We thought we might be able to blog and visit your web-homes during the Holidays, but with Kia's parents here, being on-line has been almost impossible. Thanks, as always, for all your e-mails, your support, your friendship, your kindness and your uplifting comments! We will try to catch up on your lives next week.

About Irn-Bru, it is the national drink of Scotland (after whiskey, LOL!). It's a soft drink and it taste like a liquid candy. You can read more about it HERE.

About Kia's dinner-disaster (see December 18th post), she has to admit she was not sure she wanted to eat this strange purple creamy soup while it was cooking! LOL! But it came out really good. Plus, it's healthy. It has been made with 500 grams of red cabbage, one medium potato, one parsnip and a pinch of salt. Usually, we use red cabbage for salads or coleslaw, but that day Kia wanted something hot to cheer up. And soups always help her. Zeno had it for lunch at work and you can imagine his co-workers face, LOL!

We must remember about it around Carnival or Halloween and make it as "witch potion" for our friends' kids. We made it for Kia's parents on the 4th Sunday of Advent, and they liked it too. But their expression when they saw it was hilarious, ROTLF!

We hope you had a lovely Christmas and that Father Christmas has been good with you. We are curious: what have you bought yourself for Christmas that you really didn't need but just had to have?

Our Christmas was quite happy, we have to say. We really liked the Midnight Mass and the Christmas Carols. Our friends Marco and Sabine spent the day with us and we all ate lots of yummy food and laughed. We are so glad they accepted to come and celebrate Christmas with us. No white Christmas for us here in Scotland, just freezing cold and fog. Whereas, in Kia's hometown in Northern Italy, there was plenty of snow, maybe even too much. Hope you are all warm and cozy, here temps are below zero once again, but the sun is supposed to be shining in the next few days.

We want to wish you a safe and Happy New Year (Felice Anno Nuovo, in Italian). Throughout the coming year, may your life be filled with joy, health and love. May 2009 be a better year for us all, despite the financial crashes and the negative prognostics. At midnight we will try to close our eyes, breathe and smile at the thought of all the people we love, the places we had visited and the good memories we will always keep in our hearts. Till we blog again, big hugs.

Life has been a bit strange here lately, with a few ups and downs. We have not been online much: e-mails had piled up again and we hadn't the time to visit your web-homes. We hope to have more time to catch up with your lives soon after Christmas.

2008 has flown by and here we are again preparing the celebration of the upcoming Holidays. Every year in December we renew the same magic of memories, hopes, dreams and nostalgia. We recall all the things occurred and all the things we couldn't realize.

The magic of Christmas amazes us all the times. Cities turn nicer, floodlit and richly decorated. Houses turn more welcoming and tables get clothed of feast to gather in a big embrace all the beloved ones. At least once a year we all need to stop and cut out a little time all for us, to think over the joys of life, the emotions that some times, caught up in the routine, we risk to live absentmindedly and tiredly.

Even if right now we are a bit sad, we want to remember to be thankful for what life gave us. We know sometimes we forget how fortunate we are to have a roof over our heads, a wonderful family, sweet and caring friends, a marvelous spouse… Christmas is a perfect day to put aside the commercial part and be thankful for what is really important in our lives.

Since it's that time of year, check out the Irn-Bru Christmas commercial HERE, it's quite funny.

Thank you all for being so special and always being able to let us smile, we appreciate each and everyone of you for visiting our little corner of the blogosphere.

Buon Natale (Merry Christmas)!!!

How is it that December seems to sneak up out of nowhere and suddenly it's Christmas? Here we are, seven more sleeps until Christmas, and everyone around me seems quite stressed out. Maybe it is also 'cos of the weather… outside the wind is howling and the rain is pouring. The weather has been like this since yesterday, so I have allowed myself to be a "lazy bag of potatoes" and I've not put a foot outside the entrance door. My Christmas shopping can wait, I will finish it with hubby and my Mom and Dad during the weekend.

In the past few days I've been reading good books, listening to Christmas music and enjoying hot cocoas with big pink marshmallows (we have not been able to find them smaller and in white, so far).

You should have seen our new mailman, so cute all wet from the tip of his hair to the tip of his toes. He arrived this afternoon carrying two packages for me. How lucky am I?!

