Honeymoon -- Day 10 -- Rome (Morning/Afternoon)

We got up early on October 18 and headed to Rome. We had to return our rental car at the airport by 11 a.m. and grab a shuttle from the airport to our hotel. (We figured Rome would be much easier to navigate without a car, and we were right.)

View of Mt. Vesuvius on our way to Rome from Positano

Honeymoon -- Day 9 -- Positano (Evening)

When we first arrived in Positano, we checked TripAdvisor and the guidebooks to figure out where we should eat, and we noticed that the then No. 1 restaurant on TripAdvisor, La Tagliata, had some interesting reviews. Apparently, the restaurant sends a shuttle to pick you up at your hotel and bring you up to Montepertuso and then back to your hotel after dinner. There's no menu -- you're just served whatever is being cooked that night -- and the whole meal, including wine and dessert, is 35 euros per person. We thought it sounded like it would be a fun experience at a good price and checked in with our hotel to see if they could set up the reservation. There wasn't anything available for our second night in Positano (we went to Chez Black instead), but they did have something for the third night, so we made a reservation for that night.

We waited in the hotel lobby for the shuttle and joined other diners when it arrived. Everyone was quiet on the windy trip up to the restaurant. You could tell we were really climbing, and looking out the window was a little frightening! We made it safe and sound though.

Honeymoon -- Day 9 -- Amalfi (Morning/Afternoon)

On the morning of October 17, there were boats running to Amalfi (they weren't running the day before due to wind), so we decided to head over there for part of the day. The boat ride is about 30 minutes and costs 8 euros per person. We thought it would be more fun, better for sightseeing (and frankly, less dangerous) than taking the bus.

Tomato And Sourdough Soup

The first meals we had in our new house were from local takeout spots (The Real Deal, Christo's Pizza, The Red-Eyed Pig, a Chinese place we won't try again) and those prepared, transported, and cooked by my mom. It wasn't until December 29, a week after we moved in, that I actually cooked. It was a snowy evening, and the first meal I made was the ultimate comfort food: tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Ringing In 2013

Happy New Year! How did you ring in 2013? I spent yesterday afternoon braising beef shanks for a wintry dinner of beef shank sauce over polenta. I'd never made beef shanks before and wanted to try something new to ring in the new year. I picked up about 5 pounds of them from Whole Foods (and the butcher very kindly cut them 2 inches thick for me), got them home, and set to work. Following this recipe from Food & Wine, I seared the shanks, created a luscious tomato-wine mixture for them, and placed them in the oven to braise for 3 hours. I took them out and threw some polenta in the oven to bake for an hour. While the polenta baked, I shredded up the meat and added it back to the sauce. Then I left the sauce on a low simmer until dinnertime.