Suddenly, everything seems to be green...

Considering that green is turning up around every corner lately, the timing couldn't be better for the "G" in ROY G BIV this month. Here are a few greens that have been part of this week...

The first pair of images show the delicious fresh beans that show up every April: baccelli. As per tradition, we paired them with shavings of pecorino, then seasoned with olive oil, salt & pepper. The rosemary in the left-hand image is from my mother's terrace garden in Montepulciano, where we did a little gardening over the weekend—I couldn't resist bringing home some of the purple-flowered branches.

Next is a pineapple, whose prickly outer texture & range of greens I find endlessly fascinating. Though they are not grown locally, pineapples are one of the fruits available year-round in Florence (and found almost without fail on the dessert menu at restaurants). We have been using them for shakes made with semi-frozen almond milk, an egg white & a little vanilla...

 

I realized only now, when the sun is long-gone, that I had meant to photograph the packaging of our colomba, the light, sweet, candied orange- & almond-studded bread that's just as much a part of the Italian Easter tradition as the large chocolate eggs wrapped in shiny, colorful papers. This year we decided to try something a bit different: a colomba made with olive oil (you can see the olive-sprigged paper & wide green ribbon in this photo on the Filippi website).

 

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While accompanying my daughter to the airport today, I saw plenty of green: several leaf-green spring jackets, suitcases both dark & light green & bold green beaded jewelry. The best photo would have been of a young passenger at the ticket counter—his hair was dyed bright green, and he was also wearing a green t-shirt! But, as I said to my daughter, I am just not the kind of person who blatantly photographs people (surreptitiously, yes, but not if I think they might notice). Though I had brought my camera for the walking portion of my journey home from the airport, once I had said goodbye to my daughter I just quietly observed the many greens that surrounded me...

Once I was back in the center, and walking past the church of Santa Maria Novella, it clicked with me that the intricate façade designs are in green (and white) marble, so out came the camera at last...

As I continued on toward the river, I thought about how I hadn't been to our favorite gelateria, La Carraia, in a long time. While we moms used to take our children there after school once upon a time, it's something they usually do on their own now. I love the "After Eight" flavor—mint with bits of chocolate—and though it's a subtle green because they don't add artificial colors/flavors, it tastes even greener than it is. The gelateria's logo (the arches of the bridge it is named for/located next to) is also green, but I was too busy catching the drips of my cone to photograph it.

 


The Arno has been green much of April, so I had a feeling it would be part of this month's ROY. Below are a few snaps from today; I liked the patterns the wind made as it blew opposite the current, and the varying shades as the water caught the light, the sky & the greenery along the banks...

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For links to more green-inspired photos, please visit the

blogs of artists Jennifer Coyne Qudeen & Julie Booth.