Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti—Sophia Loren
I love spaghetti, always have, always will. However, I can’t make the same claim as Sophia Loren. In fact, I would never draw attention purposefully to my physical attributes. And since I am approaching the time in my life when metabolism slows to a slug-like pace, I need to make changes.
I was traveling through the internet yesterday and came upon a Bob and Brad episode. These are physical therapists who are quite helpful and entertaining. They were talking about getting rid of body and belly fat. One of the first life changes was reducing pasta…I immediately suffered a mild catatonic event. I love pasta.
I did find this dish on YouTube, can’t remember who the home chef was, but I did make a few changes. So full disclosure box checked.
So that was the backdrop of my new favorite dish…zucchini noodles with lemon, butter, garlic shrimp in a sauce kicked up with a little sriracha sauce. I wanted to fix a dish that would leave my little glycogen molecules standing at the bus stop waiting for the Bad Carb Wild Ride bus line.
If there is a way I can get good carbs in my system and not give up flavor, I will do that. This is a dish that allows me to do that. The zucchini noodles had basically the same texture as pasta noodles and I couldn’t taste much of a difference in flavor. Of course my taste buds may not be as refined as Sophia Loren’s or any others with pasta-based genetics. I will repeat, I love pasta and I will not allow myself to stop eating it, just slow down my consumption.
I used a Julienne peeler to make the zucchini noodles, sauteed the shrimp in butter, olive oil, salt, and pepper, Italian seasoning, and a few red pepper flakes. I then added garlic. I removed the shrimp to a plate. I made the sauce by adding lemon juice, lemon zest, butter, vegetable broth, and some sriracha sauce for a little kick and let it thicken.
After the sauce thickened, I added the zucchini noodles to the sauce for about 2 minutes while stirring and then added back the shrimp to reheat. I topped it off with chopped basil and served.
The best thing about this dish…you can still slurp the noodles like Sophia Loren.
The more street food we have, the more it’s embraced by every income strata, the better world we have—Anthony Bourdain
I love festival food.
Mrs. Big Surf and I took to the streets of Shelbyville, Indiana, our new hometown recently. No not to voice our dismay or celebrate anything but to eat, which is my favorite new pastime.
We partook of the Taste of Shelby County 2022. Incidentally, this is part of Shelby County’s Bicentennial celebration. In 1822 the president of the US was James Monroe and future presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes were born. Matthew Brady, known for his civil war photos, was also born in 1822.
OK, enough history.
Shelbyville is a picturesque small town in southeast Indiana, about thirty minutes SE of Indianapolis. It has a pretty center circle or actually more of an ovate shape. The buildings in the town center have lots of character and flowers abound. Also on the this day the aroma of festival food was rousing my senses.
Now I know that man does not live on festival food alone since we usually can’t get breakfast at festivals. However, festivals usually provide good tasting food in a community setting where people are generally happy to be there. And Taste of Shelby County was no exception.
After perusing the layout of food, the missus and I settled on Dave’s Double Barrel BBQ. It was a very good choice. I had smoked ribs and the blue-eyed darlin’ had pork nachos. We sampled other treats and my apologies to the other vendors but I can’t remember their names. I was too focused on maximizing my food-to-time-to-ticket ratio. I do have pictures though.
The ribs and pork nachos were very good from Dave’s Double Barrel BBQ. He has a food truck, lives in Shelbyville and caters.
I maximized my tasting by buying a half of two different sausage dogs.
Taste of Shelby County is an annual event and I hope you can be there next year, you will see me with a smile on my face hiding a mouthful of something grilled.
When you roll something this good, it’s usually illegal…Anonymous burrito shop sign
I was a late-comer to the Mexican or Tex-Mex cuisine, only having the occasional drive-thru taco or just ordering tacos in some of the finest Mexican restaurants of Houston when I lived there. I wish I could go back to my early twenties self and slap him in the face with a seafood enchilada and say, “What is wrong with you?”
Now I love foods from Mexico and whatever Tex-Mex is.
