Top Ten Thursday: Food of the Italians

        Hello there and welcome to Top Ten Thursday hosted by my friend Tamara over at Confessions of a Part-Time Working Mom.   This week's Top Ten has been inspired by the Italians and all their yummy food.  I am beyond excited to do this top ten, since took a very awesome road trip through Italy two months ago.  So with no further ado, here's my list...

1.  Insalata Caprese con Mozzarella di Bufala (Caprese Salad with Buffalo Mozzarella) - My first foodie stop in Italy was in Venice.  My friends took me to this little pizza place that they frequent.  But instead of pizza I got this plate of beautiful amazingness!

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2. Cappuccino - Ok, ok, I know this isn't technically a "food," but I just HAD to include it since all the cappuccinos I drank in Italy (and I mean I drank a lot of them) are some of the best I've ever had.  Plus, if you use a spoon to scoop out the foam, then really you are eating, aren't you.  

3. Cacio e Pepe  (Cheese and Pepper) - If you have ever seen the No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain when he visits Rome, then you know how much he loves this dish.  When my friend and I went to Rome, we just had to try this famous pasta.  And we even went to the same restaurant he did too, and sat at the very patio tables he did too!  Oh....it was so delish.  So cheesy, so peppery, the pasta had a perfect bite to it, and all in a crispy parmesan twill bowl.  I would recommend this place to everyone! 

4. Gelato - You can't go to Italy and not have gelato.  This blows ice cream out of the water, there is no comparison.  On the food tour we went on, we stopped at this place called Fatamorgana .  It had so many new and fresh flavors.  I tried out the spiced pumpkin and baklava, there were a-maz-ing!  

5. Prosciutto Crudo - Oh man...did we eat a lot of this!  If you ever have a chance to have some in Italy it is so worth it.  I took this picture in a local deli shop that our food tour guy took us too.  Buying some from a package at the store just doesn't cut it anymore after have the good stuff!   

7. Farro Salad  -  My friend and I stopped at a little restaurant along the Mediterranean coast on our way up to Pisa.  We both ordered this yummy colorful plate of Farro salad with fresh caught shrimp, tomatoes, and basil.  OMG! It was A-MAZ-ING!  It was one of my favorites of Italy.   

8. Prosecco - Ok, Tamara did say we could choose wine as one of our "foods," so I'm rollin with it.  But instead of regular wine, I'm going with Prosecco.  Yes, Italy is know for it's wines, red and white, but I've been on a Prosecco kick, even two months after my trip to Italy.  I am usually a sweet wine drinker, but these days I have been trading in a sweet glass for a drier, bubbly one.  Plus Prosecco makes a really good Hugo. (If you don't know what that is, click the link for the cocktail recipe!) 

9.  Arancini (Filled rice balls) - So, we tried these Arancini balls on our food tour too.  They were really tasty, especially since there was surprise of cheese in the middle of it.  Perfect Italian street food!

10.  Roman Pizza - If anything that Rome or even the Italy is famous for, it's pizza.  And now I know why!  Their pizza is so good, I don't know if it's the difference of ingredients, the environment, or just the amount of love they put into making each one.  But I have to say, Roman pizza was my favorite!  The crust was sweet and savory, soft with just enough bite to it, perfectly baked in one of those traditional ovens, and the toppings so fresh, usually from a local market.  Also, I did notice that, many Italians don't eat the crust OR use their hands.  Pizza must be consumed using knife and fork, cutting the inside out.  So....that's how I ate it too.  (The top pizza was prosciutto and artichoke, the bottom was buffalo mozzarella with marinara and fresh basil).

     So there you have it my Top Ten Favorite Italian foods.  For more pictures of my Italian Food Tour click HERE.  If you want you book your own food tour, I suggest Eating Italy Food Tours & Culinary Activities: Click Here for Italy (Rome, Florence, & Venice), Click Here for London, Click here for Amsterdam, or Click Here for Prague. 

Check out some of my friend's Top Ten Italian Foods:

The Bergham Chronicles

Confessions of a Part-Time Working Mom

Top Ten Thursday: 80's Songs

  Hello there and welcome to Top Ten Thursday hosted by my friend Tamara over at Confessions of a Part-Time Working Mom.  This week's challenge is going to be hard.  See I grew up in the 80's, so yeah, I listened to Madonna, Michael Jackson, Wham, the list can go on forever.  That's why it's going to be tough narrowing it down to just ten.  Check out mine and some of my other blogging friend's Top Ten 80's Songs below.

My Top 10 Favorite Songs of the 1980's... (Click on the RED links to see the music video)

1.  Human Nature by Micheal Jackson - I am a HUGE Michael Jackson fan!  So when I was thinking of my 80's songs, he just HAD to the top of the list.  This particular song is my all time favorite song by the legendary King of Pop, and it just so happens to be one of his favorites too!  When he passed away, I was extremely sad, and still today wish he was alive.  At the time we just so happened to be living in California close by to his Neverland Ranch, so we paid a visit to pay our respects.  His music was amazing, his dance moves out of this world, and his kind heart for others was inspiring.  My son has recently developed a love for his music as well and goes around singing all the words to "Thriller" and performs the "Thriller dance" for all our friends (and yes, he knows all the moves).

