Congrats Courtney!

You were the lucky number in the Food Network magazine giveaway!  Woot!!  I’ll be sending you your magazine soon.   I hope to have more giveaways as time goes on so stay tuned.

I will be updating this blog more frequently once things settle down.  I just got a new a job and found a new apartment.  I’ll be in the midst of moving and starting a new job in the next couple of weeks and may have a lull in posting.  After I get settled, I have lots to talk about.  I’m so excited for these changes in my life and know that they are just leading to more good things like Bil coming here!

Foto Friday

In this edition of Foto Friday, I thought I’d give you a taste of some of the things I saw (and ate) on an almost daily basis while living in Florence, Italy.

First, is Cioccolatini which are brioches with chocolate filling and chocolate on top.  Delicious.  And not as sweet as you would think.

This is the pasta dish, Spaghetti con Aglio, Olio e Pepperoncini (Spaghetti with Garlic, Oil and Crushed Red Pepper), I had on the first day that I met my now fiance Bil.  This dish is super simple like most of the food in Italy, but has amazing flavors.

This is us a few hours after I ate the pasta above.  We are standing on the Ponte Vecchio (The Old Bridge) over the Arno River on a gorgeous end of summer day.

This is a Caffe Macchiato, espresso with a shot of frothed milk.  I had at least one of these a day, usually two, taken in one gulp standing at a bar.  Man, I miss that.

Foto Friday

This Foto Friday is a little later in the day then I wanted it to be, but at least I’m still posting it Friday!

This first foto is a ciambella from I Dolci di Patrizio Cosi in Florence, Italy.  So good.  And perfect with a cappuccino in the morning.  I miss Italian breakfasts.

A half-eaten caprese salad in Viareggio, Italy.  Yes, that’s just half.  It was HUGE and amazing.

Churros and Hot Chocolate in Madrid, Spain

Food Blog Inspirations and Giveaway

I don’t remember when I first discovered food blogging, but when I did, I remember being very excited about the prospect. It’s such an interesting community that has really boomed in the last couple of years. When we discussed food blogings in my Food Writing class at school, I was the only one who had ever read one and was able to share a whole list with my classmates. I’m sure they thought I was a complete dork, but I’m ok with that. I thought it would be fitting to have one of my first posts include the blogs that have inspired me to start Lemons and Oranges.

The first is a blog is Culinary in the Desert written by Joe who actually lives in Minnesota. When I first started reading his blog, he was living in the desert (hence the name of the blog), then moved East, and now is back in Minnesota. He gathers his inspiration as I do from food blogs and food magazines and cooks real recipes (and tons of them each week, I’m always amazed at his weekly wrap up posts) that anyone would want to cook in their own home kitchens. He also made one of my favorite meals ever, Thai Beef Tacos with Lime-Cilantro Slaw. I saw the recipe in Cooking Light magazine, Joe made it a short time later, I made it a short time after that and totally loved it (and the changes he made to the recipe). I thought about the slaw while living in Italy quite a few times. Isn’t that weird?

Everybody Likes Sandwiches caught me with her catchy title (because who doesn’t like sandwiches?) and her interesting and healthful recipes. She lives in Vancouver, a city I’ve wanted to travel to since I started meeting some blogging friends through my personal blog that live in the city. She’s fun, funky, and real…and I love her blog!

The day that I decided to really start this blog, instead of just thinking about starting this blog, was the day I won a book from Erin Cooks. Erin’s blog is the perfect mix of conversation, recipes, and photos and is what I strive to have in my blog. And, I can’t wait to get the book! Woo!

In honor of my inspirations, I’m going to do a giveaway! I just picked up the brand new Food Network Magazine and I’m enjoying it so far. I’d like to share, so just leave me a comment by the end of next Tuesday and you could win! I’ll randomly pick a comment and send you the magazine right away!

Foto Friday

I thought a great way to start my blog would be to initiate Foto Friday. These pictures were taken in my first semester Food Photography class at school in Florence, Italy.

Bread and Cheese

Cantuccini di Prato - almond biscotti from Prato

Lemons

The Introduction

I thought it would be fitting to start my blog with an introductory post.

I’m Toni, a 27-year-old aspiring Food Writer and Food Photographer who has been thinking about starting a food blog for years and finally got the balls to do it. I have a well loved (read: almost dead) point-and-shoot Fuji camera that just doesn’t do anything justice, especially food. For now, I’ll be relying on that camera for the pictures of this blog. I have used the excuse of not having a good camera as a reason for not starting this blog for far too long and it’s about time I just started!

I was a Social Work major in college because I wanted to “save the world.” After my ship landed back on Planet Reality, I wasn’t sure what direction I was going to move in. I started getting into cooking, watching Food Network and collecting cookbooks (when I say collecting, I mean collecting…a part-time job at a bookstore is not good for this girl). I knew that I didn’t want to cook all day, every day because I couldn’t take the pressure and just couldn’t find the right fit. In a random internet search after a brutal fight with an ex, I found a school in Florence, Italy with a Food Communications (Food Writing, Food Photography and Food Styling) program that really interested me. I chickened out, pretended like I forgot I ever saw it, and continued working at my boring bank job for another year. After another horrendous fight with the same ex, I did another internet search, found the same school, and applied in the same day. Six months later, I was on a flight to Florence, Italy.

Living in Florence changed my life forever. I met a wonderful and amazing man there that I plan to share many, many happy times with in the future (after I can get his butt over here – dang visas), I confirmed my passion, I ate as much pasta as I wanted, and I learned a great deal about a wide variety of things both personal and professional. My ultimate goal is to be able to share my passion for food, especially international flavors, through my writing and photography. I’m going to start with this blog and see where that takes me.

The above picture was taken on the streets of Brussels, Belgium in December 2007. The picture below is Amaretti cookies in a store window in Florence, Italy. Apparently, if you light the wrappers on fire, they sparkle like fireworks. I never tried it, I’ll have to add it to my list.