Congratulations to the winners of Obama's Blackberry-the winners are Mary D. Elsie, Renee, Christine and twister-snowboarder.
I have emailed all of you-please send me your addresses within 3 days so I may send the information to the publisher. If I do not hear back within 3 days I will pick another win.
Thank you everyone who entered. I will have a new giveaway later this week.
Frommer’s has just come out with an exciting travel book; 500 Places for Food and Wine Lovers. Let me warn you, do not read this book on an empty stomach, you will be salivating the entire time. How many of you research what days are market day in Paris, where the best ice-cream is, or where you can find the perfect cheese?
While I am often-times a little wary of travel guides offering up the best place to eat, I have gone on an epicurean vacation before, seeking out chocolate boutiques and gourmet pastry shops with fluffy delights.
Open air markets are a delightful way to discover a new country. In Vietnam I watched the fishermen bring in the catch of the day to the waterside market. I have watched the milk sellers in India, dip their fingers into the jugs of milk to show prospective buyers how creamy their milk is. I was enthralled by the spice markets of Morocco. 
Whenever I return from a foreign country, I am always declaring some sort of food item, whether it be chocolate, spices or a new vinegar.
If tasting new food is your idea of a great vacation, I highly recommend this new travel book. Their suggestions on where to eat, cover every type of eatery from fine cuisine to neighborhood restaurants. The chapters are divided into categories going to the source, food vacations, eating on the road in America, meals to remember, vintage journeys, good spirits, buzzed on caffeine and of course every fine meal ends with Just Dessert. Whether you like to stay or home or discover the world you will find plenty of places listed. The book even lists food fairs and festivals around the world. 
I have always found Frommer guides user friendly and this one is no exception with as it includes contact and website information for each location selected, plus details on accommodations and services to help you with planning your trip.
Just reading the book will make you feel like you are on vacation. If you have a vacation planned this summer, I hope you discover a new place to eat. Should you yet have a vacation planned I hope this gives you a little food fantasy and vacation from your home.
To celebrate summer, Frommer's has been kind enough to give me one copy of 500 Places for Food and Wine Lovers. Contest ends July 14th, Why it's Bastille Day and I love the food in France.
For the mandatory entry, tell me where you would go on a food or wine vacation. Do not forget to leave me a way to contact you. This entry is only open to U.S. addresses.
For extra entries
2. Post a link to the giveaway on your blog and post it here with the link.
3. Become a follower and leave a comment here (or "remind" me you are already a follower so I know you want to be included in this giveaway.
4. Tweet about 500 Places for Food and Wine Lovers, giveaway.
Hello, I am Esme, from Chocolate & Croissants. This week Lisa honored my by asking if I would write a guest post over at Anali’s First Amendment. Lisa and I met through the blogging world, we both love Nutella, adore Obama, passed the bar and enjoy food. These are some of the best ingredients for a friendship.
Happy Birthday Canada! Canadians are waking up today to celebrations of Canada’s 142nd Birthday. To get you in the mood I have a Canadian trivia quiz for you.
1. What is the capital
2. Who is the current Prime Minister of Canada?
3. How many official languages does Canada have?
Visiting Ottawa last week I was truly amazed by all the selection of ethnic food. Located in Ontario, Ottawa is separated from Quebec by the Ottawa River. The city’s choice of food reflect’s both the country’s history and the wave of migration to the nation. In grade school we were told that Canada was a melting pot of nations and this statement rings true in the capital’s offering of cuisine. 
The Byward Market
is a great place to stop for lunch if you enjoy open air markets. Designed by Colonel By in 1826 it is one of Canada’s oldest public markets. When the good Colonel designed the streets for the market, he had two streets be extra wide so they could serve as a public market and gathering place. 
The market is open all year round with farmers selling their goods. Sidewalks are lined with shops and stalls. While fruit and vegetables are big sellers in the summer, in the winter time, this is the perfect place to pick up maple syrup and wreathes and bows for your home. Inside the market are take-out stands selling Indian, Greek, French and traditional Canadian food.
