Stages of the meal:  Meatballs cooked in lemon leaves from the backyard and grilled,  pasta alla norma (an Eastern Sicily speciality – topped with an aged ricotta cheese indigenous to Mt. Etna) and a salad of vegetables from the garden.. tomatoes, capers, sicilian cucumber, onion.

While driving around the base of Mt Etna, we discovered all the agriculture and vegetation that exists here on the largest active volcano in Europe.  Chestnuts, hazelnuts, grapes, tomatoes, herbs.. all grown right on the vines and in the soil of Mt. Etna..

a pasta unique to Trapani, Sicily.. Busiate – a coiled strip pasta often made with a Trapanese pesto (almonds, garlic, basil, mint).. incredibly tasty

Ai Lumi Tavernetta -a B&B in the heart of Trapani with excellent local fare.  Fresh fish, excellent pastas with seafood, couscous, and other typical trapanese cuisine.

Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 75, 91100 Trapani Province of Trapani, Italy

Love all the fresh fish at this Sicilian fish market in Marsala.  Definitely a sight to take in when visiting this beautiful town.

One may say this is a great neighborhood boulangerie but I would have to say that regardless of where you are, it is well worth the trip to Blé Sucré.  A wonderful assortment of pastries as well as baguettes and arguably the best madeleine’s in Paris (they have mini madeleine’s as well). I stopped in before catching a flight and at 7:30am on a Sunday it was bustling with Parisians picking up breakfast – fresh baguettes, croissant, pain chocolat, not to mention all the gorgeous cakes they stock the shelves with.  Can’t go wrong with any choice at Blé Sucré.

7 Rue Antoine Vollone 75012, Paris, France

Caramelized, beer glazed brioche, baked pear, vanilla ice cream. Crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside combined with baked pear and smooth and creamy vanilla ice cream. If you make it to the wonderful Buerehiesel order this and the soufflé of course.

typical Alsatian meal/snack in the heart of Alsace.

an assortment of meats from Roscioli – the restaurant, not the bakery down the street. Everything from prosciutto, mortadella, speck, pancetta. Not a bad way to open the palette.

Via dei Giubbonari, 21 00186 Rome, Italy

a delectable hunk (i mean what better word for this thick “healthy” serving) of foie gras at Michelin star restaurant, Umami, in Strasbourg. Creamy, firm, perfect coloring, smooth-textured goodness in the birthplace of foie  - Strasbourg, France.  The best of the best!

8 Rue des Dentelles 67000 Strasbourg, France

fall off the bone, melt in your mouth, frogs legs accompanied by ravioli at Michelin star restaurant Le Buerehiesel

4 Parc de l’Orangerie 67000 Strasbourg, France