Questa Dolce Vita

This recipe is so fantastic if you are in a time crunch but need to throw something together that is tasty and healthy. What is so great about this recipe is you can actually use the marinade for the vegetables as the final broth for the mussels, no wastage! 

Spicy Sesame Marinade (from Blue Flame Kitchen) 
Ingredients
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp olive oil 
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp hot sauce
assorted vegetables

Combine all ingredients and let vegetable pieces marinade as long as you like. Save the marinade for the mussels. Grill in a wok over medium heat on a barbecue while stirring, for 10-15 minutes.

For the mussels: Heat the marinade along with some white wine in a large pan until starts to bubble, then add de-frosted or fresh mussels in the half-shell. Cover and cook 10 minutes, serve immediately. 

I am going to try to do a throwback photograph on Thursdays of a travel scene from past trips to Italy. There are some really great ones that I would love to be able to share just for the heck of it...

The backstory: I was looking at my phone to track down a decent gelateria. Word of advice, 
never go to ones where the colors look overly vibrant or where any flavors are written in English instead of Italian. Also, I never trust anywhere with elaborate cone towers or where the gelato is piled high, like mountainously high. When the gelato is genuinely good, nothing fancy is needed to advertise that it is. 

Thank you to friends, family, and colleagues near and far for making my 26th birthday so wonderful, despite the fact that I worked all day and it was a Monday to boot. Grazie mille to Massi for the surprise bouquet delivery that made me (and all the females in the pharmacy) break down in tears! This is going to be a huge year, the year that I move to Italy and follow a dream. Stay tuned for the next 365 days of my year of being 26. Tomorrow's post will be the recipe for my signature Waldorf Astoria (Red Velvet) Cake which is the cake shown above that I baked for myself...! 

Red velvet cake is one of my favorites because it is just such a crowd-pleaser wherever you take it (in addition to being yummy!). I love the stark contrast between the white cream cheesing icing and the red of the cake. I made this the night before my birthday, it is so easy despite what people think and in my experience, very fool-proof. The cake portion in this recipe always comes out moist and quite dense which is how I like my chocolate cakes. I tend to go easy on the sugar for the cake because the icing is also sweet but hey, if you are the ultimate sweet-tooth by all means add more sugar! 

Waldorf Astoria Cake
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2-3/4 cups sugar 
1/2 cup soft butter
2 eggs (room temp.)
1 cup buttermilk 
2-3 tbsp cocoa powder
2 oz red food coloring 
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract 
pinch of salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round pan. 

You will need three bowls. (This is not actually how the original recipe explained things but it is how I make this cake and I think it really simplifies everything!). 

Bowl #1: Sift flour, salt, baking powder together. Set aside. 
Bowl #2: Beat sugar and butter together until fluffy, Beat in eggs and vanilla.  
Bowl #3: Mix cocoa and food coloring together until it forms a paste. 

Add contents of Bowl #3 to Bowl #2 and mix well, the mixture will turn bright red! Then you need to add the contents of Bowl #1 very slowly, alternating with the buttermilk until everything is mixed in. It should be a smooth, red batter. Lastly, in a small glass, combine the vinegar and baking soda and add immediately to the batter. Stir in. 

Pour batter into the pan and bake in pre-heated oven for 25-35 minutes, until the toothpick test comes out clean from the center of the cake. 

For the icing: 
1 package of cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup soft butter
1 tsp vanilla 

Basically you just beat all the ingredients together until fantastically fluffy. Ice the cake after it is completely cool and garnish if you like. 

Tonight I had the wonderful pleasure of attending an advance screening of The Trip to Italy with many thanks to the Italian Speakers of Edmonton group (sorry I have not attended an event in while...). I mainly went for the scenery, a term I use to refer to both the sweeping Tuscan hills and the equally breath-taking shots of abundant plates of pasta. There was one line in the film that I very much appreciated when Steve Coogan admits that if he had to be exiled somewhere, Italy would be first on his list. I feel similarly about my own impending exile. Cheers!/Stasera ho avuto il gran piacere di essere una dei primi a vedere il film nuovo The Trip to Italy (Il Viaggio in Italia), grazie al gruppo Meetup. Volevo vederlo solo per i paesaggi e ovviamente per il cibo,..! Cin cin! 

