Holiday Festivities Have Begun

It has been quite the start to the month of December. Luca and I put up our first Christmas tree together just a few days ago. We went to the large local grocery store just outside of town to get a nice big fake plastic tree ( a tree is better than no tree). His parents were kind and lent us some of their old decorations  and they remind me of my mom's old ornaments that were passed down to her. We stuck to my family's tradition of having pizza and putting the tree. Luca tackled making a deep dish pizza by hand, and I have to say it turned out delicious enough for seconds! 

Then this weekend we had the annual "Cooking Contest." A fun contest between friends, however taken quite seriously. This year there were two categories, has everyone had decided it was just too easy to win a whole contest with a dessert. You could make an "antipasto"(appetizer) "primo piatto" (first dish such as pasta or risotto) or a "secondo piatto" (second dish of meat) and of course a dessert. 

Luca and I both participated in both categories.

 Luca made Paccheri Rusticano, large round noodles stuffed with a leek, sausage, ricotta filling topped with beschemel and placed in the oven to make a delicious pasta bake. I made gorgonzola chicken cooked up with some white wine, rosemary, and olive oil, tossed in melted sweet gorgonzola and sprinkled with green peppercorns. For dessert Luca made molten chocolate cakes, and I attempted my first cheesecake ever- brownie cheesecake with a chocolate ganache. 

There were 15 people at the contest, however 8 people were there just to judge, because we couldn't have those cooking voting with biased opinions ;) 

Appetizers 

Matteo introduced Corn Dogs with French Fries to Italians
homemade and delicious!

The picture may not be the best but Barbar's "Sformato"
of potatoes, bacon, and cheese

Not pictured: Giani's Pastry Puffs filled with prosciutto cotto, zucchini, and cheese.
Primi Piatti 

"Paccheri Rusticano" Luca's pasta bake, the picture doesn't
give it justice  

"Orecchiette broccoli e bacon" 

Lorenzo's "Pasta Risottato" pasta prepared like risotto
with heavy cream and spinach

Not Pictured: Leopoldo's Vegetarian Cannoli with cauliflower , nutmeg, and cream
Secondi Piatti 

"Spezzatino di Pollo alla Gorgonzola" - My chicken 

"Triple Chicken" - Vittoria made three types of chicken
Curry, Almond, and Mint

Desserts

Matteo's Classic Italian Tiramisù

The 4 German girls who were visiting made a Macedonia
Fruit Salad

Brownie cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache

Not Pictured: Luca's Chocolate Molten Cakes, the German girls Apple Crumble, and Vin Brûlée. 

And there was the judging. The guests who took part of the jury were each given a piece of paper with all the listed dishes. They had to wait until the very end to vote. Once handed in Paola sat down and added up all the votes and it was announced that Luca won first place for the  Main Dish category which also means a very nice dinner out at Osteria Broccaindosso, and my cheesecake won first place for the Dessert category! Luca and I both won and are becoming one exceptionally culinary family! 

Chocolate Galore

It's that time of a year again, the Ciccoshow has come to Bologna. Every year in November usually around the 13- 18th, the main square, Piazza Maggiore, is filled with stands of well known chocolatiers from Italy. 

It attracts a large crowd, everyone carrying bags of truffles, drinking hot chocolate, or enjoy chocolate covered strawberries and waffles. 

The chocolate is good and unique, I enjoyed trying a honey and milk chocolate truffle, coconut, cinnamon, and bronte pistachios along with of course the good ol' dark chocolate and milk chocolate. After about 3 chocolates its enough to make you feel sick, but everything always looks so good!  

If you're lucky you might even get a few free 

samples.

Fernando de Noronha

Our honeymoon came to an end with four relaxing days on the archipelago, Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha. It is a beautiful, small island, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, with what are claimed to be the best beaches in Brazil, and we agree! 

Since the island is an archipelago site, there are many rules and restrictions, one being that only 460 visitors can be on the island at a time because of the fragile ecosystem. After we arrived in our small plane with quite a bumpy ride, we had to pay a large environmental tax, which increases by the number of days you stay. We paid around $100 for 4 days. 

The first day, we thought that we could get by for the next few days without a dune buggy, the most common mean of transportation on the island. That was a mistake- the island was much bigger than we had anticipated, and spent a good time walking along the coast. However we were able to visit many beaches we wouldn't have seen otherwise. And in the end we rented an old dune buggy. 

The island offers many activities like scuba diving, snorkeling, and boat trips. We took a boat trip that toured the entire coast of the island, stopped for snorkeling, and we saw hundreds of dolphins! We also went snorkeling with a guide who showed us turtles over 100 years old, lobsters, and all sorts of tropical fish. 

These four days were very relaxing and fun, however despite the beauty, it is very expensive. Everything must be imported and so it was difficult not eat for less an $20 a meal a person.  It was also possible that a restaurant wouldn't have half the items on the menu because they hadn't arrived yet. 

This was the perfect way to end our honeymoon! 

Northern Coast of Brazil

While we were planning our honeymoon, we thought it would be fun to rent a car and drive along the northern coast to see all the beaches and not be typical tourists. However after doing some research we discovered that it would be rather difficult and could potentially be dangerous. So we booked a 4 day tour with Jeri Off Road,  to see the famous sand dunes which the north is known for. It was an absolute blast! 

