Back in the States

What do you get when you cross an ex-circus performer with the Italian countryside?

I don’t even know where to begin.  I spent the entire month of April backpacking in Europe, and it was a really eye-opening experience.  I learned a lot, and now that I’ve been back in the States for a few weeks, I’m ready to write about what I saw, felt, and did in Europe.  I wanted to give myself and my thoughts a little incubation time, so that I’d write only about the things that really stuck.  That said, here, in no particular order, are the lessons that have really stuck (and will stick) with me from my trip.

1.  The internet has really made the world smaller.  One of my first stops was a fairly small city in Tuscany called Arezzo.  I was lucky enough to be staying with a friend studying physical theatre there, and so I had access to a kitchen, a lovely apartment, and a friendly face to show me around.  Under those circumstances, I really just tried to soak up what it would be like to live in Italy

Pesto-Chicken Stuffed Peppers

Pesto-Chicken Peppers

As I’m sure you know, foods stuffed with other foods are always better.  Same goes for foods wrapped around other foods.  Find a way to wrap a food around another food that happens to be stuffed with a third food?  Heaven.  This “stuff one food with another” thing is common sense as old as food, I’m sure.  While I love foods from all over the world, Mediterranean cuisine has always been my favorite, and in honor of my upcoming trip to Italy, I created this recipe for sweet bell peppers stuffed with shredded chicken, roasted zucchini, and my second favorite (after my obsessive love of bagna calda) Italian sauce: pesto.  The mix of sweet and savory blending with the peppery herbal flavor of the basil is sure to please.

Variations on Deviled Eggs

Greetings, readers!  Without much going on, recipe-wise, I wanted to post something, so I thought I’d offer up some easy suggestions for a delicious, easy, primal classic that is often overlooked because, frankly, the usual gets a little boring after a while.  That being said, if you can boil water and use a whisk, you can make awesome deviled eggs, no matter what you choose to make them with.

For anyone who doesn’t know (though I’m sure most you do), the classic, basic deviled egg recipe calls for hard-boiled eggs cut in half, and the yolks mixed with mayonnaise and a little mustard,