milk.

We buy them two at a time and it lasts about a day. Luckily, it's right by Bubba's bus stop so it's easy to get more. And want to hear the really crazy part....it's open 24 hours a day AND the plastic bags are free! Convenience in Italy...who knew!? 

Food items that are more awesome in Italy, that you wouldn't think would be better but they are!

When one moves to Italy you expect certain things to be better. Pizza, olive oil, wine, grapes, cheese, gnocchi...I mean, they *should* be better here. Hello, it's ITALY. We have been amazed by the deliciousness of all of the above. But then there are the things that you would never expect to even be different, let alone better.

Case in point: Yogurt. Let me introduce you to a new found love called Froop...

Now you may notice it's not Italian...it's actually German. The other brand that I don't have a photo of is also from Deutschland (and while good, it's not near as amazing). The layer at the top is fruit and then you have the yogurt...but this yogurt is not like Yoplait. It's so thick it's practically a custard and when you mix it with the fruit layer it's melt-in-your mouth delicious. Oh, and the fruit layer isn't chunky either, it's whipped and fluffy. The container is also bigger than what the yoplait/dannon ones are...it's amazing. And just in case you thought it was just me, the kids like it better and even B loves it, which he hated yogurt in the states. We stir it all up  and the boys will each eat an entire container. In fact they had one after dinner the other night and declared it their dessert! Froop also has more choices for fruit flavors. (I've never like coffee flavored yogurts or the pies/cake ones..blech!) Pictured is strawberry (which is my favorite) but the boys love the cherry and the mixed berry, B loves the mango. They have even more, apricot, lemon, etc and for $.65 a serving, they're not a bad price either. 

Food item number 2 is: Pepsi (or Coke or Fanta...soda in general)

I will fully admit that I love soda. And I knew moving to Italy that soda isn't near as popular as it is in the states especially while dining out. Wine is cheap...at our local place, I can get a 1/4L of wine for 1.8 euro...about $2.40. A glass of soda however is 2 euro for a small or 4 euro for a ''large'' and you get no ice. (The "large" is maybe 12oz). That's about $5.32 for essentially a can of pop. And it's not a fountain drink either...it's a 1L bottle that they open and pour into a cup. Ridiculous. Needless to say I've been drinking a lot more wine and a lot less soda.

But if you go to the Italian grocery store, it's priced much more reasonable. (obviously it's cheapest if you're shopping at the commissary but I mean when shopping on the economy. At the commissary it's just regular American soda). I bought a 1/4L of Pepsi for .87 euro (a little over $1) at Emisfero, which is best described as an Italian version of Wal-Mart. A can of Pepsi is cheaper at .44 euro. And the neat part is when you buy it in cans, it's individual cans, not a case (you rarely find anything in bulk off post because most Italians walk, bike or have tiny cars so smaller is better) and each can has a special foil lid. 

  source

It's a sanitary thing, to keep the lids clean. It simply peels back; there is no seal or glue. It's just a little Pepsi hat. And it just keeps getting better. Once you open that Pepsi and take your first sip you'll notice something different. The Pepsi is better! A quick look at the ingredients and you'll see why: soda here is made with zucchero, sugar. Not high fructose corn syrup but sugar and man-oh-man can you tell. It's so much better tasting! And I think all sodas (that you can buy on the economy...not at the comissary) are made with sugar instead of HFCS. I haven't been here very long, nor have I drank that much but from what I can tell, it sure seems that way. And fruity drinks like Fanta...I couldn't even stomach them before but here, Fanta actually tastes like oranges. It's not so fizzy and it's more fruity (plus Italians love some Fanta, it's everywhere). 

And lastly *for now* the number 3 thing that is 'more awesome' in Italy:

McDonalds. It could be the weeks we've gone without it but we caved and went to the mall this weekend. The food was ah-mazing. We went because we were curious about what an Italian mall would offer but secondly the dang McDonald's logo is on bus stops, the sides of buses, etc all pointing you to the mall where one is located. The kids noticed one in Venice and I downright refused to eat there but since we were going to the mall anyway, we told them we'd have lunch there. The menu is similar (the kids all had chicken nugget happy meals with fries, fanta and a toy) but slightly different (the happy meals also include a drinkable yogurt). I had a sandwich called a ''Crispy McBacon'' which was similar to a double cheeseburger but the cheese was a sauce and it had bacon...no ketchup, mustard, pickle, dehydrated onions. The fries were AWESOME. I don't know if it's a difference in oil or what but we chowed down on them. Oh and ketchup? Forget about it, you have to pay per packet here! I'm not sure how much as I couldn't understand the guy but I did understand that it cost money!