We flew into Fortaleza, and our guide, Paolo, picked us up at the airport in his big white 4X4 ford truck. We drove 4 hours to Jericoacoara, a small town with a large surfing/kite surfing community. Jericoacoara is actually part of a national park, so there are no paved roads and there are no street lamps.  It's very picturesque town with very kind, laid back people. Apparently, on Sunset Hill you can seen the emerald flash. We watched the sunset and unfortunately didn't see it.  

After spending two nights in Jericoacoara we got back in our 4X4 with Paolo and drove along the coast,  "off roading" it to the Delta do Parnaiba. Along the way we stopped to see seahorses, take a boat trip, and watch the sunset again from the dunes. Our guide was a crazy driver, and we rarely understood what was going on so it was quite funny when we were shuffled out of the car and placed in a boat, and later told to get out of the boat and walk across crab filled mud to the coast not knowing what why. 

  The following day we continued onto Caburè, which was really just a stop on the long journey to the national park of Lençois Marenhenses. Another park full of sand dunes. For part of the year the spaces between the dunes are filled with water from the rain. The dunes had been full until July, the beautiful natural green and aquamarine pools, but after a drought the water dried up quickly and when we were there in September only 2 pools remained. The views were spectacular. I had never seen anything like it before. 

Salvador de Bahia / Morro de Sao Paolo

After our adventures in Argentina, we headed on North to Salvador de Bahia. It's the largest city in Northeast Brazil. This is city is also called the city of happiness for their easy going population, music, and outdoor parties. 

The historical center is quite small but very charming. The streets are lined with brightly colored houses still painted today like they were during colonial times. Bahia has is one of largest Afro-Brazilian populations in Brazil which adds to the rich culture. There large elevator that brings you from lower town to upper town is strange landmark, where you pay just 15 cents (7 US cents) to take a ride.

 Despite the quaintness of the historic center, Bahia is were we felt least safe. There are policemen standing on every corner and it isn't recommended to walk by yourself or wander outside of the center, so we decided to spend a few days on the island, Morro de Sao Paolo, which is a 3 hour ferry ride from the coast. 

Morro de Sao Paolo is small tourist island known for its four beaches. It was very relaxing and we enjoyed ordering custom caipirinhas from caipirinha bars with passion fruit, cashew, and guava. We also saw beautiful sunsets and wildlife and enjoyed the nicest pousada we stayed at on the trip, enjoying relaxing out on the hammock every morning and evening. 

Foz de Iguaçu

The Iguazu Falls lie on the border of Argentina and Brazil. The name comes from the native Gaurani language Y for "water" and ûsaú for "big", and in fact these falls are incredibly powerful and breathtaking. The falls are formed by the Iguazu River and Paranà River running over the Paranà Plateau. 

To visit the falls you can stay on the Brazilian side in Foz de Iguaçu or on the Argentinean side in Puerta Iguazu. We decided to cross the border, add an extra stamp to our passport, and stay in Argentina. We also had heard that the Argentinian side is more impressive, and so it was! 

The falls are part of a national park which has many trails where you can see lots of animals and also see the falls from the lower trail or from above on the upper trail. We first walked the lower trail and couldn't imagine how the upper trail could be more beautiful as argued in the guide books. But once we walked the upper trail we were completely taken a back by the beauty that is so awe inspiring. 

The upper trail is where you see the Garganta do Diabo, "The Devil's Throat" which is the largest waterfall in the whole park. The force, the sound, the wind, the experience of standing of this massive waterfall is incredible. You keep asking yourself " Where does all this water come from? It just doesn't stop!" 

Argentina had a completely different feel than the Brazil we had experienced so far in Rio de Janeiro. Being winter it was quite cold, cloudy, and damp. Puerta Iguazu is a very small town and almost has the feel of an old Western shanty town. 

Every few steps we saw Argentines drinking Yerba Maté with their personal mug and metal straw and dressed in thick sweaters made from Llama wool. We enjoyed the infamous argentine barbecue and discovered a local hot sauce, Chimi Churri, which we brought back two bottles! 

Brazil - Rio de Janeiro Cidade Maravilhosa

The start of our three week trip in Brazil started in Rio de Janeiro. I didn't really have many expectations for Brazil other than being concerned for our safety as we read many horror stories on forums online of people being held at knife point, or stabbed and robbed or even worse- kidnapped or killed. 

So we started our trip out being very cautious, dressing down with no jewelry or purses/bags and we quickly realized that Rio de Janeiro wasn't really as dangerous as it was made out to be (only if you venture into the famous favelas). It is a beautiful, lively city, with of course the famous beaches Ipanema and Copacabana, and kiosks everywhere selling fresh fruit juices, coconut water in the coconut, and caipirinhas. 

Since Brazil is of course on the other side of the equator, while we were there in August, it was their winter. However a winter where the low is 75 and this high is 85 isn't so bad. The beaches were crowded with students in the afternoon who go and practice soccer, volleyball, racket ball, and just sit with their friends listening to music hanging out. 

We only had 3 days in Rio and so the first day we went to Pao de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain). We had perfect timing and we're at the top of one those oddly looking shaped mountains and had a gorgeous view of the sunset over looking all of the city. 

The second day we ventured up to see one of the seven wonders of the world- Cristo Redentor, Christ the Redeemer. In order to get all the way up there, we had to take a little train, then once up there it was a mass of tourists. You could barely walk around, however the incredibly large Jesus is quite impressive and the view is also breathtaking. 

We also were able to make it the Botanical Gardens in Rio, which were a delight. We saw all sorts of fish and monkeys and of course it's relaxing, peaceful, and full of beautiful flowers, trees, pergolas, waterfalls, and walking paths.