For those that have a green thumb there are plenty of fresh herbs and beautiful flowers for sale. You can by freshly cut flowers or beds for your garden.
One of my favorite shops is The House of Cheese with it’s collection of imported and domestic cheese, pate and a decent selection of imported chocolate. Here the staff introduced me to Sauvigne, a creamy Quebecquois cheese. Give me a baguette, a glass of wine and a good book and I am quite content.
Another great shop is La Bottega, www.labottega.ca an Italian deli and market. The shop offers a wonderful selection of spices, coffee, dry and fresh pasta, chocolate, vinegars, oils, a fresh olive bar, cheeses and packaged deserts. At lunchtime, you can have a sandwich made for only $4.95.
Of course no trip to Ottawa would be complete without sampling a beavertail. 
If you are feeling tired, hitch a ride from one of the rickshaw drivers. College students earn summer wages, by given tourists rides.
We discovered a Thai restaurant that introduced to young fresh coconuts stuffed with a delicious chicken and shrimp curry. 
Ottawa’s own Chinatown is home to a good sampling of pho, dumpling, Korean bar-b que and sushi restaurants. After dinner you can wander over to one of the coffee and tea shops for bubble tea.
Every city has a Little Italy and Ottawa is no exception. Corso Italia as the main street is known hosts an Italian week, Ferrari festival, cyling criterium and grape harvest. This is the place to come if you want some Italian pastries.
If you are in the mood for something more exotic, the city has a wide selection of middle eastern restaurants serving gyros, kebabs and a traditional pizza that is a thin pita crust baked in a brick oven with toppings. La Brioche in the Glebe. The Glebe is home to a middle Eastern bakery selling baklava and other dessert.
Should you be in the mood for traditional French pastries or fresh bread, then let me suggest that you return to the market and visit Moulin de Provence, the little bakery Obama made famous. The desserts are so delectable that Obama returned home with a few goodies for the children. 
Outside of France this is one of the few places I have found ready made vol a vent (French for windblown) shells. Vol a vent is a filo dough cup traditionally filled with a mushroom mixture. 
To all the migrants that have brought their wonderful recipes and foods to Canada, Happy Canada Day!
Jugalbandi is hosting a photo contest and I thought it would be fun to enter. The theme of the contest is stacks, it could be food, utensils, cookware, anything as long as it is culinary related.
I found these bowls at a food market in Versailes and were drawn to their color. Their haphazard placement on the table and lines probably drew me in also. The contest ends today-so head over to their site to see more stacks.
Tomatoes! I just cannot get enough of them in the summertime. They speak to me in Italian, mangiare (eat), freschi (fresh) deliziosi (delicious). Why Italian, I do not know, but for me this is the language of tomatoes. I think tomatoes and I am treated to visions of Capri. 
I notice that I am not the only one with these thoughts. La Bottega, has a plump ripe tomato popping out of it's window with rows of tomato sauce stacked up behind. They want you to think about tomatoes and that is exactly what happened when I walked past their store. La Bottega is a fixture in downtown Ottawa, (I will tell you more about them later in the week).
I was downtown with my family walking past the store. I saw those cans of tomatoes and suddenly wanted to have a caprese salad for lunch. My Mediterranean mother, was not sharing my appetite for a caprese salad. Apparently she has had one tomato too many and wanted a hamburger. I was most disappointed. The sun was shining, it was a beautiful summer day. All that was missing was my Vespa and the Amalfi Coast. Big requests, but a caprese salad would quell those thoughts. My husband reminded me that the visit home was for my mum, we would now be finding a hamburger joint. I could not get the images of a caprese salad out of my head. I threatened to return to La Bottega, and sit down at the hamburger joint with my salad.
That salad would have to wait until I was home. The beauty of waiting until I returned home, was picking the basil fresh from my garden for the salad. It was well worth the wait.
