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Finally! I found the location for my restaurant!!

Driving out of Napoli was MUCH easier than getting into it – but nevertheless, once we wound around the town, had a brief stint on the autostrada and then found ourselves back on old, narrow streets . . it was like “wah-la” – we’re here! We pull into Camping Spartacus for parking right across from the entrance to Pompeii. We find it a bit strange that this magnificent historical site is completely surrounded by apartments & houses on one side and tourist & refreshment stands blocking the view to the sea (which is right across the street) on the other.

The ticket seller tells us if we have limited time to just concentrate on zones 1 (the baths), 7 (some religious areas & the center of city government) and 8 (some really nice villas and a couple of religious areas). There are 9 zones in all – and we end of hitting 7 of the 9. As we wonder through the main piazza (very magnificent) we are impressed at the sophistication of this place and how complete of a city it was in terms of architecture, business, government & social structure – as well as beautiful works of art, so much practicality (washing streets to clear out animal dung), stunning parks and beauty (yes, it was quite colorful in its day).

As we continue into Zone 2, we are overwhelmed by this HIGH RENT district. . the homes are MAGNIFICENT. Huge porticos for entry, many rooms, incredible & intricate tile floors, frescos on every wall, inside gardens & water collection methods, and huge outdoor patios & gardens that are impressive size for any urban area (modern or ancient). There are Spring flowers & vines everywhere and the fruit trees are heavy with citrus; they are beautiful and impressive indeed!

Sherine chooses her favorite and says she wants to live here. I find the restaurant of my dreams!! Yes, this area housed a number of large homes that had shops & restaurants in front of their personal spaces – kind of an ancient “multi-use” commercial / residential set-up (these Romans were SO smart . . before you jump down my throat for not referring to them as Pompeiians – note that Rome had Pompeii built for their own “pleasure” – and I know you’ve heard of all the types of “pleasure” they had here!)

Anyway – the first home I see with beautiful marble counters with holes in them – there’s a sign that says these were thought to be for separating & storing money. But – Sherine finds another sign that talks about how these holes were used for holding food – for restaurants. They had covers (which were gone at this point of course) so could be used for either hot or cold food and the marble would keep them sort of insulated. I start thinking that this would be the best set-up for me. I could make different dishes everyday based on my whims & the season and serve the hungry workers when they took their afternoon break from work. The counters were beautiful and the location was perfect – right on the street. You know what they say about choosing a spot for a restaurant . . location, location, location! Perfetto!! (of course, they need a little updating BUT the foot traffic is still very much there!!)

Over the past 30 years or so, many contemporary artists have been commissioned to do sculptures to replace many of the works of art that have been destroyed or pillaged. These are for the most part, made of bronze, so they really do blend in well with the antiquities. Many of the photographs we took showcase these works of art – in fact the cover shot of the foot / leg on this post is one of those statues.

All in all – an awesome day. It wasn’t very crowded and only about 60 degrees. I’m sorry that the pictures only give you a glimpse of this incredible city. If you ever have the chance, you have to come & see it. Note to all – they have left about 30% of the city covered and unexcavated. The archeologists wanted to be sure that as the exposed parts deteriorate that there are still parts left for future generations to see. It was mind-blowing to see how large this city was (even with the 30% still uncovered). I can only imagine how vibrant & impressive Pompeii would have been in its heyday.

Click Here to See Pictures

Note to Ivania – after sharing your impressions of your trip to Pompeii, I was actively looking for the phallic symbols that you said you saw everywhere. We must have hit different areas, because other than at the baths (where I did see some quite risqué pictures) I didn’t see a one. As we were walking back to the car, just before the main piazza, I looked down and saw this. I laughed, took this picture and thought of you! Wish you were here!! 😊

March 26, 2017
CRAZY TOWN – Napoli, Italy

So, I’m writing this post about 36 hours AFTER the experience of driving in Napoli (Naples, for those of you that aren’t familiar with its Italian name). Thankfully, I’ve had a LOT of alcohol this evening and can find the humor in it all – but truly – I don’t know how we got out of Naples without a single “ding” to the rental car . . or a visit to the emergency room. .or the morgue!

These people are CRAZY! I’m not talking on the scale of a little risky or aggressive – I mean 100%, certifiable CRAZY. These people don’t drive – THEY ASSERT!

