Taco night

M and J suggested we meet up for tacos at the semi-new taco joint Grand Electric a couple weeks ago.  After an hour wait, I got the phonecall and we were in. M+J were super excited because the weekend before, after waiting for 3 hours, they never got the call and their taco dreams were crushed. Here they are high-10ing upon being seated:

We decided we wanted to taste 4 of the 5 tacos on the menu so we asked them to bring them in rounds. Beef cheek came first- very tasty and tender but with a spicy hotness from the peppers that lingered on our lips till the end of the night.

Pork with pineapple:

Chicken was our least favourite because it just lacked the "wow" that beef cheek and the fish taco had. 

But here was our favourite of the night, which is the only flavour I would order if I went back (only because I'd order 3 of them!), with a side of the chips and guac. It was *fantastic*. The slaw and the crispy fried fish took it over the top. We were all debating about how it compared with Big Star's fish taco, of which we are all huge fans. I think it's just as delicious as Big Star's and prettier too.

And in case you were wondering- yes that is a deep fried pork rind standing up in the middle of the guacamole, and of course we ate it!

Hello, 2012.

Ah, where did the time go? It's already the very last day of the first month of 2012. And to be honest, I've been in a creative funk. You know how sometimes the days just pass you by and you feel like you have nothing to account for them? Well I'm trying to take things one day at a time, work on some personal projects, and be good to myself– that would include yoga, a nice coffee, reading books that nourish the heart and the mind, and spending time with friends. This short video (by Julia Warr) about an elegant 95 year old, Maia Helles, posted on Apartment Therapy's the Kitchn a couple weeks ago, was inspiring and encouraging: Simplicity, Work and Enjoyment.


My friend Maia from julia warr on Vimeo.

Rituals

Ever since Carlo's cousin Alessandra arrived from Italy two weeks ago to live with me while she studies English for the next 5 months, the rhythm of my weekends have changed. One thing that's slowly becoming a ritual is the saturday pasta meal (cooked by Alessandra) at cousin Tom's place. As I watch Ale (pronounced Ah-lay) patiently craft her Pasta alla Bolognese, we speak in broken English and broken Italian, all the while laughing non-stop (she has a potty mouth, and Carlo and Tom have to translate her dirty Italian jokes to English for me).

We started off with some crostini spread with some spicy 'Nduja and rapini preserved in olive oil-  "Prodotti tipici" that Tom had brought back from Calabria this summer. The rapini tasted oddly but deliciously creamy on the toasts.

And the piece de resistance, the Bolognese… mmm. Ale told me that a Bolognese sauce doesn't have a lot of tomato sauce and shouldn't be very liquidy. It's more chunky with the meat and veg. Fantastic, comforting and I definitely tasted the love.

Battipaglia

Battipaglia. My second visit there yet I've only ever seen one part of it–this little shack of a store that makes and sells Mozzarella di Bufala. As we left the Amalfi Coast and headed down to Calabria, we stopped for lunch and ate the one and only item on the menu here: Caprese salad. The best Caprese salad with big hunks of Mozarella di Bufala and the reddest, juiciest tomatoes.

And once the family heard we'd be making a cheese shop pit stop, requests were called in- "Burrata!" "Mozzarella di Bufala!" Everything packed up for us in a tidy styrofoam box, we hit the A3 again.

Can't let go of Summer

Vietri Sul Mare, known for their ceramics…
Of all the little towns along the Amalfi Coast, this was our favourite because it wasn't infiltrated with designer boutiques and tourists.

The shop owner told us his little dog would wave his paw at us when he said "Ciao"!

More ceramics…

Even the public fountain is a hand painted ceramic vessel.

And then a big ceramic warehouse/school/shop that had all sorts of ceramics embedded into the outside structure of the building itself!

Carlo and I each picked a ceramic piece we wanted our photos taken with before we embarked on the next leg of our journey:

I didn't realize I chose such a violent portrait.

And here's what I saw on the road to Battipaglia in the middle of nowhere Italy… IKEA?!!

How? Why? What is that doing here in the midst of our dolce vita? Next stop: Battipaglia, home of the one and only Bufala Mozarella.

Laziest vacation blogger- Positano

I don't want to be a hater, but I didn't *love* Positano. Don't get me wrong, the views are breathtakingly beautiful and the town is charming. But, it's just *too* touristy! I don't want to drive miles and miles up a mountain to encounter a Burberry boutique or buy Diesel jeans. But maybe some people do?

You really do feel transplanted to another time and place… but it was a tight squeeze driving up here, just like every other place along the Amalfi coast. Here we encountered tour buses, motorcycles, and people marching in a parade for a saint.

Even walking around was tough at times because there are no real sidewalks so you're trying to avoid getting hit by oncoming traffic.

We just came for an evening walk around town before heading back to our B&B in Amalfi.

Street festival…

The next morning, C and I had breakfast on the veranda of our B&B with a beautiful view of the sea before we continued our way down south to Calabria with a quick stop for ceramics in Vietri Sul Mare.

The Amalfi Coast

We embarked on our short but sweet Italian adventure to attend C's cousin's wedding in Calabria. But the exciting part is really the journey, not the destination.

The first part of our roadtrip… Rome to Amalfi. And let me just give props to Carlo for his amazing job navigating those wind-y mountain roads where you're either about to bash into a side of a mountain or sideswipe a concrete guard rail preventing you from tumbling down a rocky cliff into the sea. All while a giant tractor trailer is coming at you from the other lane.

But! It is so so worth it!! This is the view from our B&B as we walked into town.

The Amalfi Coast is known for their lemons. There was an abundance of lemons and lemon products for sale everywhere we went.

And check out this GIANT lemon…

Also, I noticed, not just in Amalfi, but in Calabria too– the abundance of "natural Viagra" for sale… One package I bought for friends even warned of "heightened sexual appetite"! Probably a lot cheaper than the real Viagra.

Now, don't tell Canada Customs, but see that wall on the right in the pic below? It was a wall full of SEEDS for sale! Italian oregano, basil, arugula, onion seeds from Tropea… yup, I brought them across the border with me. These are my souvenirs!

Next up: A quick jaunt from Amalfi to Positano, then to Vietri Sul Mare (known as the gateway to the Amalfi Coast).