We visited Cholula Mexican Restaurant in Shelbyville, Indiana (now my home) for a Sunday lunch with some family. This was the first visit to this establishment and I loved the festive atmosphere. The menu was filled with dishes I want to try and the staff was very friendly and service-oriented.
Now I don’t mean to sound derogatory to the country of Mexico and its chefs, but I consider the appetizer of chips and salsa the best part of the Mexican eating experience. Let me explain…the salsa can tell me a lot about what is to come and heighten my expectation. Everyone is excited to see the chips and salsa and they usually start digging in and the conversation starts. These chips were warm and crunchy and the salsa was delicious.
I ordered the Burrito California, filled with chicken, beans, rice, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, and cheese. And let me emphasize the cheese here, because there was a lot and if you don’t like melted, gooey, delicious cheese, I suggest you look elsewhere on the menu. I loved this burrito.
Everyone at the table loved their food and I will be back.
I highly recommend the California Burrito at Cholula’s.
The colorful, festive decor set the tone for an enjoyable meal.
Twas on the isle of Capri that I found her, beneath the shade of an old walnut tree—Jimmy Kennedyfrom Isle of Capri,1934
Nothing embodies summer for the tummer (sorry I was in a lyricist frame of mind) like the Caprese Salad.
My first sign of summer in eastern Kentucky was not the oppressive heat, or the air that felt like you were wearing a wet dog, or the flowers blooming in everyone’s small gardens, or the neat rows of tobacco in the field…it was the first bite of the “garden tomato”. Nothing tastes as good as the tomatoes grown in an eastern Kentucky garden.
Now I know some may take issue with this last statement, especially the good folks I have met here in my new home in southeastern Indiana, for the tomatoes are very tasty here also. And those who grow tomatoes in southern Italy, but c’mon will any of them actually read this blog?
In the hills and hollers of eastern Kentucky, the first tomatoes were usually eaten on a bologna sandwich, or just on a plate with salt and pepper, or as my dad would just make a tomato sandwich with mayo. But for me, it’s the celebration of the first locally grown tomatoes in a Caprese Salad.
This wonderful, simple salad is believed to have originated on the beautiful island of Capri, off the Amalfi coast in southern Italy. It is probably the closest most of us will ever get to this heavenly place and as far as the taste buds are concerned that is ok.
The salad is traditionally made with only five ingredients…tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, salt, and olive oil. Thankfully it can still be called a Caprese salad with variations of ingredients. I usually add olives, sometimes cucumbers and onions. I usually top it with red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar mixed with the olive oil and add pepper. I hope the Italian chefs don’t take issue with my liberties for it still has the red, green, and white colors of the Italian flag (well, other than the balsamic and kalamata olives and occasionally the purple onions and yellow tomatoes I will use).
I know this last salad is pushing the Italian envelope here with the hard boiled egg, so if you see “insalata caprese con uovo sodo” on the menu when you are in Capri, just remember where you saw it first.
The above phrase basically means “appetite comes with eating” or explained, as people always want more than they already have.
This is Big Surf Daddy in a nutshell. I am always planning the next trip when I am on a trip. I think about the next meal while I am eating a meal. I’m not proud of this trait and it drives Mrs. Big Surf absolutely batty.
In Italy, I can’t wait to eat. I am always thinking about the next thing to eat or drink, while I am already eating or drinking something. Of course in Italy it is easy to do. My thoughts are constantly swimming in pasta, sauce, gelato, cheese, wine, coffee, pastries, and pizza.
As some of you know, who read this blog, we travel a lot with our family and that includes small grandchildren, five to be exact (6 yrs old and younger). Eating with this group takes more planning than the D-Day invasion and also the ability to bob-and-weave like being in the ring with Ali.
As you could imagine, the food on our recent trip to Milan and Lake Como was delicious and easier than I thought it would be.
Beginning with the best food for children…GELATO!!
