Life experiences
In the 1980’s I lived in San Francisco and quite enamored with what I called: italian food. The italian food of North Beach was, at that time, best described as Italian-American. But as such it was a regional cuisine in its own right. There was one restaurant in particular
Life experiences
This cruise has been an incredible journey i will write more about that later, unless I don’t. But I want to capture my trip through Egypt to the Pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). So I have prepared 3 comprehensive shared photo albums for your enjoyment. The story
Life experiences
After several failed attempts, I finally was able to make one of my favorite delectable dishes, “Gnocchi Romana.” Unlike the name, it is believed to have originated in Piemonte; and unlike the more famous cousin, Gnocchi, it is not made with potato flour but rather semolina. I tried several times
Life experiences
When one thinks of great Italian wines, immediately the great reds pop into mind: Brunello, Barolo, Chianti, Amarone, etc. World class wines that are in demand all over the world. When one thinks about white wines, however, different associations are made. Food friendly, quaffable, light, cheap, and so on. There
Life experiences
I have noticed that the so-called great cooking experts are creating a violence against decent cooking that actually is surprisingly simple. They will add complexity for its own sake, add surprising taste sensations when none are needed. Among the unnecessary ingredients I have found are lemon juice, white wine, bottarga,
Life experiences
What do you do on a snowy day in Bologna? Today it started to rain but ended up snowing—very nicely. But I came across an interesting bagel recipe. It seemed simple enough to make the dough. Once the dough was made I could ignore the rest of the instructions
Life experiences
I read with great alarm the premiums and taxes one has to pay in order to buy a house in italy. If you are not buying a fixer-upper this can be a very substantial part of the purchase price from 25% all the way up to 40% for houses classed
Life experiences
As I prepare for my November application to the Italian Consulate I am already assembling the documentation I have been requested to provide. This will also help me from any last minute rush or at least mitigate such rush. Reading other blogs and I thought I would a get a
Life experiences
I am now in full swing getting documents ready for the Visa Application. Among the requirements are letters of references from my banks and financial institutions. But they don't write these things any more. Luckily , one of the banks is First Republic, one of the last old school
Life experiences
This is just a short post to let you know I made a video where I make 4 of the pasta's I have eaten in my travels in 4 Trattoria's. These dishes are extremely easy to make and I did the video with the help of
Life experiences
After consulting a series of consulates I came up with a superset of 20 plus possible documents I needed to get. They were: 1. US Passport 2. National Visa application, signed in the presence of the Consular Office 3. 2 Passport Photographs 4. Letter from applicant explain reason and length
Life experiences
Bologna has been decided. So what now? This blog is going to follow my Journey from innocent San Francisco denizen to harried and exhausted Bolognese. Here are the tasks that are awaiting me and I will take you through my trials a tribulations" 1. Italian Language classes (refresher since