Aren't these just precious?! Can't wait to try my new earrings and hang my new Christmas decoration! On the box containing the key it's written:

I sure have been spoiled rotten by my net friends lately: I got many sweet messages, adorable Christmas goodies and siggies and I admit I couldn't believe my eyes yesterday, when I found another award for me in my mail-box. Thank you, Suzanne! I really appreciate you thinking of me!

But let's face it: my blog has not been that fab lately, with me being all whiny. I do apologize for being so pathetic ladies (and men! Sorry guys, you know I love you, LOL!). I know I should talk about the good parts of my day instead of focusing on the negative stuff. I am not that sad anymore, and I want to thank you for this.

For the ones of you that don't know it yet, the person who is sick is a dear person that has always been like an uncle for me. Doctors said there is nothing more they can do… but now I'm trying to focus on how blessed I have been for having him and his family as neighbors back in Italy and how many beautiful memories I can treasure forever.

I have been watching "funny" videos on YouTube to cheer me up. I've also found a hilarious version of The Night Before Christmas by "Shrek the Hall". Have a look HERE if you did not see it already. Zeno and I watched this movie last year in Italy, but in English is more entertaining than in Italian!

I also had a good laugh with a few of you the other day, thanks to my "peculiar" dinner. Wanna have a look? Here it is…

It's perfect for Advent (historically, the primary sanctuary color of Advent is Purple), isn't it? But also for Halloween/Carnival. ROTFL!

Well, I wasn't going to post today, so I better say good bye. I wanted to say THANK YOU to all the sweet ladies that sent me their Christmas cards. All of which arrived safely and are beautifully decorating my fridge. Will try to take a photo soon. I managed to visit a few of you today, but still have many visits to do and comments to reply to, hopefully tomorrow or on Monday. Sorry it always takes me so long to get back to you, I'm such a slow-coach! Have a lovely evening and Friday!

Another award for me? Well, thank you, Jaana! I really appreciate this! More than ever today!

I've been in a bad mood all day, had a good cry, plenty of coffee and tea, have been whiny all evening… people close to our heart should never get sick, especially during the holiday season! I know, I know, it's life and I should have a better attitude about this at my age. Will be back as soon as my mood improves a wee bit. Till then, take good care of yourselves, dear friends!

I keep meaning to post, but every time I turn on my 'puter I get a phone call or get distracted. Hubby and I finally started our Christmas shopping today and now I'm totally knackered! I keep asking myself how is it possible being a organized teenager and a messy grown-up!? LOL! Off I go to dreamland! But first, a poem by Howard Thurman. I think it's lovely!

I'm finally feeling a lot better, I'm so happy! My cough is almost gone and I can sleep through the night! Yay! Can you see me doing a happy dance here?

We got our first snow on Thursday night around 11:30 PM. It was so beautiful! We actually got only 1 cm of snow, but on Friday morning nothing was left. Friday has been a cold, windy, foggy and rainy day. Yuck! But at least the rain removed the ice from the streets.

Do you have any special plans for this weekend? Zeno and I must go grocery shopping, but also start our Christmas shopping. We didn't do anything yet, can you believe it? Is anyone out there done with everything? Done with shopping, planning and with all Christmas cards finished and posted? If so, I don't want to hear it, LOL!

Did you know that December 12th was Poinsettia's Day? Poinsettia (stella di Natale, for us) is one of my fave Christmas decorations. My Dad uses to get one for my Mom and me every year on December 8th. Unfortunately they never survive till next Christmas.

It doesn't feel like Christmas in our new home yet. We have no decorations up and we have not decided what we will eat for Christmas lunch (the focus of the celebration), but I know it will come together, just like it always does, usually my Dad has great ideas.

Walking past the shops, it is all Christmas decorations and people with packages. It doesn't look like a world economic crisis out there. I would never ever spend 300 pounds on an artificial Christmas tree or 20 pounds on a fake evergreen garland! Am I a bit of a Scrooge lately?! LOL! Anyway, I truly hope everyone out there will be able to have a lovely Christmas, with many happy thoughts and special moment to share with all the kids!

