Holy Cannoli!

We finished with the final regions of Italy yesterday in class. Sicily and Sardinia. The big island parts of Italy. For these regions, we made pane carasau and cannoli. I had never tried cannoli. A lot of people can't believe this. But those are mostly the people from New York. I'm pretty sure cannoli hardly exist in good ol' Missouri. Well, they will now. They (the two and a half cannoli I inhaled) were wonderful. I'll make them again. (Note to Mom: I think we should invest some in cannoli molds.)

First, the pane carasau. Pane carasau is a thin, crisp flatbread that sort of looks like a tortilla. It's used in many different ways, often in a lasagna-like dish where the pane carasau is used instead of pasta. That's how we used it.

For 6 servings, you need:

400gr buffalo mozzarella

4 bell peppers

Rosemary

2 garlic cloves

4 (or more, big) green olives

4 (or more, big) black olives

4 slices pane carasau (store-bought)

Oil, salt, pepper



Slice the buffalo mozzarella, and put it in a colander to drain for 20 minutes. Roast the bell pepper in the oven until soft and browned. (Your kitchen will smell awesome.) Remove the peppers from the oven, and put them in a ziplock bag for a few minutes to steam. Then peel the peppers, take out the seeds, and cut the peppers into big strips. Salt them and add quite a bit of chopped rosemary, chopped garlic, and oil. Take out the seeds from the olives, and cut the olives in big pieces. Place two pieces of pane carasau on a big sheet of foil. Top it with about a third of the mozzarella, bell pepper, and olives. Place another piece of pane carasau on top, more toppings, then the last pane carasau, and the rest of the toppings.

My Teacher Layering our Pane Carasau

Before Baking

Close the edges of the dish with foil, and bake for 15 minutes at 200 degrees C.

Ready to Eat

For the cannoli, you need:

150gr flour

10gr sugar

1 egg white

2 tablespoons marsala liquor

Pinch of salt

30gr Crisco

250gr ricotta

100gr powdered sugar

30gr mini chocolate chips (or candied fruit)

Chopped pistachios (or candied cherries)

More powdered sugar

Carefully melt the Crisco in a pan over low heat, and immedietly remove from heat to let cool.

Dump your flour out on the table. Make a hole in the middle for the sugar, salt, egg white, marsala liquor, and melted Crisco. Mix it all together with your hands until you've made a ball. Leave it to rest a while, an hour if you have time.

Get out your cannoli forms and wipe them with Crisco.

Take a little piece of dough. Roll it very thin, as thin as possible. Cut it in a circle.

Rolling Out Cannoli Dough

Roll the dough around the cannoli mold and make sure to close the edges very well, otherwise it'll open up when you fry it.

Cannoli Molds

Deep fry the cannoli/cannoli forms in very hot oil.

Frying

Dry them on paper towels. Take out the molds when cool. Be careful; they break easily.

Empty Cannoli

Mix ricotta with powdered sugar and chocolate chips (or candied fruit) until just mixed. Put it in a pastry bag and pipe the filling into the cannoli. Dip the ends into chopped pistacchios (or put a candied cherry on each end), and then sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve!

Cannoli!

Now for your JS update.

Here's our kitchen window.

Jusy a typical window, drying rack, etc.

And here's the deck they're building for JS right outside that window.

Jersey Shore Deck!

Our landlady came by yesterday to tell us not to sign anything without talking to her first if the tv people come by to talk to us. We might have to have passes to get into our apartment when the security guards are here.

CRAZY.

I'm going to Jersey Shore, B****!

Excuse my language.

The cast of Jersey Shore is going to be LIVING IN OUR APARTMENT BUILDING!!! while they film season 4.

I just got off the phone with our landlady.

There are going to be guards at our building when they are here.

I'm not going to be able to study for finals.

Miss Lists

There are only two and a half weeks left in the semester.

I should be writing my 8-page Brunelleschi paper for Architecture. And my 5 page "Pairing Wine and Chocolate" paper for Wine. And starting to study for my 5 finals I'll have to take the second week of May.

Instead, I've been sitting around with my friends taking Meyers Briggs tests to discover our personality types (I'm an ISTJ.) and making lists of random things. (movies to watch, books to read, things to do before I die. . . ) I decided I should share some of these lists with you. So, here they are. The Things I Miss Most From Home List, and The Things I Will Miss Most From Florence List, in no particular order.