2. Sailing by Christopher Cross - Ok, so I know this isn't as "poppy" as Michael Jackson, but it has a special place in my heart.  My mom always tells me the story that when this song used to come on the radio I used to sing "CANDICE can do miracles" instead of the real words "the CANVUS can do miracles."  And because of this, my dad and I danced to this song at my wedding.  Even to this day, I still sing it my way.

3.  Let the Music Play by Shannon - Since we are talking about the 1980's who remembers break dancing?  You can't see it, but I'm totally raising my hand!  This was my JAM!  When this came on I was a dancing machine.  Of course break dancing in the 80's is way different then the "breaking" of today. Plus I was kid, so no one cared.  Dance is suppose to be fun!  Me and my bro, we love to dance!

4.  Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham! - If you entered a skating rink most likely you would hear this song.  I certainly remember it playing the day we showed up to the wrong school's skating party.  We even brought cupcakes too I think.  Oh well, we stayed and had fun.  The picture below is actually from a Halloween themed skating party (my mom made our costumes).

5.  What a Feeling by Irene Cara - Ok, so who doesn't love the movie "Flashdance?"  I used to watch it all the time.  I loved watching the dancers in their costumes perform.  And the end...so awesome!  Everyone loves the end, the big dance scene, and then she gets accepted into Juilliard.   As a child I didn't even realize this movie was about a stripper trying to better her life.  Looking back, I'm kinda like, wow mom and dad, you let me watch this?  But really, who cared back then?  It was really hard to decide between this song and Maniac by Michael Sembello, I mean because who didn't wear some leg warmers and going around dancing in circles? (I'm even wearing some dancing bears on my dress in this picture).

6.  We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off - Jermaine Stewart - I remember listening to this song driving around with my cousin when we lived in Ohio with my Aunt and Uncle.  We were in between moving from Florida to the Azores (my dad was in the military also).  We would roll the windows down and sing at the top of our lungs, it was so fun!  I miss hanging out with her.  This picture is of my mom, sister, my cousin, and I, a little older then the memory, but that's ok.

7.  Girls Just Want To Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper - Growing up with red hair and the ONLY red head grandchild out of both sides of my family (which has A LOT of red heads on each side) I was bound to be dressed up as Cyndi Lauper.  Which is exactly what my older cousins used to do.  They would put me in some funky outfits then pull my hair to side.  We would dance around singing this song.  It was a lot of fun.  We used to always put on skits, dance performances, magic shows, tell jokes to entertain ourselves and our family.  For example, the picture below.  I was dressed up as some crazy character and wanted to put on a show.

8.  Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears - What about this song does not scream 80s?  I remember listening to this song when we were stationed in Flordia, I was outside playing while my dad washed the car.  It's one of those moments I will always relate to this song.  This was about the age I was when we lived in Florida. (My bro was born there).

9.  Holiday by Madonna - When you mention the 80's one artist that always comes to mind is Madonna.  She was a culture inspiration.  From her songs, her dance moves, and even her fashion.  She was an 80's icon and still to this day can rock the music scene.  Holiday was one of those catchy songs that was easy to sing to and was on the radio a lot when I was growing up.  It came out in 1983 when we were stationed in Germany.

10.  Dancing on the Ceiling by Lionel Richie - Who can resist getting up to dance to this song?  It came out in 1987 when perms were still all the rage.  And guess who had one too, yeah this lady!  And to let you know my hair is straight straight, but of course that didn't stop my mom.  I remember hanging out in the kitchen with my hair tightly wrapped in those pink and blue perm curlers, smelling of chemicals, with a plastic bag tied on my head.  I am so glad perms faded out!

  

    Well, there ya have it, my Top Ten 1980's Songs! I hope you enjoyed watching and listening to some of the songs, my little memories, and the totally awesome 80's pictures of my childhood.

Check out some of my friend's Top Ten 80's Songs below!

The Bergham Chronicles

Confessions of a Part-Time Working Mom

Pamela & Ken's Days of Fun!!

    

Top Ten Thursday: Blogging Challenges

     Hello there and welcome to Top Ten Thursday!  I've recently joined a group of bloggers who are given a theme for the week and asked to write their top ten (kinda like Letterman used to do).  So here goes nothing...  This week's topic: Blogging Challenges 

Submitted by Liz over at An American in Basel

Top 10 Things I Love or Hate about Blogging Challenges:

1.  I love reading the other blogger's challenge posts. 

2.  I hate how hard it is to capture the blogging challenge's button or picture, only to get it downloaded but not being able to upload it on to the post about the challenge.

3.  I love challenging myself to come up with something creative for each post.

4.  I hate it when I sign up for a challenge, then forget about it, only to be reminded a day or so before the post goes live.  Oops.

5.  I love being involved in the blogger world.  Sometimes you make some good friends. (Tamara)      

6.  I hate it when I get stumped trying to rhyme a word for a poetry challenge, then I have to resort to Google or a thesaurus to find a new word.

7.  I love that I count on my blogger friend and Top Ten Challenge host who helps me when I get stumped at number 7.  

8.  I hate that I am stumped at number 8 now.

9.  I love that the next Top Ten Challenge theme will NOT be about loving or hating blog challenges.

10.  I hate when I link up my permalink wrong and then have to go back and correct it.  Sorry Tamara.   

Check out some other Top Tens:

Confessions of a Part-Time Working Mom

The Last Rain Girl

Dinosaur Superhero Mommy An American in Basel The Bergham Chronicles