Italy: Remembering

Was it less than a year ago? I was strolling along the streets of Venice, feasting on ribollita in Florence, taking a dip in the ocean at the Amalfi Coast, and eating zucchini-topped marina pizza in Rome after a day of visiting the Coliseum and the Forum?

My Italian literary travels have me reminiscing about by actual visit. How I remember...

The sun setting in Venice.

Nuns interacting with the famous residents of St. Mark's Square.

A contented Burano cat.

A cozy bar in Venice.

A man with his dog.

A cheerful table at our bed and breakfast in the outskirts of Venice.

Wanting to take a dip myself in a Venice fountain.

A fruit market in Venice in the evening.

That laundry hangs out to dry everywhere in Italy, from the tiniest apartments to country villas, we yet think it's impossible to part with our dryers.

Wondering if I was in Italy, or Norway?

The road in Tuscany outside our country inn.

Mushroom parpadelle eaten...

....under the stars in Florence.

Always finding a little bit of France wherever I go. These biscotti were made by a French baker at a street market in Florence.

Snoozing among the souvenirs in Capri.

Finally trying campari, and realizing I don't like it!

A garden paradise by the sea in Capri.

In the land of lemons, a lemon Vespa.

Lemon risotto.

Have my Marge from the Talented Mr. Ripley moment (before Tom Ripley entered their lives).

Wishing I could express my enthusiasm for life the way this Tuscan cat can.


Over fancy jewelry, over pricey clothes, over flashy cars, over expensive gadgets, I take travel.

Visiting Italy, Via the Written Page

At a weekly tea break, my co-workers and I had a light bulb moment. We're all so obsessed with food, why not read a light-hearted food-themed book for the book group? Every Day in Tuscany by Frances Mayes was floated around. Done!

We had to have food, right? I don't know if the book wasn't an excuse to eat all this! All supplied by our host: grapes, organic olives, and bread. All that was missing was a picnic blanket and outdoor setting. After a long workday, we settled for a conference room, where we overlooked skyscrapers, but dreamt of rolling hills and lush vineyards.

My biggest struggle (and that of many trying to pursue a vegan lifestyle): cheese. I wish I could say I have will-power, but in communal settings like this, I don't. I hope vegan cheese improves - fast. I can't relate when vegans say they don't miss anything (and think they are lying).

A Toscana wine, and my book (thank you library!) A co-worker surprised us with the charming mini ceramic planter keepsakes that say "Tuscany." In the book, Mayes talks about how they repair ceramic planters with wires. Not tossing something broken away but repairing it - what a refreshing thought!


She references twice disparaging remarks from tourists - one about her husband's car (saying they think he'd drive something nicer), another about Mayes' house (that the tourist's house is much bigger). Such a typical attitude - and one I cannot understand - that bigger is better, and that brands are everything.

While there are endless gems in the book, I want to share with you my favorite passage, which so many of us can relate to:

"Time--that's what it takes for the slow tomato sauce, stirred until reduced to an essential taste of summer sun, for tying lavender in bunches and hanging them from beams to dry, for learning the imperfect tense, for checking the reddening of pomegranates every day as they ripen, ripping open the leathery skin to reveal the juicy red hive within, sprinkling the fruit over a salad of field greens and toasted walnuts. Living well in time means taking back time from the slave-masters - obligations, appointments, the dreary round of details that attack like leeches in a stagnant pond. During intense periods of work, restoration projects, family crises, health scares, I want to wake up at first light, pull on hiking books, and set off for an hour while the birds are still practicing their doxologies.

Wasted hours-they are mine; I meant to use them before they slipped through the hourglass."

Margaritas and May Happenings

Weekend goal: have a margarita. Friday night: mission accomplished!

My sweetheart's Corona, $5, and my raspberry margarita, $7.


We (and half of Bergen County) thought it would be splendid idea to dine at Pancho's Burritos in New Milford, which is now twice the size of its original location after taking over the hairdresser next store.



After a wait at the bar, we scored a coveted outdoor table. I feasted on a cup of black bean soup to start, and a mini-vegetarian burrito filled with veggies, pinto beans, Spanish rice and soy cheese, with a side salad.

Unexpectedly, I dined al fresco again Saturday evening with my parents. With a bottle of wine in hand, we ate at the cheerful Garden Cafe in New Milford. Frank Sinatra music was piped into the background.

I took this photo Easter weekend when my boyfriend and I finished dining at Jersey Boys Grill next door, and resolved to come back here.