Things I Miss Most From Home

• Driving
• My big comfy bed
• Papa John's. I know that sounds weird. American pizza and Italian pizza are two totally different things.
• Bubble baths
• Quiet nights. The sound of cicadas is more relaxing than the sound of horns/sirens/yelling/screaming/fighting/laughing. . .
• Panera. Mostly the Strawberry Poppy Seed and Chicken Salad. Good thing it'll be summer when I get home!
• Express
• My piano
• Gym membership. The elliptical.
• American coffee
• Free public restrooms
• The library. My one complaint about LdM is that the "library" really, really sucks.
• Grass. There's very little of it here in the city.
• Thunderstorms. We just don't have them in Florence, I guess.
• Church
• A cell phone with unlimited texting
• Being able to publicly wear sweatpants and hoodies and not feel hated
• Wal-Mart. Don't judge me. It's not uncommon for me to go there mulitple times a day.
• Mexican food and BBQ
• Having a legit kitchen
• Bincent! (My brother. Yes, I meant to spell it with a B.) and Evil! (My GREAT cat.) and I guess everyone else, too. ;)

Things I Will Miss Most From Florence

• The Mercato Centrale
• Seeing the Duomo every day
• The mild weather
• Beautiful buildings and streets
• Gusta Pizza
• Trains
• The Italian Language
• The bidet. . . Just kidding! I never figured it out.
• Being old enough to legally enjoy a glass of wine with dinner
• "Ciao, bella"
• Everything within walking distance
• Famous works of art around every corner
• Being approached by guys. Seriously, American boys. Get it together.
• Euros. The exchange rate is terrible, but the money is pretty!
• Getting gelato multiple times a day and not thinking twice about it
• Having a gorgeous river to run along
• Kebabs and falafel. The only "street food" at home is the taco wagon. It doesn't even compare.
• Weekend trips around Tuscany
• Cathedrals everywhere
• Scarves for sale along the street
• Pasta and bread. Or maybe not. I'm pretty much ready for a break from those.
• Random concerts and festivals around town
• Meghan, Lindsey, Hannah, Brittni, and I all being together

Easter Weekend in the Cinque Terre

Saturday morning, Hannah, Meghan, Lindsey, Brittni, and I left at 9:53 for the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre means "The Five Lands." It is a group of five towns along the coast in the Italian Riviera in the region of Liguria. It's beautiful, and you can hike between the towns (or take boats, or trains) and hang out on the beach. We couldn't take a train directly to any of the towns from Florence; we had to stop in La Spezia, a city a few minutes west of the Cinque Terre. We got to the first Cinque Terre town, Riomaggiore, a little before 1:00. We were amazed at our first view of the Ligurian Sea.

To the Left

To the Right

We walked around the town of Riomaggiore, which was adorable with all its brightly painted, tall, skinny buildings with lots of windows and dark green shutters. The town seems to be one long road going uphill from the coast. We decided to eat at Ristorante la Lampara, where Meghan and I both tried the Penne with Smoked Salmon.

Lunch!

I wanted to have seafood since I was by the sea. The smoked salmon was really bacon-y and good. I loved it!

After lunch, we walked around some more. We went down to the coast and sat on some rocks and took lots of pictures. Here are some of them.

On the Way to the Water
It looks like a movie set.

The town!

The Coast

All 5 of us by the Water
(Picture taken by an old man from Pennsylvania)

Then we decided to take the train to the second town. We would have hiked, but it's about 7 euro for a Cinque Terre Pass to hike between the towns, so we just decided to hike on Sunday. We got our train ticket to the second town, but then we got on the wrong train. It didn't stop in the second town. It went straight through to the fifth. Oops!

We got out in the fifth town, found some gelato, and went out on the beach. It was cold and cloudy. I had worn shorts, knowing that there was a chance of rain, but not really thinking about it being chilly. Meghan, Brittni, and Hannah put their feet in the water, and Lindsey and I just hung out. After a while, it was time to head back to La Spezia. We had to make sure we were there in time to catch the bus to our hostel. (Our hostel was in a town about 15 or 20 minutes from La Spezia.)

After we got to La Spezia, we went to a grocery store to get things for dinner. 4 baguettes, 2 bottles of wine, 5 balls of fresh mozzarella, a jar of tomato sauce, a package of prosciutto, a big bag of potato chips, and 2 big bags of cookies cost 20 euro: 4 each. We took the bus to our hostel and checked in. It was a really nice hostel and pretty much the only option if you don't want to spend a lot to stay in one of the five towns. We couldn't get a room together, so we were split between two rooms. Brittni and I stayed with 2 other girls, and the other three stayed with one other girl. We got settled into our rooms and then went to Meghan, Lindsey, and Hannah's room for dinner and card games before going to bed.

