Category Archives: Happy Hour

Cooking, Food and Drink, Happy Hour, Holidays, Jen's Kitchen, Recipes

Warm Your Christmas Spirit With Some Vin Brulé

If you’ve read a couple of our recent Christmas posts, you may notice a consistent theme over and over.  We have been thoroughly enjoying the official drink of the season, vin brulé from the markets of Alto-Adige to the lakeside shores of Lugano, Switzerland.  I promise you, we are by no means a pair of winos – but I’m pretty sure it’s against the law not to have a vin brulé in your hands as you stroll through the Christmas markets.

Homemade vin brulé

We have been having so much fun thawing the chill from our bones with this delicious winter drink that we thought we should make it at home for ourselves.  I have to say, for our first attempt – it was pretty darn good!  And since we enjoyed this easy and delicious recipe so much, we decided it was only fair to share it with you.  Of course, that meant that we had to go back to the test kitchen and whip up another batch! Continue reading Warm Your Christmas Spirit With Some Vin Brulé →

Bellagio, Castles, Como, Family Stories, Food and Drink, Friends, Happy Hour, Humor, Photography, Restaurants, Sipping Espresso, Travel - Europe, Travel - Italy

The Perfect Recipe – Great Friends, Food & Tons of Fun

Sometimes living abroad is hard.  Like when you miss a good friend’s wedding in upstate New York – an event that turned out to be the social gathering of the year (according to Facebook pictures and word of mouth). Thankfully Dave and Jill completely understood when we declined to come.  Or when one of your best friends tells you that he’s planning on “popping the question” via email, because there’s really no easier way.  Those are the types of conversations that should be reserved for a late night in a neighborhood bar, complete with lots of back pats and free rounds for the groom-to-be.  Thankfully, Josh was great about keeping me in the loop, sending us pictures of his wonderful proposal to Abby in Charlestown earlier this year (and even calling us via FaceTime shortly afterward).  So, yeah – living abroad can be hard when you miss these special moments in your friends and families lives.  However… when we’re able to host our friends and family here, we are always grateful for the experience abroad.

Abby, Josh, Jill, Dave, Jen and Julia

For that reason, we were absolutely thrilled when we heard that Josh and Abby were going to come visit us.  We coordinated the timing of their trip so that they would be visiting during a beautiful time of year and the start of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany.  As soon as they booked their airfare, I reserved our train tickets to Munich, which I’ll write about in the upcoming post. Continue reading The Perfect Recipe – Great Friends, Food & Tons of Fun →

Bellagio, Como, Family Stories, Food and Drink, Happy Hour, Humor, Photography, Piedmont, Restaurants, Sipping Espresso, Travel - Italy, Wine

Tornado Touches Down in Italy

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On May 4, 2013 a tornado touched down in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.  A path of chaos was carved throughout the area best known for a city that inspired a processed meat in the US nowhere near an authentic representation of it’s namesake – Bologna.

One day prior, a different type of tornado touched down in the Lombardia region just north of Emilia-Romagna.  Our friends, Nathan and Danielle landed in Milan and a whirlwind of food, fun, wine was about to begin – our own path of chaos would be carved throughout northern Italy.

Our very good friends, Nathan and Danielle

I picked them up at the airport while Jen stayed home to prepare a proper welcome – an Italian pranzo (lunch) done right.  We greeted them with an aperitivo (an alcoholic beverage used to stimulate the appetite) and then began stuffing them with salami, prosciutto, lardo (cured meat – basically just pork fat thinly sliced), cheese and olives.  Then it was on to the pasta course, with a simple red sauce before our secondo, veal Milanese.  Next of course were the salads and then dessert – fresh fruit and pastries we bought that morning.  Plenty of wine flowed throughout the meal and we finished with grappa.  The only problem… our large lunch had an effect opposite of our intention to keep them awake and perky in order to stave off jet-lag.  They were both crying out for a nap, but we were merciless with our plans.  We whisked them to downtown Como, where we walked off lunch and eventually made our way to a bar for happy hour outdoors under the sun. Continue reading Tornado Touches Down in Italy →

Como, Food, Food and Drink, Happy Hour, Humor, Wine

Happy Hour – Although This One Was Unhappy!

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What a wonderful tradition happy hour is!  A time when friends can gather and join in a few post-work drinks and perhaps a little nibble to eat.  We’ve always known happy hour to be a 5:00pm – 7:00pm (ish) time to partake in a few cocktails at a discounted price.

Caffè Mazzini – Our favorite Happy Hour in Como

We were pleased to find that the tradition of “happy hour” also exists in Italy and it’s even called the same thing (just imagine saying it with a funny little accent… drop the sound the “h” makes).  However, it’s a bit different here.

Instead of discounted drinks and food, you usually pay the same price for the drinks (which always tends to be low anyways… between $4 – $6) but get a big bonus.  ALL YOU CAN EAT heavy hors d’oeuvres – Italian style!!!  Imagine a bar full of pasta, pizza and other wonderful treats.  If you’re not to embarrassed to fill a plate – you can easily have enough for dinner. Continue reading Happy Hour – Although This One Was Unhappy! →