A European-style evening

The cheese selection at Back Porch Market

Earlier this week I was finally able to pay a visit to a local shop in Grass Valley called Back Porch Market. They specialize in many European-style, gourmet food items. But that’s not all.

In fact, a friend was recently raving about their cinnamon rolls, which was a large part of my motivation for going. I did eventually locate the cinnamon rolls, but not before browsing the whole shop at length.

Before I knew it, I had gotten inspired to surprise Ramesha with the kind of meal we would eat in Lugano — featuring homemade gnocchi and a variety of European cheeses (one each from Switzerland, Spain, and Italy).

So tonight we played a recording — An Evening in Italy — on which Swami Kriyananda sings mostly in Italian. Then we ate gnocchi with butter, basil, and parmesan, delicious cheese, and sourdough baguette.

It was a lovely evening!

Our European foodie checklist

Having waited so long since our last trip to Europe, we had a long list of foods that we were eager to taste once again. And I’m happy to report that we’ve eaten pretty much everything on our list:

Cappuccino (lots and lots of cappuccinos!) = ✅
Pizza (quite a bit of pizza) = ✅
Swiss cheese* = ✅
Gelato = ✅
Pizzoccheri = ✅
Tiramisu = ✅
Gnocchi di zucca = ✅
Pasta con pesto = ✅
Risotto = ✅
Torta di mele (apple); also cioccolato (chocolate), nocci (nuts), della nonna (Grandmother), etc) = ✅

It almost looked like we weren’t going to fit in fondue or raclette, but tonight we had a family dinner featuring both, so… = ✅

I do believe that the only local treat that we haven’t yet had is polenta. Oh well, I think we’ll survive.

* Meaning about fifteen different types of cheese produced in Switzerland, but NOT Emmenthaler (the one with holes), which most of Swiss folks I know don’t even like!