Smokey Tomato Soup & Lobster Rolls

This is dinner from Wednesday night. Originally I called this soup "Everything but the Kitchen Sink" not because it's has a ton of stuff in it, but I literally had to go digging in my pantry to see what I had that would blend into some soup. This has fast become a staple in our house because it's quick, easy, and oh-so-yummy the next day.

The "Lobster Rolls" are cheating on two fronts: 1) They are lowcal/lowfat and 2) It's not really lobster. It's made with Langostinos from Trader Joes, sauteed until just heated through with 2 T. butter, 2 T. Lemon Juice, 2 T. White Wine, Salt, & Pepper. Reduced the sauce, toasted the rolls, and served with lemon wedges.

The soup is the true yumminess. Here's the recipe:

Delia's "Everything but the Kitchen Sink" Tomato Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion
2 cloves garlic clove(s)
14 oz Muir Glen Organic Farm Select Fire roasted diced tomatoes
8 oz canned tomato sauce
1/3 cup wine
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp red pepper flakes

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot. Add the onion and garlic at saute until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Add the tomato sauce, wine, vegetable broth, and red pepper flakes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and let simmer about 10 minutes. Puree the soup in a blender or with a hand blender, then warm again for another 5 minutes. Serves 4 as a side.

The Rose

Check out this beauty. I noticed her in our front yard this morning - She's the size of my hand!

Italy: Final Days

Our last day in Florence we woke up with gloriously little to do. We slept in, then took our time getting ready for the day (and each had two cappuccinos at breakfast instead of one, just because we could!) We had heard that the Museum of Science had Galileo's Middle Finger on display, and both agreed we could NOT pass that up. We found the building, and were somewhat delighted that we were one of the few visitors there (I was getting a little sick of crowds by then!) And sure enough, there was Galileo's Finger (our photo sucked, so take my word for it).



Matt was totally digging all the sciency stuff, so we spent about 90 minutes in there. We then walked around and did some shopping, had some more panini's for lunch, and took extra time lingering over our 1/2 L. of wine. We headed back to the hotel, and on our way watched some street artists:



We took a nap and did our best to pack everything up, since we were leaving early the next morning and figured we'd be tying one on that night, as we were meeting our family friends again and HEY, IT WAS OUR LAST NIGHT IN ITALY!

We were ready a bit early so we headed back to Open Bar near the Ponte Vecchio, and I was served the largest glass of Campari EVER.

Behold the size of this glass:


Click for bigger, and imagine it filled to the top with drink.

I basically had to slam the last 2 ounces of it, which made for a very pleasant walk across the river to our friends apartment. After chatting over a plate of cheeses and a bottle of wine, we headed to dinner. We took their dog with us because as we learned, dogs are usually welcomed in restaurants. They took us to a place called La Vecchia Bettola that was is a residential area, and 95% locals. Matt and I were probably the only ones who didn't speak Italian, and the place was packed to the gills.

We started with some sort of grilled veggie dish (we trusted our hosts to order for us since we couldn't read the menu!). For dinner, I had what might have been the BEST Penne Ala Vodka that was humanly possible. I am not kidding you. I licked the plate clean. Matt got another Steak Florentine, that came with this delightful little flag in it:



We were told that means something along the lines if you put it in your mouth, it comes out your Culo. Lovely!

Anyhow, we managed to drink our way through almost 2 L of wine at dinner, and decided "HEY! We need a nightcap!" Cause nothing says "NIGHTCAP" after a massive glass of Campari, and about 6 glasses of wine like Prosecco!

After walking stumbling back to the hotel, we passed out cold. At least I wasn't freaking out about the plane ride home!

---

Luckily, I woke up with only a moderate hangover.

Our flight home was MUCH better than the flight over. The plane was better, and we didn't have to sprint through an airport in Germany to make our flight. In fact, we had enough time in Munich to grab a beer.


Just what I needed for the hangover

My dad is 1/2 German, so I had to give some love to those roots. That's the only way I could legitimize drinking this beer feeling the way I did. You don't get a full size shot because I think I might still be a little green.

Over all, a completely amazing trip. I just adored Florence - I'd love to go back and spend an extended period of time there. We wouldn't have done anything differently except stay longer ;).

CIAO!

The Last Birthday I'll Ever Have

According to my husband, "As we all know, women don't ever age past 29 so this is the last birthday she'll ever have".

At 8:43am I turned 29 years old. I remember thinking when I was 18 how far off 29 felt. But here we are!