So after a VERY pleasant experience with AutoEurope and an upgrade to a nice, new car – we easily find our way out of Rome Airport and begin our journey south. While we’re on the autostrada, it’s still beautiful with the green of Spring blooming everywhere & loads of mountain ranges framing the drive. The GPS says we’ll be there around 1:45pm and we’re cruising along. We are warned by the GPS of speed cameras and slowdown at appropriate points to avoid tickets. ALL GOOD! We manage to figure out the ticket “road toll” machines (which seem to keep popping up with requests for money) and even stopped for water at one of the really nice servico (rest stops) stations.

All of a sudden, we’re taking the turnoff to Napoli Centrale. We hit a ticket booth and struggle with payment, then the real fun begins. We merge onto a major city street that is brimming with cars going very fast. There are really no lane markers and people are just driving wherever they feel like it – sometimes, right at my tail – sometimes, 2 inches from my side fenders and doors. But what really FREAKS ME OUT every time I look in a mirror – is there are vespas coming at me from every direction! Weaving, cutting me off, barely missing me as they change lanes, darting between stopped cars, making U-turns through the small openings in the cement barriers that separate the direction lanes. Add the pedestrians that are crossing the streets, at random, from every direction and it feels like you’re in a car wash with fire hoses pounding you from every direction. THESE PEOPLE ARE NUTS! My blood pressure is rising, I’m using way too many 4-ketter words and the GPS had sent us twice around the same set of streets & we still don’t know where the hotel is.

**Note to self . . . the GPS had told us it would be about 6 minutes to the hotel once we exited the autostrada and at this point, we’ve been driving around for over 50 minutes! What the f&$#?

Finally, Sherine spots the hotel down a small alley and we have to circle the same route AGAIN to get back. In the meantime, I have old men flipping me off, people openly swearing at me as I go by, and others marketing types trying hard to get me to turn into their parking garages or hotels . . all while those damn vespas are darting in & out of everywhere!

All the while, I’m dying to pee and wondering if I can hold it much longer. When we finally pull in, I send Sherine in to quickly access whether we can park in front of the hotel. When she returns with the manager, he decides we can stay inside the stanchions in front of the hotel, rather than driving further to the secure parking lot. Since I’ve insured the car for EVERYTHING and at this point could really care less if someone were to just “jack the car”, I toss him the key & tell him he can park it where he likes – cause I’m off to find a bathroom! The gal at the desk directs me to the bagno (toilette) and I must have released about 2 cups of urine. I decide the volume must be tied to stress relief . . and Sherine agrees!

Once up in the room, I tell Sherine I MUST meditate – and I do. 16 minutes later – I’m good to go!

We decide to hit the Eat, Pray, Love Pizza Place . . Pizzeria Antica de Michele and once we finally find it, we wait a few minutes to get seated. We wait another 10 minutes to order and another 20 to get our food. These guys don’t care about service – they have plenty of business and could care less if you’re happy! The pizza is good – but not the best I’ve ever had – but I did get some interesting pictures. The check finally comes after trying for 5 minutes to get our waiters attention and he tells us it’s 11 Euros with NO service – but service is up to us. Sherine hands him a 50 and he says, “if you give me a 5 too, I can give you some change”. Of course, he brings back bills and 4 one Euro coins and says, “how much for me”? We give him the 4 Euros and he gets REALLY nice – cause of course, he’s just gotten a 40+% tip from the “sucker Americans”. All good – we’re off to the museum – walking through some interesting neighborhoods along the way (this is where we found the puppies & their mama).

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It’s dark when we come out of the museum, so we decide to take the metro, rather then walk back. We even stop at the marina stop to see the port at night, but after trying to find a route to the water that won’t get us killed, we decide to turn back & just return to the hotel. Getting back is definitely an exercise in programming the GPS and following its instructions – but we manage to get there after stopping for a gelato at a bar close by. All good – we’re safe & sound and Sherine’s off to bed.

I find a wonderful library & bar off of the lobby and park for the evening – checking in with Scott & email – and writing blog entries.

I finally fall into sleep only to get up around 3am and open the window to let in the cool air, as our room is stifling & hot in the humid Spring of Napoli. Strangely, all is quiet. . the CRAZY of Napoili has gone to bed too!

