Domenica

Two blogs in less than 24 hours?!

Last Sunday was the very last Sunday I would have in Florence, so I wanted to be able to attend at least once church service, and what better place to go than the Cathedral. So Alicia and I woke up early for the third morning in a row to catch the 10:30 mass. It was beautiful! I got a little lost when taking communion, but I figured it out and I was so happy to have gone.

After mass, Alicia and another friend of ours wanted to visit Pisa. Being an experienced Pisa-tourist, I told them I'd go with them. I'm sure I've said this in other posts, but this weather is so fantastic, I cannot get over it! It hasn't gone past 85 in the last two weeks, and Sunday was no exception. It was high 70's and perfect! We stopped on our way to the tower for lunch and split a liter of wine and pizza.

Here's another good traveler's tip: If you go to Pisa, drink wine before hand! It makes it that much better and way more fun! :)

See what I mean about the wine?
Way more fun.

After we got back, which ended up being much later than we had planned, I was so happy that I had done so much in just one weekend! Still on a high, I needed to check one more thing off my list -- get a crepe. So Alicia and I went out, and we did!

Strawberries and nutella -- omg.

Gelateria right down the road from our apt.
Love the creepy gelato man.

What a good weekend! Now off to class...

Ciao!

Esse nufesso qui dice male di pasta!

One must be an idiot to speak ill of pasta!


As usual, I'm being slow when it comes to writing new blog posts. I'm sorry!

Anyways... going back to last weekend...

It was pretty much centered around food, and it was great! Friday was wine tasting in Chianti and Saturday was a cooking class in Bologna! Alicia, Richard and I started our day bright and early, and with a few twists and turns we eventually made it to Casa Ilaria for our class.

The first part of our day was spent in the markets that were scattered along the side streets. It was so cute! We were able to taste cheeses and balsamic vinegars and even though it was barely ten in the morning, our mouths were watering right off the bat! After getting the essentials, we headed back to the kitchen (that is actually part of a bed and breakfast -- very nice) and got our aprons on!

Markets

Our to-cook list was:

Tagliatelle noodles (hand-made), ragu' alla bolognese, and a chocolate salami (I'm sure it sounds more appetizing in Italian).

We first started making the bolognese sauce. It had to sit and cook for two hours.

These are the recipes Ilaria, our instructor, gave us -- word for word.

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Ragu' alla Bolognese

1 kg minced meat (pork and beef)

100 g minced onion, carrot, celery

150 g tomato sauce [she used puree]

100 g wine [we used a little bit of white and a little bit of red]

oil, salt

Stir fry vegetables until they get soft

Put the meat and cook it with high heat until it gives out all the water and gets brown, then add salt

Add wine and let dry, then add tomato sauce

Let it cook with low heat and half covered for at least 2 hours.

If you want to leave out fats, drain the oil from the meat before adding the wine.

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Alicia starting off the sauce!

Once we had all of the ingredients in the pan, we let it sit, checking on it and adding water every once in a while. It was really crazy to see how much liquid was absorbed and how much water we had to keep adding!

Next it was pasta time! Tagliatelle is a very traditional pasta from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Our cooking instructor actually went to school for pasta making, so we knew it was going to be great! I wish I could tell you all about everything and recite everything she told us, but I'm not the biggest/best cook, so I just kind of went with the flow. I can tell you that the weather plays a big part in how the pasta reacts and how you have to handle it. It it's really dry compared to if it's really wet, or cold or warm, etc. On Saturday I don't know what was going on with the weather, but we had to add lots of flour to get the right kind of dough. Apparently the weekend before was the exact opposite. Sorry for my blabbering, hopefully any cooks out there aren't disgraced by my lack of knowledge! I hope you at least enjoy the photos! :) 

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Basic Pasta

1 kg flour

10 eggs [we used three, 10 is for a lot of people]

Put flour on the table as if it was a volcano with a big hole in the middle

Break the eggs into the hole and work them with a fork to mix them into the flour

Be careful not to go out of the volcano!