Low-key plans for tonight. A nice quiet dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, just like last year. A little knitting time, and then to bed early because I'm fighting off a flu and we have a huge event at the U. this weekend.

But hey it's a beautiful day. Happy birthday to me!

My Super-Sweet 29th

Doesn't exactly have the same ring as the 16th, right? Anyhow, it was a fabulous Saturday full of Classic rock, bare feet in the grass, a cold one (or 5), some BBQ, and Bocce.


Grass-sittn'


Grandma with her grand-pups


Nothing but blue skies, do i see....


The colors!!

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I finished the back of Pucker during a Criminal Minds marathon last night. It's still going at a snail's pace thanks to my elbow, but getting a little stronger every day.

My Perfect Saturday

My 29th birthday is this Tuesday (the 24th), but we got the party started a little early this weekend.


Can't beat laying in the grass with a Corona on a warm spring afternoon!

Later, a big group of us had dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant. Since I've never been a big fan of sweets, I got my candle in my enchiladas instead.



Finally, I have to share this awesome gift from my Brother-In-Law's girlfriend:


Forever 29!

Tomatoey Spiced Chickpeas

I was going to blog about our final days in Italy, but I'm running late AGAIN, so this will have to do. I'll finish the other post at lunch.

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Tomatoey Spiced Chickpeas
Gourmet, March 2009



I'll agree with a fellow reviewer over on epicurious.com that "This, folks, is the surprise hit of the March 2009 Gourmet." I needed a vegan recipe to take to Lenten service last night at church, and this is what a quick internet search led me to.

I'm usually hesitant to bring something to a potluck that I haven't made before, but I'm glad I took a chance on this one. The little old Armenian ladies liked it, so that's a definite check in the "WIN" column for me.

I can't wait to have the leftovers tonight. My guess is this got even better with time.

Check out the recipe over here.

Vino Verde

Complimented the Shepherd's Pie nicely.

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On another note, I went a little bit nuts queuing things up on Ravelry yesterday. I am strongly considering buying yarn for this, this, and/or this.

Happy St. Paddy's Day

Are you wearing green today?



Unfortunately, I'm only a wee bit Irish (somewhere down my dad's maternal side...). But I don't like getting pinched.

And I like to try new food, so tonight I'm making some Shepherds Pie and drinking some Guinness, and if I get REALLY ambitious, some Irish coffee (alas, it's no Buena Vista, but a homemade version will have to do!)

Also, if you've got XM radio, tune into the Loft (channel #50), it appears they are doing Irish-themed music all day.

Just call us the O'Cholaks.

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Also: Making some slow progress on Pucker. As long as I have something firm and supportive to rest my elbow on, I seem to be good to go (even if it is an a snails pace...)

Italy: Day 7

On Day 7 we got up bright and early, and walked back to the Train Station to hop a train to Pisa. We were headed to see the Tower, but more importantly, to meet my family that lives in Nodica, a small town just North of Pisa.

This was going to be quite an adventure, given the fact that they didn't speak English and we didn't speak Italian. We were all going to have to rely on my 15-year-old cousin to do all the translating for us.

My uncle had sent them a photo of us, and I was pretty impressed because they recognized us the minute we got off the train.

Our first stop was the Leaning Tower.



No, we didn't take the usual "hold up the Leaning Tower" photo (however, I will say that link is actually highly entertaining!)

The family then took us through the rest of the Piazza dei Miracoli including the Monumentale and Pisa Duomo.



The Baptistry of St. John was amazing. The building is actually a giant musical instrument. We have a video that I sadly don't have uploaded at the time, but I will add it when I get home tonight.

After walking around Pisa to see a few more sites, we headed to lunch (I had Pasta Del Mare and a breaded meat with marinara sauce). It was quite a strange experience to sit across the table from someone for two hours and not be able to communicate with them directly!

After lunch we headed to my families house in Nodica. I shared some family photos with my great-aunt,



and we were given some Port from the island that my other aunt's husband is from. After visiting for awhile and taking some photos, we headed up to the La Castella di Santa Ana, a former castle that is now a church in the region. There were great views of the entire Tuscan region.


Click for bigger





From there we headed to a few more sites around the region: Viareggio, where Carnevale is held each year, which we JUST narrowly missed on our trip. We then went to the home of Giacomo Puccini in Lucca on Lake Trasimeno.

By then we were STARVING and ready to eat! The family took us to a traditional Pisan restaurant. We learned that even though Florance and Pisa shared the same region (Tuscany), the two cities are actually rivals, and Pisa has developed its own dialect of Italian and way of cooking. The restaurant was a fixed menu, which consisted of about 15 small courses - LOTS of seafood! Matt and I agreed our favorite was a marinated octopus with Laurel (Bay) Leaf and Orange.

