Pompeii - Napoli, Italia

Boungiourno!

We have been in Italia for nearly a week now and have had time to visit the archeological site of Pompeii.  Coming from Pescara, a town situated on the beautiful Adriatic Sea, we drove nearly 3.5 hours to see the magnificence of Pompeii.  

The children napped during half of the trip.

Mt. Vesuvio - the volcano that buried the cities of Pompeii and Stabaie
and destroyed Hurculaneum.

From the first steps onto the site, overwhelming awe took over. Both DH and I were stunned at the beauty, obvious intellect and sadness of the city.  We walked through the stone streets, into presumed homes, up stairs, through theaters and more.

Quadriportico dei Teatri

Teatro Piccolo (Odeion)

Alex and Jacob in the small theater

It's amazing that a civilization that dates back as early as the sixth or seventh century BC was so advanced.  Running water flowed through the city, an underground drainage and sewage system was built, and the roads had these things used for road crossing and as speed bumps.  How amazing is that?!?!?  

Alana admiring the speed bumps and underground drainage and sewage system.

We listened closely as the various English and Italian tour guides walked past explaining the history of Pompeii to their followers.  One guide said that the monument below (which looks like a tombstone, IMHO) was a tribute to Athena.  It once had a statue of the Marcus Claudius Marcellus, an important Roman military leader.  The statue, from what we know, hasn't been found.

Alana, Alex and me standing next to a pedestal reading:
‘M. CLAVDIO. C.F. MARCELLO. PATRONO’
(To Marcus Claudius Marcellus, son of Gaius, Patron)

The large theater

The piazza outside the municipal centers.

Pieces of the columns broken off.

Tempio di Apollo (Temple of Apollo)

Tempio di Apollo (Temple of Apollo)

It was truly an amazing experience.  We could spend days roaming around the huge city.  With three young children, we settled for an afternoon.  The kids were fantastic, walking and learning along the way.  

There are skeletons that can be found onsite, but with the children and my soft emotional state (crybaby me!), we chose not to dwell on the death more than the city remains infer one to do already. Maybe we will venture that way later in life to explore that side of Pompeii.

On the expressway just outside the city towards Napoli, we were treated to a pretty rainbow...

...and the chance to drive alongside the clouds.

Yet another wonderful experience in beautiful Italia!  Ciao!

My Cake, Crab Cake & More Cake!

It's been a week full of cakes!  I celebrated my birthday yesterday... and enjoyed cake from my favorite local bakery.  Yum...  Well, usually yum.  For some reason, since I began my baking journey, I have become quite fond of my own layered creations.  But, as my darling husband and family agreed, it is quite lame to bake your own birthday cake. LOL

So cake #2 this week was delivered to another birthday girl... a wonderful woman who is named "Jenn" (not I, said the fly.  I am typically "Jennifer" or "Jeni").  This birthday girl is celebrating today.  Apparently she is a fan of crabs.  Or was it that her friends say she is a crab?  Or she likes crabs?  Awe, I can't remember. ;)

Crab Themed Birthday Cake by Randomly, Jennifer.

I've never carved a cake before... and it was a hot mess before I piped everything!  The cake (chocolate layers, fresh strawberry filling) was sooo moist, it was difficult to carve without it falling apart into delicate tid bits of snack material.  In the end, it turned out pretty darn cute.

Crab Themed Birthday Cake by Randomly, Jennifer.

I received word this morning that she loved the cake.  As I type it is lunchtime, so I am guessing she may be eating a piece of her crab cake now...

Crab Themed Birthday Cake by Randomly, Jennifer.

Oh, how I wish I had a piece to eat too.











So tomorrow I have to make another cake... one for a bridal shower.  Chocolate on chocolate with more chocolate.  (Um, yum!)  I'll be sure to make extra this time!


Funny thing... the bride-to-be is also a Jennifer.  LOL!

Freezer Meals, Honey Balsamic Chicken Tenders and Zucchini Chips Four Ways

I went to a party for a friend.... One of those Wildtree events. Yeah, I had NO clue what Wildtree was. For those of you who are curious, you can Google them. I did buy a few things and will let you know more about those when I get them and try them on the family. Well, this Wildtree event inspired me to go home and make some freezer meals. That led to over cooking meals all week (in qty, not drying things out!) so I can freeze extra meals for later. (Sopa Huevona, Tacos, etc.) Seriously, I used to do this more often... why did I forget about it? Dinner on those 'I don't feel like cooking' nights will be easy now. I needed that Wildtree party to remind me how much easier I could make things for later with just a little preparation now.

Picture screen captured from budgetbytes.com.
Click here for direct link to their recipe.

Anyway, while I'm on the whole cooking kick I was scoping out my friend's Pinterest pins for some new recipes... I found these under her "Paleo" board... made them and totally love them! So in the spirit of good food and sharing the wealth (food wealth that is!), check these out. Meat is expensive, so the Honey Balsamic Chicken Tenders is fantastic because it doesn't require much meat so you could splurge on better chicken (organic!). I ate mine on a bed of spinach with the honey balsamic sauce drizzled over top. Yum!

Picture screen captured from
The Copper Collection.
Click here for a direct link to their site.

The Zucchini Chips Four Ways were soooo good! I made the parmesean, chipotle, and salt & vinegar versions. I didn't care for the salt & vinegar but the other two.... oh yeah, did I mention they were soooo good? I ate them up quickly! :)  I baked mine on convection bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for approx. 15-20 minutes. I also put the zucchini through my kitchen aid food processor with the slicing blade. That cut two zucchini up in about 5 seconds flat. Easy peasy. I'm a salt lover but even I would recommend cutting down on the salt if you're like me and use coarse sea salt. Just my 2-cents.






Let me know if you make either of these and what you think of them!