Our Italian dinner on Thursday night was great. The food was outstanding! We started with pasta (linguine) prepared in three different ways (with clams, with crab meat, with bottarga). Then we had fried calamari and grilled shrimps. As a dessert, a slice of strawberry cheesecake (some got the tiramisu) together with a glass of Mirto (a liqueur made in Sardegna). We also had a lot of fun chatting with Zeno's colleagues about several things. One of the subjects was Jamie Oliver, the so called "cook" that is always on TV and has published many cook books. No one at the dinner liked this guy. His recipe of "simple baked lasagne" is one of the worse versions we ever saw of this Italian dish. And he has the gut to say he wrote his book "Jamie's Italy" after cooking for and with Italians of all ages, and learning from them! LOL! He is hilarious! Too bad I don't have a TV and cannot see his show!

We also talked about Nigella (sorry Sonia! I know you are a fan). She doesn't seem a cook to us, she's just messing around in the kitchen. I bet men like her quite a lot, though! All the guys at the table liked her... well, lets just change subject, it's better.

An advise: never ever give one of their books as a present to an Italian. Quite a bad idea! Italians love cook books, but pick a book about other countries cuisine, and it will be a welcome present.

About TV, we decided not to buy one till January 2010. We are curious to see if we can survive without it for about 2 years. Kind of a bet with ourselves.

What's else… oh, yes, hubby and I did our "What's Your Price?", but did not have the chance to blog-hop. Hopefully tomorrow night or on Monday.

Oh boy, I woke up quite late this morning. Actually I got up at 7:30 AM, when Zeno left to work, but it was so chilly that I thought: "Just 5 more minutes under the duvet". Well, when I woke up again it was 10:45 AM!! Argh! But I must admit, even if my day was a little upside down, I feel a lot better rested today! My cough seems loving me and does not want to go away, yack! I started taking cough syrup again, hope it will work this time. Tomorrow Zeno and I are supposed to go out for dinner, and I don't want to miss all the fun once again!

I have a lot of errands to run before my Mom and Dad arrive on the 20th. I did nothing since I got sick and betcha can say what a mess my house can be! LOL! I quite hope none will come to visit us before I get everything back in order.

It's been cold (-1°C) today, but the sky has been clear and the moon came out this afternoon to say hello.

The sidewalks around our condo are still covered by a thin layer of ice - have been since last week and have yet to be sanded/salted. I start thinking people here may find funny seeing everyone slip on some ice while walking home…

Zeno had a blast with his colleagues last night. But I think he wants to talk about it himself.

I am far behind on E*V*E*R*Y*T*H*I*N*G online (e-mails, blog-hopping), so I better close here and start working at our second game (giveaway - another sigtag). Last question was about Finland, have to find another interesting country, LOL! Gingerbread-hugs!

I had some problems posting today, hope everything is fine now...

I've been pampered! Marge, Kat, Dru and Amanda gave me this lovely award today:

How nice of you, ladies! Thank you all very much! I really appreciate it a lot. It's so nice to know that people enjoy reading my blog. There are strings attached, though.

The Fabulous Award Rules:
1) You have to pass it on to 5 fabulous blogs.
2) You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions.
3) Make sure you link the award back to the person that gave it to you.

My 5 fabulous addictions are:
1) My lovely husband
2) Computer/Internet/Pixeling
3) Coffee (betcha could not guess this one, LOL!)
4) Cooking (and eating, LOL!)
5) Reading

I'm passing this award on to: Amy, Antoinette, Claudia, Erin, Nikki, Pam, Rachel, Sadie, Susan, Tammy and Terry (left click on the award to grab it).

What? I named more than 5? Well, since I got this cute award from four sweet ladies, I think it's ok. And I'm sure every one of you know how much I like reading your blogs, right?! Otherwise I wouldn't have added you to my Blog Roll, LOL! So, if anyone else on my (our) Blog Roll wanna grab it too, go ahead! And thank you all, dear Net friends, for making me smile every single time I visit you!

The first Christmas cards arrived today, from Sweden (thank you, Annette!) and the US (thanks Susan!). This is something that warms the heart! Our mailbox was starving lately, LOL!

And now, welcome to the Christmas edition of "Getting To Know Your Friends". I got this by e-mail from Erin, Jaana and Suzanne. I decided to post it here, so everyone interested may play too. It may be an interesting way to know a wee bit about foreign Christmas traditions. Click HERE to copy and paste all the questions.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I prefer wrapping paper, but depending on the gift shape a gift bag may be better sometimes.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Well, I don't like the artificial ones that much. And since the real ones suffer or die, I did not have a Christmas tree in the past 20 years. I have a tiny fake one (about 15 cm tall) that goes with my Nativity Scene (Presepe), though.