The church bells begin to ring at 7:30am . . . not sure what’s significant about this time of day or why they have to ring them so many times (seriously – doesn’t 30 rings seem a bit excessive?) – but I know one thing for sure – CRAZY TOWN is awake and ready to start another day!

Breakfast at Hotel San Pietro . . I’m going to gain 10 pounds!!

March 24, 2017
I Made a Pig of Myself – Eating Pig!

My first meal in Italy DID NOT disappoint.

So after I woke up from that nap and cleaned up a bit, I hit the cafe downstairs at the hotel. The young staff was charming and once again, I was complimented on the pronunciation of my broken Italian – but heck, I was trying & I think they appreciated that!!!

Any way . . I open the menu and see all this crappy American food and am very disappointed. Caesar salad that you can add chicken or salmon to, a hamburger & fries, a club sandwich – and I’m thinking WHAT THE HECK??? Then I realize . . you can turn the page to reach nirvana!

Italian specialties, each one more enticing than the last, and all calling my name. Glorious salads with fresh & interesting ingredients, starters of tuna, duck, prosciutto & seafood – all with homemade breads & interesting vegetable components. The secondo choices (main courses) were equally scrumptious sounding – but it was almost 9pm and I needed to go to sleep without an overly full belly. So I opt for a salad and the prosciutto plate.

This salad, YES, this salad – was quintessential Italy. All those promised fresh ingredients and the most beautiful presentation piled high and served with a bottle of balsamic vinegar & olive oil for dressing it at the table. It had arugula (called rocket over here), and baby red chard, and mache, and some really interesting spiraled veggie that I didn’t recognize. They had shaved fresh raw turnips & two kinds of radishes over it AND it had this amazing puree of cannellini beans that was underneath it all. I scooped it up with the salad greens and frankly had to try really hard not to moan out loud with the pleasure of it all. I ate every last bite! **Now, I have to talk about the olive oil. There were putting a bottle of it on EVERY table in the place, as they served bread. It was SOOOOOOO good, I of course had to find out where it was from (guessed Sicily – but I was wrong). It was from Perugia (close enough) and every bottle was hand-signed with lot info & production date – pretty impressive!!! I could swim in that stuff – don’t remember anything this good in the States!

Now, remember – I didn’t want to be TOO full. But then – the prosciutto plate arrived and I think I did gasp out loud! They had piled it HIGH with meaty slices of the most melt in your mouth, richly-hued ham I have ever had. **Sorry Scott, Mom & Dad – I don’t think the stuff we got in Parma right from the source could even compare.

Thankfully the thrill of the pork jolted me back to picture taking reality and I snapped the shot before I dug in. I was determined to not let a single piece go to waste – but believe it or not (and most of you know, I am a MAJOR carnivore) I couldn’t finish it (there REALLY was a ton of it). Besides, it came with AMAZING accompaniments. Pickled cauliflower, roasted romesco, these amazing herb-glazed carrots and sweet roasted balsamic onions. Oh, and that thing in the middle was a fabulous little focaccia bite with a little green olive (never have I tasted focaccia this good, not oily at all, just flavorful).

So I tell the waiter that I sadly cannot finish the prosciutto and I”m even more sad that it will go to waste. Of course, he asks if I’d like dessert and as much as I really want to have my first gelato – I pass. So instead of the check, what does he bring me? A little plate of goodies . . . he says it’s a welcome to Italy! Now, Dad can tell you, I can’t pass up a pistachio and there on that plate was a pistachio tartlette! So, as stuffed as I am – I have to be polite – right? So I hold off on the tart and hit the almond biscotti (gotta find out how to replicate these little guys) and the little cream puff filled with pastry cream so smooth the French chefs would be jealous. But then – it’s pistachio tart time – and it does NOT disappoint. Buttery tart shell, amazing pistachio pastry cream, all sprinkled with chopped pistachios. I devour it!!

I finally ask for the check – tip my standard American 20% (about double what they would expect here), say a big thank you to the staff & chef, and go up to my room to digest my food.

I said I wanted to eat light – well, sometimes good intentions get overshadowed by really good food! In the end , it didn’t turn out so bad. I stayed up to digest and got the travel post done for you . . and waited for Sherine . . and finally went to sleep dreaming of little pigs! See – I can both love them & eat them!!!

