Venice Moments, September 2022

Still trying to catch up with my blogging here.

We've been home from Venice for sometime now, but I still want to share a little. 

I think there are two types of people who travel to Venice...the ones who fall in love with her and return again and again (us), and those who are instantly put off by the crowds, smell (what smell??!??) and getting lost trying to find an overpriced, tourist trap trattoria. It's a shame.

We know that Venice is stunningly beautiful...

Note the hoards of people...

And Venice is back to being super crowded...people are traveling again.

But...if you take the time to explore just a few minutes away from the main attractions, you'll see that there are truly lovely moments to soak in. Spend at least 3 nights, get totally lost...find a bench to sit on and just watch people walking by.

Listen to the bells and the boats and the birds...

Note the total lack of hoards. Yes, this is Venice.

 

Find a small bar off the beaten track and go back to it again. Become a 'local', if only for a few days...

No one around but us...

Explore every church you come across. You never know what you'll find...

This church had an interesting contemporary art installment in the middle of it.

Discover art that you may never have seen before...

We came across this sculpture while viewing an entirely different exhibit. She was so lovely, I was captivated.

In the same building, we had a good time coming down this spiral staircase. It was amazing!

Looking up after we had come down. 

When I first started seeing graffiti in these old towns, it upset me. I've come to accept it, and some of the actual street art is down right cool...Venice has lots.

You never know what you'll see in a garden you stumble upon...

Try to see the beauty around you, and for your own sanity, get away from the crowds! It's not that hard.

Again...get lost!

Don't forget to relax and enjoy...

You are in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

More Venice: Food Moments!

Even though Venice was many days ago, I'm still catching up with my photos and blogging. 

Our internet here is ok, but it just takes so much longer to upload or edit photos. 

Ok, that's it for the complaining! Let's get to some Venice Food Moments, people!

As vegetarians, we love discovering new little spots with good options. The many cicchetti bars in Venice are perfect for us. The more local, the better. There are usually several things we can enjoy, and we'll often stop into a place mid-afternoon for a bite and a wine break.

We also try to hit a few of our regular and favorite spots for a sit down dinner. I'm telling you, half the fun of Venice is the food...at least for me!

One of our newer fave places for wine and cicchetti. 
We found it last September, and we are happy it hasn't changed.

A glass of wine...

...and a little bite to eat. 
Potato and onion croquets, and potato, ricotta & sun-dried tomato fritters.
I almost ate them all before getting a photo.

We'll usually share a few things, then head on to whatever art exhibition or other activity we have planned. It's a nice light way to go, and you never know what treats you'll find on a given day. There are cicchetti bars all over town, so you can discover your own favorites on your next visit!

For more formal dinners, we also have our places we return to again and again. We love "Ca D'Oro Alla Vedova". 

This place is really popular with locals and tourists, but most people come to grab their famous polpette, which are meatballs. These are eaten by hand and a paper napkin at the bar, or outside. People will wait in line for these every evening.

If you do go for dinner, you must make a reservation for a table. We called a day ahead for an early 7:00pm table. It fills up fast!

Here we are, happily waiting for our first course...

 

We always order the seasonal vegetable plate as a first dish. It's just what it says it is. The flavors vary throughout, and it's all so darn good. This is usually served room temperature.

A perfect combination of yummy bites.

If there is a veg lasagna available, that's what we order. Lots of thin layers of silky pasta with whatever veggies are in season. This had zucchini, dried porcini and radicchio in a pecorino béchamel sauce. I will admit it right now. We went back the very next night and had the same meal. I'm not joking.

For dessert, we shared some biscotti with vin santo, an after dinner sweet wine. Delightful.

Another evening, we met pals that happened to be in town at the same time. We had a great time together...there was live music that night, so it made it even more special. 

Our pals are also vegetarian, so it was great to turn them on to this place. It's really known for seafood, but they do good veg plates and there is usually a good vegetarian pasta to try. 

