Holy Cannoli!

     Hanover Street in Boston's North End is home to some of the finest Italian restaurants in the Western Hemisphere.  The food options are seemingly endless at the small osterias that line both sides of the street.  Following a sumptuous meal I decided to take a walk and savor in the ambiance of the area.  It was like a stroll through Florence that I had taken nearly a decade earlier.

 



     As I perused the menus of the restaurants I glanced across the street to see a cathedral to calories, Mike's Pastry.  I could not help but walk in the door to take a look at their edible artwork.  There in the display cases were all things Italian.  Marzipan, torrone, biscotti were there, made fresh just hours earlier.  Amid the traditional Italian pastries like il pasticiotto, boconotto and parigini were some of the most beautiful (and largest) cannoli that I had ever seen in my entire life.  And the choices seemed endless.  It was difficult to chose just one of their 17 different varieties.  But eventually I picked out one peanut butter flavored cannoli to take back to my room to have for dessert. 

 



     Calories?  I'm not going to even contemplate how many miles it would take to walk it off.