Agrodolce. Let that word roll off your tongue a few times. It is an Italian word meaning sour/sweet and is pronounced agro-doltchay. Many foods can be agrodolce but it was figs that stole my heart recently in New York City at Mario Batali's wildly fun Otto restaurant. Figs agrodolce are one of a few stellar side dishes on offer at Otto, soft, succulent and oozing with a honey and balsamic vinegar infusion. Plumped up by a soft simmer in a sour/sweet bath, the net effect is fruit that is both jammy and savoury, a winning, memorable play on flavours that is immediately addictive.

Of course I came home and started my own agrodolce experiments. Figs and rosemary are something I dream about, so that became the starting point for my little figgy stew, along with honey and balsamic vinegar and a splash of water. Salt and pepper enhance the building of flavours. In a pot cover some good dried figs with a mixture roughly in equal parts - honey, balsamic vinegar and water - add in chopped fresh rosemary, a bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste - and simmer, covered, until your figs are very soft but not mushy and your agrodolce sauce is thick and syrupy. If your figs are cooked but your sauce feels too loose, you may need to boil off some of the extraneous liquid at this point. Just continue simmering the figs with the lid off the pot until the desired syrup-stage is achieved. Cool these babies down a bit and serve up with roasted meats or a platter of cheeses. Cooking time will vary depending on how dry the figs are. A guesstimate is roughly one hour to render dried figs into fat softness.

I need to confess that my recipe is an approximation of the delectible dish I ate in New York. If you want agrodolce advise from the man himself, Mario Batali, here is a recipe of his for onions agrodolce, from which you can extrapolate a figgy treatment if you choose to.

Sweet and Sour Onions---Cipolline Agrodolce from http://www.cookingchanneltv.com

4 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil; 2 pounds small white cipolline onions; 1/3 cup sugar; 1 cup white wine vinegar; 1 cup water; Salt and pepper to taste

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine all ingredients, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 40 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally so that the onions don't stick to the bottom of the pan. The onions should be easily penetrated with a paring knife but should not be falling apart.

Remove the lid and continue to cook until the liquid has evaporated and the onions are glossy and dark brown, taking care not to burn. Remove from heat and serve.

Fruit and vegetables have a way of speaking to me, inspiring me to play around with them and use them in unusual ways, from sweet to savoury, with agrodolce being an intriguing melding of disparate themes. It's OK to play with your food! Have more fun playing with flavours with these books:

Are you looking for more than a week or two visiting a country? Would you like to immerse yourself in the way of life? Perhaps you are contemplating a gap year. If you would to work abroad for a year or possible two, SWAP can ease your way.

"SWAP Working Holidays is a non-profit program that offers young Canadians a truly unique opportunity to explore the world through work and travel. Originally the Student Work Abroad Program, many countries now permit non-student youth to participate, so [SWAP] have changed [the] name into SWAP Working Holidays!" (From the SWAP website)

SWAP representatives have all the answers for preparing students and others to live and work abroad. The program will be:

You can find information on living and working abroad through books at Calgary Public Library. You might check out the Moon Guidebooks, such as:

There are similar guidebooks for many countries, for instance:

Pigeon Parades in Venice, Italy

Simon celebrated his fourth birthday in Venice, Italy. He picked the itinerary on birthday day, which meant we spent most of the day in St. Mark’s Square, feeding popcorn to the pigeons and feeding ice cream to Simon. Our secret to successful travel with a preschooler was bribery of gelato ice cream at the end of each hike or museum. Simon learned the Italian words for numbers and flavours. By the end of the trip we could all speak gelato!

To prepare Simon before the trip, we read him picture books. In Angelo by David Macaulay, an Italian stonemason restoring the façade of a church befriends an injured pigeon. However, the one we were asked to read over and over was Papa Piccolo by Carol Talley. A tomcat living in Venice adopts two homeless kittens. We acted out the scene in which the cats fall in the canal by falling off the bed onto the blue carpet.

Since our trip, two new picture books with Venetian settings have been published. I took home The Famous Nini : a Mostly True Story of How a Plain White Cat Became a Star by Mary Nethery, and Simon declared it “good for young kids”.Olivia Goes to Venice by Ian Falconer has the famous cartoon pig superimposed on Venetian photos. My favourite line was, “As they went through the airport, Olivia was searched for weapons. She was very pleased.” That certainly reflected Simon’s attitude to removing his shoes at security. We worried he would be worried, but Simon was too busy trying to get a look at the x-ray luggage screen to think about it.

At age four, Simon was too young for one of Mom’s favourite books, The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. This would be enjoyed by kids 9 to 13. It’s about two orphans trying to survive on the streets in Venice. They are given sanctuary in an abandoned movie theatre by the Thief Lord, a mysterious teenager. Simon has since enjoyed the movie version from the library.

Adults might enjoy The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt, the author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It’s a true story filled with some unique characters who call Venice home.

Simon’s favourite Venetian activities:

· Looking at the fish in the outdoor market. He helped a little snail in its escape from the sale table into the canal

· Riding boats up and down the canal- vaporetto and traghetti are cheaper than gondolas

· Being four, Simon spent a lot of time looking at cars and trucks in Calgary. In Venice, he watched for the Italian counterparts: the garbage boat, the delivery boats, fireboats, and the Police boat. We watched a high speed police boat chase when we visited the island of Murano

· Running up and over the endless bridges with Grandma in hot pursuit

I love this new series by Lonely Planet. The Discover guidebooks highlight the 25 top experiences for each travel destination as well as including practical itineraries and "must-see" recommendations from local experts. The books include beautiful colour photographs as well as maps and practical information. We have the following destinations here already with others on order, arriving soon.

We also have Discover Australia, Discover Thailand, and Discover Germany with destinations like Great Britain, France and Peru on order. Discover this great series for yourself!!