food | This International Life

Widowing my way through autumn

24 October 2017

Scott died over six months ago now. How have I survived this long? I’m OK most of the time, except when I’m not. The permanency of his death has started to settle in, making me feel as if I’m trapped in a fish tank, unable to breathe. Except I am able to breathe, somehow. It’s … Read more

The perfect Italian city day in Treviso

29 March 201530 March 2015

When visiting an Italian city, there’s a certain progression to the day that we aim for. It goes more or less like this:

9am coffee & pastry
10am coffee
11am coffee
1pm lunch

Italy: Wandering around Padova

16 March 201515 March 2015

We have some good friends who live in Padua (Padova), so we like to stop by every time we’re in the area (“the area” basically referring to the Veneto, the region of Italy around Venice). It’s a gorgeous city, full of narrow porticoed streets, cathedrals, bustling squares, and humiliated graduates.

Italy: the tiny Dolomite towns

1 March 2015

On our recent trip to the Dolomites, we mainly kept close to the adorable cabin where we were staying, but we did venture out to explore some neighboring towns in Veneto on a couple of occasions.

Snow, food, wine, Italy

18 February 2015

Trentino 19 — The morning after the snow

We absolutely love living in Edinburgh, but this city seems to have two major flaws: 1) it doesn’t get enough snow and 2) Italy is no longer within a reasonable driving distance. We were starting to feel it was time to address the deficits of snow and Italy in our lives.

Scenes from an American supermarket, and other notes from a trip to the motherland

6 January 2015

ChristmasInAmerica 11 — So much ice, and so reasonably-priced (fellow expats will understand this one).

We’ve been expats for a long time now. Trips back to visit the US are still strange, yet extremely familiar in their strangeness. There were no big moments of reverse culture shock on our Christmas trip “home”, but there was plenty of culture-based amusement.

Western Highlands: Plockton

25 November 2014

It was still raining as we pulled into Plockton, but the charm of this small seaside town was evident even through the dreich.

Expat Thanksgiving: how to make pie from pumpkins

18 November 2014

There are certain laments you hear amongst American expat communities the world over. “I miss peanut butter!” “Why is there no good Mexican food here?” “Where can I find canned pumpkin?” After several years out of the country, most of us learn to adapt to these grueling hardships one way or another. There are expats who lug giant suitcases full of ranch dressing and jello back from every visit to the US. There are those who just fill the peanut-butter-cup-shaped hole in their lives with exotic local sweets (Cadbury Egg, anyone?). And then there are those of us who use such deprivation as an excuse to expand our skill sets. Which is why I know how to make pumpkin pies without using canned pumpkin.

Cakes! Scones! Sponge! Learning to bake like a Brit

14 October 201414 October 2014

If there is one thing we have learned about the residents of this island we live on, it’s that they love baked goods. Cake comes up in conversation even more frequently than the weather. One of the most popular things on TV is the Great British Bake Off, a show which I suspect we’re going to have to start watching if we ever want to truly assimilate.

Eating Tokyo: Kushiage Hantei

3 July 20154 March 2014

Kushiage was one of the many types of Japanese dining we experienced in Tokyo. It basically consists of deep-fried food on bamboo sticks, but that description doesn’t really do it justice.