Friday night, Taeyana's ballet class performed in the Embassy Talent Show. Check her out on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQfDJ5pVscs
Monday, April 11, 2011
Taeyana's Ballet
Friday night, Taeyana's ballet class performed in the Embassy Talent Show. Check her out on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQfDJ5pVscs
Friday, April 8, 2011
Our First Visitors!!
We had our first visitors from home last night, Michael and Diane Capone who are our son's grandparents. They were at the tail end of their visit to Italy and took us out to dinner at the Hard Rock cafe. As you can see by my eyes, I was REALLY EXCITED! It was great to have friendly faces from home and talk about our loved ones. I forget that I really don't know anyone here and that everyone is a new acquaintance with all the work that that entails. Oh, and everyone at the Hard Rock speaks English and they serve American food that I hadn't realized that I missed. It was good to be out as a family and Rome comes alive at night. Oh, and the air is perfect, too!! All in all, it was a wonderful time. Thank you Capones!!!
Friday, March 25, 2011
Why they sell bread in stores
Short answer: it is really hard to make or at least make well enough to eat. After a long debate with myself over whether or not to make yet another batch of chocolate chip cookie dough-I mean cookies, I opted to use all my flour to make a basic foccaccia recipe. Now me and baking have not always gotten along well as baking is a science while cooking is an art. Needless to say, I disagreed with the author's recipe and went off in my own directions. It is like using the GPS--even if you don't agree, maybe, just maybe someone else knows better. I mixed and kneaded and mixed and kneaded my own worst Play-Doh nightmare, adding more water to one, then oil to another.
Somehow after my brutality, the four little balls of dough made at least a general effort to rise though not enough to make the bread light but enough that I didn't throw them all in the garbage and walk to the store. I was tempted to take a picture of them basking in the sunshine through the window, glistening with oil and rosemary but failed to get the camera out in time to capture the idyllic moment when I still thought my might taste good.
Dinner hour has rolled around and I have turned my Celsius oven on to MAX--I get up to 200 C before it just goes to MAX whatever that means. We should all have ovens that have a MAX setting. Now I cook by smell--does it smell like I want to eat it or is it on fire. Who knows. My cookie sheets are a fraction too big so they sit at a slant in the little oven, a friendly light illuminating my efforts to feed my family. I am without hope that they are edible but for a few more moments, I will sit and smell the blossoming scent of homemade bread and olive oil with a very big glass of red wine to drown my tears in afterward.
Somehow after my brutality, the four little balls of dough made at least a general effort to rise though not enough to make the bread light but enough that I didn't throw them all in the garbage and walk to the store. I was tempted to take a picture of them basking in the sunshine through the window, glistening with oil and rosemary but failed to get the camera out in time to capture the idyllic moment when I still thought my might taste good.
Dinner hour has rolled around and I have turned my Celsius oven on to MAX--I get up to 200 C before it just goes to MAX whatever that means. We should all have ovens that have a MAX setting. Now I cook by smell--does it smell like I want to eat it or is it on fire. Who knows. My cookie sheets are a fraction too big so they sit at a slant in the little oven, a friendly light illuminating my efforts to feed my family. I am without hope that they are edible but for a few more moments, I will sit and smell the blossoming scent of homemade bread and olive oil with a very big glass of red wine to drown my tears in afterward.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Birthday in Rome
Here is a link to all the photos I took with descriptions so that you will know what you are looking at. I had a fantastic birthday here in Rome with so many friends and family sending me love and good wishes. Thank you so very much. Can't wait to share more of my adventures with you throughout the year!
Click here to view photos
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Sunshine and the Chiana Market
Rain was predicted all week. And I mean rain. It is not a sprinkle or a shower. It is intense, sleety rain that comes down so fast I have to look at the puddles on the ground outside to tell if it is actually raining. It doesn't actually stop anyone from doing anything (like snow in a place I used to be) and it does make the city smell nice. Everything is in bloom here and most of the trees on our street are in bloom.
Despite the dire weather forecast, a friend and I planned to get our littlest girls together on Tuesday. It must have been a charm because the sun was out and beautiful. It got up to 63 degrees and we had on short sleeves. After helping my friend back her car into my seemingly shrinking garage, we headed down the street to the Chiana Market. Chiana (kee-anna) is a short but very busy, tree-lined street. There are a number of shops and restaurants including our nearest gelataria and take-away pizza place.