This was a great spot for gelato, Dulcis In Fundo Gelateria on Piazza Garibaldi in the beautiful Lake Como town of Menaggio. I recommend the limone (lemon).
The Gelato Fatto Con Amore, near the Cadorna train station was a big hit with all of us. I thought the name was a subliminal message to us Americans, but actually it means “made with love”. I could taste the love. The lead photo is the gelato bar in this gelateria.
At Gelato Fatto Con Amore, you get a piece of waffle cone with your cup, so innovative.
Venchi is a really nice gelateria, chocolateria, coffee cafe, and crepe-ateria. This is a large chain with quite a few locations in Milan. We had wonderful gelato here one day and breakfast crepes the next morning along with wonderful coffee.
This crepe with chocolate sauce was so good at Venchi.
The coffee at Venchi was very good and notice the little square of dark chocolate served with the coffee, a nice touch.
Ok, the last image of gelato (because it is causing a great yearning for me to return to Italy). This lovely treat was from Veranda Beach in Calozzo on Lake Como.
A big part of eating in Italy for me is the quick bites that you can take away and eat on the piazzas. We found this at Panzerotti Luini, a small cafe about a block away from the Duomo in Milan.
At Luini’s you get the panzerotto. This simple Milan tradition is made from flour, cheese, and tomatoes. It costs about 2.70 Euro and it may have been the best thing I ate all week. Mrs. Big Surf and I took ours to the steps of the Duomo and ate while watching the activity in the piazza. I advise you to do the same. You can also get a glass of red wine at a vendor in the piazza. We complimented our panzerotto with one of those.
Miscusi served a wonderful pasta dish called Paccheri Tricolore. While we were debating about going in, a very nice young local couple convinced us to eat here. It was their go-to pasta and I must say it was a good piece of advice.
We had a simple lunch at La Marmora. We noticed a lot of young people eating here after school. Normally this would not be the information I would use to choose a cafe, but this is Italy and young people evidently like good food in Italy.
This panini sandwich was Italian bologna and cheese. It was so wonderful. I would put it right up there with Kentucky bologna. The Missus had a pizza panini and it also was very good.
This small pizzeria was located across the street from our AirBnB apartment in Milan. I hadn’t planned on ordering from here and that would have been a big mistake. We were only Milan for two nights and our other family got in later on the last night, so we had to decide what to eat with the kids, so pizza it was. Johnny Takeue was a great place for carry-out pizza. It was the best pizza I had this trip.
With this pizza oven at Johnny Takeue you know it had to be good.
On to Lake Como…
We had two wonderful evening meals and a really nice lunch. Our breakfasts consisted of walking to town and getting some breads, cheeses, and pastries.
Since Signore Clooney and his lovely wife did not invite us to dinner, we were on our own.
Our best meal on Lake Como was at La Baia Ristorante in Cremia. In addition to wonderful food and a lakefront setting, they went out of their way to accommodate our large group with our small children and made us feel welcome.
Risotto is a traditional dish in Milan and Lake Como. This dish, called Persicotto, served at La Baia Ristorante, with lightly-breaded, fried lake perch was so good. It was the best meal I had on the trip.
The lovely blue-eyed darlin’ went with another risotto dish, served with pesto and a creamy cheese with red prawn carpaccio. This is their best selling dish and I could see why…so good.
This plate of small lake fishes was gathered from some of our parties seafood dishes and eaten like fries. I loved them, some of us weren’t so sure…couldn’t get past the heads.
This beautiful restaurant is called Veranda Beach in Calozzo. It was mentioned earlier as a place to get gelato. We came back later for our evening meal. It is a lovely restaurant on the lake, with an Italian menu and operated by a very charming lady.
Quite the ambience at Veranda Beach.
This take on a caprese salad with burrata cheese was the star of the meal, we all had some of this.
Our last meal on Lake Como was at the Grand Hotel Menaggio, a beautiful old hotel on the lake. Most of us had the spaghetti, a truly wonderful dish and one of us had the Insalata Nizzarda, a salad with anchovies and tuna.
