The requests have been flooding in by the virtual truckload…

“Now that you live in Italy… what are you cooking?”

Well, we’re here to tell you two things:

1) Not a single person actually asked the aforementioned question (I just thought the subject might make a fun post).

2) Some things are not that different – some things are very different.

And since I’ve thrown myself headfirst into this “blogosphere” and haven’t posted in a couple days… I’m starting to feel like an addict without an outlet.  So here we go – we’re going to let you into our kitchen and show you our pantry and refrigerator.  You’ll be able to get a first-hand glimpse at what we’ve been eating (when we eat at home that is)!

OUR PANTRY (my favorite)

Pantry Overview

It’s my favorite because I can so easily organize and stack everything neatly, as you see above.  This image was not “doctored”.  I did not straighten up before taking this shot, but I must confess – I did just unload some groceries and so it was freshly organized.  For those that now me best, they won’t be surprised to see all labels out.  OK… let’s break it down.

Top shelf – cookies, biscotti, baby biscotti (yes, it exists), dry cereal, etc.  Jen’s convinced the fiber in those biscuits make them good for breakfast.  I’m still too Americanized and prefer a bowl of cereal.

Top Shelf

Next is “Jen’s shelf”.  I call it “Jen’s shelf” because I have no interest in it other than making sure it’s straight and tidy.  Here you’ll find the dried beans and canned goods she uses to make her various soups, her tomatoes which are sometimes used as a base in her delicious sugo (sauce) and some other stuff  I know nothing about.  Oh, I picked up those artichoke hearts – they were on sale.  Can’t figure out when/how we should eat them.

Jen’s Shelf

Next is my favorite shelf, because it’s easy to put stuff away and very easy to keep clean.  So, I guess I’ll call it my shelf.  Let’s see… we’ve got (from left to right) acqua naturale (flat water), acqua frizzante (sparkling water), milk… ok let’s pause a moment.  Yes, I said milk.  You see, milk is sold here in an aisle as well as the refrigerated section.  Initially, we were only getting the refrigerated milk – but it goes bad after a couple days, so after my insescent “encouraging” – we tried this stuff and it’s actually pretty good.  Plus, you don’t have to drive frantically to the store if you’re low on milk – you just go the pantry.  OK… where were we?  Ah, yes.  Wine.  You’ll see one of our new favorites in the front there.  Just picked up four of these puppies for the low-low price of 3€ a piece!  And it’s goooood!  Moving on we have a row of various vinegar’s and then several types of olive oil – including a special one in front from Civitella, the town of Jen’s nonna (grandmother).

Greg’s Shelf

Our Fridge…

“Shut the damn door!”

We don’t have anything too fancy, several common things based on Italian dietary habits.  Yogurt, for your afternoon “snack”.  Beer (for Greg) – sold in three packs (weird), bitters (for Jen… I hate the stuff), minestrone soup fresh from last night’s dinner, herbs, frutti di mare (seafood mixtures) that we’ll have for lunch tomorrow over spaghettini (thin spaghetti), Illy coffee, salad and water.

Oh, the good stuff you can’t really see.  At the top is a slide out drawer where we keep the ever-present salami, prosciutto, parmigiano cheese, and today we got a real treat… a hunk of speck from Jen’s Aunt upstairs.

A peak inside our fridge

Well, it may not have been the most exciting adventure into our lives – but now you know what we eat on a normal day.  I have to say, with Jen’s culinary skills improving at a rate much faster than our lingual skills – I’d rather stay home and eat any day!!

Buon appetito!