Italy in September - Part I Rome

My long-term goal of visiting Italy finally came true this month and I was not dissapointed. We spent almost two weeks in Rome, Florence and Amalfi Coast. Taking a quarter of Italian has also proven to be extremely useful. This is a first post dedicated to Rome. As always the hope is that some will find this useful on your next trip. 

Getting There

We flew on Lufthansa from Seattle to Rome with a stop in Frankfurt. Our hotel arranged for a car from the airport. 

Accomodations

We stayed in a beautiful boutique hotel Villa Laetitia, which is owned by Fendi family. It is located in a Prati neighborhood, away from the main tourist sites. It is close to the Vatican City and from talks to the locals hosts a lot of law firms. The hotel is elegant and quiet. You can feel how much soul has been put in in designing every room. Hotel is still only 3 stars so it is affordable. One can see Anna Fendi Venturini on a property as well, probably working. Below are the pictures of the main dining room and the lounge areas.

Dining

We mostly ate in our neighborhood, which had several good restaurants and bars. 

Settembrini has several eating spots in the Prati neighborhood. We went to 3 - a wine bar,  a beer bar and a restaurant. All were good. Plus its very lively atmosphere filled with locals makes it for a fun outing.

Tastevin (no Web site) was another place we had dinner. I particularly liked the appetizer made with anchovies and mozzarella. 

Cacio e Pepe was disappointing, so I won't recommend it. Seems like they were heating pasta in the microwave. 

The famous Roscioli's met its high expectations. We went there for lunch and had burrata, prosciutto and pasta carbonara. 

Another traditional roman food restaurant was recommended to me and I can pass the recommendation on. La Campana is close to the Pantheon and we enjoyed our fried artichokes and pasta with fresh black truffles. Veal and chicken were also good. 

Gelateria dei Gracchi was the best. Tony gave a great recommendation here. Here is an instagrammed picture of my treat one night.

Attractions

I relied on Rick Steves to tell me what sites to visit in Rome. We went to Colosseum, Borghese Gallery,  Modern Art Museum, Pantheon, Vatican and even Capuchin Crypt! I especially enjoyed climbing the St. Peter's Basilica and the Maps Hall in Vatican, and walking in the Borghese Gardens. We used Viator tours for Colosseum and Vatican but I was not too impressed with the quality of the guides we had so would not recommend it. 

Shopping

Few establishments are worth mentioning. 

For food it was fun to visit Trionfale Market where you can buy meat, fish, cheeses, pasta, fruit, mushrooms and even truffles plus many many other things.  Pictures are below. 

We picked up few items for our lunch back in the hotel. This is what it was. 

For clothes I enjoyed shopping in the Prati neighborhood near Piazza Mazzini. You can find boutique shops with clothes made in Italy by some unknown designers. I spent some good change in the kid shop Nikilo.

Other

We walked to most sites from our hotel and when tired we would catch a cab. TripAdvisor Off Maps iPhone App proved to be very useful so make sure to download it before you go.

We went to Florence by train one day and so the next post will be dedicated to it. Off to Part II.

Labor Day Weekend in Victoria BC

This year we took a trip to Victoria, British Columbia over a Labor Day weekend. Victoria is very beautiful and I always enjoy visiting it. Here are the highlights from our trip.

Getting There

We took a ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, then drove to Port Angeles and took another ferry to Victoria. While in Bainbridge we stopped at the Blackbird Bakery.

Accomodations

For a hotel I chose the Empress, which I believe is a preferred choice by all who stay in Victoria overnight. Usually hotels that have spas let you use their facilities for a small fee without getting a treatment. The Empress hotel was not forthcoming in this regard. I did end up using their sauna, steam room and a mineral bath and it was very relaxing. I asked concierge to call the spa and ask if I could use it.

Food

One morning we walked to West Victoria to an organic bakery Fol Epi. We got sandwiches, almond cake and few macarons. The almond cake was my favourite - very light and full of berries.

For dinner we went to 10 Acres - the farm to table type restaurant. It was good, thought I felt like they tried to use too  many ingredients from their farm that did not go well together. Sometimes less is more. 

We also picked up few more macarons at Bon Macaron. These little nuggets are in vogue right now. 

Things to See

We went to the famous Butchart Gardens and just walked the streets of Victoria doing some shopping. It is truly a beautiful area.