Surprisingly – I woke up with no jet lag & ready to face the day. I give all the credit to the pigs!

March 23, 2017
27 Hours to Rome

So, let me preface this post (the first one of the trip) with that fact that I have had VERY little sleep in the past 40 hours and some of these accounts could very well be sleep-deprived hallucinations. Matters not, this is HOW I experienced the “trip” to Italy.

March 21st

1:48am PST – Redmond WA, USA

I wake up after about 3 ½ hours of sleep and there is no way I’m going back to sleep. Action: get up, turn on MSNBC’s Morning Joe & take to yoga moves. Around 3:45am, I move to the bathroom, dress & start to get ready to move! Scott & leave the house at 4:30am for SEATAC and surprisingly find a lot of cars on the road. Nonetheless, we’re at the airport in less than 40 minutes. I hug & kiss him goodbye and he leaves me at the curb with my “what I deem to be very manageable” luggage (all 4 pieces of it)! **Yes, for all of you that I told I was “traveling light” – I lied!

5:25am PST – SEACTAC, USA

I’m through security (gotta love TSA’s Pre-Check) and trying to find some food, since I’ve been up for 3 ½ hours and haven’t had anything to eat. For me, to have forgotten to bring anything but some energy bars & dark chocolate, is crazy & somewhat perplexing. I go on the hunt for protein! At 6:20am – Alaska begins to board (down the steps, onto the open rainy tarmac & up the wet staircase) for the flight to Portland. We leave 5 minutes ahead of schedule . . and the journey begins.

7:50am PST – Portland, OR USA

Another outside, rainy disembarking on the Portland tarmac, up a bunch of stairs and I’m in search of the gate for my next flight – cause I only have a 40 minute layover. **Sorry, Kim, I was going to text & say good morning – but the call of a potty break took precedence! I quickly board the flight for the next leg which will take me to Dallas. Almost everyone is aboard and I think I’ve lucked out pretty good because there’s no one in the window seat & a nice lady who’s planning to move over from her middle seat – when this brother & sister board the plane. The boy is very much in the “take care of your sister mode”. I was very impressed at how take charge & mature he was – and asks if the lady in the middle seat would be willing to trade with him – so he & his sister can sit together. So my seat mates turn out to be a 17 year old brother and his 10 year old half sister. His father was a missionary and they’ve lived all over the world (most of the exotic places were when he was a baby – so he doesn’t really remember – has just heard the stories). They have the same mother – but different fathers – and they both live in Dallas (and their mother is in Eugene, OR – I’m sure there’s more to “that” story – but I didn’t ask!!). They were SO excited that I was going to Italy “for fun” and that I was practicing the language AND that I was going to be there for Easter and see the procession (these are afterall, kids of missionaries – so not surprising I guess that the religious holiday would be the high point of the discussion for them). Anyway, they were charming & so curious & so polite & so friendly. . . I kind of thought I was traveling with Alex & Sienna.

2:20pm CT – Dallas, TX

We arrive a few minutes behind schedule, but no worries, I’ve got 3 hours to kill. I asked the gate agent where my connection would be and in “very thick Mexican accented English” she tells me to take the train to D34. I get on the train & go to the next stop and go to the gate but no one’s there and the flight isn’t posted. So, I find another gate agent who tells me that I need to go to E34 (see the hallucinations are starting) so I jump back on the trainAll this on & off of escalators & trains AND dragging all that luggage around and a hot flash is coming on fast! About that time, I realize that the 84 degree, sunny weather in Dallas coupled with my “running around” to find my gate is NOT a good combination of activities for me – ESPECIALLY when I begin to smell myself and recall kicks in that I DID NOT PUT ANY DEODARANT ON this morning when I got dressed. Really?!?! So I run into the bathroom & put some on – but frankly it’s a little late!! Oh well . . . sorry international seat mates.

