Food! Glorious Food?

Okay I stole this from Sageweb who stole it from Sassy and I've followed her example. Everything I've tried on the list I've bolded - what I have no intention of ever trying again I've put in italics. And, of course, being a smart ass I've added a few comments.

Venison
Nettle tea
Huevos rancheros
Steak tartare (Raw beef and raw egg – never again thank you!)
Crocodile
Black pudding
Cheese fondue
Carp
Borscht
Baba ghanoush
Calamari (If I wanted to chew rubber bands I’d chew rubber bands!)
Pho (A good pho can be breakfast, lunch or dinner.)
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich (Toasted, whole wheat bread, forget the jelly.)
Aloo gobi
Hot dog from a street cart
Epoisses
Black truffle
Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
Steamed pork buns
Pistachio ice cream (small body shaking orgasms)
Heirloom tomatoes
Fresh wild berries
Foie gras
Rice and beans
Brawn or head cheese
Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
Dulce de leche
Oysters (If I wanted to put disgusting slimy things in my mouth I’d… never mind.)
Baklava
Bagna cauda
Wasabi peas
Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
Salted lassi
Sauerkraut
Root beer float
Cognac with a fat cigar
Clotted cream tea (Oh god yes – home made scones, clotted cream, fresh strawberry preserves and a good strong cup of tea – God is in her heaven and all is right with the world.)
Vodka jelly
Gumbo
Oxtail
Curried goat
Whole insects (Crunchy deep fried ants taste like… crunchy deep fried ants.)
Phaal
Goat’s milk
Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more (strictly for politicians and priests.)
Fugu
Chicken tikka masala
Eel
Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (I would court clogged arteries why?)
Sea urchin
Prickly pear
Umeboshi
Abalone
Paneer
McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (a quarter pound of beef, my ass!)
Spaetzle
Dirty gin martini
Beer above 8% ABV (I thought all beer was over 8% but then I remembered that American beer tastes like panther piss – sorry guys)
Poutine (I have never, will never eat the national dish of Québec! Why would you ruin perfectly good french fries and gravy with cheese curds?)
Carob chips
S’mores
Sweetbreads (Do you know where they come from? Ain't nothing sweet there baby!)
Kaolin
Currywurst
Durian (The smell is truly disgusting – think dirty socks or worse – but the taste is sublime)
Frogs’ legs
Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
Haggis (Nothing like oatmeal cooked in a sheep's stomach - those Scots know how to do it up fine.)
Fried plantain
Chitterlings or andouillette
Gazpacho
Caviar and blini
Louche absinthe
Gjetost, or brunost
Roadkill
Baijiu
Hostess Fruit Pie
Snail
Lapsang souchong
Bellini (If your order one at Harry’s Bar in Venice where it originated its $35.00 a pop – so yeah once but never again)
Tom yum
Eggs Benedict
Pocky
Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
Kobe beef
Hare (Sorry but I keep thinking Bugs Bunny or Peter Rabbit.)
Goulash
Flowers
Horse (Come on now if I'm not going to eat Bugs do you think I'd eat National Velvet or Black Beauty?)
Criollo chocolate
Spam
Soft shell crab
Rose harissa
Catfish
Mole poblano
Bagel and lox
Lobster Thermidor
Polenta
Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
Snake

Like Sage I'm a picky eater and I was surprised by how much on the list I had actually tried and enjoyed. And I've pondering over the Roadkill item - who knows maybe in one of those roadside diners - nah they wouldn't do that. Would they?

23 agosto - Santa Rosa di Lima

And This Just Off the Newswire

Just after I put the previous post up this morning I was paging through the New York Times Online and what do I find:

A Private Dance? Four Million Web Fans Say No!

An article about the wonderful video Sageweb had posted and Matt Harding, the man who created it. The guy's a star in my book for creating so much joy around the world. Would that there were more!

08 lulgio - San Adriano

Sharing

Its been a while since I've shared some of the riches out there from my blog buddies and its about time I did. And here's a few pictures of Spoleto from our weekend in Feburary (and a few from the past weekend) that have been hanging around that I've meant to share but some how never got around to posting.

The tradition of posting death notices on billboards, expressly there for that purpose, still exsists in smaller towns in Italy. This was one of the boards in Spoleto last Sunday.

• Over at Big Ass Belle, Lynette enjoys the first tomato from her garden and in the process makes me so homesick for a Bacon and Tomato sandwich. The tomatoes we get here are fantastic its getting the North American style bacon that's the problem.

I'm pretty sure almost every Umbrian hill down has its Boca fountain. Spoleto is no exception however this one is build into the first wall surrounding the Rocca castle. It was probably originally fed from the castle cistern.

• I'm not sure why but this posting from Sageweb had me laughing and shedding a few tears too. It can't be menopausal, I'm not on any drugs and I wasn't hung over. Maybe just a happy high?

The ceramics in this area are colourful and though expensive can be an attractive addition to that small hillside villa we all want to buy. The best we could do were two ornaments to add to this year's Christmas tree.