I had a wrap: a spinach tortilla filled with grilled portobello mushrooms, zucchini and roasted red peppers (hold the mozzarela cheese), served with homemade chips, $7.25. Gardenburgers are usually available, but they were out that night.



Disappointingly, they don't have soy milk for their coffee drinks.

I may have to go back for their Thursday all-you-can-eat pasta night, $9.95, which comes with salad and dinner rolls. I like patronizing these local, community-minded restaurants. Extra points for BYOB status and outdoor seating.

May goals:

Have spanikopita at the St. Athanasios Greek Orthodox Church's annual Greek Festival, May 13,14,15, and 16, in Paramus, NJ. More info. Find a Greek Festival near you.

Participate in another Hackensack Riverkeeper Clean-up. Check out the full list. Done it! More about that later.

Attend Pinkster Fest: A Colonial Celebration of Spring. This Bergen County Historical Society event takes place Sunday, May 23, at Historic New Bridge Landing in River Edge. $7 adult, $5 children, BCHS members free. Check out all their events.

Chef Jose Andres: Fruits and Vegetables: "Unbelievably Sexy," Meat: "Overrated"

When I sat down to watch 60 Minutes on CBS, I was taken with chef Jose Andres' words, largely not because he is a vegan or vegetarian chef, but more precisely, because he isn't. See what he tells a skeptical Anderson Cooper.


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"I believe the future is vegetables and fruit. They are so much more sexier than a piece of chicken."

"Let's compare a chicken breast, the best chicken breast from the best farm with a beautiful pineapple. Cut the pineapple, already the aromas are inundating the entire kitchen, has acidity, a sour afternote, touches of passionfruit. The chicken breast, it's okay."

"Meat is overrated. Meat to me is slightly boring. I love meat too, but only once in a while. You have a piece of meat and you put it in your mouth you chew the first five seconds all the juices flow around your mouth they're gone and then you are 20 more seconds chewing something that is tasteless at this point. Something like this doesn't happen with a pineapple or an asparagus or a green pea."

Thoughtful words for us to ponder, considering how meat-centric most people are. So many cannot imagine a meal without meat. I cannot a imagine a meal with it.

I also loved that he volunteers at the DC Central Kitchen, which has a 12-week training program for homeless and other in-need citizens. He says, "Chefs of America, we should be more outspoken about the way we are feeding America, not only about what I'm feeding them in my restaurant or in the great restaurants of America. It's only one, two or three percent of the Americans that eat in those restaurants. We should be more committed about the other 97 percent of Americans that don't come to our restaurants."

Jose Andres, a wise man. Read the full story.

Who Says....

New York City is all hot dog stands. Fruit stands are all around the city in springtime.


Having a soy cappuccino, $3.75, at Macaron Cafe while flipping through their French magazine collection can't be considered an educational outing in my studies of the language?


You should be fraught with worry over the state of your thighs, stomach, or other part of your body if you will be pool-side, lake-side, or beach-side in a month or two.

When have you EVER heard a man utter, "Sorry, I can't eat that cookie. Swimsuit season is almost here, you know!" I've heard the dreaded swimsuit comment three times in one week from women.


You can't be a vegetarian or vegan and still adore food films like Babette's Feast, Julie & Julia and the woman herself, Julia Child. My Life in France was with me all over Italy. I found her enthusiasm for life contagious, and her love story with Paul endearing. How many romances survive that long?

I could so relate in Julie & Julia when Julia (a la Meryl Streep) declared, "All I think about all day is food and then I dream about it all night."


You can't support Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, just because he is not promoting veganism or vegetarianism. I've been disappointed at the animal rights community's utter silence about this show, and their refusal to acknowledge his ground-breaking shows on factory farmed chickens and pigs in the UK.

I think of Natalie Merchant's observation in her Leave Your Sleep liner notes about the "timeless truth that we fail to understand the entirety of anything because of our limited perspective." Many vegans only seem to want to hear or discuss people promoting vegan only. That's a mistake, in my opinion.

We need a massive shift in our food culture, and Jamie Oliver promotes many of the same ideals. More organics. More local food. More cooking from scratch as often as possible. For many, learning how to cook. Revamping a broken school food system. Improving brown bagged lunches. I couldn't agree more when he said in his closing show that if parents fed children the junk he witnessed every day, it's child abuse.

"You can have anything that you want in food, but just in moderation," he assures us. Moderation is one of my favorite words. I tire of the food police declaring you shouldn't have any sugar, white pasta, and such ever. He's not saying that either.

Sign Jamie's petition, which simply declares, "I support the Food Revolution. America's kids need better food at school and better health prospects. We need to keep cooking skills alive."

