The last Essi

These S-shaped cookies are a specialty from the island of Burano in Venice, Italy. Yep, besides the colorful houses and intricate lace, the island is famous for these delicious, crunchy vanilla cookies with a hint of lemon (also called Bussolai Buranei). Mama and I became addicted to these delightful cookies some years ago. They’re perfect at…

Pear cake experiment

Mama and I fell madly in love with a pear and chocolate cake when we were in Venice six years ago. Sadly, the restaurant no longer even makes it. So I did some recipe researching when we got home, and I was thrilled to find a Smitten Kitchen recipe for Bittersweet Chocolate and Pear Cake!…

The fun part of unpacking

We returned from Venice several days ago and jet lag hit us hard, so we’ve been slow to unpack. Today Mama and I finally unearthed a few of our Venetian treasures. Despite a broken suitcase, we were thrilled to find the bottle of Moscato D’Asti that we brought home intact, as well as our tiny glass…

Traveling help

Wednesday was a long day for us. Mama and Paisley and I woke up in Venice, Italy, and flew to Chicago and then San Francisco. We couldn’t have done it without the help of at least a dozen people along the way. Many thanks to our dear friend Anna, who met us at our apartment…

Packed and ready for home

Oftentimes at the end of a trip, there’s a feeling of wishing it could continue indefinitely. Such is not the case for us this time. Mama and I are ready and eager to return home to California. We had a wonderful time with our Italian friends and making new friends along the way. We enjoyed absolutely…

Following Feed Phil’s footsteps and more

Mama and I started off the day with lunch of cicchetti, or small bites, from a wonderful and tiny place called All’Arco, which we learned about from watching Netflix’s “Somebody Feed Phil.” The food was incredibly innovative and fresh, and we enjoyed getting to meet Mateo, who was introduced in the show. Then as Mama…

A rainy rest day with some laughs

Having walked our feet off all over Venice, plus the islands of Burano and Murano in the last few days, Mama and I didn’t mind that it poured rain all day today. We knew we’d need a day of rest; I even went to the grocery store yesterday in preparation. Mama spent the day working on another…