• Since May, maybe earlier, Speck has been sharing her Hot Dog cartoons with us. I have to admit that Francine is my favorite but here's a few of them for you to relish! Sorry I just had to.

I'm not sure that security is really a big issue in Spoleto but this palazzo owner wasn't taking any chances - and admittedly the window is almost level with the pavement.

• Lorraine reminds us that last Friday was the 232nd anniversary of the official birth of the United States; and she makes some observations on the documents that define America. And if you scoll on down she lets us share on her road trip with the Child and Auld Hat to visit our friend Sling.

The shops in Spoleto tend to the trendy, the elegant and the expensive. And they do know how to display things.

• And speaking of Sling he posted an old Pete Seager number that had me singing along and remembering my brother on guitar singing tenor, my sister-in-law doing alto and me mostly off-key boy soprano. Goodnight Irene anyone?

And again speaking of Sing, when I see woodworking like this - the choir stalls at the Duomo in Spoleto - I am reminded of postings he done about the work he and his colleagues do as cabinet makers.

• The talented and witty Hat takes an aphronism from Mark Twain that is not one of his better know - but it should be - and gives it an artistic and philisophical twist.

The goodies that are available in stores like this are incredible - pastas, meats, condiments, wines - everything need to make a great meal.

08 lulgio - San Adriano

Sharing

It's been a while since I've shared the wealth of postings that are out there on my favorite blogs, not because I haven't been checking things out but mostly because I've gotten lazy. There's been a kind of lethargy settled over our place the last month or so - call it the post-winter blahs, big-city depression, whatever but its certainly had its effect on my blogging activity. It took me almost a week to get a posting done on the very exciting Fidelio I experienced two weeks ago; and I still haven't posted anything about the two Vatican visits last weekend - but they are in the works. Maybe by Pentecost???

Here are a few things that I've read and enjoyed over the past few weeks.

• One of my great inspirations when I first started blogging, the incredible Lynette over at Big Ass Belle posted a piece on prayer God's Golden Spotlight back at the end of March - yes its been that long since I shared. It came at a time for me when prayer seems to have, in a small way, reentered my life. And it's great to see Lynette posting again, even if for the moment it is only off and on.

This alms slot is at the portal of the now closed Church of St Giacomo in Augusto which was built to serve the former hospital for the incurables.

• The newly shaven EvilGnome had an unusual sighting in the middle of Boston earlier this week. And his camera has come in handy for capturing the birds that are flocking to his neighbourhood. And in his wry way he shared his thoughts as he looked in the mirror razor in hand.

This funeral monument set in the floor at Santa Maria dei Aracoeli was commissioned to commemorate the burial spot of an important personage for eternity. Ironically their name and face has been erased by the footsteps of centuries of worshipers and tourists.

• As well as changing her profile picture (you can't mistake those naughty eyes) Sageweb had a transcendental experience in the grocery aisle that had me in stitches. And she ended the week with two great videos that are touching and reaffirming.

Just off Campo di Fiori this stable/coach house dates from the 1500s - its now a beauty salon. Sic Transit Upsweep!

• That master storyteller Tater tells us about a bitter realization that changes a boy's life.

We saw this famous map of Venice last Monday during our private tour of the Vatican Museum - its on the wall at the end of the incredible Map Room. Venice is one of our favorite cities and we'll be there next week just in time for their Patronal festival. Don't even ask about the cost of hotel rooms!

• Foodie Jonathan at Around Britain with A Paunch praises the joys of Heinz 57 and unveils a new upscale version that's coming on the market.

For any of you who think you want might want to relive those moments from Three Coins in the Fountain - here's the crowds at the Fontana di Trevi on a quiet day in late February. You won't want to see it now that the warm weather is here. Actually you may not be able to see it.

• For the past few weeks Jeff has been taking us on a Sunday drive through his neighbourhoods. It reminded me of the Sunday drives we often took when I was young - only in this case the driver is a heck of a lot better looking.

When we were having lunch with friends at Bleve, a great little wine bar near San Andrea delle Valle, Laurent noticed that this Bacchus seemed just a little bit tipsy. I must say his eyes do have that slightly unfocused look I remember - says he very self-righteously after over six weeks without a drink - from my drinking days.

• And Elizabeth has been keeping us posted, as her time allows, on how things are progressing with KH after his surgery. Though I've removed the candle from the sidebar I'm still stopping in to light a candle for his recovery and to remind myself of the needs and concerns of so many of my friends.

After the Papal audience on the Wednesday following Easter newly married couples were lining up for their photo-op. Couples come from all over to re-don their wedding finery and receive the Papal blessing during the general audience. The couple waiting their turn were from Spain.

You may have read some of these posts already - if not give them a visit. And if you have, what it would hurt you to take a second look?

19 aprile - Sant'Emma

Sharing

Though things have been a little off kilter here the past week or two doesn't mean I haven't been following my favorite bloggers. Though in many cases I haven't been commenting a great deal - imagine me keeping my mouth shut - I still found so much to enjoy out there.

