Pasta/Pizza and the bread and herbs are on another level. I could eat that everyday,you can see why the Italians eat healthy.
Best pizza I have ever had was in a back street in Florence in a small café with only two small tables outside. They don't cover pizzas with half a dozen toppings....nice and simple.
Thanks guys for the kind words, often with the boxes they need to be requested by someone first. They're around.
And a traditional southern Italy pizza doesn't have cheese all over it. Just tomato, black olives, garlic. maybe some anchovies and that's about it. Simple and gorgeous. The cheese thing is an American addition. Now they put it on pizza like it's the prime ingredient. Even in Italy in some places. First pizza I ever had in Italy, as a kid, had no cheese. It was fabulous. I remember years later asking my Dad why pizza in southern Italy didn't come with cheese. He said, real pizza doesn't have cheese. He remembered that, so when we next went to Italy he asked the pizza vendor to put cheese on it. The bloke looked back at him as if he'd been insulted [typical Italian reaction]. Dad explained. All this was in Italian so I didn't understand more than the odd word, but I got the gist. No cheese.
The pizza is great in Italy, it may put me off eating it here. They don't eat garlic bread in Rome, I couldn't find it anywhere. The best meal I had was maccarone stuffed with riccota then deep fried in breadcrumbs. You had a side dish of tempura shredded veg. Their snack food is also amazing. I managed to buy a ciabatta sandwich which had pork belly and crackling with herbs inside it from Tesco's.... The sandwiches are made fresh on site twice a day.
Makes you wonder why they don't introduce it here. It's why I often shop at Lidl and Aldi over here. They do introduce continental stuff and it goes down a treat. Nice to read that you loved the food. I concur mate.
Oh. my. lordy. lord. I'm just settling down with a Roast-in-Bag Pork Loin from Lidl and it is f****** gorgeous. Wow.!
The very lovely Mrs Godders tells me she does the majority of her shopping in Aldi's these days and I can't complain about any of it.
Italy is a fantastic country with fantastic food. The only two downsides are the football hooliganism and their drivers. Italy was one of my favourite holidays.
Dear dog owners: my wife replaced her old golden retriever with a new one 3 years ago. I've never had a dog before but I take her for her walks. I live in a town and there are streets and cars everywhere. I see people walking along the pavement every day with their dogs off the lead and I think THEY'RE ALL GONNA DIE! but they don't. How on earth do you know if your dog is street wise? I went to the graveyard tonight and let her off the lead, she followed me around and came back when I called her to put the lead back on. Most stressful 30 minutes ever!
If you haven't already, train the dog properly or get it trained properly. Dogs aren't stupid but they don't know the rules unless you give them some. Naturally they are smart enough to take instruction. Then you can be sure yours will stay safe. Retrievers and Labradors are two of the smartest dogs. They're closely related. Labs make the best dogs for blind people because of their intelligence, and therefore their ability to take instruction, and calmness in stress situations. Your retriever should be fine if it has been properly trained.
Make sure she is well trained and will respond to your commands - and not just your wifes - before even thinking of doing this. Personally I would never have a dog off a lead near roads as they are so easily distracted. I've got a Jack Russell so not the best example as they are very wilful but he can be very well behaved until something distracts him that he just has to chase. All dogs are different so temperament is important but I've seen an award winning Police dog (they used to live next door to my parents) chase after a cat despite being incredibly well behaved usually. We use an extending lead if we don't want to let him off the lead.
I feel the same way about toddlers....should be on reins near a road. The risks people take with their precious children because they don't want to curtail their freedom. I have heard a mother actually say that, then add that her child isn't a dog. Great...just hope he doesn't become road kill.
I wouldn't leave dogs alone with small children either but some people seem to think that dogs no matter how far provoked will just sit there. Amazing really. Not the childs fault or the dogs but the adult who left them together.
Yes, people forget that dogs can have bad days as well and children are small enough that a warning nip can do serious harm.
An old friend of mine who used to train police dogs once told me "There are no bad dogs, just bad owners". I think he was right - a correctly trained dog will be fine around roads and children. Not that I would risk either personally, because I am not a professional trainer and I doubt many people could stop a dog doing something stupid!
