On a side note: thanks for all the sign-ups for my newsletter- I’m overwhelmed by your reponse – first issue out soon!

Peanut butter was pretty difficult to find when I first moved to Italy; even in Rome where there are a few “international food stores” (like Castroni), portions were small, expensive, and often brands I didn’t recognize.

Now it’s easier to find peanut butter, and even some bigger / normal grocery stores will carry a jar. I find that Skippy peanut butter is most common; I think that’s because the brand, while an American brand, is very popular in the Philippines and so it gets imported for them. But there are ingredients on the label I don’t recognize, so I don’t buy it.

I often stick jars of all-natural peanut butter, sunflower seed butter, or almond butter in my luggage when I come back to Italy from a trip to the US or UK. But as my trip schedule can be unpredictable, more recently I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own.

My cupboard is full of nuts and seeds – they make great toppings for yogurt, oatmeal, and salads; they make a great go-to snack while traveling or just in the afternoon. I started stocking up on raw, unsalted nuts when I realized some of my (used-to-be-favorite) nut brands include flavor enhancers like yeast extract to flavor them (read about why I think flavor enhancers should be avoided in my How to Make Chicken Stock & avoid MSG post). If you buy nuts, make sure the label says, NUTS and nothing else. A little salt is ok, but you might even enjoy it more if you salt them yourself – at least you can control the amount that way.

Raw, unsalted nuts mean I have a great raw material to cook with, to make into something else, and for normal snacking. Now when I snack on almonds, I don’t eat the whole bag. :)

So when my beloved almond butter was running low and there was no stocking-up trip on the near horizon, I decided to just do it myself. It’s so easy, it’s almost ridiculous to write up a recipe. The most important thing you need is patience – they will turn into butter! Try it yourself and let me know any variations you take on the recipe.

Homemade Almond Butter

Note: I think almonds with the skin on make the best butter, but it’s up to you. 

Unsalted almonds (if already toasted, skip step 1)
A food processor
Pinch salt, if desired

1. Preheat the oven to 350F / 180C. Spread the almonds in a single layer on a cookie sheet and roast for 10-15 minutes. Check halfway through and give them a shake / mix them up so they are toasted on both sides. Make sure they don’t burn, so keep an eye on them! Let the almonds cool for 30-60 minutes, until they are cool to the touch.
2. In your food processor, put the almonds in, set it to a medium or high setting, and let it do its magic! It will take time (even 10-15 minutes of continuous blending) so if you need to stop it every so often to let it cool down or to scrape the sides of the processor, do so. The almonds will go from powdery dry chunks to chunky clumps, and finally you’ll start to see a sheen as the oil in them starts breaking down. Depending on how chunky or smooth you want your almond butter (I like mine extra chunky) you’ll want to be extra patient.
   Here’s mine closer to the end – this is when I added just a bit of salt and tasted it after blending:

And when it was ready, I poured it into a jar that was almost empty and put it in the fridge! I suggest putting it in the fridge unless you’re planning to consume it quickly (within a week). I’ve had mine for about 2 months now and it’s still good; many sites suggest 3 months is max. You can also freeze almond butter, but I never have; so if you have let others know in the comments!

Will you try to make your own almond butter? Do you prefer another nut instead? 

---
Related Articles at Ms. Adventures in Italy:

• No oil, sugar, or butter Microwave Chocolate Happy Birthday Cake
• I have a newsletter – won’t you sign up?
• Recipes

The monthly newsletter will come to you from me, Sara Rosso (you did know that was my name, not Ms. Adventures, right?), and will be inspired by the areas that most interest me and my various sites: food, travel, technology, healthy living, photography, and more!

It won’t be just a repeat of what I’ve already done or shared online but will have some content I’m saving special for the newsletter, too! I’ll highlight inspiring articles & sites from around the web, interesting profiles of people & things that I admire, what you might have missed that I’ve written, and tools / sites / gadgets that I’d recommend you check out! I’ll probably throw in a few giveaways for newsletter subscribers to see who’s reading ;)

Of course: It will be free and there’ll be an unsubscribe link in every email. I have no interest in holding you and your email address hostage! :)

If you’re interested, insert your email address below. The first issue will be going out at the end of this month (don’t forget to click on the confirmation email that will arrive to activate your subscription).

