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Flower Markets in Rome

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One of the things I love about walking around the city is the flower shops I come across.  I love how sometimes they surprise me when I turn the corner in a rush to get somewhere and I find an assortment of beautiful, colorful flowers spilling over into the sidewalk.  A reminder to slow down and enjoy the little things in life.  My days are always brightened when I stumble across a flower shop or market.

Enjoying the Fruits of Their Labor

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Our friends and neighbors have been spoiling us lately.  The have been showering us with fruit from their gardens.  Fresh, natural fruit is absolutely delicious!  There is definitely a difference in the taste of fruit from your local backyard, compared to the taste of fruit from your local supermarket.  Needless to say, I have been in a fruit-dazed heaven for the past few weeks.
The grapes above and below are from our next door neighbor’s small backyard garden.  They are completely phenomenal, and are hands down the best grapes I have ever eaten.
The grapes almost have a velvety look to them with their deep purple color.  They give off an intoxicating grape aroma, and almost smell like grape candy.  A burst of grape flavor fills your mouth when you bite into each grape.  I’ve really never had a grape that has tasted this way … so good.  The aroma and taste actually reminds me of grape flavored Popsicles from my childhood.  My husband says they taste more like wine than regular grapes.  Maybe that’s the reason I am so infatuated with them. 🙂

The seeds inside the grapes even look like little hearts.   

Another friend sent over a large bag full of pomegranates and several limes this past week too.

I don’t recall seeing pomegranates of this color before, only the deep red ones.  The seeds inside are quite delicious though.

We decided to make fresh pomegranate juice.  We opened two of the pomegranates and pulled out all the juice filled seeds (known as arils).  We ground the seeds in a food processor, then strained the juice from the seed pulp in a colander.

I topped the pomegranate juice off with a little fresh squeezed lime juice.  Though it was a bit of work to get enough for two small juice glasses, the end product was definitely worth it.  The fresh juice was delicious, plus we had fun making it.

Waiting a Lifetime for Cannoli

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The other week, a friend and I were walking along in Trastevere.  We passed a pastry shop with cannoli displayed in the window (along with other sweet treats).  What else could we do but stop and drool over the yummy desserts?  While we were stopped, my friend confessed that not only had he never tasted cannoli, but he only learned what they were a few days before from a tourist asking about them.  What?!  This news stopped me in my tracks.  How could this be possible?  He has lived in Rome for almost 10 years now, and although cannoli are Sicilian pastries, not Roman, I still could hardly believe the news he had just delivered to my ears.

For those of you like my friend, and are also not familiar, let me explain a little about the yummy cannoli.  Cannoli (cannolo = singular), means ‘little tube’.  They have a crunchy tube-like shell made of fried pastry dough, and are filled with a mixture of creamy, sweet ricotta.  They are usually dusted with confectioner’s or powdered sugar.  You can find them in a variety of ways with different toppings at the ends.  The most common are with crushed pistachios, small chocolate chips or chocolate shavings, candied fruit or cherries.I made it my mission to find an authentic Sicilian pastry shop.  Turns out, there was one located right in the heart of Trastevere.  Mission accomplished!  The secret to authentic cannoli is that they are filled with ricotta once you place your order.  They are fresh, and not prefilled sitting on display.  Needless to say, he enjoyed it immensely, and I can now rest easy knowing he has had a proper cannoli experience.

The Sicilian pastry shop I found in Trastevere is Ciuri Ciuri.  Each regular size cannolo is €2,30.  As you can see above, the cannoli are not prefilled.  When you order, you can choose between regular ricotta filling, chocolate cream or pistachio cream.  We had one with regular ricotta and one with chocolate cream, both topped with chopped pistachio.  Both delicious!  So delicious, my friend has already asked when we can return to get another cannolo.  Apparently my cannoli mission was not only accomplished, but it was a success. 🙂


Ciuri Ciuri
Piazza San Cosimato, 49/B
Open:  Every day from 9.30 AM – Midnight
Telephone:  06 9521 6082
There are three other locations throughout Rome, and you can check their website for other locations and opening times.  

 

Friday Fun: Best Italian Winery of the Year & Roma Film Festival Wrap Up

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It’s Friday Fun time again.  Have a great weekend everyone!  Here are our picks. . .


**My pick**
This video is by a Sicilian winery named Tasca d’Almerita.  I first saw this video on a fellow expat’s blog last week (An American in Rome), and fell in love with it.  Throughout the rest of the week, I saw this winery mentioned several other times.  Was this the Universe’s way of trying to tell me I needed to plan a getaway to Sicily to relax and enjoy a little wine?  Nope, I’m afraid not.  Turns out, this Sicilian winery is getting a lot of press lately from the recent awards it has received.  Tasca d’Almerita was just awarded ‘Italian Winery of the Year’ by Vini d’Italia, Italy’s bestselling wine guide.  The Italian Sommeliers’ Association also named the winery ‘Sicilian Wine Producer of the Year’.  After watching the video, you will want to plan a trip to Sicily to sample some of their wines and experience the culture there too.  Curl up with a glass of vino and enjoy. 🙂




**Hubby’s pick**
Remember last week we told you about the International Rome Film Festival?  The events are coming to an end this weekend.  Did any of you have a chance to attend any of the screenings or festivities?  If you lucked up and were able to attend, what was your favorite film or thing at the festival?

 
If you would like to see other Friday Fun posts, you can find them here.  If you would like to see the reason behind why we started the Friday Fun posts, you can check it out here. 

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