Of course, if/when Zeno and I will have kids, it will be a different story. Kids need a lovely Christmas tree. But by then I hope to have a house with a li'l garden with trees where we will be able to decorate a real tree. I can dream, can't I? LOL!

3. When do you put up the tree? When I used to make it, on December 8th. In Italy it's the celebration of the Immaculate Conception (l'Immacolata Concezione); this is the day when we start decorating our house for the holidays and also writing and sending out our Christmas cards to family and friends.

4. When do you take the tree down? After January 6th, the Epiphany (festa dell'Epifania); it's the celebration in remembrance of the Magi's visit to Baby Jesus. It marks the end of Christmas holidays in Italy.

5. Do you like eggnog? I've never tried it, but I don't think I'd like it 'cos of the milk.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? I admit I don't remember. But probably this adorable li'l angel:

It was bought by my Mom as a gift for me when I was very little. Even if a little worn (some hair lost, the candle distained), it remains the decoration I care more about.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My Mom.

8. Easiest person to buy for? My Dad.

9. Do you have a Nativity Scene? Yes, I have a big one at my parents' (see photo above), the old statuettes belonged to my grandfather and are made of chalk. Then I have two tiny ones made in silver and another one (that actually is Zeno's, I gave it to him for Christmas years ago) made in terracotta.

10. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Both, but snail mail are a wee bit more precious.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? None, all gifts are special. But I admit I used to roll my eyes as a teen every time someone gave me earrings. I did not have my ears pierced back then. Don't need to mention that as soon as I pierced my ear (just the left one), none gave me earrings anymore. LOL!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Muppet Christmas Carol, directed in 1992 by Brian Henson. It is a delightful family film, definitely worth dusting off at any time of the year, especially when you're feeling blue.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually I buy gifts whenever I see something I like, but this year I didn't start yet.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Kind of... the above mentioned earrings.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Hum…it used to be roasted turkey with roasted baby potatoes; but I did not eat turkey for over 5 years, so now I have to say trofie (it's a kind of pasta) with shrimps and pomegranate made by my Dad.

16. Lights on the tree? No, thanks. Just ornaments.

17. Favorite Christmas song? I like lots of them, but Deck the Halls, Silent Night, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and Santa Claus Is Coming To Town are my fave right now.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay at home? Stay home.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers'? Yep!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? It used to be a comet star.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? I open all the gifts on Christmas morning. Unless I attended the Midnight Mass, then I open one present right after the mess, but just one.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Never enough time to get it all done.

23. What theme or color are you using? I don't think we will decorate this year, but back in Italy we have silver, golden, red and blue balls, angels, and a comet star (for the top of the tree). I also used to hang little chocolates and cookies here and there with red ribbons.

24. Favorite Christmas memory? My first Christmas with Zeno, in the USA. Just the two of us, thinking about our future together.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A baby! And a puppy (like the pygmy hippopotamus we wrote about on November 11th, so cute). Well, I will go for a better health (I am still coughing and it's been 12 days now) and a bag full of will-power, that I seem to have lost in the past 10 years…

Well, Zeno is out with his colleagues, so I can relax with a cup of tea, prepare our second game (giveaway) and blog-hop a bit, see you all in a few minutes.

Fa-la-la-la-la la-la la-la! 'Tis the season to be jolly… and it's also the season of giving, so we think it's time for a new giveaway (a sigtag, to begin with). Go have a peek in our Graphic Shoppe if you are interested. We will ask various questions about Christmas around the World, so it should be an interesting way to know a wee bit about foreign Christmas cultures.

Plus, with Christmas approaching so fast, we anticipate our monthly Sigtag Drawing - we have 6 winners this month instead of 2.

A Christmas traditional food here in the UK (that we never heard of, and we don't have in Italy) is Mince Pie.

We saw them at the supermarket, in the bakery corner, but never paid too much attention to them since we'd read that they were sweets filled with mincemeat, which was kind of strange for us. It turns out they do not contain any meat. By "mincemeat" here they mean a mixture of raisins, sultanas, various candied fruits, various types of nuts and mixed spices (typically nutmeg and cinnamon). In fact, in the US, mincemeat is known by the more accurate name "fruitmince". In the 16th century, when mince pies became a tradition, they actually contained some shredded meat in addition to the typical mixture of dried fruits.

