How do you eat your artichoke?

Posted on December 15 by Jennifer Avventura

Spinoso Sardo

The artichoke farmer stopped by the house one rainy afternoon and with him he carried freshly picked artichokes. Four spinoso Sardo artichokes and four globe artichokes.

Artichokes are my favourite winter vegetable and in Sardinia they grow in abundance. My favourite way to eat an artichoke is in risotto. Husband eats the artichoke stem, raw.

I’ve baked, steamed, and fried artichokes. They are wonderfully delicious to eat any way you like.

Love artichokes? Are you looking for a new and easy recipe? Click the following link. There’s even a few pictures of the artichoke farm, plus a super easy recipe.

Eating Made Easy | Oven Baked artichokes & Potato

How do you eat your artichoke?

Morning Runners

Posted on December 14 by Jennifer Avventura

Yellow flashy Usain Bolt-esque runners tied and I’m out the door before the morning sun peaks over the mountain-tops. Florence & The Machine rage in my ears as I begin my warm-up. Herds of cow, horse and sheep meander on the lightly dew dropped mountain searching for their mornings feast.

I am a morning runner, therefore I run.

The mountain pulls me down her slight decline for three kilometers. The salt water breeze kisses my face and I run head on into its morning freshness.

This is how I start my mornings four times a week. Every week, summer excluded.

My turn around point is a small parking area for those wishing to text, chat or play games on their mobile devices, take a pee or watch the stunning panoramic view of the Bay of Asinara.

I used to stop and take in the view, watch the ocean crash in on this stunning island oasis. However, I’ve become stronger in my runs and want to continue on.

Continue reading →

A Sardinian Jackass | Letizia

Posted on December 14 by Jennifer Avventura

Letizia

Letizia is the family pet to my husbands first cousin. She is full of beautiful, beastly character and surprisingly understands English.

How do you talk to your animals?

Sardinian BBQ in December

Posted on December 5 by Jennifer Avventura

This past weekend we were invited back to the 12lb Snapper House for a traditional Sardinian BBQ. Being Canadian and one who was brought up on the best BBQ’s the world has to offer, I was excited to try a traditional Sardinian BBQ.

Ajo. Andemu in Cuzina per cena. Maureddu ha lu carne, e voule fare un BBQ. My husband said to me in his barbaric dialect.

Come on! We are going to the kitchen for dinner. Maureddu has meat, and he wants to have a BBQ.

I was a little thrown off as the 12 lb Snapper house is a bachelor pad with a nice fireplace, a sofa and a big screen on the wall but no BBQ. I figured ok, what the heck and left it to the two Sardinian guys and opened a bottle of Cannonau.

Sardinian BBQ

We are having a BBQ in the family fireplace? Continue reading →

How Not to Make Sardinian Seadas

Posted on November 28 by Jennifer Avventura

Seadas or Sebadas is a traditional Sardinian dessert made with flour, fresh sheep cheese, honey and lemon zest.

Seadas is a dessert similar to ravioli and is produced mainly in the areas where shepherds roam. Pecorino is sheep cheese, it’s strong in flavour and the perfect filler for the seadas. If you can’t find pecorino in your local supermarket, try looking for a strong cheese for the filler.

**How NOT to Make Sardinian Seadas. Continue reading →**

How to Eat a 12lb Sardinian Snapper

Posted on November 23 by Jennifer Avventura

A few nights ago we were invited to a friend’s birthday celebration. With all celebrations in Sardinia the food was endless, and well, big.

On the table before us sat a beautiful 12 pound Sardinian Snapper. In Italian this fish is appropriately called dentice, the root of the word denti means teeth, and this snapper was full of them.

Sardinian Red Snapper - Dentice

Never in my life have I seen a fish so big and never in my life had I partaken in eating a fish this size. Continue reading →

How to Pickle a Wild Sardinian Mushroom

Posted on November 21 by Jennifer Avventura

Pickling a wild Sardinian mushroom is no easy task, if you’ve never pickled anything in your life. I’ve eaten pickles, been pickled (a few too many times) and even, yes, had a pickle party, but I have never pickled a wild Sardinian Mushroom.

Wild Sardinian Mushrooms

I had no choice in the matter when Husband came home from the mountain top with six pounds of the freshest of fresh wild Sardinian mushrooms. You could smell the dung. We all know where mushrooms grow, right? Continue reading →

Coming Out of the Closet

Posted on November 19 by Jennifer Avventura

Hi. My name is Jennifer Avventura. After a year hiding behind my laptop, I have decided to come out of the closet. I want to put a face to these adventures I find myself on.

Li Feruli

Live life to the fullest, come out of the closet.

Happy adventures.

Writer’s Block Overload | Photo Post

Posted on November 15 by Jennifer Avventura

I’ve been a lazy blogger, I think. But I’ve been busy studying the ropes in this sphere called blogging. There is so much to learn that it’s exhausting at the best of times. I thought I could just come into the blogging world, write some pieces and fame would fall upon me.

Well the fame part didn’t happen … yet (crossing fingers, toes and eyes.) I have written over one hundred posts in the space of twelve months, but I feel it’s not enough when I look at other more prominent bloggers.

I’m writing some pieces, putting final touches on other articles and reading all I can about owning your own blog. There is a ton of information to take in for those in the beginning stages of blogging. Every day is a learning experience.

Did you know that My Sardinian Life will be one year old this week! That’s right folks, I’ve been blogging, writing and commenting my way though thousands of blogs in the last year. And I’ve had a blast doing so.

To tide you folks over for a few days while I try to finish some articles (I’ve never been good with deadlines, and knowing that I’m writing a guest post, makes me nervous as heck, I want it to be perfect) here are a few photos from this past weekend.

Cala Calboni

Historic Aragonese Tower of Isola Rossa

No one is holding me down to write, nor am I being held captive by my keyboard. Writing is something I want to do, something I crave to do, something I love to do.

At times I find myself in a deep black hole trying to climb the writer’s block out. I can’t come up with killer headlines or any headline at all, or the first paragraph should be the last and maybe this photo isn’t the best choice and it’s possible that I’ve gotten myself so far in that there is no other way out but to write. Write anything.

How do you kill writers block?

On Being an Expat | In Sardinia, Italy

Posted on November 8 by Jennifer Avventura

The life of an expat is never easy. Moving to a new country, maybe learning a new language and generally starting a new job are stressful factors for anyone beginning new. There are hardships to being an expat in any country. I’ve been an expat for sixteen years and in four different countries.

First I was an expat in Australia.

Where I spent nine months living the life between the outback and the ocean. Working in small beach-side cafe’s just to make enough money to travel further up the coast or deeper into the red desert. Some jobs lasted a weekend, some three weeks, but never over three months in one place, as my visa wouldn’t allow it. Continue reading →