10 Day You

Oh boy, this is gonna be tough.

1. Chicken puttanesca.  Chicken sauteed with olives, capers, and cherry tomatoes.  I love me some salty food, and this dish is just packed with it.  Most recipes call for green olives, but I make mine with kalamata.  It is delicious.  I'd never had it until I randomly came across a recipe for it.  And now I'm hooked.  Usually, I guess, it's served with pasta, but I usually serve mine with brown rice.  Yumm...

2. Pizza.  A good slice of plain or pepperoni pizza is always delicious, but I like being adventurous, too.  Chicken basil pesto?  Definitely.  Chicken bacon ranch?  Absolutely.  Hawaiian?  Bring it.  As long as the crust is thin and somewhat flexible (especially with the plain pies - must fold it in half!), and the sauce (if it's a regular pie) is not too sweet and just a little bit spicy...I'm in.

3. Ravioli alle noci.  Ie, ravioli with walnuts.  O. M. G.  I had this at a tiny little restaurant in Florence, Italy, while there with my sister.  We were hungry one night and started wandering around our neighborhood near the hostel.  We stumbled upon this little restaurant and I ordered this, thinking it sounded interesting.  It was the best meal I've ever had.  No, really.  I wish that we had written down the name of the restaurant, but we didn't.  It's something like Di Pepe.  I have tried to replicate the recipe from memory, but have always failed.  It's close, but no cigar.

4. Creme brulee.  Dudes, this dessert is amazing.  The texture.  The crunch.  The sweetness.  The creaminess.  I die.

5. Steak.  A good, medium rare, perfectly seasoned steak can make me melt.  Our engagement dinner will forever be one of the best meals I've ever had.  Not just because I was basking in the glow of the beautiful diamond Matt had slipped on my finger not 3 hours earlier.  I mean, I realize that I probably could have eaten a grilled cheese sandwich and been happy.  But this dinner.  Oh my God.  We ate at Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse in Philadelphia.  I got a filet, medium rare.  It was the most perfect steak I've ever eaten in my life.  One of our friends got us a gift certificate for a wedding gift, and I honestly can't believe we haven't been back yet  

*all images from google

Edited to Add: I thought I'd try to search again for that restaurant in Florence, and wouldn't you know?  I found it!  It is called da Pepe!  Holy crap, I'm so happy I found it!  If you are ever in Florence, you must - MUST! - go to this restuarant!!