From the Farm

After a winter hibernation, Demarest Farm opened for the season on Earth Day. This Hillsdale, New Jersey-based farm has been around since 1886. You may recall my visit here last year.

You can now enjoy a lovely lunch outside at one of their tables, in their greenhouse, or on a picnic bench (my preferred choice). Bonus points: they are dog-friendly. My mom and I took our family's adopted dog, who enjoyed the sunshine with us while we dined.

In addition to two daily soups (one vegetarian selection that day, corn chowder), they always have vegetarian chili, loaded with bell peppers, chickpeas and beans, $4.59/pound. This portion was $2.85, paired with an onion roll, $1.10. To avoid the disposables, my mom and I brought our own silverware, cloth napkins and cups in a picnic basket.

We shared a white peach iced tea, $2.

I love wraps. Recreate this avocado, tomato and onion wrap at home.

Deli pickles.

I was pining for some Clyde's of Garfield Italian ice, but it isn't available until this weekend. I would have gotten one scoop watermelon, one scoop honeydew melon. Next time!

There's usually a mob around these during their busiest season in the fall: cider donuts. If you'd like, veganize at home.

I cannot wait for fresh summer tomatoes to hit the farm for tomato and basil salads.

Simple snack: radishes.

Love the way they repurposed this old chair in the garden.

I like Demarest for lunching, but for general shopping, I favor Old Hook Farm, for its wider selection of vegan offerings, organic produce, and local finds. Demarest Farm had asparagus from Peru, but look what I found at Old Hook Farm. This will be cream of asparagus soup (the cream from soy creamer).

In addition to produce, I picked up some indulgences: vegan fudge bars, and some organic strawberry lemonade.

Fragrant lilacs. My mom surprised me with a bunch while we took turns waiting in the car with the dog.


Find a family farm near you through LocalHarvest.

Another Night With Chefs: How I Did This Time.

My sweetheart and I attend two annual events with his fellow chefs: a picnic in late summer, and a fancy dinner dance in spring. I was extremely tardy in posting photos of both events, but always love to examine what the vegetarian or vegan options are, so thought they were worth belated blog entries. This year's dance has now come and gone. Thankfully, the veg options were drastically more inspired. The food at the picnic is the same each year, and always delicious.

This time it was at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. I love what candlelight does for a room.

The cozy atmosphere extended into the dining room. An edible centerpiece: asparagus.

Everything better with butter? Not tonight. Not a pat of butter on the table. Instead, organic olive oil, which was the perfect dip for rosemary olive bread.


First course: I'm afraid to say veal carpaccio and avocado terrine. If you don't know what's wrong with veal, please visit Farm Sanctuary's NoVeal.org site. A few years ago, it was just as horrible - foie gras.

My course, much better, don't you think? Can you imagine the suffering that would have been avoided if everyone ate what I had instead?


Next: seared sable and salmon graviox pave with white asparagus.

Instead of fish, I got seared tofu. Even though tofu is such a staple in many veg diets, I don't think I've ever gotten it at an event like this.


Entree: Noisette of lamb niçoise natural jus with potato and spinach.

A tart with broccolini, roasted red peppers, olives and capers in a marinara sauce and a slice of potato. I was stunned (and delighted) to get served something other than a plate of bland, steamed vegetables.



The cheese and salad course. I use salad lightly, since there wasn't much here.

Salad of petite mache, poached pears, walnuts, and warm mountain shaft blue cheese. I gave the cheese soufflé to my boyfriend. A few pondered, "is this breakfast?"



Dessert: Spring melange of berries in tuile with warm balsamic peppered infused syrup.

Some winced at my table at the simplicity of this (someone called it a dessert taco!), but I loved the berries. Who always needs a heavy cake, especially after a multi-course meal?


Portion sizes were thankfully smaller and the cocktail hour was pared down to a few passed hors d'oeuvres and some stations. I don't know anyone (short of the catering sales manager) who actually wants the massive excess of food at most celebrations. "The best" to me is not offering food that will go uneaten.

What did I wear? A black Laundry dress from the Revived Attire consignment shop. I paired it with my $4 dress shoes from C.A.T.S. Resale Shop I wear only at such events (oh, how I prefer flats). I also had an evening bag and wore a pin that had belonged to my grandmother, and used a wrap I've owned for ages. I did my own nails to save money.

From the clothes to what I ate, I did things in accordance with my own beliefs. If you are the lone person eating veg at your table (I often am), or wearing a second-hand dress - take pride. You don't have to do things the way everyone else does them.