We finally start to board and I realize my boarding pass doesn’t have a zone # for loading. I go up to the counter and the agent says, where have you been, we’ve paged you 4 times (did I mention he also spoke a very thinkly accented South American English and I had to ask him to repeat himself twice)? I asked if they’d given away my seat – thank God, they did not. He must have taken some pity on me because I found myself boarding with the priority people. Turns out when you sit in the VERY BACK, they really just want to get you out of the way 😊. So I get all settled in a nice, aisle seat 2 rows from the back and a nice, elderly English guy even helps me put my luggage up in the overhead. No one comes to sit in the last 2 rows and apparently they’re holding them for the flight attendants’ breaks (more on that later). However, the flight is pretty light – meaning not all the seats are full – and the flight attendants start actively working on getting things balanced & people spread out. Long story short, they ask me to move to the very back row so 2 people that are sitting together could have the 3 seats in the middle that I would have had to myself. I ended up with a very delightful 60-something woman who retired in Hawaii – but was traveling to Spain to spend 2 months looking at & studying art – pretty cool & somewhat inspiring that others are doing the “gotta travel” thing!

The Boeing 787 is a very impressive plane indeed! During loading one of the flight attendants shooed a passenger away from the back galley saying that the bathrooms were in the middle. So, my seat mate & I spent the flight telling people who came back looking for the bathroom that they needed to go up front. Turns out – there was a bathroom right behind us – but we managed to keep it much to ourselves and avoid that “smelly overused” state that so often accompanies those back seats!!!

I slept maybe 3 hours off & on – and finally gave up about 2 hours before we landed. (It didn’t help that two of the male flight attendants decided to sit in those reserved seats behind the center row that I’d been in originally- and turn on their overhead lights & begin to have a lengthy discussion on what they do when they’re not flying.) I decided to do my morning mediation (as it was morning in Europe by now and I had already adjusted my watch) only to have a boxed breakfast of sugary carbs slapped down on my tray table & one of the male attendants (yes, one of the aforementioned ones) interrupting me with “what would you like to drink?”. I opened my eyes, smiled and said “hot tea please” and went right back to mediating. All good . . I’m on my way to Italy after all!!

But the way, it’s NOW March 22 – at least where I AM!

9:00am local time – Madrid, Spain

We land at what IS UNDOUBTEDLY the largest airport that I’ve ever been to – and that even includes Heathrow. I have never walked so much in my life . . and of course, I’ve still got all that luggage in tow. The walk to customs was at least 7 minutes, but at least customs was a piece of cake. Despite my best & most friendly “Buenos Dias” – I didn’t even get a hello from the dude, he just stamped my passport& handed it back. Another 10 minutes and I finally arrive at baggage claim & wait about 20 more minutes for the bags to start coming up. (btw – I had stopped to ask which terminal to go to for my last flight – Alitalia – and was told to take the bus to Terminal 2) I finally see my bag (I checked one – carried 3) and grab it, consolidate some stuff in prep for security check point and start to make my way to the exit. A nice gal stops me to ask if I need a taxi or gate connection information and I tell her I’m going to Alitalia in Terminal 2. She asks if it’s international and I say, “no, domestic to Rome”. She looks at my boarding pass and confirms that I really must go to terminal 1, not 2. Error obverted – thank goodness!

After boarding the bus, we seriously drove for about 5 miles & 10 minutes – did I mention I started at Terminal 4? I follow the crowd and they enter a door that leads us back to the area where we were dropped off originally (more unnecessary movement) and then I finally find the escalator to check in (easy). Security check point was easy with help of nice TSA-equivalent gal that “had to feel me up” – as the sensors went off with all the metal in my hips. Then I walked another 15 minutes to get to the very last gate in Terminal 1. (Note that this airport actually has posted times on all signs that tell you how long it should take you to move / walk to your gate. Mine said, 17 minutes, so I think I did pretty well.

Flight is delayed – but pilots make up some time. I’m barely awake at this point, as I’m on like hour 25 of this trip!

Note to self – and clarification for all of you . .

I SUCK at remembering to take pictures – but I finally remember this as I arrive at Madrid’s baggage claim area and realize – THIS IS A REALLY COOL PLACE. So here you go – Baggage Claim in Terminal 4 in Madrid. The picture of the chairs actually has MADRID incorporated for proof – but honestly, I really took that picture for my niece, Lindsey, she would love these chairs!