So 15 courses and 3 bottles of wine later, when we thought we were going to explode (beware when commenting out loud that you are starving while in Italia!), we were served this amazing concoction of Rum, Sambucca, and Cognac all simmered with lemon and orange peels and served in a coffee cup. Unsure if we were going to puke or get completely wasted, we both finished our cups and we AMAZED to find that out stomachs were settled and we were as good as new. GOOD GOD I LOVE THE ITALIANS!


Click for bigger

The family dropped us off back at the train station and we got back into Florance about 10pm. Even though this was SUPER early for a Friday night, we headed straight back to the hotel.

It truly was a WONDERFUL day - how many people get the chance to meet some of their relatives from the country of their origin??? Needless to say, we hit the pillows HARD that night. Must have been the Sambucca....

I'm on the DL

Somewhere in the last 4 days, I developed what I now know is Knitters Elbow. It SUCKS.

So I started crocheting. I have no idea what I am going to turn this into, but I am sorting of digging the way the scraps are coming together.



PS - Another Italy post is coming on my lunch hour.

Ahi Tartare

Yummy Ahi Tartare I made for our Dinner Club last night.

Awesome "Appetizer Spoons" from Crate and Barrel, served on an Orion Platter.



The theme was Asian. I'm still recovering from the carbs. So pardon me while I go take a nap!

Guest Blogging

Good morning, readers of Delia's blog. It's me, Viva D. Cat. I'm posting to tell you that Delia is a little tied up knitting Pucker, which she hasn't been able to put down since she took it out of the box.



She's not sure what the bigger pull is: The speed in which it is knitting up, or the fact that she's still in disbelief that she's knitting a sweater out of novelty yarn.

As for me, I've got more important things to do all day rather than sit here and type. SOMEONE in this house needs to send death stares to the dog. And make sure that nothing happens to the underside of the bed.

"Honey, How Much Yarn Did You Buy This Month?"

That's always a good question to be greeted with when you walk through the front door.

In my defense, I needed to order from two different sources, Knit Picks and Webs. It's pure coincidence they showed up on the same day.


9 balls Swish Superwash in Truffle, for a Vest for my dad


8 hanks Berroco Seduce in Vintage White, for Pucker.

And I'm not going to lie, I am little bit concerned that 8 balls that are this size:

are actually going to create a garment that will cover my D's. I guess I've gotta trust Norah on this one.

And by the way, I LOVE Norah Gaughan Vol 4. Love it. I've got about 4 of the other designs floating around in my head.

Italy: Day 6

On day 6 we woke up and walked to our tour of the Academia and the David. Since we couldn't bring our camera inside, you'll have to use the powers of imagination to picture us walking around in there.

The tour was definitely worth it, since we didn't have to wait in line. Walking into the gallery and laying eyes on David for the first time really was a breath-taking experience. It really is an AMAZING piece of art.

Something else I found interesting from the tour was the process in which Michelangelo carved his pieces. He carved in a way in which the subject seemed to be "breaking free" of the marble, a process in which he believed he was freeing the art that was already contained within. It was fascinating!

After the tour we had some lunch near the Duomo. A plate of assorted Bruschetta's and Panini's. Prosciutto and Mozzarella for me, Gorgonzola and Radicchio for Matt.


I was so freaking hungry, I ate all of mine and about a 1/3 of Matts. This is why I love Italy. I ate like a horse and didn't gain a pound!


My hot husband demonstrating how to enjoy lunch in Italy.

After lunch we headed to the Beatrice Galli Yarn Shop, thanks to a recommendation from Kimberli. We learned she was closing up shop at the end of the month so her stock was realitvely bare, but I picked up some Adriafil sock yarn and a few other skeins of merino/silk (hmmm... no photos of those.... coming soon). Before leaving, she graciously gave me a large cross-stitch pattern of the Ponte Vecchio. Someday when I get around to stitching it, it will be a nice reminder of the trip!

We spent a few more hours wandering around downtown and bought a few more things (a leather wallet for Matt, a royal-purple silk pashmina for me), before retiring to the hotel for a siesta.



We decided to make it a low-key night since our friends got us pretty tipsy the night before. We had a drink in the hotel lobby (above) of you guessed it! Campari & Peroni! and asked for a dinner recommendation.