When pasta becomes a little bit solid, start to work it with the hands for at least 20 minutes, to mix the ingredients very well

When it is ready, cut it in two balls [we didn't since we weren't working with THAT much], put them in a plastic bag and leave it rest for 30 minutes.

Then you can begin to work it with the rolling pin, trying to maintain a circle or an oval.

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mmm-mmm!

Once the dough was all mixed (I did get to do my share of kneading, just not pictures of it!) we set it aside to sit. While we were waiting for the dough we got started on the dessert, which also had to sit for about two hours.

At first a "chocolate salami" didn't sound that appealing, but once she explained what it was, and I found out it was about 99% chocolate, I was on board. It's a really easy recipe, too! And just a warning, these pictures don't make it look very good at all, but I promise that it was!

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Chocolate Salami

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

300 gr sugar

100 gr unsweetened cocoa

150 gr butter

200 gr hard cookies

(You can add hazelnuts, almonds, meringues)

Leave butter outside the fridge for a few hours

Cream butter with eggs and sugar, and add cocoa

Crush biscuits in a brown paper bag, leaving it chunky

Add to the mixture and mix well until combined

Empty onto aluminum foil, shape into a think sausage, wrap and roll until round

Chill for two hours

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I just ate about two hours ago and was completely full, and now after looking at these pictures my stomach is starting to rumble!

After the dessert was in the freezer, it was back to the pasta! There was a technique needed to roll the dough, and it took a lot of practice, but I think we all got it down by the end of the day!

Wrists had to stay down, hands cupped, but open, not putting too much pressure on the dough. So many things to think about all at once -- it was like learning out to drive stick-shift all over again!

Concentration...

Flipping the dough over was a completely different skill!

Success!

Doing my best to keep the knife FLAT!

So much fun!

YUM!

The meal was delicious! Honestly it was one of the best meals I've ever had in my life!

And then the dessert was a whole other story... 

Make all of the gross comments you want, but it was also delicious! It definitely could have used a few more hours in the freezer, but it was amazing nonetheless!

Haha.. mmmmm.........

If I hadn't been wearing leggings, it would have been an unbotton-your-jeans-after-the-meal kind of moment. Good thing our day in Bologna wasn't done just yet, and we still had some walking to do!

Recipes in hand, we set off to see the sights, but again, we got turned around a few times and only made it to a few places. But to be honest, I was completely okay with it. I was ready to go to bed! We were able to see, however, the Seven Churches and the oldest university still in use.

Santo Stefano - Sette Chiese

It was pretty, and really old

The university dates back to 1088 and is still being used today.

Alma Mater Studiorum

Pretty sweet, huh? I really liked Bologna and I would have loved to go back and explore it a little more, but alas, I'm down to my last week!

This coming weekend I will be in Paris! I simply cannot wait and I am so excited to be going. It's been one of those places that's been calling my name for a while, and I really hope it lives up to my expectations!

If you try any of these recipes, let me know! It's a long day of preparation and cooking, but it's totally work it!

xxoo,

Kelly

Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy

Benjamin Franklin said that.

I apologize for the lull in blog posts, but this past week I have been pretty busy with my classes, and also feeling very lazy. But I'm back!

Last weekend one of my sorority sisters was here visiting! It was so much fun! We were able to see so much and even took a day trip to Fiesole, which is a small town that over looks Firenze. It is much older than Firenze, since that was the original settlement before people moved down by the river.

Lots of walking up and down

Over looking Firenze!

Sorelle :)

The monastery of San Francesco

Ancient ruins!

Fiesole

 Like I said, this city was founded much before Firenze, so they have a lot of Etruscan ruins. However, being college students on a budget, we decided to skip the actual museum and walked around the edge of the fence instead. As you can see above, it was just as good!