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2:10pm local time – Rome Airport, Italy

We touch down and quickly (and I mean quickly) drive to the gate. Except, it’s not a gate, it’s another set of stairs and there are buses at the bottom waiting to take you to the actual gate . . and more walking to get to baggage claim (another 15 minutes of walking!). Takes about 10 minutes for bag to come up & I know I have to walk to the airport hotel – but first I have to go up 3 floors to the walkway. I follow the signs and after about 15 minutes finally arrive at the hotel. The young guy that checks me in is charming & so cute. He tells me he just split with his girlfriend and I ask “was that a good thing?”, he assures me it was – as she is just “too young & doesn’t take me seriously”. I say you’re too young to be serious and get married and he asks how old I think he is. In my best broken Italian, I say “you’re probably trentadue (32), but look venticinque (25)”. He laughs and says, your pronunciation is beautiful & yes, I’m 25!

3:05pm local time – Rome Airport Hilton Hotel, Italy

So I’m finally in my room. I’ve been traveling for close to 27 hours and up for over 29 (with a few hours of broken dozing) and I am exhausted. I’m punchy and smelly and I just want a nap. So I splash water on my face, clean up using the bidet (first time – could kind of get used to one. . Scott, make note for new house!) and crawl into bed for a 3 hour nap.

5:17pm & my phone buzzes and I’m wide awake. I stay in bed for another hour watching the horror of London terrorist attack and think about my girlfriend Sherine, who’s landing in London about now to jump on a flight and meet me in Italy. I spend another hour or so repacking my stuff to make it more manageable and consider shipping some home (or just throwing stuff away!!). I get re-dressed and decide to find something to eat. I opt for the café over the formal restaurant and have a wonderful first meal in Italy (see subsequent post). A hot bath in a big tub and a rain showerhead bring me back to smelling nice and now I sit here waiting for Sherine to arrive and typing this post.

So this is what 27 hours of travel looks like! Oh, and did I fail to mention that this leg of the trip cost a mere 20,000 miles & $19??? SO REALLY – who cares – I’m in Italy!!!

March 23, 2017
So . . Who are these Graffeo’s Anyway?

So it all started with Antonino Graffeo . . born 1872 in Sciacca, province of Agrigento, state of Sicily inside the newly united country of Italy! The Sicilians didn’t like being united with Italy & they were starving . . so a whole bunch of them left, including Antonino! He sailed the ocean blue on the SS Nord America in October 1897 and celebrated his 25th birthday, on the ship, 3 days before landing in New York City. Somehow – and no one really knows why or how – he made his way to San Francisco and set up shop.

He met & married Calogera Sclafani sometime in 1901 or 1902 and they had their first child, Maria, soon afterwards (she died in 1903 – found that on the family crypt records). Their 2nd child, Mary, was born in 1904 and my grandfather, Vincent Rafello, Sr. came soon afterwards, with 7 more children coming over the next 15-16 years (of course, the 1906 SFO earthquake & fire wiped out all the marriage, birth & death records, so it’s been a little difficult to piece this altogether). **Biggest mystery is why the name was changed at all. If you look at Antonino’s immigration record on ancestry.com, his name is spelled perfectly. So, unlike so many who didn’t read, speak or write English when they came into the country and had their names butchered – he actually came into the country with the exact spelling of his birth name (I have a copy of his birth certificate, so I know this is true.) Whatever the reason – he lived most of his life in the USA as Tony Rafello (Rafello took a while to migrate to a single “f”, as early census records have it spelled with two “f”s).

To be updated with more details . . so stay tuned!

March 15, 2017
The BEST meal I ever cooked!
I’m not saying it was the best looking plate OR the best table I ever set OR the best single dish I ever made . . but IT WAS – HANDS DOWN – THE BEST MEAL I EVER COOKED!

