oops....

English recipes do not work in Italy.


1.5 sticks of butter does not easily translate to grams when all you know is that 1.5 sticks = 12 tablespoons.


Tablespoons are a measure of volume.... Italians measure butter in grams... aka weight. Volume does not equal weight......


Therefore one ends up with molasses cookies that have waaaay too much butter..... Ooopsss!!!! 


Anyone want a flat, chewy, caramel-like molasses-ish cookie???

weekend thus far.

I feel the need to share with you that last night Breana and I went to this cute English pub called Kikuya (http://www.kikuyapub.it/) with some of our Italian guy-friends and a few of their girl-friends. These girls were evidently very displeased with our presence as they made many a rude comment and snide look our way. Then they decided that they wanted to play telefone.... in Italian....which naturally made Breana and I look like morons because we had no idea what they were saying because it was always some weird, long, complicated Italian phrase. Then we decided that we should get to choose one. At which point the girls panicked a little but Fiippo and Alessio said that of course we should pick one. So we did. Honkytonk Badonkadonk. Needless to say, we got them back. And then everyone started laughing and we all got over ourselves as I tried to explain in Italian what honkytonk badonkadonk means.... and then we played Jenga because for some reason it was set up on the table. Overall the night was a success, odd, but a success nonetheless.


BACIONE

every good day ends with a good meal

For some reason, I just can't be down in the country no matter what happens. Okay, well maybe I was down when I had bedbugs for weeks on end.... but looking back on it I already don't feel any upset. As a matter of face, after finding out today that my lil' bro Filippo does indeed have swine flu..... (which in turn means that what I have is some form of swine flu.....) I actually just smiled and laughed about it because you know what? I am in Italy. And I am having a great time. And yes, I had bedbugs for a month. Yes, I had to move to a new house. Yes, my wallet was then stolen, and yes, I now seem to have some form of swine flu...... but regardless - I am here in Florence with a FANTASTIC family and everything somehow remains pretty gosh darn incredible.

Anyway. I had a good day. Read a book in Italian, read a fable in Italian, wrote a 2 page paper in Italian. Things are lookin' up. I didn't have a fever. My bros were super cute all day. Filippo seems to be better given that he and Lorenzo were chasing each other around all day. I drank lots of tea. I cleaned my room. I got to listen to adorable Lorenzo practice Spanish in an Italian accent all afternoon. I watched the soccer game and la Fiorentina won (3-1 against Catania..... oh yeahhhh!) And then, to top it off, we had a delicious dinner!

Ravioli filled with squash or pumpkin or something of the sort (same word in Italian so I am not totally sure which it really was....), followed by bread and cheese and those amazing brussels sprouts smothered in Béchamel sauce. Perfetto!

So thank you, Florence, for torturing me but allowing me to enjoy you just the same!

Baci e abbracci as usual!

Un giorno perfetto!

Ciao a tutti!

Things just keep getting better and better! Last night Luciana made such an amazing dinner - fusilli bolognese (I think...) made without oil or butter, followed by thinly pounded chicken in an amazing light lemon sauce (again no oil or butter!), and then - the best part by far - homemade torta di zucchini which was like an exceptionally delicious quiche with a light, fluffy crust. Just when we all thought we were going to burst with joyful fullness, Luciana brought out a homemade panacotta - an Italian custard of sorts - with a blueberry sauce on top. Incredibile!

After dinner, Ali, Julie and I sat down to watch TV with Luciana - who knew that Criminal Minds in Italiano would be so good!!

Jet lag kept me up until about 1:30am which was unfortunate given that I was aiming to get up at 7:45 this morning (which I did not succeed in!)

This morning I woke up to breakfast, a nice simple Italian breakfast - pane tostato (toast!) with cherry marmalade and nutella, and some black tea - it was perfetto! Now I am about to commence my day, shower, wander to il centro to meet Alayna and everyone else, perhaps buy some fruit and chocolate and biscotti for snacks, as well as some postcards to send a casa mia in the U.S. and then we are meeting Giovanna for a lunch of cheese, bread and fruit (pardon me if I already explained this yesterday!) After that we are meeting some younger Italiani to talk with them and get to know the city more. Hopefully I can make my way home to take a nap before our 8pm (sharp!!) dinner, and ideally, I would love to go out after that! Unfortunately, the area where I live is near the train station which doesn't have the best nighttime reputation. I can get to il centro without directly passing the station so it should be okay, but when it gets late, I have to take a taxi home.... and no walking around at night alone - EVER - according to my dear nonna Luciana!

Più tarde!