Caprese Salad
2 fresh ripe tomatoes
mozzarella balls ( I get mine from Trader Joes)
fresh basil
olive oil for drizzling if you like
pepper
Slice your tomatoes and layer them on a plate. Cut the mozzarella balls and place two little balls on each tomato slice. Garnish with fresh basil. I like to top it off with fresh ground pepper. You may also drizzle some olive oil.
Enjoy!
From failure to fusilli, this deliciously hilarious read tells the story of Giulia Melucci’s fizzled romances and the mouth-watering recipes she used to seduce her men, smooth over the lumps, and console herself when the relationships flamed out.
From an affectionate alcoholic, to the classic New York City commitment-phobe, to a hipster aged past his sell date, and not one, but two novelists with Peter Pan complexes, Giulia has cooked for them all. She suffers each disappointment with resolute cheer (after a few tears) and a bowl of pastina (recipe included) and has lived to tell the tale so that other women may go out, hopefully with greater success, and if that’s not possible, at least have something good to eat.
Peppered throughout Giulia’s delightful and often poignant remembrances are fond recollections of her mother’s cooking, the recipes she learned from her, and many she invented on her own inspired by the men in her life. Readers will howl at Giulia’s boyfriend-littered past and swoon over her irresistible culinary creations.
From the Author's Website.
I loved, I lost, I made Spaghetti chronicles, Melucci's successful love affair with food along with her not so successful attempts at finding romance. One cannot help falling in love with Melucci and wanting her to find true love as she describes her various relationships.
Raised in an Italian family, Melucci has a true appreciation for food. She loves to cook and equates good food and cooking with dating. Melucci's men do not all share her appreciation for her. One lover a Rhode Island WASP never ate when they went out. His reason being "I like to keep my edge". Not sure if this is true or he was just cheap.
To add a little spice to the book, Melucci has a collection of recipes, some from her family, others that she has made up or adapted. Her recipes seem to reflect her mood, with titles such as First-Date Butterflies and Pear Cake for Friends with Benefits.
This is a wonderful read, with lots of love and a dash of sarcasm. For a sneak peek into Melucci's apartment head over to an article written by the NY Times.
Hachette Book Publishing has been kind enough to provide me with 5 copies of the book to giveaway to my readers.
To enter: MANDATORY: Leave me a comment on what your favorite Italian food is. Do not forget to leave your email or a way for me to contact you.
For extra entries
2. Post a link to the giveaway on your blog and post it here with the link.
3. Become a follower and leave a comment here (or "remind" me you are already a follower so I know you want to be included in this giveaway.
4. Tweet about I loved, I lost, I Made Spaghetti.
Contest will run through July 15.
Contest is open to shipping addresses only in the US or Canada given the book is being sent directly from the publisher. Sorry no P.O. Boxes.
Summertime to me means grilling fresh vegetables. Tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and eggplant are some of my favorite vegetables to throw on the grill.
Tonight I wanted to try something different with the eggplant. After being on vacation for the past week and eating out constantly I wanted to have something healthy for dinner. As much as I love going away I miss eating at home. Quinoa was my answer to a healthy return home.
This is one of my favorite ways to cook-just pull out a few ingredients and see where they lead me. Initially I was going to stuff the eggplant with quinoa. I sauteed the eggplant that I had from hollowing out the vegetable and sauteed it with 5 Chinese Spice. I am not sure where that spice idea came from, but it seemed liked an interesting choice.
To healthy eating and summertime grilling my end result was a great welcome home.
GRILLED EGGPLANT STUFFED WITH QUINOA
2 eggplants hollowed out, save the flesh
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
6 tablespoons parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp 5 Chinese Spice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup quinoa cooked according to instructions
Hollow out eggplant and set them aside. Take flesh from eggplant and saute it with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 5 Chinese spoon until soft. Mix eggplant with pine nuts and quinoa. Fill the hollowed out eggplant with the mixture. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.
Grill eggplant on bar-b-que for 15 minutes.