It seems that mince pies are a favorite food of Father Christmas. Here children leave one or two mince pies on a plate at the foot of the chimney (along with a small glass of brandy, sherry or milk, and a carrot for the reindeer) as a thank you for filling their stockings.

No time to blog-hop tonight, see you all tomorrow. Good night and sweet dreams!

Hope you had a nice weekend. Kia and I had a relaxing one, staying at home and trying to catch up with some chores. We also tried to take care of ourselves in order to get rid of the cold and other symptoms. Can't believe we are still feeling so and so!

When I woke up this morning I looked out of the window and noticed that there was snow on the hills outside of Glasgow. Also all the buildings and cars around our apartment were covered with frost.

Tomorrow is an Holiday in Italy, the celebration of the Immaculate Conception (l'Immacolata Concezione). This is the day when we usually start writing and sending out our Christmas cards; this is also the day when we start decorating our house for the holidays and setting up our Nativity scene (Presepe). Unfortunately, here in Scotland it's not an holiday, so we wrote all our Christmas cards on Saturday and went to the post office to mail them. Please, accept my advice: don't write all your Christmas cards on the same day, especially if you're not feeling very well, because the final result might not be as you expected.

We did not decorate our apartment yet. All our Christmas decorations are in Italy in some boxes at Kia's parent's. But at least we decorated the entrance page of our website with some new graphics.

Since Saturday we've been listening to some Christmas music. We have a bunch of CDs full of wonderful seasonal songs.

On Tuesday I will go out for dinner with my colleagues. We're going to have our Christmas dinner organized by my boss. Yes, it's a little bit early, but all restaurants in Glasgow are totally booked out. I have also been told that all the employees will receive a turkey as a gift from the company. I have no idea of what kind of turkey we're going to get: fresh or frozen? How big? We'll see!

Another tradition they have in my office is Secret Santa. I will be Secret Santa for one of my new colleagues and I have no idea of what to get (the expense limit is 5 GBP). Hopefully I will come up with something.

On Thursday another dinner out. It's a gathering of all the Italian employee working for the company here in Glasgow. This time also Kia is coming with me… hopefully! Fingers crossed!

Here I am sipping a cup of Lady Grey Tea with plenty of honey. And here is a message for my big Sis Susan and my Mom: stop peeking at the presents under the tree and shaking them trying to imagine what's inside, or all you will get for Christmas is coal, LOL!

Happy Saint Nicholas' Day to all of you who celebrate it. In some regions and cities of Northern Italy (as well as some countries in Northern Europe) children receive presents on December 6th by an old man with a red mantle traveling on the back of a donkey or a white horse. This man is Saint Nicholas (San Nicola). Saint Nicholas was a Christian priest, who later became the bishop of Myra in Minor Asia around 300 AD, and he was known to give food and clothes to the poor families.

He's known to have a big book where he takes note of how children behaved during the year. He brings sweets to the good children. Then he tells the not-so-good children to be better and kinder in the next year. After the children promise to behave in the future, they too receive a gift of sweets.

Nowadays not only children get presents, grownups celebrate too. Friends and families use to give each other small treats to celebrate, especially fruits, nuts, cookies, candies, chocolates or other good things.

Does he bring gifts to you? He bought Zeno a package of dark chocolate with pieces of orange and slivers of almond, and me six luxury Belgian chocolates. Yum!

Too bad I cannot hand you a piece. Hubby and I also got a lovely Christmas Snowman sigtag from Susan. Awww, she is spoiling us rotten with her cuties! We got lovely cuties from many other Net friends, too! It's so nice to know that people think of us!

Talking about sweets, our Recipe Corner is still "in the making" (and by this I mean we did not even open the file we were working on in over a month) but I think it's time for a new recipe. This sweet is very popular in Italy during Christmas.

