Savoring A Little of Italy

Being back in Ohio after a few weeks abroad is a bit of a culture shock.   

We spent last weekend visiting with some friends out on Whiskey Island (just a few minutes west of downtown Cleveland), which was actually a bit more of the Whiskey, less of the Island, 

but it was a bright, warm (not too hot) day, so we enjoyed the outdoors....and the people watching.

  When the moon finally came out, after a long day in the Ohio sun, I needed a little Italian sweetness. I came home from Italy with a bunch of purchases, however, unlike my traveling companions, mine were not clothing and shoes....while I do absolutely love the clothing and shoes, what can I say??  I guess my true interests do lie in the ingredients and the food...so, I was sure to stock up on my favorite Italian cookies, the Grancereale Croccante, which are a perfect sweet snack or dessert.

These cookies are  made of whole grains, the majority of the cookie consisting of airy balls of whole grain...something like what you find in a Nestle Crunch bar.  They also come in Chocolate, with dried fruit, and Naturale (something like fresh brown sugar granola).Yes, I love them all.

 I could really eat these cookies three times a day: In the morning with my coffee, in the afternoon for a snack when I break them into my dried fruit mix, and then of course in the evening when I eat them after dinner with another Italian purchase...my Esselunga (grocery store brand) bar of dark chocolate (75%).

Can you imagine buying a grocery store brand of chocolate here in America, and having it be perfectly smooth and delicious?  Does a bar of  Safeway brand, or maybe for you Mid-Westerners, Giant Eagle brand chocolate sound delicious? Probably not.  But in Italy, standards are of course raised in the grocery aisles, and the local grocery store brand of chocolate, is just as delicious as the Lindt or the Perugina that is on the shelf next to it.
So tonight after dinner, I just crack open my bag of GranCereale, and break off a few pieces of my Esselunga chocolate.

Even if Brian does look at me with a bit of hesitation as he reheats his American peach cobbler (which I made for him), just before he scoops on a small scoop of the local Ohio Mitchell's vanilla bean ice cream.  We may not be so similar in our choice of foods, but I think that it is really better this way- we never, ever, have to share each others desserts.