Date Night In | Cheese Board for Two

Last weekend, I prepared an Italian feast for a cozy date night in.  I stopped at Whole Foods, picked up some goodies and started with this absolutely delicious cheese plate.  It was my first time preparing a plate with cured meet or preserves so I thought I'd share my secrets to a beginner's plate for two.

Here are what I believe to be great components of any cheese plate:

- Aged cheese like cheddar or gouda.  I used some Cabot cheddar from our trip to Vermont a few months ago.  Cheddar also adds a familiar component to the plate for those whose cheese palates aren't too adventurous.

-Soft cheese.  I usually like a high-quality goat cheese, but all I had on hand was a cheaper version that is more of a spread than a main attraction which is why it is pictured in the accompaniments category in the picture above. Camembert or brie would also work in this category.

- Firm cheese.  I used parmigiano-reggiano and pecorino.  These are slightly similar and can be salty, so be sure to have something on the plate to balance it out.  

-Blue cheese.  I didn't use any for the plate above, but blue cheese adds a flavor variation that is nice to have.  If you think you don't like blue cheese go to the cheese counter and just try them out!  I'm a Stilton fan.

-Cheese garnishes and other accompaniments.  Some cheeses just lend themselves to being garnished.  Have you tried blue cheese with honey?  Yum!  In this case I dressed the pecorino with two garnishes that we picked up in Italy.  One is a truffle honey (I'm a self-proclaimed truffle fiend) and the other is vin santo --or Holy wine-- jelly.

Other accompaniments I love include pickled veggies, roasted red peppers, or caramelized onions.  I used a fig jam but also love a good fruit chutney.

-Meat.  Just as a good charcuterie plate is made better with a few cheeses, a good cheese plate is made better with some charcuterie.  But that's just one foodies opinion.  If you're a purist, stick to one or the other.  I went to the cheese counter at my local Whole Foods and the very knowledgeable butcher helped me with the cured meat, let me sample, and I walked out of there with a 78 cent serving for two.  Yes, 78 cents bought me enough for this plate and it was plenty!

-Bread.  Honestly, nothing is complete without bread to me.  I used some sliced ciabatta bread that I had on hand.  The combo of the fig jam and goat cheese on the bread was incredible!  Top that with a slice of the bresaola (cured beef) that I had chosen and it was perfection.
 

What are your cheese plate must-haves?  Or better yet, any restaurants serving a cheese plate or charcuterie that I simply can't miss?

Cinque Terre: Bites and Sights

    The second destination on our tour de Europe was Cinque Terre.  If you've never heard of it, you're not alone.  We had actually never heard of it either until we started researching our trip.  This place kept being brought up over and over on message boards, forums, and tip guides everywhere with one common theme: everyone loved it!  It was repeatedly referred as people's "favorite" or "most beautiful destination."  Once we saw a picture, we were sold.

 

  Cinque Terre is a series of five towns along Italy's west coast that is connected by hiking trails.  We stayed in the southernmost town called Riomaggiore.  We simply hopped a train from Florence and we were on our way to the coast in no time--except for a slight detour when we got off at the wrong stop, didn't understand the conductors, and missed our connection.  Good thing I had my Italian rose-colored glasses on.  You know, the absolute bliss that comes with being on vacation.  I let myself be upset for a moment then supported Kevin in coming up with a plan (I say supported because Kevin is the logistics person in this relationship and I'm of little use when it comes to numbers and times). 

    When we finally arrived at our hotel, we dropped our stuff and bee-lined to the coastline with our camera.  Then, braving a possible storm, we decided to climb one of Riomaggiore's peaks for a great view and a beautiful chapel up top.  It was tough.  Clearly, I was happy to finally reach the top.

But the views were amazing.  
 

    The next day we did more hiking, but the rain came early in the day.  We planned to hike the entire trail from end to end (about 7 hours) but our plans were thwarted and we only ended up in the next town over before it started pouring.  At least it let up for just long enough for us to grab the money shot.  THE photo opportunity you must take advantage of when you are in Cinque Terre (specifically Manarola).

    Once the rain started back up, we tried to kill more time by poking around in souvenir shops, but it just never let up.  We took the train back to Riomaggiore, grabbed some local wine and pasta to-go at Primo Piatto, and waited it out at our bed and breakfast.

{This place is awesome and serves fresh pasta to-go for 5 Euros.  We chose the trofie pasta with pesto sauce.  Best part?  It's served in a Chinese takeout box}

  
    Speaking of pesto pasta, Cinque Terre is where pesto was invented, so you better believe we had plenty of it and brought plenty home with us.  We also checked out the local wine, fried fish cones, gelato, and pizza.

And our last meal before leaving was pretty epic: caprese salad, lobster gnocchi for two, and two amazing desserts.

Dear Cinque Terre,
We'd love to come back.  You are beautiful. 
Love, 
L and K

I kept a journal during the trip of our favorite items and names of places so that we wouldn't forget anything.  Some of the things worth mentioning from Cinque Terre are below.

Where we stayed: Il Boma-- this was our favorite accommodation of the trip.  It was clean, had a real shower, a balcony, and the fridge was stocked with free drinks and snacks.  Oh, and we were given a bottle of homemade lemoncello as a parting gift.

