What Fills My Plate

America Invades Monselice A few weeks ago we were driving through Monselice, a small town near Venice.   To our surprise, just below the old castle a new restaurant was being built.   It caught our eyes because it look so out of place.   It looked so American against the Italian buildings.   It jumps right out at you. We have been waiting for it to open, and found online the menu of what they will offer.   A lot of it looks like Bubba Gump’s menu and some of it looks tailored to what they must think is Italian taste.   I found only a few items I would try, but to be honest it seems a bit over priced.   This week at my local meat market I ordered ground beef.   I have to tell them to grind it twice and I noticed that they grabbed a fairly lean piece of beef to grind.   After making burgers with it we had a discussion of how it tasted.   I have aways been a bit disappointed with Italian beef as it seems a bit lo...

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 I...

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 Car...

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 P...

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 ...

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 Val...

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 so...