This was our lake view for lunch on the patio at the Grand Hotel Menaggio.
Spaghetti at the Grand Hotel Menaggio was a dish of comfort.
The Insalata Nizzarda tasted as wonderful as it appeared on the plate.
We had to fly out of Milan back to the US. We had to have a negative Covid test to get back into the states, so it was easier to stay at the Sheraton Hotel at the Milan Malpensa airport. This turned out to be a good thing. The kids and adults got to swim and we had a lovely meal at the hotel restaurant, IL Canneto.
I had the salmon poke bowl, a delicious choice.
Mrs. Big Surf was presented with a lovely leek soup. She felt the presentation was better than the flavor.
It was a whirlwind trip for us, not much planning since we didn’t decide to go till about a two weeks before departure to meet the rest our family. I left everything up to the next generation and they didn’t disappoint us.
 Lying in the sun, he follows the unhurried paths of seagulls and sailboats, the azure breeze, the ebb and flow of foam on the water and in the air— Eduardo Galeano
I love the above quote for it explains my mood when I am on the beach.
I recently returned from a week’s stay at the beach. I seem to experience God’s creative power, and His awesomeness, and omnipotence, and my littleness when I am on the beach. For me there is no other place on earth that I have seen that gives me that feeling, other than being in the mountains, or looking at the lake, or being in the city, or riding my bike, or drinking coffee…well God can be near everywhere. But you get my point, I love the beach.
One reason for my love of the beach, that is where the seagulls and shore birds hang out. I love watching them and I am forever trying to capture interesting pictures of them. They mesmerize me and of all the bird, they seem the most human.
Savannah is so beautiful that the dead never truly depart—James Caskey
Savannah, Georgia has quickly become one of my favorite cities to visit. It is a soft summer breeze in a world of urban storms.
This lovely southern US city has no tall skyscrapers, instead a few tall church steeples and a gold dome are the dominant pinnacles, much like many European cities. There are lots of Spanish moss, cobblestones, so much history, great food, many parks and respites and one really lovely fountain in Forsythe Park.
This fountain, perceptively called The Forsythe Park Fountain, has an interesting history. It was erected in 1858 after being ordered from a catalogue (thinking what a bad day that delivery guy endured). It is modeled after a French fountain in a central park to be gathered around. In fact there was a wedding going on the at the time we were there.
The Forsythe Park Fountain is definitely a destination in a destination city.
Today’s egg is better than tomorrow’s hen—Turkish proverb
Sometimes I come across a dish that I just have to savor. And savor can be eating slowly, but that is never going to happen. So in this case savor is writing about it as soon as I can and keeping its memory alive amongst my hordes of readers.
This Turkish-Style egg dish is one of those meals I couldn’t get enough of. This isn’t your grandma’s or your ma’s Saturday breakfast meal to eat in a rush to begin your day. (Though it could be). My history of breakfast foods did not include these assorted tastes for my morning start-the-day. Yogurt, garlic, chili pepper, and smoked paprika give this dish a wonderful savory taste. But no worries for all you breakfast purists, there are still eggs and bites of toast and salt and butter.
This recipe came from Bon Appetite. I did not have any fresh herbs for garnish as there is a wind-chill of two degrees today and a run to the store was not an option, otherwise the recipe was followed to the letter and was so very good.
So for all of you who wonder what the Turks eat for breakfast, one more mystery solved. You’re welcome.
Mrs. Big Surf and I make our travel plans based on what food we like to eat. We love Greek food…so you can do the math.
We spent four days in Athens and I ate about two weeks worth of food. This was the best Greek food I have ever eaten, tasted so authentic…oh.
If you can get past most menus looking like a fraternity/sorority talent show lineup, ordering food wasn’t too difficult. Most menus have English sub titles and most of the waiters and waitresses speak English. Of course if you don’t speak Greek or English I don’t have any advice for you.