Kate and I

It was so nice to see a familiar face in Florence! I'll be seeing her again in Paris! And I actually have two other people I know that will be in Florence this next week. I'm definitely looking forward to all of that!

This weekend is going to be full of adventures, too. Today I went with SRISA to Chianti, and tomorrow Alicia and I are going to Bologna. We're taking a cooking class in Bologna, and I am very excited about that. You'll have to check in (hopefully) later this weekend to see how that went.

Chianti, however, was fantastic! Anything that involves beautiful vineyards and wine tasting is bound to be great, but this was really great. Chianti is right outside of Florence, and we were in a section called Greve. We stopped in the city center first this morning and were able to wonder and find some food or whatever we wished to do. A lot of people are in photography classes this session, so it was definitely a great opportunity for all of them.

The town was very quiet and small, so after finding a great bakery we just chilled until it was time to pick up and move.

Giovani da Verrazzano, he discovered NY.

After having a lazy morning, we jumped back on the buses and made the trip up all of the winding hills to Castello di Verrazzano. Apparently when the original family first bought the estate it was occupied with tons of wild boars, so translated, Verrazzano means "lives with the boars" or something along those lines.

Chianti is, as you should know, the wine district of Tuscany. Chianti wines are different from the rest and undergo long processes and must follow strict guidelines. It was the first wine every documented in the Americas, and has been very important to the region for many many years.

They have either Chianti Classico or Reserve, and each batch must be tested to make sure it qualifies as the right product and is worthy of the high quality pink ribbon around the top of the bottle. I wish I could tell you everything our tour guide told us about the process and what goes into each type of wine, but I don't remember. It was really cool though, and the history behind it was great.

Renaissance pond

Wild boar!

Lemons

Verrazzano competition across the hills

Making prosciutto

After the tour, we were taken to the restaurant for the taste testing, along with a spread of meats and cheeses. I was in heaven!

We were taught how to assess a glass of wine before drinking it. First, you put the glass up to your nose to smell it. Then, you hold the glass up against something light or white to test the color and make sure it matches up with the age of the wine; if it's a younger wine it will be a deeper red, if it is older it will have a more golden tint to it. After the color, you swish it around in the glass a few times, making sure you really move it around. Then take another whiff, and you'll notice that the aroma has changed. I don't know what the difference should be, but I know that it should smell different after swishing it around!

Dessert!

The first wine we tried was the Verrazzano Rosso, next the Chianti Classico, and third we had Chianti Reserve. Out of all of them, I think the Rosso was my favorite. For dessert we had Vino Santo, or the holy wine. You dip your biscotti in it, let the wine soak in, and drink it through the cookie. It was great, but so sweet. A little bit definitely went a long way. The dessert wine was the only tasting where we were only given a glass. The rest we got in bottles to share with the table, so I think it's safe to say that we all had about four or five glasses of wine. By the end of lunch, we were feeling great.

We still had a few hours before heading back to Firenze, so we made a few purchases at the vinery store and then went out walking. We helped ourself to the pathway down the vineyards. It was so beautiful, and right then and there I decided that if I were to move to Italy I would have to have a house somewhere with a view of the countryside. Having a vineyard wouldn't be too bad, either!

Happy as a grape!

As usual, the pictures don't do the scenery justice. And throughout the entire day the person I was thinking most about was my dad. After smelling the Chianti Classico, I said "this smells like my dad!" If you know him then you understand that that is not a bad thing at all. He needs to do this, along with many other things I've been so fortunate to do on this trip. I'll just add it to the list of reason to come back with my family :)

It was a beautiful day with wonderful weather, friends and wine. What more could you ask for?

Next week is our last week of class! I can't believe this month has gone by so quickly. Next weekend I'm off to Paris, and the weekend after that I'll be at a wedding in Gaylord. That is so weird to think about. I need to go find a good pair of shoes before I go! I guess that is what I'll be searching for this week :)

xoxo