Just thought I would share a few photos taken by Massi where he is enjoying a family vacation in central Italy. While I am usually the snap-happy one of the two of us, especially when it comes to scenery and food, Massi also has a good eye for photographs. 

Volevo mostrarvi delle foto che Massi ha fatto dei suoi giri in Abruzzo. Mentre di solito, sono io che devo sempre scattare una foto, particolarmente di un panorama (oppure un bel piatto di pasta), alcune volte Massi dimostra un buon occhio per fare delle foto.  Bravo Massi! 

The wedges made essential investment piece by the Duchess Kate Middleton. I got mine in navy suede but they are also available in beige suede, white patent, and a stone grey pattern. Corkswoon as a design was actually not available until recently when Stuart Weitzman re-released them due to popular demand (no doubt from the "Kate" effect!). The rubber sole makes these shoes super easy to walk in and not have to worry about slip-sliding around on the dance floor. Hope they prove to be as versatile as they are made out to be...first stop, a summer wedding this Saturday matched with a dusty rose dress I snagged discounted at Sisley in Milan. If only Corkswoon wedges went on sale. Hey, a girl can dream. 

Mmmmm. One of my favorite summertime treats is mint gelato. It is not a flavor many people gravitate to but I just love it in the middle of those steamy, breathless Italian summers. It is so refreshing (and a very aesthetically pleasing color at that!). You will need an ice cream machine of some sort, I have the Cuisinart Pure Indulgence. Here's the recipe!

Mint Gelato
Ingredients
375mL whole milk
275mL sugar
750mL heavy cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1-3 tbsp mint syrup

In a medium bowl, mix milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved, then stir in the cream, vanilla, and mint syrup. Add the mixture to the ice cream machine and run for ~25 minutes for a soft, creamy texture. 

Enjoy!

Airports are a bittersweet spot for me. They are where I waited so anxiously for Massi to arrive, red suitcases in tow, when he was first coming to Canada four years ago to start a new job. Before that, we had spent many tearful hellos and goodbyes at the arrivals and departures, spread out between Edmonton International, Milano Malpensa, and Linate. How I adore and loathe those airports! Honestly, even walking through Malpensa now, I can recall choking back tears on a chilly February morning as I waited for my flight back to Canada. It was my first visit to Italy. Almost six years later, this past Saturday, we said what was hopefully our last 'ciao for now' as I sent Massi on his way back home. 

If distance makes the heart grow fonder, I do not doubt we have reached a level of fondness for each other that has never been witnessed before (at least in post-Shakespearean times). We will now embrace the wonderfulness that is Skype and romantic evenings/mornings (depending on which continent you are referencing) of watching each other fall asleep/wake up. There is usually snoring and drooling involved for a good part of the conversation. Perhaps that is what love is. Love is staying up on Skype watching someone sleep on the other side of the world even though the screen is completely dark anyways and you could really just be listening to a snore soundtrack on repeat and not know the difference. But somehow, those are never wasted moments because in those moments, your heart is happy. Ciao for now amore. 

I am always in search of places that transport you to a favorite city, wherever that may be. You know how sometimes you just wake up and wish you were having a cold one at Tom&Jerry's Pub in Kathmandu with all the other expats, swapping travel stories and then when the hunger strikes, you can pop over to the literal 'sandwich hole' for the most delicious meat and cheese between bread of your life? No? Guess it's just me then but anyhow. Here's a shout-out to Leva in Garneau (find them here: 11053 86 Ave NW or http://www.cafeleva.com/), the place to go if you want a brioche and cappuccino that will make you feel like it's a Friday morning somewhere in Italy. The coffee is it's greatest asset. And the bar is set-up ever so slightly like Italian ones where you can down your espresso while standing there and not look totally foolish. The menu offerings are decent, but I usually come for one of the following only: espresso, lemon sorbetto, or the atmosphere. Muah! 

Photo above: Mediterranean platter and Spicy Chicken Avocado pizza.