How Can We Possibly Eat Our Gelato Now?

Alessandro and I finally made it to Il Baroccio for dinner last night. The restaurant is owned by his friend Gianni and it is actually where Alex and I had our first date. So, last night was sort of a celebration of our 2 year anniversary, which was on October 28.

Need I say that dinner was fantastic? I ordered my usual: Linguine alle Vongole e Zucchini and the Tagliata di Manzo con Ruccola e Parmigiano. Unfortunately he did not have any clams, so I went with the Aglio Oglio Pepperoncino pasta. I told Gianni, "Look, dude. We are bringing my mom here on Monday night and she has been listening to me talk about your Linguine alle Vongole for 2 years. You have to have clams on Monday!" He assured me he would. I tried to just order the pasta exactly how he makes it without the clams, but he said, "No! It is impossible to, eh, eat linguine withouta clams!"

That is what is so interesting about Gianni's. He won't give it to you if it doesn't make sense. Last year I wanted some lemon on my Tagliata and and he said no because there was balsamico on it already. So, now I know to order my tagliata with lemon and no balsamico. For those of you who do not recall, Tagliata di Manzo is rare beef sliced over a bed of spicy arugula, drizzled in olive oil, lemon, and finally covered with thin layers of freshly grated parmegianno cheese. It is absolutely magnificent and also very light. It is one of the easiest meals to make and my mom and I have done so quite bit. In fact, my mom invented a spin-off dish which is quite delightful too and I am happy to share it:

Take one box, bag, or big bushell of arugula and put it in the food processor. Add 1/2 to 2/3 Cup of fine olive oil - choose a nice olive oil with a good flavor. Add the juice of 1/2 to 1 whole lemon, depending on how lemony you like it. Finally, add salt and pepper to taste. Mix it all up and drizzle it over rarely cooked slices of beef or beef carpaccio. You can also just eat it with a spoon, like my friend, "Ms. Popcorn and Wine," and I like to do.

SO, after a magnificent meal and a bottle of vino, Alex and I were ready for a walk and our nightly jaunt to Gelateria dei Neri. Then, Gianni comes out with two heaping plates of Tiramisu. While I was touched at the gesture, the only thing I could think to say was, "How Can We Possibly Eat Our Gelato Now?"

Alex and I sharing dinner... HA HA, that is really Gianni!

The real Alex and I

Tiramisù, Anyone?

Una Bella Giornata

What an amazing day. I don't mean that anything spectacular happened. I mean, the weather. I have clearly brought the beautiful weather with me from Colorado. I went to Colorado, planning on snow and freezing coldness. Nope! it was in the mid to high 70s the whole time. It is not quite that warm here in Florence, but it is amazing for November.

When I arrived, it was cloudy and began to rain as we walked to Acqua al'Due that first night. By the time we had finished the best port wine sauce chicken of all time, the rain had stopped and has not returned since. We went out early this morning and enjoyed sun and fresh air. I am truly praying it will stay this way for my family's visit. I would hate for them to experience Firenze in the rain.

You will be proud to know, I did fulfill my duty of having Cookies n' Cream Gelato last night. It was just as amazing as it was the night before. I tried to analyze it a little bit more and have determined there may be a hint of nutella and the cookies are definitely a shortbread of some kind. Oh the science of Italian deliciousness!

With all this gelato and good eating, I am afraid what will happen to my recently Pilates toned body. I have been going religiously to The Pilates Place in Grass Valley for about 3 months now and I love it! I have to say, I do miss it and I think tomorrow shall be the day I get back in the habbit, as I brought some equipment with me. I do hope to start sharing Pilates Shots From Italia in my postings.

I have found one secret to staying healthy here, however. We all know that walking in Europe is a part of the daily experience. It used to be that when I came here, I ate, I walked and it all evened out. Well, itt did not really work that way last time. This morning, Alex and I were late for a very important appointment and we had to walk quickly. I realized that when I was here last time, I was so lazy, that my walking was slow and languous. So, my new rule: Walk like you are late for something. AND, as we all know, Italians ARE always late for something, so this really makes sensse, now doesn't it?

