Sunday, June 9, 2013

My Wish Came True!


I was outside early one morning recently, watering my front yard flowers when I saw a US Mail truck pull up in front of my house. The mailman handed this large and heavy "One Day Express" package to me. I was puzzled as to what could it be, and seeing all the "perishable" warnings that were all over the package I immediately went inside to open it.


Whatever was inside was well protected within a Styrofoam container that contained ice packs.


Removing the ice packs I saw that it was pizza from New York! If you remember, I wrote a blog post a few weeks ago called "What Do I Miss Most About New York City?"  At the end of the post, I stated that I was most yearning for a slice of New York City Pizza! As an early "special" birthday gift, my older brother and sister-in-law sent me pizza from New York as a gift!


The instructions sheets inside the box. (This photo, and all photos on my blog can be enlarged by clicking on the photo and then clicking on it again when it opens on a new tab.) My brother found a Long Island Pizzeria that also ships pizza, as well as other specialty items, all around the US and the world! They aptly call this "New York Flying Pizza"!  Information from their web site states:

"Our customers would constantly tell us about their relatives who moved away and how they miss New York Style Pizza. They would tell us “you can’t get good New York style pizza anywhere but New York”, being in the New York restaurant business all our lives we knew this to be true. We heard this daily, finally, we decided to do something about it and we started NY Flying Pizza in order to get New York style pizza to all our friends, family and loved ones. Everyone is finally able to order New York Pizza online."

Opening the box, I saw my brother and sister-in-law generously gifted me with not just one pizza, but two pizzas!  The pizzas were "par cooked" in the Flying Pizza brick oven and then frozen for shipping. All I had to do is preheat my oven and place the pizza directly on the rack to finish cooking. The top pizza is a Sicilian style pizza. It has a thick crust and is covered with sauce and lots of imported Italian cheese.



Since it was on top, we cooked this pizza first and shared it with our daughter and son-in-law. 


I sprinkled my own combination of pizza spices on top.  Ahhhhh---it tasted heavenly! I was immediately transported back in time and space to a NY pizzeria! The aroma, looks, and taste were authentic. There is just something about the crust of a NY pizza slice that makes it taste extra special.


The second pizza is called "Grandma Pizza."  It is a thin crust pizza covered with mozzarella and splashed with San Marzano tomatoes and fresh basil.


We cooked this a few days later and again invited our daughter and son-in-law to share the pie with us.


It was another delicious taste of New York!  I have no affiliation with Flying Pizza, and I am not being compensated in any way by them for this post. This was just a wonderful early birthday treat to me from my big brother and sister-in-law who read my blog post and wanted to give me a surprise that I'd always remember for my upcoming "special decade" birthday!  Thank you so much J and S!  You really made us all so happy to have a delicious taste of pizza from New York to enjoy one more time!  I love you both!


It has been absolutely beautiful here lately -- blue skies and temperatures in the 70s and 80s, although it may warm up, even more, this week.  Not having much humidity in the air makes such a big difference with my comfort level--I love it!  The air has been full of the fragrance of lilacs this week--so many of my neighbors have beautiful mature lilac bushes. I could not resist taking many photos of them to enjoy!


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Thursday, June 6, 2013

Andrea Bocelli at the Denver Pepsi Center




Now that the nice weather is here to stay, and our new lives living in Colorado are a little less hectic, my husband and I want to take advantage of all the wonderful concert and entertainment venues that the greater Denver area has to offer. As a treat for my upcoming "special" birthday, my dear husband surprised me with tickets to see Andrea Bocelli perform at Denver's Pepsi Center

The Pepsi Center, located at 1000 Chopper Circle in Denver, Colorado, is home to the Denver Nuggets (basketball team), the Colorado Avalanche ( hockey team ) and the Colorado Mammoth (Lacrosse team). The Center also hosts about 200 varied entertainment events--concerts, ice shows, circus, family entertainment, etc.

 Almost directly across the street from the Pepsi center is Brooklyn's, a large, nostalgic looking bar and grill.  Of course I had to go over to check it out, since I was a native of Brooklyn, NY.  It is a wonderful place to get a pre-show drink, appetizer, burger or sandwich, etc. I've learned it is one of a few different Brooklyn's located in Denver.



Entering the Pepsi Center, my excitement builds. I have all of his CD's but this is the first time I have seen him perform live! Andrea Bocelli performed songs from his new album "Passione,"  a stunning collection of Mediterranean love songs, sung in many languages. The album features duets with Jennifer Lopez, Nelly Furtado and the late Edith Pilaf.

Bocelli was accompanied last night by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Kohn and the Colorado Symphony Chorus.


Rising soprano star Maria Aleida sang a few solos, as well as duets with Bocelli. One of the encore finales they sang together was the very popular "Con te Partiro(Time to say Goodbye).


Also performing a magnificent violin solo, and accompanying Bocelli on a few songs, was violinist Caroline Campbell.


2004 American Idol winner Fantasia performed her signature song George Gershwin's "Summertime" and sang a few duets with Bocelli.


A surprise for my husband and myself was that towards the end of the concert Bocelli sang Frank Sinatra's song "New York, New York," while scenes from New York City were shown on the jumbo screen.  I think the song was a puzzlement to the Colorado crowd, but I felt as if it were a special song sang just for me!


Thank you, dear husband, and Andrea Bocelli, for a wonderful evening -- one I'll never forget!

To listen to a portion of Andrea Bocelli singing the ultimate finale encore of the night's concert, "Nessun Dorma," from the opera Turandot, go to my Mille Fiori Favoriti facebook page at this link. I'd also be honored if you "like" my blog's new facebook page!

To read an interesting interview with Andrea Bocelli click on this link on the Denver Post blog.


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