Johnny ordered a side dish of cannellini beans with onions in good olive oil.
He loves this simple dish, and I do, too We all shared some bites.

Next, we each shared a wonderful vegetable platter that could be a main course for one person. I was raised in a home where Mom would often hammer the vegetables...in olive oil with garlic. I love it.

Another great assortment of tasty bites!

We all finished with this pasta dish. I don't know what they did with the small strips of eggplant on top, but they were almost like a soft jerky. Chewy, salty, roasty flavors. So damn good, I would love a bowl to have as a snack with wine!

The light red pepper and sun dried tomato sauce was great, and we all enjoyed.

I must try to recreate this one.

For lunch on our last day, we ended up in Campo Santa Margherita. Normally, we like to grab a slice of pizza to go in this young and active Campo...we'll sit on a bench and watch the parade of people going by.

Instead, we decided to check out a place we've gone to for dinner over the years, "Osteria Della Bifora". We were there just as they opened the doors, so we grabbed a table outside. It filled up quickly, so I'm glad we got a table.

We ordered cheese plate and yes, yet another vegetable platter. Why not? They are always so good! We ordered the small cheese plate and the large veg plate. It was perfect for two hungry people.

Three cheeses, two of various ages, and and one with red pepper flakes.
Also, tons of veg!

We both agreed that the greens were the best thing. I loved the carrots, too.
It was all very tasty.

So, that's it. Four nights, tons of walking, eating, drinking and loads of art.

I'll try to get more art here in the next day or two. We saw a couple of outstanding exhibitions.

Ciao for now!

Market Dinner on a Rainy Night

Ahhhhh...a rainy day leading to a rainy evening means I'll be inspired to cook something up.

When the weather is nice, we tend to spend the evenings in the piazza, enjoying our pals and a bottle of wine. Dinner sometimes gets forgotten or may just be prepared soup and a bit of bread. Last night I knew were in for the night, so I took advantage of the "Small But Mighty" kitchen here at The Nut.

We had stopped a few days ago at a favorite vegetable and fruit stand, and I picked out a nice selection...

I knew when I bought these long sweet peppers that I wanted to grill them, so out came the grill pan.

The house smelled so good!

The colors are so pretty!

I'm a fan of a good char. I flipped these several times.

While the peppers grilled, I prepared the potatoes and onions...just a simple dice and a toss with salt, pepper and olive oil.

These are the sweetest little yellow onions!

My secret ingredient for this oven roasted dish was a nice amount of fennel seeds I'd collected on our morning walks. I always give them a good soak to clean them, then lay them out to dry. This took a couple of days, but well worth it. I try to have these wild fennel seeds on hand. Once dry, I'll store them in a small jar. I used this whole batch.

Once the peppers were grilled, I set them aside to cool down a little. Then, I stuffed them with Stracciatella, a popular soft cheese found in most shops here. It is a mild flavored cheese, but so creamy and melty!

I dusted these with some smoked sweet paprika

I put both pans in the oven, and let the cheese get nice and melted. I pulled the peppers out first, to enjoy as the potatoes finished roasting.

I tried my hand at making pickles earlier this week from another type of sweet red pepper, and they came out great! We had them on the side with our stuffed peppers. 

I also pickled sliced red onions, which we'll use sometime soon, I'm sure. The pickling was a fun experiment.

Served on a bed of arugula.
This was a great first course.

The fragrance in the house, between the peppers with paprika and the fennel with the potatoes! Yum!

The potatoes were nicely roasted, a little chew on the outside, creamy on the inside. Great flavors all around. We added more arugula, and Johnny added some tomatoes to his potato dish.

 

This is a great two course meal for your vegetarian friends. Super easy. The peppers could be grilled in advance, then stuffed and baked later. You could prep the potatoes and onions and let them marinate, too.

It just reminds me that I so enjoy cooking, and I need to do more! Fortunately, there is rain in the forecast for several days, so I'll be in the kitchen, for sure...I think I see hand made pasta in the near future...

Stay tuned!