We began our foraging through Athens on our arrival at the Acropolis Museum Boutique Hotel. We arrived late and we asked the desk clerk for a recommendation and he steered us to a very close 24 hour restaurant, called 24oro . He said it was good Greek food and he was right. My advice here— don’t go by the names as we do in America where a 24- hour joint is probably not the best choice unless you are hungry at 3:00 AM.
Since it was late, we split a moussaka and we also began our four day love affair with fried feta drizzled in honey.
Moussaka at 24oro.
The fried feta, drizzled with honey and sesame seeds was our go-to appetizer in Athens.
I began the next morning with a short walk to the Acropolis Museum to get tickets for the day. I stopped by Terra Carpo for a cup of Americana coffee. This may have been the best coffee I have ever had. This was my coffee stop for the next three days.
After coffee each morning, we would eat breakfast at the hotel. Our usual custom when we stay at hotels in cities is to get breakfast in cafes or bakeries to maximize our time finding good food. However our breakfast at the Acropolis Museum Boutique Hotel was included, so we took advantage of this. These breakfasts, with Greek delicacies, gave us a good start each day as each one was so good.
This was our typical breakfast each day.
After a morning at the Acropolis Museum and a walk through the charming Anafiotika neighborhood, we had lunch at Klepsidra Cafe.Â
At Klepsidra Cafe, we had our first stuffed grape leaves, tsatziki, a Greek salad and sampled some ouzo.
Yogurt with nuts and dates and drizzled with honey was also one of our favorites at Klepsidra Cafe.
Later that night, we dined at Strofi which was a short walk from our hotel. Our food was good but it wasn’t our favorite meal. However my appetizer of fresh anchovies marinated with spices, olive oil, and lemon was one of my favorite dishes of the stay in Athens.
I hope you are lucky enough to get this view at Strofi.
The marinated anchovies were delicious at Strofi.
The highlight of Day three in Athens for me…lunch at Diporto. This is a very unique experience that I found on Youtube. It is near the central market, has no sign and is below the street. There is home cooked Greek food, homemade wine, and an intimate atmosphere, where the owner invites you into the kitchen to see what he is cooking for the day. Don’t let the less than pristine appearance dissuade you from dining here when you descend under the street level through graffiti-marred doors, you will love this dining experience.
One of the two entrances into Diporto.
Our view of the street at Diporto.
Three dishes with bread and homemade white wine was brought to our table.
The grilled anchovies at Diporto may have been my favorite dish in Athens.
Intimate dining at Diporto.
We had an unforgettable view of the Acropolis at Hotel Thissio. We stopped for another fried feta with some red wine and watched the sunset turn to the night sky over Athens.
We had a great view of the Acropolis and Athens at Hotel Thissio.
We headed over to souvlaki row off Monastiraki Square and split a Greek salad and souvlaki at Savvas and had an outdoor table on the busy pedestrian street. This wasn’t the best souvlaki that we had but it was still good.
The following day, our last full day in Athens, we toured the Acropolis and walked over to the old neighborhood of Plaka and had lunch at Estia Taverna.
Our lunch at Estia Taverna in the outdoor part of the cafe was very enjoyable. It was a nice sunny day and we shared a different fried cheese, called saganaki, named for the pan it is fried in. We also had some really good french fries which are popular in Athens. We had a nice red wine that complimented this simple meal and were refreshed for an afternoon shopping in the shops of Plaka and of course finding more things to eat.
A few hours later we headed over to the steps of Plaka and found a table at Anafiotika Cafe. It was a lively time on the steps, so we partook of some more ouzo. I really encourage anyone going to Athens to find these small cafes and eat on the steps.
Afterward, Mrs. Big Surf was in the mood for a chicken crepe and she found one at a creperie on Souvlaki Row on Ermou Street and I went into O Thanasis for a souvlaki for take-out. We took our purchases over to Montesoriki Square and found a spot to enjoy our simple meal in the midst of this lively and entertaining gathering place. I loved both of our dishes.
I thought this chicken crepe was very good, Mrs. Big Surf thought less of it but still liked it.
