Room to Think

So remember how I left you off with the delicious amount of birthday desserts I have to choose from in Italy? Here's one more: the Zeppole Courtesy of seriouseats.com This fried feast is filled with ricotta cheese, and I guess is often confused with France's delicious beignets. I think it can also be filled with fruit. Bottom line, I think I would like to try this thing. I think Italians know how to throw a party because they get so much practice as they grow up. They know they have to front the bill, and they know that their party will be as big as they want it. When I was growing up here, I learned that Filipinos kind of do things the same way. If you're going to throw a party, don't ask your guests to help you cook. They're there to enjoy the party you are throwing. (of course, if they're properly raised, your guests will offer to help, and, as a proper host, you decline and say cooking is no big deal...They can insist, and you can decide from...

Tanti auguri (aka "happy birthday"...I think)    Okay, so I know that last post of mine was super long, so here's a nice short one to make up for it. The topic of this post came up today because this week I turned 23! I was casting about for post ideas when I realized that my birthday celebration might be different in a few years.  From my understanding, birthdays here and there pretty much center around the same things: food, friends, and family. The biggest difference between birthdays here in the states, and abroad in Florence, is who pays for the celebrations. Here, people take me out, pay for me, and shower me with gifts and well wishes. In Italy, I'd still go out (or stay in), people might bring gifts, kisses and well-wishes, but in the end I, the festeggiato, pay for all of it. Now, I'm not saying what I think of that just yet...I think in the interest of my new sleep schedule, I ought to be in bed now, so I'll save the rest of the p...

Manarola, third of the Five Lands Another Friday is here, and I'm ready! Today's Florence Friday is a follow-up on the Amalfi Coast.  We're going to learn a little more about it's cousin to the north, Cinque Terre. Also, I have an embarrassing admission to make. The first picture in my Amalfi Coast Blog , is actually a picture of Manarola. >.< See how confusing this is??? Cinque Terre is probably the coastline I laid eyes on first in my google searches, as it is much closer to Florence than the Amalfi Coast is. This map is particularly helpful to me...what with my need to learn basic Italian geography before I head over there. >.< **also, Milan isn't on there, but from my hotdog pizza post, I know it's more north than Venice is! =) Like the Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terre is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Cinque Terre National Park), and it literally means "The Five Lands".  These five lands are the five villages along the co...

As requested, I'm going to make an attempt at bringing Florence Friday back. I was running out of pictures and the energy to research more, so I just let myself fall out of it. Unfortunately, I lost a good chunk of you dear readers, and I want to bring you back too! In the last few weeks, I heard a story about a woman from Milan who was visiting the States. When she was asked what her favorite Italian food was, she kinda squirmed a little and said, "Well, I'm from Milan. We're right on the border. But I actually really like pizza." "Great!" we said. "What kind?" And here, she sort of blushed a little and said, "Well...being so close to the border of Switzerland and Austria and all...you're going to think this is weird, but, my favorite pizza has hot dogs on it." Yep. The exotic Milan woman likes HOT DOG PIZZA. I couldn't believe it. So, like any good internet fiend, I turned to my good friend GOOgle(images). ...

Happy Florence Friday Everyone! This is my last post as part of the class--I'll continue posting on a regular schedule (fingers crossed)--and in it I'll detail what my final project for this blogging class is going to be. In essence, I intend to make my very own travel guide to Florence, and ultimately, Italy.  In fact, the book will be in two parts: I'm currently working on the first half: The travel guide.   I'm compiling a list of important dates  (like festivals , religious holidays, and special days that Museums aren't in operation) I have a map of the current locations of my favorite Italian car manufacturers. (based on my last Florence Friday post ) I have a basic map of Florence and Tuscany   It will most likely be folded-in, accordion style. (preferably with a star for my home, and a star for my school.) (More stars will pop up over the time I'm there too, I expect.) A map of transportation locations  busses, trains, bicycl...

A glass of fruit and gelato I was having trouble finding a theme to blog about today, ironically, because I didn't want to post about food.  In my apartment, I'm the picky eater (but my roommate eats damn near everything, so I don't really think that's a fair judgement).  I also have a reputation for not getting hungry.  My stomach can rumble loud enough to wake a hibernating bear, but I will not  be hungry. (trust me on this one) Despite the unfairness above, I am a picky eater---yes, mom, I will acknowledge that--but I've been getting much better at being open to try new things. San Marzanos--Italian tomatoes As a result, one of my *fears* of going to Italy was that damn near every meal would include some version of one of my least  favorite foods:  tomatoes. Currently, my biggest intake of lycopenes comes from ketchup.  I can stomach them if they're in burgers, and I do eat tomato sauce in small amounts, like on pizza...