Extra Virgin In Italia

Sometimes it’s hard to get started writing. I don’t know where to begin, my thoughts are racing and jumbled with no cohesive order to make this interesting. So I dive right in praying that I can edit before hitting publish and even know that if I accidentally publish, I can still edit. Yes, I’m procrastinating.

So I promised a picture of dinner after the Market. Well, that was eaten. We were ravenous but I do have one picture of the ingredients. Cross your fingers that it uploads properly.

We have apples and red grapes (with seeds – that will teach me to assume!). In the back are spinach and ricotta filled raviolis which took us forever to find, oh but there is no escape now! Pistachios, Parmesan, mozzarella, lettuce, tomato, basil, and beets.We cooked the pasta, drizzled olive oil over it and sprinkled the Parmesan on it…..divine! A wonderful garden salad with all the trimmings tossed gently with olive oil and balsamic and voila! A delicious meal.

The lettuce had been picked that morning in Tuscany. The sweet little man who sold us this and the tomatoes and basil was quite a character. He was explaining to me that there had been rain the night before and the lettuce was therefore quite muddy so it had to be rinsed quite well. I agreed but without further ado he went to the stall across the aisle and washed it himself for me, smiling, gesturing and talking while bagging up everything for us. I had been drawn to his stall when I saw him and another man with a bull horn singing, joking, and laughing away. It was such a lively, happy stall I couldn’t resist. I am very glad I didn’t. I believe the produce was so wonderful because of all the love and joy.

We wandered around some more, making small purchases, and bought slices of pizza with tomato, mozzarella, basil and olive oil to fortify ourselves. You’d think we’d be tired of eating the same thing so regularly but I think I could live off of it. We also found a stall where they did balsamic tastings – we didn’t have time but were invited back – you can be sure we will.

Wandering back home we took some pictures around the Duomo area:

The next shot is a close up of the picture above the door in the previous picture:

Of course the pictures don’t do the buildings or architecture justice. It’s amazing how intricate the work is and how long the buildings have withstood time. It’s really quite humbling in the grand scheme of things.

On a lighter note here a picture of an apartment I just thought was adorable.

I like the doors and the cheerful flowers on the balcony.

That’s it for now. It’s almost 4am here as I write this. We go to bed around 10pm or 11pm and I only sleep for about 3 – 4 hours. So up I get, eat a snack and when I start to feel drowsy, back to bed I go. Same with hubby but he can sleep at the drop of a hat. Freinds and family back home are probably shocked as I am normally a night owl, then sleep in late (when not working) and am so NOT a morning person. Maybe I was a baker in Italia in a previous life!

Ciao for now! DJ*
P.S. I was able to correct the picture in the last post. Hurrah!

Tags: architecture, Florence, garden salad, Italy, Lettuce, Mozzarella, Olive oil, Parmesan, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Tomato, Tuscany