The next morning was Easter Sunday! There weren't any buses running, but for 2 euro we could take a shuttle from the hostel straight to the first Cinque Terre town. We got there and bought our Cinque Terre passes to hike. Brittni has been sick and couldn't do any hiking, but she wanted to lay out on the beach, and she took a train to the last town where we would meet her later. Then we set off on Via dell'Amore. Via dell'Amore is the "Pathway of Love." Apparently, the trail used to be a meeting point for boys and girls between the first two towns. All along the trail are padlocks. In Italy, it's a ritual for couples to close a padlock together at a particular spot, usually a bridge. There is also lots of lovey-dovey graffiti all over the place. On the rocks. Even on the plants!

Hearts

Graffiti-d Plants

After our stroll to the second town, Manarola, we headed down to the water.

Pretty Boats

We bought tickets to ride a boat from the second town to the fourth. When the boat pulled up, the man threw Meghan the rope and she looped it around the pole. She had to dive for the rope, and her side got wet. But she was really hardcore when she dived for it, so I took her picture by the boat before we got on.

Meghan by the Boat

The boat ride was fun! It was nice to see the towns from the water.

Lindsey and Hannah

We got to the fourth town. There was a little beach.

Colorful Buildings, Umbrellas, and Boats

We walked up a bunch of stairs to this castle.

Old Castle

We climbed up the winding, narrow staircase inside. When we got to the top, we had a beautiful view.

Vernazza, the Fourth Town

Lovely

We came down from the tower. Meghan and Hannah went to find a bathroom. Lindsey and I did some shopping. Kind of. We went to one store and Lindsey bought some adorable earrings. Then we shared some focaccia with black olives. It was yummy and salty and buttery tasting.

Focaccia!

Then, the four of us set out for a hike.

View from the Hike

It was supposed to be about a 90 minute hike between the fourth and fifth towns. It took a little longer than that, mostly because when we got close to the fifth town, there were lots and lots of people going in the opposite direction, on a very narrow path that was somewhat slippery. People were falling all over the place. Which was bad. Because we were on a mountain. Luckily, we made it to the fifth town, Monterosso!

We found Brittni and then we went to a restaurant to eat. Hannah, Lindsey, and I all tried the Pansotti. It's a Ligurian specialty, ravioli with ricotta and greens, served with a walnut sauce. It was wonderful.

Pansotti!

After our late lunch, we got some more gelato. (It was a long hike, people. We needed it.) Then we went to the beach for a little while. The sun had come out before our hike, so it was nice and warm.

On the Beach!

We had to hurry back to the train so we could get to La Spezia in time to catch the cheapest train back to Florence. It was weird not being with family or going to church on Easter. But it was one of the most beautiful places we could have been and I spent that time with some pretty amazing people I've been blessed with.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend!

Orecchiette con Calamari e Zucchine and Involtini di Pesce Spada ai Carciofi

Welcome to Calabria and Puglia, two regions in the south of Italy (the boot part). Here, they eat mostly a Mediterranean diet, with lots of pasta, fruit, vegetables, and fish. We cooked orecchiette con calamari e zucchine ("little ears" pasta with calamari and zucchini) and involtini di pesce spada ai carciofi (swordfish rolls stuffed with artichokes).

First, the Oecchiette con Clamari e Zucchine:

Ingredients:

500gr fresh "orecchette" pasta*

500gr small calamari**

250gr zucchini

1 shallot

Margoram

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

*We didn't make fresh pasta, because it is hard to do and would take too long for us to learn during class.

**Clean the calamari: divide the head from the body, take out the bone, wash well. Lucky for us, this time the calamari came de-headed. We just had to pull out the bone and rinse the fish. Easy.

Chop the shallot and the zucchini. 

That is my favorite knife.

Saute the shallot in oil. Add the zucchini and cook 5 minutes. Salt.

Meanwhile, cut the body of the calamari into rings. Cook the head (the tentacle-looking part, chopped) first in a pan with oil for two minutes. Then add the body cut in rings. Cook 3 minutes. Salt a little. Add the zucchini.

Saute

Cook the pasta in boiling salted water.

Boiling the Orecchiette

Drain the pasta and then saute it in the zucchini and calamari with some marjoram leaves, and serve!

Finished!

Now, time for Involtini di Pesce Spada ai Carciofi:

Ingredients:

5 slices of swordfish

2 fairly large potatoes

3 artichokes

1 shallot

1 garlic clove

Sugar

Wild fennel

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Here are the swordfish.

Thinly Sliced

Chop the shallot and the wild fennel. Place on top of the fish, with a pinch of salt and sugar and a drizzle of oil. Let it marinate in the fridge for an hour.

