Hiatus
These past two weeks have meant little blogging, but it isn't for lack of things to say: we've actually been quite busy over here in Macerata. Obviously that means I have a lot of blog catching up to do, and I hope to get some more detailed posts online soon (accompanied by pictures!) about our recent adventures. We've had quite a few of them: from a visit to the nearby city of Fabriano to see the Gentile da Fabriano exhibit (and, in the meantime, discovering the charming little city center as well), to my visit to Emilia Romagna where my friends Cyndi and Danilo live, to this past weekend and a full Sunday of caving in Le Marche mountains.
In the meantime, though, work has finally begun to settle down as the middle school closed for the summer, and I have more time on my hands during the weekdays. It has been a blessing and a curse: I long to sleep in, but too many days of waking up at 10 make the days go by too quickly, and I'm left getting nothing done. Also, summer means, for Antonello, a new take on lunchtime cuisine ("no pasta!" he tells me. "It's too heavy." What?!?), so I'm slowly trying to re-invent our lunch menu. Any recipe ideas for a vegetarian with a non-pasta-eating husband?
As a result of all of this lunchtime reorganization, on Saturday we went to one of my favorite supermarkets: Lidl. Not an Italian name, as you might guess--Lidl is actually a German chain, and a very low cost one too. As I've lived here longer, my interests have gone from day tripping to various cultural wonders and charming towns to daytripping to new grocery stores, as it seems each grocery store here in Italy differs drastically from the next. I remember spending a whole afternoon journeying from grocery store to grocery store in search of flour tortillas, a trip that took us as far as Civitanova to their one and only Coop market. Who cares about their beachside attractions and crumbling hill town nearby: I want my Mexican food!
So, Lidl was one of the highlights of our weekend as we came across things we hadn't guessed we'd ever find here in Italy: namely jalapeno peppers! Jars of them lined the mexican food corner, and I grabbed them, and as many tortilla chips, as I could. We also found strange new fish items for Antonello to try (has anyone ever heard of Brathering Filets in feinwurziger Marinade?), japanese rice cracker snacks, and tasty muesli energy bars to take on our caving excursions. So, as we discover more and more little grocery stores and supermarket chains, the food items that I'm missing from the states show up, one by one. Today it's jalapeno peppers and japanese rice crackers--tomorrow, maybe it will be cheddar? Ah, one can dream!
More blogging soon!
-Jackie
update: I just discovered that Brathering is actually herring!
4 Comments:
I hope you enjoyed Le Marche. That's where my family is from!
really? we actually live here, in Macerata. we like it quite a bit. What part of Le Marche is your family from?
how funny! I loved coop in switzerland and migros but because I'd find simple things that totally just got me. Like their teas.
Thanks for visiting and yeah I've had to take a blogging break. Just too many sites to check out. I still blog but only visit who comments back. 100s of sites are too many to visit!
How about a nice stir fry? That isn't pasta. Chicken ceaser salads for Antonello. You can just have the salad and add the chicken after. Hope all is well. I'm starting to get ready for football coaching this fall. There is a camp tomorrow morning at Saginaw High with Charles Rogers (he played at Saginaw High, then Michigan State, now with the Detroit Lions) and there are off season sessions that I go to once a week. The dogs are doing well and the house is great!
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