Herbalicious!

Last week, I had my mom, Mimi, Aunt Lydia, and Aunt Dianne over for an easy lunch. Everyone brought something as a small hosting gift...like wine (gone), panties (my mom- don't ask), and strawberry pie (halfway gone).

 My Aunt Dianne, along with some beautiful handpicked flowers from her garden, also brought a bagful of herbs.

 The herbs were intended for everyone to share, but I somehow ended up with all of them! I didn't want them to go to waste, so I quickly went to cooking...and I think I came up with some pretty yummy concoctions!

Rosemary and Basil Chicken
Handful of basil
Handful of Rosemary
Squirt of mayo
Squirt of Mustard
Juice of a lemon
Couple of gurgles of olive oil
Chicken breasts

 This was literally me just throwing random stuff together. In a food processor, I pureed the herbs, mayo, mustard, lemon juice, and olive oil. I salted the chicken, put the paste on top, and cooked it at 400 for 40 minutes. Easy peasy!

Mint Chocolate Ice Cream- from David Lebovitz 

How I loveeeeee mint chocolate chip ice cream. It is my favorite! And side note- I do like it to be that pretty pastely green color. But, when making homemade mint ice cream with actual mint leaves, it is just an ever so slight green-yellow color. Not so pretty. But really good! 

Holy COW was this stuff worth all of the fuss. First I had to heat up the cream, sugar, and mint. Then I had to let it sit. Then I had to squeeze the mint to get all of the juices out. Then I had to mix it with egg yolks and heat it up. Then I had to refrigerate it. Then I had to churn it. Then I had to melt dark chocolate and scribble it into the ice cream. Whew! 

I opened the lid to take a picture, and my senses were immediately bombarded with minty chocolaty deliciousness. So I had to have a bite. Or seven.

Side note- ice cream made with actual mint leaves does taste different than store bought mint ice cream that is usually flavored with mint extract. It really does have an herbal, almost wood-like after taste. Think of eating an actual mint leaf, vs a peppermint. I loved it, Daniel was weirded out by it though. More for me! 

Basil Watermelon Popsicle 
Few sprigs of Basil
Watermelon (I used probably 1.5 cups)
Optional- Deep Eddy Cranberry Vodka

I impulse bought some popsicle molds the other day at World Market- I blame it on all of these enticing popsicle recipes I keep pinning on Pinterest! I simply pureed the watermelon, basil, and about a cup of vodka. Poured it in the molds and froze for a few hours. This recipe is so versatile....you could omit the basil or substitute mint instead. You could use any fruit you have on hand. Watermelon is so watery, that it doesn't actually need a liquid to be mixed with, but if you were using berries, I think hibiscus tea would be a good base. 

I love my husband. He usually raves about my kitchen creations, but when he doesn't like something, he really let's it be known, often in a hilarious way. After his first try, he told me it tasted like a salad popsicle. He wanted to give it another go, then proceeded to wash out his mouth and declare that it tasted like watermelon pasta. So, yes, this is interesting. I liked it, but it's not for everyone. I think next time I'll use less basil :-P 

All of this herb cooking has really made me want to start growing the herbs that I use nearly daily for my cooking- dill, chives, oregano, parsley. I've heard countless times that it is so easy. I'm starting with cilantro, and if that goes well, I'll buy some more seeds. If you have any pointers, feel free to give me some advice! 

Rome take 2

You're going to read this post and think, "Wait, didn't I already see these pics?" The answer is kinda sorta. We went to Rome for Valentine's Day, stayed in the same area, and saw very similar things. We both really love Rome, though, and didn't mind seeing the city again with Daniel's family. But yes, even though we already took pics 4 months ago of all of the ruins, food, and architecture, we couldn't help but pull out our cell phones to take pictures of the impressive sites. 

Since we had already done the main tourist things, we mostly wandered around aimlessly, gelato in hand, walking in to random shops and churches. 

Also, it rained a bit while we were there, which actually turned out to be a blessing as it cooled everything down from the normal 100 degrees to about 75. 

Our flat was literally 3 buildings away from the Pantheon. Under our flat was a little restaurant that actually had some pretty good food and wine. Daniel chose to get a beer the size of his head! We probably ate there everyday, just sitting outside and watching all of the people! 

We walked with the family towards the Colosseum, even though we weren't planning on going in again. Even though I had seen these sites before, they were still just as impressive!

We also devoted a day to just go into churches in our neighborhood. After about 5, they all started looking the same!

This one had the best ceiling

And of course, we have a strong belief that when in Italy, you must eat gelato at least once a day. But it is perfectly acceptable to have it both after lunch and dinner.

 And the food was just extraordinary! Carbonara, pizza diavola, focaccia, ravioli, lasagna...everything was delicious! Not to mention you can get a liter of wine for less than 6 euros at most of the restaurants. My kind of place!

I think Rome was our favorite destination during the Bond trip extravaganza and it was hard for Greece to compete with it. I'll post next time about Athens!

Barcelona: Tapas, Montjuic, and other various Catalonia

Hi, all! This is going to be my last post about Barcelona...I'm ready to move on and write about different things! I'm fitting a lot into this post, so be prepared! 

On our last full day in Barcelona, we slept in pretty late and then went to Quimet & Quimet for a tapas lunch. I didn't realize this, but it was featured in one of the episodes of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. It was hands down my favorite place we ate ate while there! 

It's a 100 year old, family run LITERAL hole in the wall. It is tiny and standing room only. There's a little 5 foot long bar where all of the tapas are made before your eyes. All of the montaditos (a little bread with various toppings), glasses of Sangria, and most of the wines were under 3 euros.

The montaditos we had were so exquisitely simple. We had: yogurt with smoked salmon and truffle honey (took the whole salty sweet thing to another level), goat cheese and sundried tomato, pate with mushrooms, and mussles with caviar. Plus two glasses of really tasty Sangria, all for only 20 euros! If you go to Barcelona, you HAVE to go to this place. No, really. I insist. And if you don't know what to order, just ask the waitress to make whatever she feels like- that's what I did, and it didn't disappoint. 

   

   

Some of these pictures were actually from the day before, but I am already forgetting what we saw on which day. We walked to Montjuic (a park in west Barcelona that offers panoramic views of the city), and on the way saw some interesting sights. This is why we prefer walking to taking the bus or subway when we go out of town- we are able to stop and see so much. There was a parade going on (we are unsure what it was for, but it featured wine barrels).

We were able to take cable cars to the top of Montjuic- such a nice rest for our feet! The views were stunning and truly, you could see the whole city from the top.

There's a castle on the very top that used to be a prison and execution grounds, where 4,000 prisoners were shot here during Franco's reign.

It was a very relaxing, quiet area. There was a little trailer selling coffee, beer, and other beverages. Really, the perfect spot to go and soak in a beautiful day in Barcelona. This was probably my favorite attraction.

We sat in the grass, admiring the views and talking for a good part of the day. A great way to end our vacation.

We took the cable car back down about half way, then walked the rest of the way down the hill and back to our flat to (of course) chill on our terrace until dinner time. 

To end our last night, we had paella and then went to what Daniel calls the "secret sangria bar". It isn't secret, but not exactly what you would find in a tour book. All locals there. I love Sangria in Barcelona- I only had it a couple of times, but it isn't too sweet. It's made with MARTINI vermouth and a splash of fanta, plus some orange slices.

The next morning, while walking to catch the bus back to the airport, I took this picture because I was in shock of the amount of pigeons. I was too scared to get closer, in fear that they'd all fly off and poop on me.

In a nutshell, I loved Barcelona and I'm glad we got to go!