First of all Happy George Washington’s Birthday because I am old enough to remember that in February we used to celebrate the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington separately and not just a lackluster amalgamation of all the presidents, the good, the mediocre, the bad, and the really bad. Since I am not a dessert maker I did not celebrate with a cherry pie (do kids even know this myth about young George and the chopping down of the cherry tree and his not being able to lie to his father?) Instead we had a dinner of grilled hamburgers and salad. Yum!

We have been in Italy for the past week celebrating having a credit with United Airlines that had to be used. We stayed in Florence the whole time where there are plenty of things to see and you do not need the hassle of a rental car to see them. We had a little self-catering apartment that we figured we could make small meals in and keep the dining out to once a day. So we made our breakfast and dinner in the apartment and went out to lunch each day. So breakfast was usually toast and coffee and tea plus the occasional scrambled eggs. Dinner was often wonderful Italian cold cuts, cheese, and chopped chicken livers which is a Florentine special treat.

I took some pictures of our lunches, of course. So here they are—

I know this is not dining lightly but given the fact that it was just one meal out each day and that we walked everywhere neither John or I gained any weight. What a total win!