Another exciting thinkg going here is all of the Obama Buzz. Everyone wants to know who I voted for, who you would have voted for, etc! There were even two women who came into the shop form Oregon and Washington. When Alex asked them if they were happy with Obama, they told him they didn't like Obama or McCain, so they decided not to vote and come to Italy instead............Wow. I have been really amazed at how involved people here are in American Politics. I asked Antonio behind the Bar La Badia, "Perche?" To which he simply replied, "Michelle, if America goes down, we all go down. So, we care, eh?" I get the impresison overall that Europeans, at least Florentines, are happy with the hope of change. We shall see!

Love Me Some Italy: 11/04/08

Well, Ciao from Italy! I finally made it. it was a long journey, but now I am so glad to be here! I stopped over in Colorado for a few days where I aw some dear old friends, and attended a wedding for Dave and Megan. I met Dave in the dorms my freshman year of college. I was so proud to see him and Megan get merried. She is a doll and I am so happy for them.

From Denver, I flew to Washington to Frankfurt to Zurich to, finally, Florence. Even though there were many stops, they all went smoothly and my luggage was not lost along the way either. The only thing that was a little scary on the journey was when we were halfway between the US and Europe. It was dark and quiet. As we all slept peacefully, the captain suddenly came on the speaker. With complete fear in his voice (it sounded fearful to me) he said, "Fasten your seatbelts!" Not much longer after that, he warned the flight attendants to be seated. I have never been so frightened in my life. The plane started shaking annd we went through about 30 minutes of turbulence. I will admit, I started crying and my heart was beating so fast. I have never been a nervous flyer, but this was different. Obviously everything turned out alright. I told the story to Carlo, Alex's uncle, and he assured me it would never be a problem anyway: "Planes, they a never crash in the middle. Close to New York and close to Europe, but never int he middle." Well, where was he when I needed him?

Anywho, I landed in Florence at 7PM and there was Alex. It is so strange to see some one you love after not seeing him for a long time. We were not sure what to do. It was like, "I know this person well and we are very close, but who are you?" It took a while to ease into it and remember how special we are to eachother. We went to the house where I changed out of my clothes (my sweater fell into the toilet in Frankfurt). Then we went to dinner. For those of you who have read my blog the past two years, you know where I went and what I had. For the newbies, we went to Acqua al'Due and had Insalata Greca and Petto di Pollo al Porto. I think we are one step closer to figuring out the recipe for the port sauce. Alex has suggested honey and I think he is right. Thank God my mother is coming, as I am sure she will figure it out! How many times must we eat it to figure it out! It is the best thing in the world.

So, this trip is very exciting. My mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law and niece are all making the journey to finally meet Alessandro. I am excited beyond belief. Alex found them a great apartment and we are both so excited to show them our Florence. But, unitl they come, Alex and I are just going to relax and get ready. Today was VERY relaxing. Alex went into work for a while and I "did not lay in bed until 5PM." OK, I did and it was magnifico! I finally got up and Alex and I took a long walk in the center and brought some kebab home to eat. Even though we are in Italy, there are other amazing things to eat. Florence is such a melting pot, and alot of people from other countries who settle here choose to open food shops and restaurants specializing in their country's food. There are amazing kebab places, mostly run by the Turkish. We came home with our spoils and sat with Alex's roomate, Fabio. We ate, talked, and drank our tea. It was the perfect day!

Well, almost perfect. We shall see if we go for gelato. I think we will. So, we went to this place last night for post pollo gelato. There were so many flavors and it occured to me that I always get the same. I told the man behind the counter that I have decided to come every night on my trip (45 days) and try a different flavor every night. He said, "Abbiamo quaranta due diversi tipi, allora ha tre notte libera!" This means, I hae time to try all 42 flavors, with three nights off! So, I decided to start with one called Cookies and Cream. I take back everything I said. My new goal is to eat only this flavor every night for 45 days. It is AAA.....wait for it.....MAZING.

This is not like oreo cookies and cream. It is like everything you want in gelato and more. Creamy vaniglia, con un po di cioccolato, e biscotti! The cookies are soft and crunchy. It is the cheesy gordita crunch of gelato. I also swear there is some coconut in it too. Cannot get better.

OK. Sorry, have to go. They will be closing soon and writing about it has sealed the deal. Hey, at least I am getting some exercise on the way!

Ciao for now and buona fortuna.