So, this was the menu:
- Appetizers that blew everyone’s socks off. However, menopause has zapped the details of what they were from me – so you’ll just have to trust me – or if you don’t, I’ll give you a few contact numbers for the guests that were in attendance that night!
- Lamb shanks braised for 3+ hours in syrah wine with prunes & Moroccan spices. They were so tender & truly the meat just fell off the bones. When everyone finished, the bones looked like something from the Flintstones – they were BARE and I mean BARE – what you call “cleared to the bone”!
- An aromatic & sinfully delicious rice ring cooked with cardamon pods, saffron & a rich assortment of nuts (again, I can’t tell you how good this stuff was – though I felt like I was channeling a Moroccan grandma speaking to me from her kitchen).
- Tunisian spiced carrots with caraway & cumin seeds; spiked with harissa paste – yummy!
- Grilled eggplant lemon, parsley & TONS of garlic!
- A Greek salad inspired by the daily offering of fresh ingredients we were served each & every day of our honeymoon on the islands of both Santorini & Crete. Large slabs of my favorite Israeli made “sheep’s milk feta cheese” that you can only get at Trader Joe’s. (**If I haven’t turned you on to this yet – go get a slab of Pastures of Eden feta cheese at TJs today – look for the green & yellow packaging.)
- And for dessert . . these baked apples that I can only describe as sinful! Stuffed with brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon & cardamom and drowned in this ogeat (almond) syrup, the were baked to velvety perfection and were completely out of this world. I topped them with honey-sweetened, thick Greek yogurt and we all licked our plates (I mean literally, we picked up our plates & licked them)!!!
Now, of course, I haven’t mentioned one of the best parts – which is our good friend, Bob Delf & his wife (now, ex) were in attendance. Bob just happens to own a pretty successful winery up here in Washington and of course brought a LOT of wine. I won’t say that’s what got us in the mood to lick our plates – but I wouldn’t rule it out either!

Truly . . the BEST meal I ever cooked!
March 12, 2017
Blast from the Past . . . . . . . . It’s all about the FOOD (and the party)!

The above picture was Mom’s 75th Birthday Celebration . . at Eagle Lake, CA – August 2006. Catering at campgrounds with NO running water? . . only for my mom . . and a kransakake to boot!

Then we move along to Holiday Party 2009 . . . Check out that croquembouche Sienna! **And these were just “some” of the desserts in the dining room buffet. That year, 26 desserts & 4 buffets!

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Next up: Celebrating my 54th Birthday with the girls (Amy & Sienna, we sure missed you!) My mom throws a GREAT party . . the little girls: precious . . Me, recovering from 2nd hip replacement!!

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March 10, 2017
Blast from the Past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Italy 2010

I really love these oldie, but goodies!!

What is this thing anyway? I’m thinking a sacrificial altar?!?!

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March 9, 2017
Blast from the Past . . . . . . . . . . . . New York 2013

My husband takes great pictures! Really, this pic of Lady Liberty could generate lots of money from postcard sales!

Me – I’m all about the MEAT! Those are prosciutto hams hanging at Eataly – Mario Batali’s Italian Food Emporium. The cheese, the meat, the bread, the pasta . . that’s just the beginning! I could literally live in this place for the rest of my days!!!

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March 8, 2017
Santa Fe (Feb 2017) . . . Read this One for Sure!
The older I get, the less I want “stuff”. So for this last Christmas, Scott promised to not buy me any presents – and he didn’t (for those of you that know him – that was a really hard for him, cause he loves buying & giving presents). Instead, we had an experience, made some memories & visited somewhere neither of us had been before . . Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Not to bore you with historical & interesting details – but there’s some pretty cool stuff I didn’t know about Santa Fe.
1. It’s the oldest state capitol city in the US – yes, really! Of course, you have to count the years that it was inhabited before New Mexico became a state . . but whatever.
2. It has a cool, old, city plaza that has buildings dating back to the 1600s. Of course, they know cater to the rich with tons of jewelry & clothing stores, as well as more art galleries that I could begin to count.
3. They LOVE (and I mean LOVE) the chile . . red, green, yellow, a mixture – they don’t care. They put them in, on, next to, over, stuffed into & underneath EVERY type of food they eat. If you go – bring along a heavy stash of TUMS, Rolaids, Alka-Seltzer to cut the heart burn. Or do what I did and eat a LOT of ice cream!
4. They are at the heart of Pueblo Indian territory . . and that’s where we spent most of our time.
We visited Taos in an attempt to see the Taos Pueblo. Unfortunately, one of the elders had died that day (so we were told) and they had an unscheduled closely. Taos was not what I expected AT ALL. It must be more quaint in the winter with snow . . in February, it just looked old & dirty. Oh that’s right – February IS winter. None the less, their snow had come & gone about a week earlier and I was still unimpressed.