CROCCANTE

Ingredients:
100 g pealed almonds
100 g pealed hazelnuts
50 g pealed pine nuts
250 g sugar
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Place almonds, hazelnuts and pine nuts on an oven tray and let them toast for 10 minutes in an oven preset at 200°C. Take them out and let them cool down.
Line a roasting tray with baking paper (or with aluminum foil greased with oil).
Pour sugar into a saucepan and let it melt on a low flame adding no water, but stirring gently with a wooden spoon. When sugar starts darkening, pour all the nuts in and flavor with 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.
Stir with the spoon and mix nuts and sugar, then pour and spread the mixture into the lined roasting tray, trying to make it perfectly even.
Wait a couple of minutes, then cut the croccante in squares, then let them cool down and harden, so that they are ready to serve.

Tip: you can uses a whole lemon as a roller to spread the mixture in the roasting tray. This gives the mixture an extra lemon flavoring.

Note: you can make croccante using only almonds or only hazelnuts, if you prefer.

There must be something wrong with Royal Mail. We are not getting our mail promptly. In November we received a welcome letter from Tiscali that was sent out in July; our utility bills are also always late; and a greeting card sent by my parents for Zeno's Birthday has never arrived (it was sent 3 weeks ago). We really hope there will be no problem with our Christmas cards.

About out health: my cough is still here, but both Zeno and I feel better today. We both have been sneezing like crazy yesterday evening and we didn't sleep well last night (again!), so now we have black shadows under our eyes. Hope to get back to my normal routine soon 'cos our li'l cozy house is a total mess.

Plus, we did not even start our Christmas shopping yet! And since Zeno will change his shift at work starting next Monday till the end of this month, we won't be able to go shopping during week-days. I better not look at the countdown to Christmas many sites have, or I will start panicking! LOL!

Happy 11th birthday, Graphic Garden! Thank you, Helena, for sharing your talent with us! Your graphics are simply gorgeous!

We are having a freezing cold weather with icy streets and fog. Brrrr… While sipping my coffee this morning, I was looking out of the window and I saw more than one person trying to fall on the slippery icy street. The forecast has been predicting snow for over a month now, but we did not get any, just a tiny layer of slush on the roofs and cars. I admit that a White Christmas would be lovely!

BTW, Zeno is not used to snow and freezing weather (he comes from a li'l town near Napoli, in the South of Italy, where temps are mild almost all year round), but in my hometown (in Northern Italy) the Winter weather is more or less the same as we are having here right now. But a freezing Winter is ok for me AFTER a lovely and warm Spring and Autumn (with temps around 18°C) and a hot Summer (with temps around 30°C). Here it has been wet, chilly and gray since we landed here in May.

I'm feeling better now even though I'm still blowing my nose kind of frequently. And now Zeno is stuffed up too, so neither of us had a relaxing sleep last night.

While surfing the Net looking, I've found out there is a World Nutella Day, in February. I bet Zeno would love to celebrate it, LOL! There is also a interesting page in English on Wikipedia > HERE < and an official website of Nutella in the USA. In Italy it is as popular as Peanut Butter is in the USA. And many places in Europe offer crêpes with nutella, slice of banana and whipped cream. If you like hazelnuts,chocolate and milk, you should try it at least once.

I did nothing all day, neither laundry nor cleaning. Just relaxing and cooking. My big Sis Susan and I have e-mailed back and forth a few times this afternoon and had coffee together, LOL! And what goes better with coffee than a slice of warm and homemade apple cake? Then it was time to peek in Antoinette's and Karin's Advent Calendars, that BTW are very nice! You should have a peek if you like digital scrapbooking and li'l cute graphics. Then I made soup for dinner and enjoyed hubby's company. Not time for bed, sweet dreams …Zz..zzzZZz..zzz...

Happy Decem-brr to y'all! Oh boy, it's cold outside! The ground has been covered by an icy slush all day, despite the sun. Welcome to Paisley's winter! Theoretically winter begins on December 22nd, but I don't think Scotland is aware of it, LOL!

I wonder why when I am abroad I tend to be more attracted by certain kind of Italian food that I do not take into much consideration when I'm in Italy.

I usually don't eat Nutella. I ate it for the first time during the several months I spent in the USA, when Zeno was working there. I almost forgot of it in the 5 years hubby and I have lived in Trieste (Italy). And I am having a craving for it once again, now that I'm in Scotland.
Here we are, enjoying it spread on a toasted English Muffin...

Thanks for your well-wishes, ladies, I finally feel better! Not at my best, but at least now I can sleep at night. Still taking it easy, so I don't relapse, LOL!