The market itself in indoors and down a flight of stairs. Inside you can find absolutely everything you would at a grocery store. Not only are there fruit and vegetable stands, there are butchers, bakers, a huge fish-monger (what else do you call them?), wine shops, dry goods, homemade pasta as well as cleaning supplies and paper goods. You can even buy clothes there. We tried to think of something we would need but found it all. The egg woman will even sell you a single egg if you want!
My first time there I met a very sweet veg woman who took to my daughter though Tae refused her offer of olives or a banana. Her stuff covers 4 stalls and had all I was hoping for--enormous strawberries, pears and clementines. I am on a fruit kick. She also cleans and preps vegetables so I can buy packages of cleaned green beans, pull them out of the fridge and pop them in boiling water. So easy! I also bought fresh made salad mix, minestrone mix, fresh herbs (they really do make all the difference) and uncured fresh olives that are to die for. After paying, she went around with a bag and filled it with odds and ends of vegetables and herbs as a bonus. I made bruschetta with my fresh tomatoes and basil for dinner and have plans to roast a chicken with rosemary and lemons for my birthday tomorrow.
Outside the market, there are various tables set out selling everything from clothing to household goods, socks and underwear, purses and pots and pans. Items are inexpensive and the vendors change out daily so there is always the chance of some new find for 2 euros. You can get underwear for 50 cents here. (Great big underwear.)
My friend and I walked up the street to Pizza Kebab, my secret nook that will make my daughters chicken nuggets and fries without rolling their eyes or chasing us out when more customers arrive. As I continued to point out different shops, bus stops that would take me to the Colosseum or to Trevi Fountain, I realized that I had my legs under me once again and that this neighborhood was finally feeling like my own. Just then we discovered a little Illy coffee bar and hadn't yet seen and the day just got even better . . .
Despite the dire weather forecast, a friend and I planned to get our littlest girls together on Tuesday. It must have been a charm because the sun was out and beautiful. It got up to 63 degrees and we had on short sleeves. After helping my friend back her car into my seemingly shrinking garage, we headed down the street to the Chiana Market. Chiana (kee-anna) is a short but very busy, tree-lined street. There are a number of shops and restaurants including our nearest gelataria and take-away pizza place.
The market itself in indoors and down a flight of stairs. Inside you can find absolutely everything you would at a grocery store. Not only are there fruit and vegetable stands, there are butchers, bakers, a huge fish-monger (what else do you call them?), wine shops, dry goods, homemade pasta as well as cleaning supplies and paper goods. You can even buy clothes there. We tried to think of something we would need but found it all. The egg woman will even sell you a single egg if you want!
My first time there I met a very sweet veg woman who took to my daughter though Tae refused her offer of olives or a banana. Her stuff covers 4 stalls and had all I was hoping for--enormous strawberries, pears and clementines. I am on a fruit kick. She also cleans and preps vegetables so I can buy packages of cleaned green beans, pull them out of the fridge and pop them in boiling water. So easy! I also bought fresh made salad mix, minestrone mix, fresh herbs (they really do make all the difference) and uncured fresh olives that are to die for. After paying, she went around with a bag and filled it with odds and ends of vegetables and herbs as a bonus. I made bruschetta with my fresh tomatoes and basil for dinner and have plans to roast a chicken with rosemary and lemons for my birthday tomorrow.
Outside the market, there are various tables set out selling everything from clothing to household goods, socks and underwear, purses and pots and pans. Items are inexpensive and the vendors change out daily so there is always the chance of some new find for 2 euros. You can get underwear for 50 cents here. (Great big underwear.)
My friend and I walked up the street to Pizza Kebab, my secret nook that will make my daughters chicken nuggets and fries without rolling their eyes or chasing us out when more customers arrive. As I continued to point out different shops, bus stops that would take me to the Colosseum or to Trevi Fountain, I realized that I had my legs under me once again and that this neighborhood was finally feeling like my own. Just then we discovered a little Illy coffee bar and hadn't yet seen and the day just got even better . . .
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Follow-up to AM Rant
Saturday, I attended the 3rd Annual Rome Conference on Self-Esteem and Well-Being. It was a very lovely day and I met lots of people. There were several I already knew from the States there as well. I met Rossanna, a teacher from Naples and their group warmly embraced me. It was great fun to hang out with some Italians. I asked Rossanna about brown sugar. She told me they call it cane sugar here. HA! Score 1 point for hostile American baker, 0 points for snarky Italian sugar stacker! I went on to tell her about my Snapshot Rome. She looked puzzled and asked if my child had put the beer in the stroller or if she was smoking a cigar. When I said no, she laughed at me and said welcome to Rome. Curse my puritanical American roots--no points!