If you don’t see the box above to insert your email address, click through to the post, or head to this page and sign up with your email address!

….Next up, making homemade almond butter!

---
Related Articles at Ms. Adventures in Italy:

• How to Make Homemade Almond Butter
• Ready to be an e-reader?
• Practicing ahimsa

This year, co-host Michelle from Bleeding Espresso & I have a special treat for you: a Nutella Book! This quick guide is available on Amazon for Kindle & practically every mobile device, you can even read it on your PC! Read on for more information.

The Unofficial Guide to Nutella

We, the World Nutella Day co-hosts, decided to put together this primer for both aspiring and veteran Nutella fans to better understand their favorite hazelnut spread and help spread the word about Nutella!

Inside the guide, you’ll find Nutella recipes with full-color photos (black & white on classic Kindle), an introduction on how to eat Nutella, our favorite Nutella combinations, fun ideas for how to enjoy Nutella, how to throw your own Nutella party, and much more.

So whether you’re a new or old-school Nutella fan, whether you’re looking for ideas to participate in World Nutella Day on February 5th, or you just want a quick way to show your friends what the fuss is about, the Unofficial Guide to Nutella has something for you.

We set the price of Unofficial Guide to Nutella to just 99cents (local currency, some VAT tax may apply) on most Amazon stores, and you can give it as a gift, too!

Get your copy now!

For Amazon Kindle (book content is in English):

• The Unofficial Guide to Nutella on Amazon.com
• The Unofficial Guide to Nutella on Amazon.co.uk
  
• The Unofficial Guide to Nutella on Amazon.de
  
• The Unofficial Guide to Nutella on Amazon.fr
• The Unofficial Guide to Nutella on Amazon.it
• The Unofficial Guide to Nutella on Amazon.es

Other formats & stores coming soon!

Help!

I don’t have a Kindle! What is this ebook stuff? Don’t worry! You can read this book! Read our FAQ about the Unofficial Guide to Nutella ebook with info on how to read it on any device (in your computer’s browser, on a PC/Mac, iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, and more!) Still not sure? Leave a comment below and we’ll help you figure it out.

If you’ve submitted a World Nutella Day recipe in the past, and you’re interested in being included in  a future Nutella book, drop us a line or leave a comment here on this site.

Now onto the main event!

We had a Dream. And a Spoon.

Nutella Lovers Unite for Just One Day – Nutella Day!

Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso solemnly declare Sunday, February 5th “World Nutella Day 2012″ – a day to celebrate, to get creative with, and most importantly, to EAT Nutella.

It’s Easy!

Make a recipe using Nutella. Eat Nutella with a spoon. A big one. Make art with Nutella. Wax poetic about Nutella. Cuddle with Nutella. Strike a pose with Nutella. Re-live your first experience eating Nutella. Offer Nutella as a sacrifice. Have a Nutella-eating contest or a Nutella party!

1. Do something, anything with Nutella. Make a recipe, take a picture of yourself eating it with a BIG spoon, make art, wax poetic, re-live your first experience eating Nutella. Have a Nutella-eating contest or even a Nutella party!
2. Take pictures and/or upload a video, document it all, and publish it ON February 5th, 2012. In your post, include links to Ms Adventures in Italy, Bleeding Espresso, and World Nutella Day as well as the World Nutella Day badge/button (below – right mouse click, Save image…). Please try to post ON FEBRUARY 5th so that we can create a true chocolaty hazelnut wave across the Internet on World Nutella Day!
3. Email nutelladay [at] nutelladay [dot] com with the subject “Nutella Day Entry” and include:

• Your & Your Blog’s Name
• Your Post URL/Permalink

Some other ways to participate on February 5th:

• On Twitter, tweet your love for Nutella and include the hashtag #nutelladay in your tweet! @NutellaDay will retweet some of the great ones!
• On Facebook, update your status to proclaim your love and link to www.nutelladay.com! And make sure you’re a fan of the World Nutella Day Facebook Page on Facebook! We’ll be posting some special content that day to the FB Fan page, too.
• A handy guide on How to Host a World Nutella Day Party at home!
• Be sure to also add your photos to the Nutella Day Flickr Pool !