We did see a herd of mountain sheep on our drive along the river (suggested by a local guy we met that morning at breakfast – where we were eating red chile pork stew & tortillas – who said we had to get off the highway and hit the dirt road along the river – A REALLY GREAT suggestion by the way!) . . AND a really cool suspension bridge that’s like 600 feet above the Rio Grande River Gorge (again, we were told we had to go there – but found out that it’s a huge site for suicide jumpers – there’s actually call boxes along the bridge that are direct lines to the suicide hotline – kind of sad, but there’s also graffiti messages all over the boxes telling people they’re loved & have value in the world . . kind of nice if you think about it).
So the next day, we go to Bandelier Museum. This place is really awesome if you’re in to seeing how the Pueblo Indians lived – and we were. After climbing from the “floor” of Santa Fe, way up in to the mountains (covered with snow – so you know we had to be much higher than Taos), we drove about 2 miles DOWN into this huge valley, ravine, cavern – I don’t know technically what they called it! There we find the ruins of an entire city – yes, city . . partially on the valley floor and the other built into the hillside (these were we told, made up kind of a “high rent” district of the time!). Amazing to see & crawl around them. The picture of Scott & me below was taken at the top of cliff – it was the ceremonial site and we had to climb up FOUR ladders (and back down again) to get there. This was a bit gnarly for a little chicken shit like me – but I did it and was pretty proud of myself!

We also got saw a small herd of deer (about 7) that were NOT afraid of us humans at all. The buck was just laying down by the tree watching “his herd”. We saw them twice while we were in the park. We walked a path of about 2 1/2 miles and they had moved about an 1/8 of a mile in the same time frame. Oh well, we all have our own priorities!!

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So of course, the rest of the trip was spent looking for the best places to eat (we actually did some other touristy things – but honestly, food is always MY priority)!! If you go – there are three places I highly recommend:
1. BEST BREAKFAST – Plaza Cafe . . chilaquiles (Mom & Amy know I’m kind of a crazy woman for chilaquiles), pork carnitas covered in green chile & blue corn pancakes with pine nuts were all outstanding. YES – we ate all of these in ONE MEAL (no judgment please!) **Sue – they don’t make a bad fish taco for dinner either – yes, even deep in the desert, you can get some pretty tasty fish tacos!
2. BEST BREAKFAST #2 – Sage Bakehouse. The reality is I really can’t rate one of these restaurants over the other – cause they were both EXCELLENT – just different. Sage is like a great, French bakery. The breakfast tatines (kind of sandwiches, even though it translates to toast) were outstanding on fresh baked bread with eggs & serrano ham & avocado & cheese . . accompanied by house made pickles & really good olives. They’re lattes – both coffee & chai tea – were served in big cups with saucers and were yummy! We had to get a big, old crown thing – that was like the BEST bear claw I have ever had – and a yummy, almond croissant to go – cause I never could pass up an almond croissant! Of course, we needed some picnic supplies, so a loaf of bread to go was our last purchase! Scott loved it so much (and it was like a 2 minute walk from where we were staying) that he went the next morning while I slept in. Of course, he brought me an almond croissant for the road!
3. BEST DINNER in all of NEW MEXICO – La Boca! Yes, a Spanish tapas place that was hands down the BEST tapas I’ve ever eaten (of course, I’ve never been to Spain). We loved it so much – we went back 2 nights later – cause we couldn’t stop thinking about it. Even though the dishes & drinks we had the first night were all wonderful, we MADE ourselves order all different dishes – and they were ALL FANTASTIC! The wait staff, the bartender (who entertained us because there were only seats at the bar) and the flight of 3 sherries with the most fantastic chocolate-almond-fig cake I may have ever tasted (and must duplicate) rounded out a great close to a second, magnificent dinner. . delicioso!!! **What’s the word in Spanish, Amy??
Scott picked up the crud the last night we were there – but persevered though another Pueblo Monument & the drive back to Santa Fe on Sunday – only to arrive to a flight that was delayed by 3 hours. I have to say – he held up well – but as usual when traveling with Scott – something happens! That kind of stuff just follows him – makes for interesting travel stories (at least after the fact).

All in all – a great Christmas “present-experience” – that I only wish would have included my parents (since we’d all talked about going together for years). Oh well – there’s always another time!
March 1, 2017