First day in town required some grocery shopping. A few things to eat (favorites I’ve missed), and a few things for the house. Starting from the back, left to right: Cherry tomatoes – sugar sweet and full of flavor. Who needs candy? Fresh Mozzarella di Bufala – the real thing Whole milk for my coffee [...]

Friday, April 29. The Milanese are still wearing their winter jeans, puff jackets and scarves. I’m wearing black linen capris and sleeveless blouses. I arrived in Milano Wednesday at 9:00 a.m., to a morning warmer than Seattle… yet I’m glad to have brought a little summer jacket. Robin-like birds started singing early this morning. By [...]

Saturday. Past 10:00 in the evening and the house smells good of octopus cooking since 9:26. A few garlic cloves, a dozen peppercorns, a tablespoon of salt and maybe a gallon of water in a pot with an octopus that stretches out a couple of feet. How DOES one cook an octopus? Yearning for my [...]

I’m grateful for the little reminders of Italia that I encounter here in Seattle, going about my day. Names for cookies and chips. Old ladies wearing tavern jackets in the “pot pie” frozen food section. “Proud to be Italian” License plate frames. Even shrink-wrapped prosciutto piques my nostalgia, though it’s a far cry from having [...]

One week from today, at this time, I will have schlepped my bags by taxi and train to Milano Malpensa airport; checked in, with machine gun carrying guards in the mezzanine above me; gone through security; waited; flown over the Alps to London two hours north; gone through security again; eaten an airport meal; wound [...]

The visual lushness in Italy thrills me. Architectural details. Signage. The artistic sense. And the character of the people. As an artist, I am fed deeply as I explore this country. I expect that the inspiration and imagery I’ve found here will propel me for years to come. . . . . . . . [...]

“Excuse me. Where are the eggs?” On my first grocery shopping trip last June, I searched all over the refrigerator section of the store to find the eggs. Where were they?! I finally asked, and was directed to the shelf across from the cereal, below the scotch tape and coffee maker parts, next to the [...]

As a designer and artist, being here in Italy is a pilgrimage to the home of all the motifs, patterns and visual elements I’ve studied and heard of all my life. At times I’m overwhelmed, excited by the visually lush surroundings. The storefronts and shop windows are delicious with their old-world signage and embellishments. This [...]

Have you ever wondered about the first ones to eat something new that they hadn’t encountered before? IS it edible? What PART is edible? Should it be eaten RAW or COOKED? What part do you DISCARD? What part is most DELICIOUS? How is it best PREPARED? What should it be eaten WITH? Traveling to and [...]

New Year’s Eve. “Capodanno” they call it here. Fireworks are going off in the distance. Having just come back from the energy of Paris, I don’t feel compelled to go downtown tonight, but will follow my tradition of spending the evening writing. Part of that act is the reflection on the past year, and for [...]

What was for dinner on Christmas Eve in Paris? Fast food, Parisian-style! From my journal yesterday: 5:30 P.M. Christmas Eve, Paris. I’m eating in my hotel room, after spending all afternoon at Musée D’Orsay absorbing the impressionists and Art Nouveau and before heading to Notre Dame for Midnight Mass. At the Maubert-Mutualité exit for the [...]

One thing that I brought back with me from my time in Ireland this year was enjoyment of traditional Irish Soda Bread! Here in Italy I’ve been on a constant lookout for dense, moist, flavorful bread with some nutritional value. So much of what I’ve found is white, light, fluffy and dries out in a [...]

Always pack along tools when moving to another country! Point One: This is the land of calcium deposits from the water. After boiling water just once in my stainless steel pan, the bottom and sides are covered with a white calcium film. The sinks and shower build up deposits from any standing water. The cleanser [...]

I’m smiling, amused. I just walked home in the pouring rain. Gym bag and  groceries hanging heavy from my shoulder. My black-and-white polka dot umbrella amidst the sea of umbrellas. This was no tourist moment. I was just heading home like everyone else, and put my new leather boots on the radiator to dry out. [...]

After a little afternoon nap, I booted myself out the door for a stroll. It was just after 3:00, the quiet time of the day in the city. A mostly gray sky with a little chill in the air. Nice to head out and wander. Just two blocks from home, I saw my Fashion Design [...]

Nope. It’s not a Vespa-type scooter or a little car. It’s a little fish. A couple of months ago, while at the Saturday market, I was overwhelmed by the seafood choices I had no familiarity with. No halibut, salmon or rock cod here. There was fish I knew nothing about except for a couple I [...]

I’m not joking when I say that one of my consistent sources of stress here is in grocery shopping. It’s easy to take for granted the comfort of knowing WHAT I’m shopping for and HOW to shop for it. And when I don’t know those two things there’s an absolute and certain anxiety aroused. That [...]

Took my long walk to the grocery store today, up along Corso San Gottardo, where the little specialty shops are, as well as a few “bigger” stores. The grocery store has a good variety and good quality. In my shopping bag today was: a big red pepper, a half dozen on-the-vine tomatoes, green beans, garlic, [...]

There’s a really great grocery store that I walk to about a mile away. It’s a good thing that it’s two miles there and back and that I walk because I keep finding really delicious cheeses to try out! (Uh oh! I’m much more of a sucker for the cheeses than the photogenic pastries here. [...]