What Fills My Plate

Bruschetta was on my plate Thank you for reading What Fills My Plate.  I have tried to write true experiences I have experienced in northern Italy.  There have been stories about food, shopping, scenic places, and how the normal person experiences a normal day. One Voice However, today I want to continue from my last blog and highlight this video which I would like you to see.  I want to speak out against the continuous and wasteful war.  16 years is enough.  Have we learned anything from the Iraq war?  There are other Americans that feel the same, and this video will show you the resistance.  One brave woman speaks out.  Her point was made.  We must not  continue war.   Please take a look. You will have to copy and paste this in order to see it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RlO-N2tyF0 Some facts to consider:   3.3 billion dollars to Israel in military aid, plus an additional billion in weapons to Israel, which equals 23,000 dollars to every family living in Israel.

It’s not all gondolas, towers, and food!    If you open your eyes you can find the things and people    that make Venice work smoothly.    It requires the same type of workers and people that your city requires.    Here are some shots of things that might help you appreciate the extra effort that must be made in Venice. transport boat brings everything food, supplies, mail, water What about police support?  No cars with flashing lights and sirens, as it has to be boats with the same.  Near the train station is the area where police boats are stored. Running out of room, police boats are parked aside canal How about the people who transport goods from the canal boats to the shops and homes.  Here  you can see the type of cart that is used for this, and two fellows who have to fight the tourist crowd. Coming over the top of the controversial bridge. Many Venetians are not please with the design The Cart workers hate the steps  It takes more than one person

Issues that should be in the news, instead of Russia-Gate Some thoughts about important issues, these I hope people are thinking about.  This is a major bridge to cross, thinking. Support for medicare for all, similar to what Europeans have. Negotiation of drug prices, similar to what Europeans have. Corporations pay no taxes, why not get rid of the loopholes? Super massive increases in military spending Continuation of wars.  What have we gained? Cease the building of a huge drone base in Africa costing billions of dollars No funding for formation of military in space.  We already have lasers that can shoot down any satellite in space.   Stop slashing of medicare and social security while giving the rich big tax breaks and the pentagon a huge raise Stop funding military regimes around the world Stop all support for more fracking, we cannot waste clean water for future generations Condemn Israel's shooting Palestinian demonstra

It has been a few years since I first went to the movie theatre in Padova.  Television is quite boring in Italy, the evening offerings are filled with stupid game shows that are so bad they have to have a chorus line of dancers break into the scene and shake their booties.  If that is not interesting enough you could go numb watching experts argue points, shaking their arms, yelling and using body language fit for a basketball coach at the finals. So I felt quite lucky when I heard that we could go to the theatre and I didn't even care if it was in Italian.  What that means is at that time I wouldn't be able to understand even a simple sentence in Italian.  But that is okay because they use extreme gestures which often tell the viewer what they are saying.  Off we go, fighting traffic, and searching for a parking place like the shark of Jaws seeks out tasty swimmers.  I often hum John Williams' Jaws theme, which irritates the heck out of my wife and gets a smile out

A few years ago when we were back in Colorado my Italian wife decided she wanted to see what garage sales are all about.  This is not to be found in Italy, so she was curious.  Upon leaving the first sale, she was hooked and now we MUST go to a few garage sales when back in the states. You never know what you'll find The closest thing to a garage sale in Italy is a flea market.  We have been to some good ones and some that seemed a bit "not exactly as expected".   I thought Rome would have a good flea market, but we found it to be rows of stuff made in China, with a few old trinkets that had lost their polish. Arezzo has a spectacular flea market, and is made up of what seems like professional dealers.  I spotted an actual guillotine for sale, and a huge amount of furniture.  Visit it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrxQIH3w3n4   Padova has a large flea market once a month.  It is held in the massive piazza, Prato della Valle, located in the middle of t

I am enjoying my day while thousands of miles away and across the sea my friends and relatives are sleeping.  In a few hours they will soon commence their big blowout birthday celebrations for America.   Most Americans will have the day off and picnics and family get togethers are planned.  I miss these greatly.  Italians do not think about July 4, they have their own birthday with a day off of work.   My thoughts are with all of you in the states today. My Step Mom Always Made a Rhubarb Pie When I first moved to Italy I tried to keep the bigness of July 4 going with my friends here.  It is difficult because July 4 does not fall on a weekend every year and people here work and basically could care less about this birthday.  They went along with my plans, but after a few years we began to plan less and less.  This year's celebration will begin after work with burgers on the barbecue.  For a smile I might show fireworks on some youtube video while I remember past 4ths.  Ther