Marinating Swordfish

Clean and slice the artichokes. Saute in oil with a whole garlic clove. Peel and slice the potatoes and saute them with oil and salt in another pan until they are golden.

Artichokes and Potatoes

Once the potatoes are done, place them in a baking pan.

I really just wanted to eat these with ketchup.

One at a time, place the fish fennel-side down on a plate. Put some artichokes on top at the bigger end, and roll up the fish. Place them on top of the potatoes and bake 15 minutes at 200 degrees C.

They're ready!

The verdict?

Well, if you recall, I didn't like calamari the first time I tried it. This time it was a lot better. Last time, it was stuffed, and I didn't like the stuffing. This time, it looked less like a real fish (since it was cut in rings), and the pasta and zucchini were yummy, so I sort of almost liked it!

The swordfish was a much better texture. But more fishy. I think if you like tilapia you would like swordfish. I don't know. It was pretty good with the potatoes! Although I definitely could have used some ketchup. ;)

Last night, Lindsey, Brittni, Hannah, Kate, and I had dinner. We made the tomato bread soup and the pizza I had made in class. The pizza was awesome. I was worried when the dough barely rose after 2 hours, (I used a packet of active dry yeast.) but it turned out fine anyway! Kate made sangria to go with our dinner. Later, we met up with Meghan and her family and went to my favorite pub in Florence. It was karaoke night! Meg and Lindsey sang the Spice Girls, and Hannah and I sang to the Killers. It was a fun night.

Tomorrow we're going to the Cinque Terre for the weekend!

Happy Easter! Buona Pasqua!

Mid-Week Gelato and Concert

Tuesday night, Meghan's family invited us all over to the big apartment they're staying in while they're here, and they made us dinner! Bread with goat cheese (which was awesome), salad, spaghetti, and mini strawberries and chocolate. It was so nice of them! We all had a great time!

Wednesday, Hannah, Meghan, and I went to another free school activity: Gelato Making! First, we had to put on these ultra-fashionable hair nets.

Yeah. . . That's a new scarf. . . I needed a SPRING one. ;)

Then we got to go behind the scenes in a gelato place. The guy, Francesco, asked what our favorite flavor was. We were in a group of five girls. We unanimously chose chocolate. (Duh.) So, we made chocolate gelato! (er. . . watched him make it. . .) First, he put two different kinds of cocoa and a big piece of a chocolate bar into a container. Then he added hot water and mixed it all with a giant mixer.

Pouring Cocoa Powder
If you're wondering, his hat says "I heart Gelato"

HUGE Immersion Blender

Then, he added a base of milk, sugar, etc, that is made in a machine and used in every kind of gelato. He mixed both mixes together and then poured it into this gelato maker, which costs, like 25,000 euro or something ridiculously expensive.

Pouring it into the Machine

A few minutes later, we had gelato!


Gelato!

And of course, we got to eat a lot of gelato. I had a peanut butter flavor, cookies flavor, and a Florentine cream flavor.

Wednesday night, Meghan was hanging out with her family, and Lindsey, Brittni, Hannah, and I went to the TRL Awards concert at Santa Croce. We underestimated how big it was going to be. It was just about as crowded as Carnivale in Venice!

The whole concert was Italian artists, but it was still pretty fun, even though we couldn't understand the words. (There was at least one song in English, though!) We stayed for a while, but then the crowed was starting to be too much. Lots of smoke, glass bottles shattered on the ground, and I was wearing sandals. . . We were all tired and went home.

Santa Croce Lit Up

Lindsey, Hannah, Brittni, Me at the Concert

That was yesterday! Today, we cooked swordfish in Food class. I'll blog about it tomorrow!

Starstruck

Today, I didn't go to the market. I say this because I seem to be going to the market almost every day lately. But today Meghan went with her family, and guess who they saw?

. . .

RICK STEVES!!!

Yes. THE Rick Steves is in Florence as I type this. I want to stalk him. Is that creepy? I don't care. I am SO jealous of this picture:

Rick and Meghan!

She also got to pretend to be looking at cheeses while they filmed. How awesome is that?

And, since Meghan knows my obsession, she got me this!

To Katie- Happy Travels, Rick Steves

Are you jealous?

Yeah, I thought so. ;)

In other news, I picked up my bronze key from the jewelry-casting dude.

It's like a real key!

It turned out better than I thought it would! I'm so excited about it. But I'm also really excited about finishing my bracelet!

Pretty Chain

I guess I work too fast, because I completed all the projects for the class. My teacher told me I need to make something else, now. I think I'm going to make another wax pendant; that was really fun. I want to incorporate the phrase "La vita e bella," but I'm still not sure exactly what I'm going to make.

Happy travels!