my daily toast (tumblr)

Mercato di Natale at Piazza Santa Croce

Starting in late November / early December, Christmas markets start popping up everywhere in Europe… this is a tradition that needs to be brought to the United States… now…

cookies from Bretagne

huge German pretzels

all kinds of pretzels! poppy seed, apple, chocolate, glazed, cinnamon, yum

freshly made funnel-shaped bread with various coatings - nuts, cinnamon, sugar, etc… anyone know what this is called?

and hot mulled wine! We had to get some!

Acqua all’Due

12/3

Shannon and I went to Acqua all’Due

We started off with the 5-pasta sampler. That’s right. 5.

broccoli-cream sauce; pesto; gnocchi in blue-cheese sauce (this was my favorite since i’m not a huge pasta fan); didn’t take pictures of the last 2 - both were in a marinara sauce… one was a ragu

shannon’s green salad

then a salad sampler… the best one was the fennel/radicchio/pecorino salad (I THINK it was pecorino…) - totally recreating that one at home. the other was a greek salad.

lots o’ food

entrees:

Shan’s blueberry steak… I know it looks like a black hunk in this picture but it was a lot more appetizing than that. The sauce was yummy.

My porcini mushroom omelette

And of course dessert… a dense fudgey chocolate cake

Am I making you hungry?

Living Hong Kong Vicariously Through iPhone

all photos from my Dad

standard HK breakfast - macaroni soup, egg sandwich, milk tea

my cute little cousins sheryl & steffi

Rivoire, Firenze

cioccolato caldo - the richest thickest hot chocolate you will ever drink. you have to drink it with a spoon because it is too thick to sip. my kind of hot chocolate.

hazelnut truffle + marron glace (candied chestnut)


mom + me + waiter, haha

Bistrot de Venise

mom’s amuse-bouche: liver pate with jam + crostini

vegetarian amuse-bouche: various cheeses with jam

Amberjack fish fillet stuffed with shellfish; artichoke hearts (so tender and good) and orsino garlic cream

Bistrot de Venise signature whole-wheat spaghetti with seafood (lots of weird creatures we had never seen/tasted before)

Best-tasting octopus I’ve ever had (not rubbery or chewy!)

Pictures of dessert tasting platter to come at a later date…

Crepes

Sunday morning it was raining and cold

so we grabbed crepes, the biggest crepes I’ve ever seen

so fresh and hot; they were extra steamy because the air was so frigid

mine was goat brie, tomatoes, mushrooms, and onions

the cheese was all melty and gooey and good

i was trying to savor it slowly but knew i had to eat it fast if i wanted the skin to stay hot and crispy

best crepe I ever had