The search continues!  I had high hopes that this new product in my large super market would be the real thing.  We tried, we tasted, it failed.  Doing further research we found that this product was not a real corn tortilla based product even though you can see the title "Corn Tortilla".  They used 34 % wheat flour.  The result of this is that they do not cook well, you cannot fry them to make soft tacos as the edges burn.  They do not even come close to tasting nor smelling like the real thing.  You begin to wonder about these food companies.    more below.. Why is it so hard to get a product that is the real thing here in Europe?  These companies change the composition way too much.  An example are the many different brands of salza offered in markets.   All of them contain way too much sugar and no "heat".   Yet they are labeled as the real thing found in Mexico or Texas.  I never add sugar when I make my own.  It's all about the chili flavor. I

Has it been two years?   I am thinking it has been far over that, but I can almost begin to smell the roasting coffee beans in the new, still not ready, Milano Starbucks.   Upon more investigation, this Starbucks will not be the usual type, but a much larger one they call a Roastery.   Plans for smaller ones in Milano by the Italian licensee Percassi might open in 2018.   They are publishing that these smaller ones will respect the local community, etc.   I guess this means that the bigger one near the cathedral does not respect the Milanese setting. ?? Here is something you would find in a  Roastery .    Shiny Copper with tubing, etc, looking more like a small craft brewery.   You can see that this not be your usual coffee bar found everywhere in Italy. Ah, there’s nothing like getting a cup of java that is several 100 % mark up over normal coffee a few doors down the street. The owner of our fav enoteca in Arquà Petrarca sat down for a few minutes and   told us t

Sicily It is a normal day here in Italy.  We had a rain last night and the sun is trying to show itself through the Venetian haze.  Parents have delivered their children to school and now there are fewer cars  on the streets.  Today is the weekly market day in my village.  There are about 25 stalls selling anything from women's clothing to the smelly cheese I like to buy every so often.  Many villagers turn out for this, most of them crowd around one vegetable seller, the other two veggie sellers get a lot less business. Other popular stalls are the roasted chicken guy, and the fish ladies who try to get me to speak my broken Italian.  They make sure to have old fashioned Italian music blaring from their stereo.  Last week I heard Cella Luna which always brings a smile to my face.  C'e la luna mezz'o mare Mamma mia me maritari, Figghia mia, a cu te dari Mamma mia pensaci tu. There's a MOON IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEA: MOTHER I MUST GET MARRIED -- My da

Easel Will Travel This will be a short blog posting.  It is outdoor painting season. After writing several emails, posting a blog review, and alerting Old Wild West about their lousy burgers and asking for a response, I have received nothing.   Therefore, I can only conclude that they do not care about changing for the better. Other Italian news....Allergy season got a two week break here in the Veneto because of rain, but now it is back in full force.  Sufferers can only wait for another two weeks or so and the pollen will reduce. To Die For Mexican Cuisine On my terrace my jalapeno plants are producing flowers.  It will be only a short time before I will have fresh jalapeno for my Mexican food.  I have been using ones from last summer that rest in the freezer. We have seen a growth of Asian and Mexican food products in the larger grocery stores here.  I don't get too excited about this as a package of 8 corn tortillas costs 8 euros.  We have never bought these expe

The  Old Wild West  world got a little smaller last weekend. The glitter of a freshly barbecued burger with all the trimmings took a big hit.   I fear that Old Wild West is losing its legendary reputation of serving up great cowboy sized meals that are fresh off the grill. Lately, the deeper you dive into their menu, the more you will want to stay away.  It's no longer a unique experience.     This is sad to me as getting a good burger here in Pasta Land is difficult, and being American I kind of need a good burger once in awhile.   There are few burger places in and around the Padova, Italy area, and the one we frequent, called Old Wild West, is located in the town of Monselice.   This week, when arriving,   we first noticed that they had finally taken down the tattered American flag that had sadly hung outside in the rain all winter long.   Workmen were freshening up the wooden patio area with fresh paint, and so it looked like the management was taking some pride in th

Plated Artistically  We escape Pasta Land of the Veneto to visit Croatia at least 5 times a year.     The scenery is beautiful and the coastline is colorful.   You can tell you are near Croatian man-food by the smell from the pigs roasting on a spit at almost every restaurant into and out of each town.   If you are not in the mood for pork there is always fresh fish, or something with local truffles.   However, in the   past two years we made a major discovery and have always planned to visit a restaurant called Barba Danilo at least twice on every weekend visit.   Our first time resulted after reading   several reviews of restaurants in the area around Rovinj.   Now after becoming a quasi regular customer I want to write my own recommendation and urge you to make an effort to visit them if you are on the coast of Croatia.   (Rovinj is just over 3 hours from Venezia) The sauces w the tuna Wow! The restaurant is highly popular, usually you have to make a reservation