Catania market

Saturday we went to the market in Catania. It runs every day of the week. You can get pretty much anything you want - there is a fresh fish market and then the regular market with food, clothing and various other items. Saturday is obviously a very busy day. I have not been during the week, but definitely plan on it soon. Everything that we bought there was delicious!

Here are a couple of pics of the market. There were quite a few others (Brad had the camera) of the fish w/heads on or off and sitting beside the fish for the spada (swordfish). I never liked swordfish until I came here. I really like it now. They slice it pretty thin. The fresh tuna is incredible too. The other somewhat disturbing pics were of the fresh meat - all kinds of stuff literally 'hanging around'. Mostly I still stick to veges, pastas, and FRESH seafood - with an occasional chicken or veal cutlet...

fresh grapes and apples.......and lots of cheeses!!!!!!!!

there is nothing back home like this olive oil...and the olives as well....incredible!

there may be someone you know in this picture....

i love God

the title says it all really. He loves me, He gave me a new heart and a new life, He changed me. He cares about everything in my life no matter how small. He loves me like no one else. He uses His living Word to speak to me and to teach me. thanks to Jesus He does not hold my past against me (like I sometimes do to myself). and any time i make a mistake, He forgives me and shows me how to overcome it so i do not have to continue to make the same ones over and over. He comforts me in my pain and He gives me the most precious gifts. when i look around i see His glory - the sky, the clouds, the sun, the moon, the sea, the trees, the flowers, the butterflies, the fruits and the vegetables to sustain me, and especially all of the people He has allowed into my life - so many beautiful, loving people. a husband to share my life with. family to nurture and grow with. friends to laugh and cry and explore with. brothers and sisters to praise Him with. He gives me my very breath and all that is beautiful inside of me. i adore my God. He is everything to me.

iron chef

Brad and I watched 2 cooking shows in the last few days that reminded us of the apprentice. first we watched Hells Kitchen. i liked the part where they are cooking individually but the restaurant part really didn't do much for me, mainly because it was more about who they were than what they were cooking. too much drama. not sure why all the bleeping was needed but i guess it's supposed to be funny.

then we watched Iron Chef. what i liked about it was that they had a box of random ingredients and a short time to create a masterpiece with it. i thought one of the guys in particular was a little too emotional. if you are trying to be a top chef in a really busy and exclusive restaurant, you need to have your act together. if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. hahaha.

the reason i like shows like this because it gives me great ideas for throwing things together at the house. meal planning? what's that??? i will say that i will never have frogs legs laying around the house so i don't need to worry about what to do with those. the frog needs them more than i do...

so last night, my iron chef challenge was some fresh pasta, shrimp, red pepper, one tomato, one red onion and some sliced mushrooms. so i decided to use the wok and i used the lemon olive oil since there would be shrimp, then i threw in 3 cloves of minced garlic, the small red onion, the red pepper and the mushrooms. i let those cook for a little while and then threw in the fresh pasta (this stuff is awesome - we don't have it in the states), then of course i had to add more lemon olive oil, ground sea salt, lemon pepper, and regular ground pepper. let that cook a bit and then threw in the shrimp for the last few minutes, a bit more pepper and a little tobasco. after i turned off the gas burner, then i threw in the diced tomatoes and some fresh basil. the only thing i wish i had would have been some scallions and some fresh lemon to squeeze over the top. otherwise it was really good! it got rave reviews from Brad and that's all that matters!