Sipping Espresso

We'll just call this the "prequel" or maybe "part one of two ".  As the title suggests, our day in Brunate should have given us spectacular views of downtown Como since it virtually sits atop the city on a mountain.  But since the fog wasn't cooperating and decided to stick around - we didn't get to see or photograph some of the most amazing views our lake town has to offer.  So, perhaps a better title might have been… "Brunate - we'll focus on the town this time and show you the views next time … the Prequel". Welcome to Brunate Brunate is a small town of about 1,700 residents in the provence of Como and sits [based on my speculation, vertigo and body tempeture] at the highest altitude in the immediate area.  It is for this reason that you get the most speculator views as well as an intimate and charming old-world feel. There are three ways to get to Brunate.  First (and my personal favorite) is by helicopter.  This is res...

OK… not quite your Grateful Dead listening, moccasin wearing, pot smoking, "make love-not war" type of hippies.  More of the modern-day "green" kind.  Which is a good thing.  But let me tell you something… IT SURE IS INCONVENIENT! When we first moved here and were getting our run-down of the new rules of life, one of the first things we discovered was that everything gets recycled.  You're likely saying, "what's the big deal?  I recycle!"  Sure, we did too.  I was quite proud to carry my bottles, plastic and paper to the big blue bin next to the trash chute.  Our building actually changed from having to separate paper from plastic into one big bin to make it more convenient.  Now that's the type of recycling I was used to. But this… this is next-level recycling.  Thinking about throwing that banana peel away?  You'd better stop in your tracks!  Planning on throwing away that package your kids toy came in?  Stop r...

I (Jen) can safely say minestrone soup will be a new staple in our home.  I love it for many reasons.  First, it's something that I was eating as a baby when my Mom and Nonna (Grandma) would prepare it for me before I even had teeth.  For that reason it's a soup that not only warms the belly, but also warms my heart.  Julia enjoying some vegetables - pre-soup I also love that it's a hard dish to mess up.  You can throw in whatever you have in your pantry and fridge and even though it may not taste exactly the same as the last time; it will always be good.  I also love that I feel good about serving it to my family.  It's a healthy, complete, meatless dish that tastes good and leaves everyone feeling satisfied.   I love that it works for all ages.  As I mentioned I ate this as a child.  This is a perfect dish to blend up for your baby once they start eating real food.  And I love that now my daughter asks for this soup by name...

I just tell you - I am quite the romantic!  I mean, so much so that I didn't have a card, a plan or a clue this past Valentine's day.  But I just knew something would work out! "Sure hope Daddy has something special planned for us" I figured, what better way to start a romantic Valentine's day than finalizing one of our last major tasks - car shopping.  Thanks to my new best friend - the internet - we found a car in a town about 40 minutes away.  So we piled in and headed over.  After some intense negotiating (and let me tell you - your author was winning like Tyson versus Spinks ) we built up an appetite.  We asked the salesperson for directions to a local pizzeria (having not eaten delicious Italian-style pizza for a full week).  He asked if we wanted pizza , or we wanted to eat like a local .  That was a no-brainer and we answered at the same time in Italian (my accent, perfect - Jen's not so much) that we wanted to eat like the locals....

It still tickles me that when I wake up and ask Jen, "what do you want to do today" - the answer might be something like, "let's go to Switzerland" .  What a great idea! Our home in Lake Como, Italy is very near the Swiss-Italian border.  We have always been fond of a neighboring lake town, Lugano, Switzerland .  Since the trip is only about 30 minutes, the idea to hop over the border for lunch appealed to us quite a bit.   Lugano, Switzerland Switzerland is a beautiful country with some of the most breathtaking landscapes you'll see.  The most interesting thing [to us] about Switzerland is that it's a country that in many respects, assumes the identity of its neighboring countries.  It is a landlocked country bordered by Germany, France, Italy and Austria.  The Swiss do not have their own language; each Swiss "region" instead adopts the tongue of the closest neighboring country (either German, French or Italian).  Additionally, the f...