I loved this souvlaki from O Thanasis.
The final stop for the evening was a rooftop bar overlooking Athens. We found a wonderful spot atop the A for Athens Hotel. The rooftop bar for a nice glass of red wine was a perfect spot to enjoy our last night in Athens. The view is incredible and if you can get a seat at sunset, this would be a minor coup. We were able to accomplish this,and let me tell you, it was hard to leave this view.
We had a beautiful view from the A for Athens rooftop bar in the late afternoon sun and into the night.
We had an afternoon flight scheduled for Istanbul, so this gave us some time to head back over to the shops in Plaka. While my lovely wife shopped, I of course looked for more food and was drawn to the small cafes on the steps one last time. I had a very nice spinach pie with some jasmine tea (see cover photo). This was a great place to reflect on my stay in Athens and enjoy my last few minutes.
An addendum to this food story is our trip back from Turkey where we had a connecting flight out of Athens. We had some time to kill so we headed over to the Sofitel across the street from the airport. This turned out to be a very good decision. We shared a delicious assortment of Greek appetizers and a lemon tart with berries and a raspberry glaze. The red wine complimented it very nicely. This gave us a good send off from Athens.
The plate of appetizers at Sofitel, a good choice if you have to kill some time in the Athens airport.
The lemon tart was a nice treat also at Sofitel.
I look forward to the possibility of more good food in Athens if I ever get the chance again.
How great are the dangers I face to win a good name in Athens—Alexander the Great
Evidently, Alexander the Great had a different experience in Athens than my wife and I. The only dangers we faced in our four days in Athens were gluttony, over-stimulation of the senses, and sunset fatigue.
Athens is a beautiful city that is easily navigated by foot. We are not planners, we are plodders. We walk a while, rest a lot and eat a while, rest a lot…you get the picture.
So when we were able to plan a side trip to Athens on our way to see some family in Turkey, we jumped at the chance. It is an easy city to explore on foot and four days was plenty of time for us to see what we wanted in a relaxed visit. The ancient sites and neighborhoods were an easy walk from our stay at the Acropolis Museum Boutique hotel (a 40 Euro cab ride from the airport).
We went to Athens in the middle part of April. We had some rain at times and some cool nights. When it wasn’t raining, a tee shirt and long pants were very comfortable. My wife wore some sleeves and we both had light rain jackets. We still had pleasant evenings and saw some wonderful sunsets.
I will apologize for the many, many photographs. I had a hard time editing.
The following are scenes of the Acropolis with the Parthenon and other sites.
I was mesmerized by these lovely ladies, possibly supermodels of ancient Athens.
The Theater of Dionysus.
Sunburst over the Temple of Athena Nike.
The Parthenon.
The Erechtheion.
There are some incredible views from the Acropolis looking out over the city of Athens.
We climbed up to Mars Hill for a late afternoon view of Athens and joined the sunset seekers awaiting the show. I think we were the oldest folks there. Don’t despair for it is an easy climb up to Mars Hill. I was more interested in being in the same place where the Apostle Paul introduced the Gospel of Christ to the Athenians.
The trail up to Mars Hill was decorated with wild flowers. It is a very rustic path to the top.
Outside tables of the small cafes on the steps of Plaka.
One of the narrow paths between houses in the Plaka neighborhood at the base of the Acropolis.
A colorful graffitied path in the Plaka neighborhood.
Lively Montistoriki Square.
The market near Montistoriki Square.
This is the terrace of the Acropolis Museum. It looks like a great place for coffee or lunch. It was rainy this day, so it was the day we picked to go to the museum. It is a fascinating museum of sculptures and statues and to learn about the Parthenon which can be seen atop the Acropolis.
One of the ancient sculptures in the Acropolis Museum, Hercules wrestling a sea creature.
The following are colorful street scenes in Athens, a great city to explore on foot.
One last look at the sun-drenched city and I will say good-bye.
Big Surf Daddy's Pix, Tix, and Licks 