Top things to do: hike the Cinque Terre National Park, hit the beach

Where we ate: de Aristide, Enoteca Dau Cila, Primo Piatto, Il Grottino

*Linking up with Random Wednesday

Florence Sights

    I plan on spending the next couple of weeks recapping the four cities that we visited as well as offer some travel advice for beginners traveling abroad.  We were Europe newbies sort of--I went to London with my high school orchestra back in the day.  It counts of course but the language barrier and fact that we weren't going to be followed around by a chaperone (ie. my mom) the whole time made this Europe trip feel a lot different.  It was exciting to be out on our own finding our way and only a little nerve racking at times.  

Our first stop was Florence, Italy.  Let me start by saying that when you round this corner and see the Duomo, it doesn't even look real.  It looks like a freaking movie set with an elaborately drawn backdrop. It's beautiful.

The Duomo itself was closed for mass, so we climbed the Campanile--this beautiful bell tower.  

It was 414 steps of crazy winding narrow stairways with way too many people, but it was worth it for the beautiful views!
 

The Ponte Vecchio is a historic bridge filled with shops on either side.  It's pretty amazing. 

It's safe to say that this place is beautiful and unlike any city we've ever been too.  It's truly a concrete jungle with very little grass, so if you get a chance to see the Boboli Gardens I highly recommend it.  You'll welcome some greenery!  The attention to detail there is also really cool.  They keep the garden up enough keep it beautiful and trimmed, but they leave it untouched enough for it to feel old and overgrown.  It's like this place is stuck in a time that has long-since passed.  

 

It rained pretty hard while we were at the gardens.  We practiced our selfie skills while waiting it out under some bushes.
 

  
Last but not least, we made sure to stop by Mercato Nuovo to see this famous statue of a wild boar nicknamed The Piglet.  Legend has it that if you rub his nose you will return to Florence one day.  

{Full disclosure: we came across the statue late at night after my birthday dinner and many birthday drinks.  I think that was the only way Kevin was willing to pose with a wild animal statue and rub its nose but I'm glad we snapped this pic}

We really do hope that we'll return one day. We feel like we still have so much in Italy that's left to see.  I'm pretty sure that I was meant to be there--the wine, the bread, the pasta, the oils, and the truffle dishes--ok so these are all food related items but I swear I loved the scenery too.  Here are a few more scenic shots.

And a few more fun ones.

I kept a journal during the trip of our favorite items and names of places so that we wouldn't forget anything.  Some of the things worth mentioning from Florence are below.
Where we stayed: Hotel Azzi
Top things to do: Climb the Duomo, Florence for Foodies Tour, shop the Mercado Centrale
Favorite random moment: We went to a nice wine restaurant for a meat and cheese appetizer on my birthday where we were shocked (and nearly spit out our wine laughing) to hear Gangsta's Paradise came over the speakers.  It's nice to get strange little reminders of home when you're abroad.  Even if it takes you back to middle school and awkward school dances.  For what it's worth, we hear that Gangsta's Paradise is a great movie; we might even watch it one day to remind us of our trip to Italy.  See how things come around full circle?

Florence Food

     Florence was the first stop during our week in Italy.  Unfortunately, some of our favorite meals of the trip will only live on in our memories, as we lost a portion of our pictures when we got home.  For example, our first night in Florence I had some life-changing truffle ravioli.  So life-changing that Kevin looked at me after my first bite and asked "Are you crying?"  Um, I wasn't quite shedding tears but it was that good y'all!  There are no pictures of it, but the legend of the delicious ravioli will live on forever.  Here's a sampling of some other goodies we saw and ate while in beautiful Florence.

 {Candy shop. We saved our candy buying for Paris though}

 

 {There are delicious sandwich and panini shops everywhere. Side note: this was the best fruit cup we've ever eaten}

 {Birthday gelato from Rivereno}

     {More birthday gelato. I had the Mayan and Aztec flavors. One was chocolate with chile pepper and the other was white chocolate with cinnamon. So amazing.}

    Probably our favorite part of the entire trip was the Florence for Foodies Tour that we took on our last day in Florence.  It was led by our guide, Natalie, who was fun and knowledgeable and taught us (and fed us!) so much.  We learned a lot about regional Italian cuisine (some of Florence's specialties are chianti, Brunello, picci pasta, truffle dishes, and prosciutto crudo).  I highly recommend this tour or one like it if you love food, like learning about food culture, and like to drink.  There was a ton of alcohol--I'm talking breakfast wine, white wine, prosecco, and grappa.  

Where we ate:
Zaza Trattoria- they have a truffle menu--a whole menu with only dishes featuring truffles, so this place is my restaurant soulmate
Gusta Pizza- seating is limited so order a pizza and bottle of wine to go!
Coquinarius- try the pear ravioli
La Strega Nocciola- our favorite gelato
Rivereno- more great gelato
Perche No!- famous gelato place; we sampled about 9 flavors on our tour and loved them all

Tomorrow I'll be sharing more about what we did and saw in Florence.

*Linking up with Taste of Tuesday with Ashley and Jessica

28

Today is my birthday and we are spending it in Florence!  We'll be here awhile so be sure to follow along via Instagram for all of our shenanigans both here and in France.  Also, my blogger friend, Kallie, will be taking over the blog next Monday so be sure to stop by.  She recently took a little Eurotrip of her own and will be sharing some gorgeous pictures with you! Ciao!