Rocco Galatioto, nice photos and good food

     A rainy day in Venice. This awesome city has many tourists who populate the well-known streets but the great majority of streets and lanes are very lonely.

     Classic spaghetti alle vongole or spaghetti with small clams (vongole). Nothing else can be added. A classic dish of Italian cuisine.

   I  have an old Olympus digicam that has a wonderful  soft-focus filter. This image was made at the Planting Fields Arboretum in Long Island, NY. There's a wonderful greenhouse exclusive to camelias that bloom in February. There's also a very large greenhouse and a smaller one dedicated to begonias. A great place to go for a temporary escape from the winter. 

     The glory that is Rome especially at dusk.

     This is the famous cucuzza e patate ghiotta that is very popular in Sicily for summertime lunch. The cucuzza is the long squash also known as snake squash that combined with potatoes in a light tomato sauce is called a ghiotta or a stew. The taste is wonderful, and it's reputed to be very healthy. 

     This image ia also from the mid-seventies was shot with GAF 64 or Anscochrome 64. It wasn't as popular as Kodachrome but I also loved it. It had wonderful properties. It was also hard to find. Too bad because it was a wonderful film. This was shot at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden with a Nikon FTn and the 55mm F: 3.5 Micro Nikkor a superb lens. 

     Nothing fills you out like a plate of gnocchi. These are imported Italian potato gnocchi with sausage and eggplants without tomatoes. A delicious change of pace

     Time for trick or treating. Some people go all out for Halloween

 Fooling around with a polarizing filter in the gppd old film days. Now any digicam will give you such results very easily. The film was Kodachrome II and the camera wasa Nikon Ftn with the 135 mm F2.* Nikkor. The place, the South Street Seaport in lower Manhattan circa 1973.

     What do you do when there's an abundance of apples? Naturally you can bake an apple pie, or you can make apple fritters Italian style or frittelle di mele . You prepare a simple batter of flour and water and stir only in one direction to prevent the formation of lumps. This is called pastella. Then you deep fry them in vegetable oil and there you have it. Because this is basically a so called cucina povera dessert or poor cuisine, regular sugar is sprinkled. 

     Let's take a break from autumn and dedicate this digital image to the visitors in the Southern hemisphere where spring is in its glory. Enjoy.

         A very healthy breakfast to chase away all antioxidants. A summer salad with fresh tomatoes, sliced parmigiano, olives, good EVO, basil and origano or oregano in English. Super delicious.

 A view of the Hudson River at Bear Mountain.

     Spaghetti with zucchine and shrimp, a wonderfully delicious dish. 

             What a spectacle. Digital image. Northeastern Pennsylvania.

     A simple, fast and delicious lunch. Imported vegetable filled ravioli in a sauce of zucchine and butter topped with shaved parmigiano.

     Stewed eggplants Sicilian style. First you fry them and then you make a sauce with chopped tomatoes with garlic and a dash of white wine vinegar. After you shut off the gas add one small finely chopped garlic clove and some basil always cut by hand. It's a great side dish.

Glorious foliage, Northeastern Pennsylvania. What else can I add. 

  Sliced angus beef with stewed cauliflower and grilled asparagus. Healthy and delicious

     This is quite an alluring and mysterious shot. The lake in Central Park where they rented boats on a cold fall day in 1972. I used my Leica M4 with the 90 mm Elmar F 2.8. Naturally, the film used was Kodak Tri-X.

     A macro digital image taken at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on a summer day. Sometimes you get it right.

     Grilled Italian tin sausage with sauteed broccoli rape and Brussel sprouts in a light butter sauce