Back from Vacation!

Whew, just got back from a long vacation and much needed at that. Found lots of things to share so stay tuned and not all of it about cooking. ;-)

Discovered Fun Italian Travel and Food Blog

Found a fun and very informative blog for those of you hooked on Italy. She does a lot of hiking and has her posts organized by region, not to mention her recipes as well. This is one of the most thorough sites I have seen, go check it out.
Rubber Slippers in Italy

Sun, Sand, Beach Walks...ain't Life just Grand?

Stay tuned; just finished the California jaunt and doing a bit of catch up. So many things to write, will keep me busy posting here for the next month!

Not Just Any Bookstore...Bassano del Grappa

While roving the streets of Bassano del Grappa, this little day-tripper stumbled on an extraordinary bookstore fashioned as a library in an ancient palazzo. Art and culture have been joined in a meticulously restored edifice called Palazzo Roberti. The building dates back to the 1600’s and thanks to painstaking restoration, the palazzo presents a bookstore of the 21st century cradled in the essence of the past. Just browsing books one has the prospect to admire the high intrinsic value of the architecture, the gardens, the statues and frescoes. Flanking the staircase is a banister, a superb work of art in and of itself; the fat hand wrought wooden rail is supported by forged iron pieces resembling snakes. Today the cultural center, situated on the "piano nobile," allows us to live literature in the past during invitations and meetings with writers and artists of today. This lovely palazzo conquered her as it also did for Napoleon, who chose to reside there twice during his lifetime.

Trillion Dollar Spending = Dog Tails to me.

The spending bill being presented to the Senate is not just 800 billion; by the time interest is calculated over the next decade, it will be more along the lines of $ 1.2 trillion representing an unsustainable growth of government!

This expansion will include the bail out of state governments from their own budget deficits, expand Medicaid, boost education spending, food stamps and unemployment benefits, build more federal buildings, provide more for public housing, construct climate change supercomputers (thanks Gore, just what we need), erect trade barriers overseas, create refundable tax credits and make special interest payouts. This will not stimulate sustainable economic growth; the current package is a mass of spending with a sliver of targeted tax cuts.

An alternative plan should call upon a plan for change, to once-and-for-all put the nation's fiscal house in order, provide permanent tax relief for businesses and individuals, free Americans from the boom-bust economic cycle and to put the national debt to bed forever.

Did you know our current national debt is $10.7 trillion; this includes $4.3 trillion owed for SS, Medicare and other commitments, $6.4 trillion held privately, $3 trillion of which is held overseas and, (a big and), 40% of that privately held debt is due this year? The only way for government to pay that current debt, is to borrow more money. So, the U.S. is risking defaulting on it's financial obligations especially since the nation's creditors during this current economic downturn, may not be able to sustain the uncontrolled growth of spending, leaving the U.S. in financial ruin.

So now what? More dog butts for me.

Gotta Love the Left Over Queen!

I just thought you all should head over to the left over corner, where the queen of left overs has truly presented one of the best blogs I have seen in a while and not only her blog but her ideas for left overs! She mentioned our blog in finest-foodies-friday and when I read more about her I was happy to find a fellow Italian lover as well as, one who purports simplicity in the kitchen (she is also the one responsible for Foodies Blogroll.

Golden Piglet is a bit of a pain in the butt regarding left overs that is, they need to be consumed quickly for the mass of bacteria and molds that set up shop so quickly (he takes the fun out of my left overs being a microbiologist maniac). I have never been able to use left overs very well and now, Jenn has answered my prayers and even though the Piglet loves to eat so our left overs never make it far anyway, now I have a good reason to have left overs! :-) So, as you ponder what to do with what is in your pantry against what is in that Tupperware, go see what The Leftover Queen has to say. Thank you for Jenn for the nice review, we certainly appreciated it.