Differently than prior years, we’ll be highlighting a selection of the most interesting happenings/recipes/videos/Tweets about World Nutella Day on Monday, February 6, 2012, but in the meantime, please feel free to post this announcement on your blog to spread the word!

And if you want to use an organic or other type of Nutella substitute, go for it! It’s all about the chocolate and hazelnut love!

Check out the last five years of World Nutella Days for inspiration:

• World Nutella Day 2007 Part I and Part II
• World Nutella Day 2008 Part I and Part II
• World Nutella Day 2009 Part I and Part II
• World Nutella Day 2010 Part I and Part II
• World Nutella Day 2011 Part I and Part II

We’ll be looking forward to your participation!

---
Related Articles at Ms. Adventures in Italy:

• World Nutella Day – February 5th, 2008!
• Announcing World Nutella Day 2009: February 5th
• World Nutella Day Celebrates 5th Anniversary on February 5th

2011 was a great year for me, really. It was the year that my body caught up with my mind in terms of happiness. Here are some sites, tools, and statistics from my 2011 – think of it as my personal report card but also my personal recommendation list of tools/software/stuff I’m using all in one in the areas of Social Networking & websites, Photography & tech gadgets, Ebooks & reading, Healthy living, Travel and Charitable giving! Add your own recommendations in the comments.

Social Networking, Feeds & My Sites

• Daily sites I visit: Twitter and Facebook, though I only post on Twitter daily. I joined Google+ but don’t do much there, and I still use Flickr though not much socially. LinkedIn is still my choice for professional networking.
• New & interesting: I joined Pintrest which I think is a really interesting visual bookmarking & curation platform. I also love seeing how people pin photos from Ms. Adventures in Italy and the comments they leave to themselves – a little peek into their own lives. Path is getting a lot of attention post re-design but I haven’t joined as of now.
• Done with: I joined Diaspora (the open-source social network platform) in 2010, and I deleted my profile in 2011. I removed myself from a lot of other sites and newsletters I wasn’t using.
• Domains I have active websites on: 9 – all using WordPress - I moved my tech blog When I Have Time to WordPress.com from self-hosted, launched my healthy living site, Food Blogger on a Diet, on WordPress.com, and started using a simple mobile blog on WordPress.com for photos that I Tweet on Twitter. World Nutella Day continues to blow up bigger every year (it’s one month from today!)
• RSS Feeds – Still more than 400 feeds, and I continue using Google Reader to manage them (I can’t quit you!) I delved heavily into the Healthy Living blog scene (it’s really busy and rocking!) and continued to add sites of strong women in business/tech/other areas.
• My Popular posts on Ms. Adventures in Italy: The 5 most popular posts published in 2011 on this site were: Flourless Nutella Chocolate Cake Recipe for World Nutella Day 2011, Gluten-free Food and Restaurants in Italy, No oil, sugar, or butter Microwave Chocolate Happy Birthday Cake, How to Order an Italian Coffee in Italy: the ebook on Amazon Kindle!, and Maritozzo – Sweet Bread Rolls filled with Whipped Cream.

Photography, Video & other Tech stuff:

