Guest Blogger: Jane’s Ultimate Italian Watermelon Granita Recipe
A delicious Italian granita…read on to see how you can enjoy one at home!
Welcome our Guest Blogger, Jane!
Jane was a Select Study Abroad student this past summer and one of the most enthusiastic people we have every met. Before we arrived to a new city she had already picked three places she wanted to eat and had convinced several others to join her. No one was EVER disappointed with a Jane “selection.” She has excellent taste and is an avid researcher. At Select Study Abroad we feel similarly – NEVER waste a trip or a meal. There are too many amazing things and too little time to waste not doing (and eating!) the very best. So when her enthusiasm turned to a little something we call a granita well…she could not be stopped. Not even, apparently, when she returned home! Thanks to her unquenchable thirst for life and delicious icy watermelon she came up with this easily reproducible recipe you can use at home. Granita party anyone? I think we all owe her big time. Thank you Jane!!
As a kid, my dad would take me on gelato adventures before my ballet classes. I loved the delicate flavors and mouth-feel of the gelato – creamy, but not cloying. There was a little family run farm near my ballet studio in Natick, MA, and they made their own gelato from scratch. There were no glaring artificial colors, the labels were in Italian, and the stracciatella, or chocolate chip, had whole sheets of delectable chocolate tucked into the folds of vanilla. I collected the spoons, and a tower of plastic petaled dishes accumulated in the back of the pantry. When asked to choose between a true dedication to dance and my weekly habit, I promptly ended my dancing career. Continue Reading…
Welcome our Guest Blogger, Deb!
This is hands-down one of my favorite stories. I mean it has it all: mystery, Renaissance celebrities, top-secret government sting operations, and a little Dan Brown-esque art history (that is actually FACTUAL). Also, for us at Select Study Abroad, it is particularly close to home. Not only is Leonardo da Vinci our BFF and not only do we personally take students to the scene of the “crime,” but our very own professor, Rab Hatfield, was involved, wrote a book on the subject, and gave us the opportunity of meeting (on several occasions) the man behind the mystery (No, not Leonardo! Read on!).
If I had a euro for every time someone asked me “what is your favorite restaurant in Italy?” or “where was the best meal you ever had,” I would be a wealthy woman and probably have purchased my own villa by now. Fortunately, my answer to all of these questions is the same – Davide’s. Now, for those of you who have had the pleasure of eating at Davide’s in Florence, Italy you know what I am talking about. You would also know that Davide’s is not the name of an actual place; it is instead wherever Davide Sama (restaurant owner extraordinaire) happens to be on any given night. Impressively, he owns and manages many restaurants in Florence…4 and counting. They are not chain restaurants. While the menus and ambiance at each are similar (i.e. friendly, cozy, welcoming, and always beyond satisfying), they are unique and serve a variety of different delicious Tuscan specialties. Chances are you will not find these establishments listed in your Rick Steves’ or Lets Go! guides. Trust me, this is a good thing. Correction: this is a great thing.