Friday, March 11, 2011
AM Grocery Rant
We live only a few short blocks from the local Punto Sma grocery store. I never fail to leave there without some small humiliation. The fact that I like to bring my child with me to the store to shop is already frowned upon. While the Italians love children, they really love them when they are at school or in parks. My determination to drag my three year-old everywhere including the bus, the grocery store and coffee bar has been met with a number of disapproving and shocked looks. A new friend here told me to simply look at them and yelll, " Non parlo italiano!" to make them scatter.
Today I felt bold as I had been there several times, knew my way around the store and had a LIST! I really wanted some brown sugar as I had forgot to grab it at the commissary as it would make my attempts at baking a bit softer than my current results. I grabbed a bag of sugar and asked "zucchero brun" (my best guess) and he looks at me (apparently I have fallen out of the sky) and reads the label very slowly to me "CANE SUGAR". Yeah, he said it really loud so everyone in the aisle looked. So I grabbed a more brownish looking bag and settled for that, my language attempt foiled again.
After being unable to convince Taeyana that we should by a whole octopus, frozen and shrink wrapped, we checked out. You bag your own here and it is expected that you bring your own bags. Knowing that the bag would be heavy as it was a milk/juice/soda/wine run, I was prepared with Tae's hot pink stroller. The streets have not readily lent themselves to the use of the stroller so this was only its second time out. You also bag your own groceries. So I put all the heavy stuff in the bag that will go in the stroller and the lighter things in a second bag and we are off!
I also needed to by tickets for the bus. Few buses have ticket machines so your only alternative is to buy them at the tabbachi- the tobacco store. Tabbachis sell cigarettes, candy bars, small gifts if you need a quick present, have slot machines and BUS TICKETS. I don't know how they got that gig but it is a good one. I drag my kid, my stroller and groceries in to buy 20 bus tickets from a man who seems perturbed he had to walk two feet to sell them to me.
On the way out, I realize that I have poorly packed my groceries and that my beer is at the top of the bag. Not even a full six-pack--a THREE pack. Who wants three beers? That is not even enough to get your prom date drunk!
So SNAPSHOT ROME: 8:45 am Me exiting a tobacco store with my three year old in her leopard print coat, pushing a hot pink stroller filled with a bag of beer. I think I will take it to the park.
Today I felt bold as I had been there several times, knew my way around the store and had a LIST! I really wanted some brown sugar as I had forgot to grab it at the commissary as it would make my attempts at baking a bit softer than my current results. I grabbed a bag of sugar and asked "zucchero brun" (my best guess) and he looks at me (apparently I have fallen out of the sky) and reads the label very slowly to me "CANE SUGAR". Yeah, he said it really loud so everyone in the aisle looked. So I grabbed a more brownish looking bag and settled for that, my language attempt foiled again.
After being unable to convince Taeyana that we should by a whole octopus, frozen and shrink wrapped, we checked out. You bag your own here and it is expected that you bring your own bags. Knowing that the bag would be heavy as it was a milk/juice/soda/wine run, I was prepared with Tae's hot pink stroller. The streets have not readily lent themselves to the use of the stroller so this was only its second time out. You also bag your own groceries. So I put all the heavy stuff in the bag that will go in the stroller and the lighter things in a second bag and we are off!
I also needed to by tickets for the bus. Few buses have ticket machines so your only alternative is to buy them at the tabbachi- the tobacco store. Tabbachis sell cigarettes, candy bars, small gifts if you need a quick present, have slot machines and BUS TICKETS. I don't know how they got that gig but it is a good one. I drag my kid, my stroller and groceries in to buy 20 bus tickets from a man who seems perturbed he had to walk two feet to sell them to me.
On the way out, I realize that I have poorly packed my groceries and that my beer is at the top of the bag. Not even a full six-pack--a THREE pack. Who wants three beers? That is not even enough to get your prom date drunk!
So SNAPSHOT ROME: 8:45 am Me exiting a tobacco store with my three year old in her leopard print coat, pushing a hot pink stroller filled with a bag of beer. I think I will take it to the park.
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