• Tech Blog: My tech alter-ego, When I Have Time, had a good year – 6 popular posts published in 2011:  Productivity on your Android Mobile – 10 Tips & 40+ Apps, No offense, I don’t want to be friends on Facebook, Baker Ebook Framework: Publish for the iPad using HTML5, How to Use WordPress as a Website (not Blog), My Ignite at LeWeb 2011 – The Future Way of Working: The Distributed Company and Tools for Entrepreneurs: Create. Collaborate. Communicate.
• Camera: Still using my Canon 7D - I feel more comfortable with it and as part of using it more often, I just ordered a Banana Hammock from Crumpler.eu so I can stick it in my purse/backpack with a single lens and be ready!
• Lens: No new lens purchases in 2011, but I think 2012 is when I will get a better zoom or a wide angle. I still use my 50mm 1.4 all the time as well as my zoom 28-135mm travel lens and the 85mm lens. For a wide angle, I’m eyeing the 10-22mm, the 17-40mm, or my dream lens 16-35mm.
• Quick shots & video: I don’t really use the Canon PowerShot SD750 7.1MP much – I use my Android Nexus S phone (whose camera is not great but works) for quick shots and I’m using Kodak PlaySport for video (especially underwater! Kauai was fun with it)
• Other toys: Finally joined the smartphone crowd with a used Nexus S. I almost bought the iPad 2 the day after it came out while in Austin but decided not to and still use my iPad 1 every day (but I’ll be paying attention to the iPad 3 prob coming out in a few months). I bought an iPod Nano in late 2010 and I’ve used it almost every day in 2011 – love the ability to clip it on.
• Backing up Data & External drives: This continues to be the most important part of my regime – backup! I am still employing the 3,2,1 method – 3 copies of everything, 2 onsite, 1 offsite. For the onsite, I have a new Western Digital MyBook 3TB (that’s 3 Terabytes! woo), and for offsite/cloud backup I switched to Carbonite from Mozy. (Read more about How to Backup Files using Online and Offline Software on my tech blog.)
• Lists/organization: I switched my To-Do list-mania to Wunderlist from Remember the Milk. Totally recommend checking them out. (Read about my holy trinity of productivity: How I Organize my Email, Lists and Brainstorming: My Holy Trinity of Productivity)
• More photography & tech gadgets!

Reading and Ebooks

I’ve always been a voracious reader. Now I read more books than ever – though I stopped keeping track of them in my little spreadsheet.

• Books (new) read in 2011: Um, yeah. I bought 155 ebooks in 2011. I have a good record at finishing books I buy, so let’s call it 130 new books read (and I re-read older books, too). My favorite time to read is before bed – the iPad’s backlighting is great for this (iPad wins over Kindle here)
• Ebook reading devices & Apps: I use the iPad as my main reading device, and sometimes switch to my Nexus S Android phone, and my page position on a particular book is synced across them via the Amazon Kindle app. I also use the Stanza app for my reading, but since Amazon bought it and subsequently stopped development, I’m looking for something new.
• Me, Ebook Publisher: I also published another ebook, this time available through Amazon! How to Order an Italian Coffee in Italy is doing well – pick up your own copy! My other ebook, 101 American Foods to Try in the USA is still available and free.
• Book tracking: I signed up for Good Reads but really appreciate the recommendations and lists the most rather than for my own tracking.
• Ebook Advocate: I have been digital for 6 years now and have never regretted it – I wrote a Guide to Ebooks on my tech blog, When I Have Time, for those that are new to ebooks or are interested in getting started!

Travel and Moving Around

I was super lucky to have traveled so much in 2011, a lot of it for work, and I honestly hope it continues…indefinitely.

• Tracking travel with online sites: Still using TripIt with its great forward&track it capability, but I’m missing Dopplr’s statistics.
• Flights taken in 2011: 35. Most flights in a short period – 3: MXP – JFK – DTW – AUS. And 6 hours later, two more flights AUS – DFW – ELP.
• Cities lived in: 1 – Milan, Italy.
• Countries visited: 6 – US (2x), France, Spain, Hungary, London/GB (2x), Kenya.
• U.S. states visited: 5 – California, New Mexico, Texas, Hawaii, New York.
• Longest trip: coming back from Kenya to Italy on New Year’s Eve – the result was tragic, went almost 48 hours without sleeping and was really destroyed when ushering out 2011. Method: Bus + Airplane + Train.
• Train rides: Several crazy day trips, including one to Venice and one to Rome. The Frecciarossa trains in Italy are getting faster and better (and more expensive) – I can get to Milan from Rome in less than 3 hours (compared to 4.5 when I first moved here).
• Years with a car: 2 (previously was 6 years without a car). I still need to get my Italian license, that’s going to happen in 2012!
• Other travel gadgets I recommend!

---
Related Articles at Ms. Adventures in Italy:

• 2011 Year in Review in Pictures
• 2010 Year in Review: Sites, Tools & Statistics
• 2010 Year Review in Pictures