• The doyenne - so young and she's a doyenne already - of Opera here in Italy if not all of Europe, the beloved Opera Chic has been featured in Classical Singer magazine. Interviewer Amanada White, rightly IMHO, calls her the world's foremost opera blogger.


• My darling Auld Hat is back in full force after a brief sabbatical and is as wise, witty and talented as always.


• Sageweb went on a trip and gets tripped up at Ikea. And then she goes and gives us the cutest damn puppy and puddy picture around. And you all know how I feel about puppy and puddy pics.


• RG has totally ruined The Wizard of Oz for me, I'll never look at getting back to Kansas the same way ever again.

• Once again Tater writes from the heart and reaches our hearts with a memory profile of his beloved Jimmy.


• Lorraine is touched by grace at a time and place she least expected. And in the telling proves that grace can be in the written word.


• And Elizabeth muses on the nature of friendships and the kinship of being an outsider.

And that just a random sampling of what I've been reading from my blog buddies - all of them more than worth a regular visit if they're not on your list already.

These pictures where taken on a back road in the Reiti plain in November. That old dog was very concerned when we separated him from the flock. The shepherd had given us the all clear when there was a break - but that old boy kicked up quite a fuss.

25 gennaio - Conversione di San Paolo

10 Dull Details about a Dreary Canuck

So my dear Doralong has decided I'm to be the next victim of this evil plot to destroy character and heap humiliation on honourable heads - hey I alliterated! I feel so inadequately Canadian when I see other friends response to these questions. Here goes.

1) Three Exes I would pretend not to know today:
I am one of those people who's always spoken with my Exes - so damned civilized us Canucks eh? - because there was a time when they meant something in my life. Though I would probably be cool with Corey - after all he had me totally convinced that I was an uneducated dolt because I didn't have a University degree and he was ashamed of our relationship because of it. Alan I would embrace warmly because the red colour his face would turn would compliment his black cassock and purple cincture. Sadly George and Lawrence were early victims of AIDS and I only wish I could see them again. Blake - well damn it he took the pictures at my wedding this past year. And Doug - he introduced me to Laurent so when I do see him I have to thank him for the past 29 years. Okay this is getting a bit too much. Next?

2) The most scandalous rumor to pass through my high school.
Which one? Which one? Bill Bennet doing it with Meredith Wright in her living room when her parents came home - nope that was Junior High. Ricky Braithwaite doing it with Rosalind Pritchard in a box car down by the railway tracks (hey I'm not making this up you know) - nope Junior High again. Me doing it with Bob Reynolds or Billy Gale or Harry Price in the school washroom - nope we kept that fairly hush hush. It would have to be Mr. Crozier feeling up Valerie Carter in the lab storage room and her reporting it to her parents. Mr. Crozier went on a realllly long sabatical after that.

3) The time I Knew Santa didn’t exist.
When I was home from school sick and I overheard my mother on the phone ordering my Walt Disney Theatre set from Eaton's. I would have been about 8 or 9 but I didn't break the news to my mother until I was 20.

4) The funniest thing I did in a house of worship.
Doug Morse

5) Best excuse I came up with for being out past curfew.
It was 2 in the morning and I was throwing up on the front hall carpet: It was all Malcolm's fault - he made me drink the Southern Comfort. My mother really didn't like Malcom so she half believed it.

6) Saturday cartoon character I had a crush on.
We didn't have television until I was 14 - I think I may have mentioned my father thought it would be the demise of the family unit so I didn't watch Saturday morning cartoons. Sadly we only got a television after he died and at that point Saturday morning was a work day.

7)Cartoon character I wanted to be.
Peter Pan - in fact there is a picture somewhere of me in a Peter Pan costume my mother made for me. To further my humiliation I should dig it out and post it. And the first person that makes a crack about Tinker Bell is going to get such a dousing with fairy dust!

8)Foods I can no longer stomach.
Southern Comfort - see answer 5. Wait that doesn't really count as food does it. Beets and fava beans.

9)Tacky pick up line you used that worked.
Its been 29 years and I'm old - what's a pick up line? Well okay to a guy at a bar in Toronto about 30 million years ago: Ya wanna? He did and we did.

10)Secret Hangover recipe.
If one drinks in moderation there is no need for a hangover recipe is there?

There - save for the Peter Pan picture I have debased myself for all and sundry to read and hold up to ridicule. Plus the damn spell check has suddenly switched to Italian and I don't know why so I've made more spelling mistakes than I normally do.

And I now pass the torch to one of my oldest Blog Buddies (in terms of reading only) the Evil one in Boston and to a new Blog Buddy SageWeb on the Pacific Coast. Got to it guys.

And Dora my darling - thanks this was that much needed diversion. And Tater I will be asking RG and EG to meat out suitable punishment when they see you in New York - and I want the pictures!

07 gannaio - San Raimondo