"Lexluther, I agree that one does need to spend lots of money in order to have wonderful food experiences..."

Not in Italy you don't. Having a wonderful food experience starts from having the right ingredients - good, tasty, fresh fruit and vegetables, for example. When touring in Italy, you go to a baker and get a fresh bread roll sliced open, go next door to the butcher and get some sliced prosciutto and/or cheese to put on the bread, buy some olives, and you've got lunch. Not expensive, not difficult, but definitely delicious.

USNR, I guess everyone has to diet in their own way, but what a pity to entirely give up things you like. In spite of all the scary stuff in the news, almost nothing you eat is bad for you, if you eat it in reasonable doses. Having bacon every day is probably a bad idea. But I adore bacon, and, when I can get it, happily indulge in the occasional fry-up or BLT. I tend to save my fried foods eating for restaurants, since I don't fry much at home (don't like the smell in the house afterward). Chocolate? Wouldn't give it up for the world, but neither do I eat it every day or even very week. It kinda comes and goes in phases, often PMT related.

We don't eat much red meat, I'll make a roast or something once or twice a week. Many of our meals are vegetarian, not out of any particular conviction, but just because I like to make and eat creative dishes with Italy's wonderful vegetables. Last November, visting relatives in Texas, I was pleased to find that I could reproduce my dishes pretty faithfully with produce from the local HEB - hallelujah! Americans have finally learned to appreciate good veggies, so they are readily available.

Food shouldn't be a question of indulgence vs. sacrifice. It's just a matter of balance. I love brownies, from a yummy recipe that Cristina (expatsinitaly.com) gave me, but when I make them I tend to scarf the whole pan unless physically restrained. So I just don't make them very often. Then I hide them from everybody else. <grin>

And now I'm really hungry and will have to make some breakfast. Wish I had some bacon...


best regards,
Deirdré Straughan

http://www.straughan.com

Moving from right to left, there is an invisible line which a person crosses from being a "foodie" to being a glutton.

Case in point: sitting watching TV, spoon in hand, eating peanut butter (Skippy Super Crunchy) direct from the jar. Or eating ice cream direct from the gallon carton until the bottom appears as if by magic. You know the excuse: "the ice cream made me do it."

So we must define a "foodie" as a person who discriminates, eats well but with taste (no pun intended), and with moderation. One who tries something new, does not turn up his/her nose at the untried, and who can tolerate others who may not share their appetites. Example: you may like guacamole while he/she can't stand it, or you may crave liver and bacon while he/she may think such stuff should have no place on the table. Enjoy. Share. Digest in peace.

Deidre, I am in complete agreement with you - you can eat whatever you like in moderation. Does anyone remember an old thread about how the French smoke, drink and eat rich foods but have lower rates of heart disease than Americans? Answer: everything in moderation.

I am now going to have a bar of Cadbury's chocolate. But then, I haven't had any chocolate for about 2 weeks.

Hi Jane,

Where did you go looking for your crab cake?

Good for you, USNR.

Chepar"a good example of a foodie is Anthony Bourdain "
Couldn't disagree more!
No smoker can be a real foodie!

Ira-
Best crab cake was at a trying-to-be-gourmet-restaurant on the way from Tallahassee to the coast. The grits & mullet crowd didn't support it. I was brought up on Dungeness crab, so I am very picky. Little pun there for the poorly picked crab on the east coast.

>No smoker can be a real foodie!<

Poo. Pish tosh. Nonsense.

Cuban cigars and old port or brandy.

Hi janeg

>Best crab cake was at a trying-to-be-gourmet-restaurant on the way from Tallahassee to the coast. The grits & mullet crowd didn't support it.<

Of course. What do they know?

>I was brought up on Dungeness crab, so I am very picky. Little pun there for the poorly picked crab on the east coast.<

Oh, you poor dear. I take it that you have never had a Wye River Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab, properly steamed in Old Bay seasoning, picked by women whose great grandmothers taught them how and prepared by honest chefs who gently sauteed the crab cakes (prepared with soda crackers) in bacon fat and butter.

Ira-
Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab
Just had it where you pound it yourself at big tables. We dungeness girls are princesses & those pitiful blue crabs ain't worth the work. Must plan my next California trip around the season.

&gt;<i>Imagine a cooked breakfast where the sausages are wrapped in italian ham</i>

That's not a foodie, that's someone with a death wish.

Clifton, thanks again for the chuckle. I still snicker over your Scandinavia comments from way back when.

I am far too timid an eater to ever be considered a foodie, but I do like quality ingredients and have great respect for those who can turn them into a wonderful meal.

I like to eat food that's in season and preferably locally grown, including when I travel. I mean, it's sorta cool that I can get blueberries from Chile in the middle of winter, but they sure don't taste anything like the ones from New Jersey in July. Same goes for corn, strawberries, new potatoes, mache lettuce.

Back in the day when I was single, a guy I briefly dated--a self-described &quot;foodie&quot;--took me to an Afghan restaurant. It was fine. I probably had chicken kababs or whatever the least adventurous thing was on the menu. I remember being perplexed when he used the phrase &quot;foodies like us&quot;. I couldn't imagine who he was talking about.

Hi janeg

&gt;Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab
Just had it where you pound it yourself at big tables.&lt;

Where?

&gt;We dungeness girls are princesses &amp; those pitiful blue crabs ain't worth the work.&lt;

We were, I belive talking about crab *cakes*. I shall not try to discuss the ritual of properly cooking, picking and eating a Blue Crab.

Nor shall I mention soft shell crabs.

I love soft shell crabs, pity it's such a short season. we cook them whenever we can buy them

Ira &amp; Ciga...
I ate the crabs some place a long time ago on the Maryland coast. The real thing. I tried to cook soft shell crabs once. A disaster. Tasted like I had left the cellophane wrap on.

&gt;I tried to cook soft shell crabs once. A disaster. Tasted like I had left the cellophane wrap on. &lt;

Unfortunately, you had been given crabs that had been too long past their molting point. The crab shell had become too hard.

It really doesn't matter anymore. The Bay has been overfished. Most of the crabs in Maryland come from the Gulf.

Forget all this talk about picking through crab meat. Come to Florida and experience Stone Crab Claws. You get the rock hard thick shells pre-cracked, and scoop out huge hunks of the most delicious crab meat ever. None of that scraping and digging to get tiny morsels of meat. All they do is pull the claws off the live crabs and throw them back to grow another one.

Hi Patrick,

Oh Yeah?

Shows what you know. :)

So Ira, Ciga..., Patrick &amp; I are crabby foodies!

Brava.

I appreciate a good meal and a good bottle of wine, but today I almost paid 19euro for a burger at Harry's Bar in Florence. Does anyone know where I can get a good burger in Florence? When you have a craving, nothing else will do.