They sent us to this FABULOUS place (which I can't remember the name of at the moment. Helpful, huh? I know we have the card around here somewhere so if you want it, let me know). Seriously, this was probably our favorite dinner to date. We should have known this place was the real deal since each of the menus, INCLUDING the wine list, was hand-written.

We had the Tuscan antipasto of cured meats, a salad mista, and then I had Duck Ragu over cheese ravioli that was to DIE for. Matt had Eggplant Parmesan and he did everything but pick up the gratin dish and lick it clean. By this point we had also learned to stop messing with the wine list and just order a carafe of the house stuff which was a perfect compliment.

Italy: Day 5

Day 5 was our travel day between Rome and Florence. We got up and ate our last Roman breakfast, checked out, and headed to the train station.


I finally had some time to knit!


Italian Countryside (click for full size - it's beautiful!)

After a quick 1:45 train ride, we pulled into Florence, hailed a cab, and went 1 mile to our hotel (yes, we felt silly too... but we had 2 massive suitcases with us!) We were both starving so we found a cafe and you guessed it, more pizza and wine. Well, Matt actually had this friend pork cutlet with marinara that was pretty yummy as well.

Some of our family friends own an apartment in Florence and were there during our stay, so they met us at our hotel later in the afternoon and walked us around town.


The Ponte Vecchio

We stopped at La Rinascente, a department store in Piazza della Republica. They have a roof-top cafe that was a perfect spot for sharing a bottle of wine!



After some more sightseeing and FINALLY landing in an Internet Cafe (where we SWEAR the computers from from 1998), we headed to dinner with our friends to a great local place in Piazza Santo Spirito. Matt got his first taste of Bistecca alla Fiorentina, and I had Gnocchi with Arugula Pesto. It goes without saying that this was all beyond yummy.

We finished the night having a cocktail at Open Bar, that had a killer view of the Arno River, and our friends told us all about the terrible flood in the 60s that destroyed many parts of the city.

I decided after Day 1 that I was in love with Florence. Maybe because my family is Tuscan and it seemed a bit more familiar, but either way, I was smitten!

We Interupt This Blog For A Regular Post

I'm interrupting the Italy posts (only 4 more to go!) for a "regular" post. This has been the most perfect weekend in the 'No - high 60's, clear skies, nothing on the calendar to do... So I:

Finished most of a sweater:





and had a lovely Sunday night dinner party:


Oysters with Bagna Cauda Butter


Grilled Fish with Homemade Tartar Sauce
Caesar Salad
Bulgar Pilaf

It's been bliss. Definitely a fabulous weekend!

Italy: Day 4

Our final morning in Rome was spent at the Vatican & St. Peter's Basilica. And really, nothing you've read about or photos you've seen before can really prepare you for it.




This altar, called the Altar of the Confessio used 6,200 k. of metal. Seriously?!?






The Pieta, carved by Michelangelo at 21. Want to know what I was doing at 21? Oh, nevermind....



We decided to walk back to our hotel and hit the other major sites along the way. We stopped for some wine and pizzas at a place called "Friends Cafe" (which, after some Goggling right now, I learned was named for the actual American Sitcom...) They had this amazing gorgonzola, arugula, and grilled raddicho pizza that was to DIE for.

Recharged, we ventured on to the Pantheon, which is the oldest standing domed structure in Rome.



Seems very appropriate that from where I was sitting I was starring directly into a McDonald's, no? There were also like a gazillion teenagers sitting around that fountain, which limited out time there. So we headed inside.




This oculus, or opening at the top, admits the only light into the structure. Lucky for us it wasn't raining that day.

We continued on to the Trevi Fountain, and threw our coins in to ensure our return to Rome (yes please!)


(Had to steal this one from Google since I apparently didn't upload any of ours)

We did some shopping for the family and headed back to the hotel for a siesta, then showered and headed out for the night. First stop? Hard Rock Rome! It was nice to see something somewhat familiar, but we stayed true to our location and ordered Campari's and Peroni's.

We then walked down Via Vittorio Veneto and found a cute little outdoor place outside the Hotel Imperiale and settled in. We had some more Prosecco, and some cured meats to start. I had Pasta Arrabiata and I can't remember what Matt had, but it's a safe bet it was Veal. We finished with Tiramisu (for the 4th night in a row!) and leisured over our bottle of wine until almost 11pm. We fell asleep that night full and happy and a little sad to be leaving Rome!



***edited to add***
While in Rome, Matt and I were mistaken for locals NO LESS than four times. Two people even asked us for directions in Italian (my 1/4 heritage must have been screaming through ;) )