Ciaotraveler

So my friends at the office decided I needed a little luncheon for my retirement...yes, I'm giving up my love of teaching and administration after 39 years (wow!).  So they know my taste...everything Italian...wine, pasta, and pizzelles.  My Aunt Teresa, the baker, made pizzelle cookies forever until she passed and now cousin Jo now has taken on this tradition. Speaking of pasta and wine, my favorites, chill up a bottle of Pinot Grigio and let's talk a little pasta... Oops, it doesn't have to be THAT chilled... This is better....the girls didn't know this is my favorite! Have a little wine as you work your magic in the kitchen--and add a little to the sauce as you go.  If I've learned anything over the years about cooking and eating, it's all about the personal tastes.  My husband loves spicy flavors.  Fresh ingredients are so healthy and delicious but they don't always provide the best spice to a dish.  So I add dried Italian seas...

Another great Pinterest idea for those wine cork products.   See my other cork products here .

This is the glorious statue of David in Florence.   It was absolutely worth seeing if you go to Florence.  Recently however, there's been a post on social media showing the USA David in a less than flattering way.  So here is the USA David: I suppose we must show a sense of humor!

A little departure from the norm today with Chicken Parm that I recently cooked up in the kitchen. Parmesan cheese is one of my favorite cheeses to use for dishes.  To come up with an easy breezy Ciao recipe, I actually studied a variety of recipes to create this one.  Here's how the process looked...    Here's what I used for ingredients: 6 boneless chicken breasts 3 tbs. olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup bread crumbs (panko or herb style) 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese Fresh ground pepper and sea salt for flavor Chili flakes (optional) Box fettuccine Bottled pasta sauce if you don't have time to make one Grated mozzarella 6 Fresh basil leaves or sprinkles of dried basil (use less dried) Prep: Place the minced garlic with the olive oil in a plastic gallon bag to start the fusion process.  Place each piece of chicken in another plastic bag and tenderize with mallet until thin, repeat for each piece Mi...

JBonamassa, WTrout, JLang, GMoore, PFrampton B'Lou's Selection JB from New York started playing guitar at age 4.   He played his first concert opening for BB King at age 12 (above left and my recent BB King photo).  Now in his early 30's, he tours about 11 months a year mostly in Europe.  Europeans appreciate and support the American blues bands.

d Having just been in Italy, we found these very stylish chic Oclock watches trending in Milan.   Mix and match dials and bands based to your own preference. Just simply pop out the dial and put in a different one. They also have Obags.  See some varieties below at the kiosk we visited at the Milano Centrale Station.

Find cute Italian related products at ItalyMag !

Are you in love with extra virgin olive oil as much as I am?  I use it almost daily for salad dressings, cooking, pastas and in my health products.  Having traveled in Italy, I prefer to have authentic Italian extra virgin oils. Over the past 5 years there are substantiated reports that our oil isn't really virgin after all, as much as 70% imported oils have been compromised.   Evidently the richest extra virgin olive oils can be as valuable as illegal drugs. What?  Does this mean we'll have mad chemists breaking bad extra olive oils?  So what's the truth about extra virgin olive oil?  Some of the most delicious olive oils I've used in Italy are from Sorrento and the Tuscany regions.  Sicilian olive oils seem to be the ones they're focusing on regarding fake extra virgin products.  My Tuscan and Southern Italy olive oils and some of the Italian style foods we love it on...yummy! But you be the judge.  Here's some a...

If this bicycle could talk, it would probably tell a very interesting story.   We spotted this chic bike in Cortona.  Thank you for over 150,000 views.  See my Cortona post here .

My friends and I recently took another trip to my favorite country of Italy (second to the USA of course). When we go, we always want to make the most of our days so we plan day trips.  During this ten day trip we went to Rome, Florence, Cortona, Venice, Fiesole, Milan, Lake Como (Bellagio & Varenna) Lake Lugano, Switzerland and Bergamo .  If you're interested in these beautiful places while moving at a faster pace please continue to read this post. If you don't immerse yourself in the culture of any town, you're not going to appreciate all that it has to offer.  However, you can still experience a town by seeing sites in the day and dining out in the evenings.  We start by meeting at the airport early morning in a major city such as Rome.  We've done this before because we have different airline mileage programs and different departure cities.  We usually have lots of airport or flight stories to share.  Any first time ...