Pickled Tomatoes and Cucumbers - Generational Recipe

Growing up I remember my mother always canning vegetables and preserves in the summer time. Pickled tomatoes were my favorite, which was usually a special occasion, like a birthday or a New Year celebration, treat. Now as an adult I would always enjoy pickled tomatoes and cucumbers on my trips back home. This summer I am extra lucky since my mother is visiting me during the harvest time. I asked her to teach me how to pickle tomatoes and cucumbers. Below is the recipe I followed that my mom has been using for decades and it has some folklore elements in it too.

Ingredients per 1 24 oz jar

For tomatoes:

0.5 litter of water
1 lbs (+/- as many as you can fit in a jar) of small round tomatoes (used red delight)
1 tablespoon of salt
2 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoons of vinegar (5%)
2-3 fresh dill umbrellas
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
5 peppercorns
5 allspice
2 thin slices of fresh horseradish root
1 sprig of fresh Italian parsley
2-3 fresh small peeled garlic cloves (if large cut in half)


For cucumbers:


0.5 litter of water
Small to medium size pickling cucumbers, as many as you can fit in a jar, washed and bottoms cut off on both sides
1 tablespoon of salt
0.5 tablespoon of sugar
3 tablespoons of vinegar (5%)
2-3 fresh dill umbrellas
1 bay leaf
5 peppercorns
5 allspice
10 yellow mustard seeds
2 thin slices of fresh horseradish root
1 sprig of fresh Italian parsley
2-3 fresh small peeled garlic cloves (if large cut in half)

Preparation:

1. Wash the jars as described on a box, dry with a towel. They must be clean. My mom washes them with baking soda or salt. It must be the way they used to do it. Also less unknown ingredients this way. But regular dish soap is fine as well.

2. Add tomatoes to the jars, filling them almost to the top. Then add cloves, peppercorns, allspice, garlic, bay leaf, horseradish, dill umbrellas and parsley. Do the same for cucumbers except omit cloves but add mustard seeds. Follow ingredients list above.

3. In a big pot bring water, salt and sugar to a boil and pour into the jars, filling to the top, cover with the lids and let stand for 20 minutes. Note that ratio of sugar and salt differs for tomatoes and cucumbers. Follow ingredients list above. After 20 minutes pour the liquid from the jars back into the pot and bring to a boil. Pour the hot liquid back into the jars filling them almost to the top, add vinegar and close the jars. Make sure the lid is on tight and turn the jars upside down and cover all the jars with a blanket overnight.

4. The next morning take the jars from under the blanket and store in a cool dark environment until ready to eat. We usually let them marinate for a month or more or until Thanksgiving. If you see bubbles or the liquid gets very cloudy it means something went wrong and you should just get rid of the jars.

What to Make with Squash Blossoms and Lobster Mushrooms - Pizza

I went to the U-district Farmers Market this Saturday and picked up squash blossoms, tomatoes, lobster mushrooms, walla walla sweet onions, zucchini and few other items. I knew right away I wanted to make pizza with ricotta and squash blossoms. I decided that fontina cheese and some finely sliced zucchini slices will go well with those two ingredients. 

I got intrigued by a bright orange color of lobster mushrooms and decided to get them. I have never eaten them before. But thought to myself - I can always fry them with onions. And then I decided to make another pizza with tomatoes, lobster mushrooms, onions and fontina cheese plus some fresh thyme. 

I usually get my pizza dough from Trader Joe's but this time I even contemplated making my own. After looking at several recipes I decided to just get a fancier pizza dough  in a store - the Essential Baking Company kind. It is a step up from $1.29 to $4.99.

 
I had enough dough for two small pizzas. I first made squash blossom pizza with olive oil as a base. Added zucchini, shredded fontina, ricotta and squash blossoms and baked it at 450 degrees for 17 minutes. Sprinkled with fresh parsley. It did come out very pretty and tasty. 

To make the second pizza I fried sliced walla walla onions and mushrooms in olive oil for about 15 minutes. I also made my own tomato sauce from the fresh tomatoes I got at the market. The second pizza came out pretty good as well. 

I served both pizzas with a salad. I am very satisfied with my creations tonight. Pizzas were different. The squash ricotta was very fresh and light. The mushroom onion pizza was rich tasting. Maybe next time I will make my own dough.