I’ll try to keep this brief.

Thursday 3/12

After the last update I got home to Miles making ribollita for himself and his friend Alexis. After a rather unsuccessful (if childish) game of Go Fish after struggling with the rules and having to google them, we taught her Rummy500. Then she and Miles left, and Emo and I played two more games. I won the first, and he won the second, which was definitely more intense and enjoyable.

Friday 3/13

I feel like I’ll be writing about my wine vineyard adventures at the end of all of them because I keep putting them off. I went to dinner with Sergio, Gina, and Anita. I got some penne alle carretiera, my favorite vegetarian pasta dish. It’s a spicy tomato sauce. Johnson was there also with a bunch of people including Alexis From The Night Before. Then we hung out at a bar for a while.

Saturday 3/14

Adrian and I spent the entire day cooking and the afternoon playing rummy. He’d invited Sergio over for dinner and picked a menu. Shrimps wrapped in potato and bacon, spinach lasagne with pork Bolognese and ricotta cheese, and veal liver and onions. We took the rummy to the bar for the evening and taught Michaela and Nicole how to play. Then due to all the dance music that had been playing all night, the girls and I were convinced into going clubbing with Cristian, Marissa, and company. We got back to the bar around four in the morning and stayed after-hours for some quality time with Sergio and Adrian.

Fuori di Taste 3/15

This did not stop us from waking up the next morning and going to Fuori di Taste, a food festival that was taking here in Florence. Unsurprisingly, we ate a lot of food... tons of cheese, balsamic vinegar tasting, truffles both real and chocolate, prosciuttos, sausages, flourless egg/less chocolate cake, pastries etc. They had a little food court thing, so I got salmon carpaccio with grapefruit and arugula. But for me, the highlight was a chocolate with Darjeeling tea flavored filling.

It was a good eating day. Afterwards, on the way home, I introduced the girls to Kebab Lady. So we got more food, and then went back to their apartment to play rummy on the patio. And then we got gelato and chilled at our apartment with Adrian, Miles, and Emo. Magic tricks and mind teasers. And then I had the impulse (or rather, the encouragement) to bake a chocolate cake, which we topped with more gelato. So yeah, it was a great day.

Monday 3/16

Michaela, Adrian, and I went to a wine tasting for Antinori. It was led by their very skilled enologist Mr. Cotorella. The wines were amazing and his story and wisdom were pretty ridiculously inspiring. Afterwards, we grabbed dinner at the trattoria and then hung out with Sergio the rest of the night.

Tuesday 3/17

I had my professional cooking midterm, then Andrea took us a visit to the Market, where he introduced us to the stands he shops and cautioned us against certain less-reputable salesmen. The evening was pretty chilled out. Rummy with the roommates. And then, since both Emo and Miles are from foreign countries that aren’t the United States, I introduced them to the Saturday Night Live music videos for "Dick In A Box" and "Jizz In My Pants."

Wednesday 3/18

I had my Enology and Viticulture (aka Wine) and then my Tradition of Italian Food II midterms. The former I somehow miraculously passed and the second was pretty smooth sailing. That night Adrian was playing guitar for an aperitivo at a cultural association that we usually frequent later at night.

Thursday 3/19

Dessert Styling and Italian Pastry midterms. Nothing too notable except for that Dessert Styling was maybe half questions we reviewed and half questions we hadn’t prepared for at all. Not surprising. Thursday was more dessert-heavy than ever because I arrived to school to the pleasant surprise of carrot cake (from Bonnie) and cinnamon gelato (from the Advanced Pastry girls). And then on top of that, those were the only classes I had that held class after the exam. Styling was dedicated to sugar paste and royal icing. (Yeah, a lot of sugar.) And Italian pastries was dedicated to Rice cakes (not the light American fluffy kind) and Salame Dolce, a chocolate dessert. I needed real food, so I went to aperitivo and hung out with Johnson and Tommy The Bartender.

Friday 3/20

Another wine trip which wasn’t as eventual as the other one, but we went to a really big castle and then had an amazing lunch in Chianti at a butcher’s restaurant. That night, after a LOST viewing, I finally made it to one of Marissa’s dinner parties. She and Victoria pulled out all the stops: Orrechiete with a spicy seafood sauce, Sicilian-style Roasted peppers and eggplant, and flourless chocolate cake with strawberries.

Saturday 3/21

I made brunch for Adrian using some ingredients I’d picked up at the butcher shop in Chianti. Steak tartare to start with and then scrambled eggs, garlic sage potato wedges, sautéed beef, and red pepper jelly.

I don’t remember what we did all afternoon because all of a sudden, Adrian was making dinner. Roasted tomato, goat cheese, and onion frittatini. We had some extra buttered molds, so I made molten chocolate cake for dessert. We played rummy until Marissa came over for sangria. Barhopping. We wound up at Tommy's Goodbye Party, where I ran into Anita which was kind of awkward since I’d “stood her up” on our weekly dinner double date with SerGina.

Sunday 3/22

Adrian is taking advantage of the empty apartment by cooking all the time. An All-American Lunch was fettucini alfredo, pan-fried chicken with pan gravy, and some leftover salami biscuits that Emo and Miles had made.

Claudio, one of my former professors, had invited me to the post-renovation reopening of a sushi restaurant. Adrian and I went, but the event was so well-attended that despite the free wine and buffet, we didn’t stay. We got sandwiches from Kebab Lady and went home.

Later in the evening, anticipating hunger we went and had sushi at the new sushi place near our place. Then we played a game of rummy and tried to decipher LA Fattoria, the nonsensical but sexy game show that was on TV.

Monday/Yesterday 3/23

It was a very relaxed day. Adrian and I went to the grocery and restocked the fridge. I went to dinner with Bonnie, one of my Pastry classmates, and her mother at Mario’s restaurant. Dinner was amazing, particularly the breads and dessert which of course is what we were most interested in since we knew he was the source of them.

Tuesday/Today 3/24

I updated my journal and tried to keep it brief.

Old habits die hard...

...or rather, wireless connections die easy. I had most of these entries prepped a while ago, but the unreliable wi-fi at my apartment hasn’t let them upload.

To save time, I’ve combined the past two similarly-themed Friday entries and Tuesday entries. You’ll see why if you keep reading. Sorry for the binge post. I’ll try not to let this happen again.

Also, for some reason Blogger won’t let me change my e-mail address from my Tulane account to my new (and supposedly Blogger-linked?!) Gmail account. I don’t get notifications from them regarding this blog, so if I take a while to respond to your comments, that’s why.

Fridays 2/27

I’m going to a huge ménage a trois post about the three vineyard visits (2/27, 3/3, and tomorrow 3/12) sometime this weekend.

Gina was back in town, so Sergio and I met up with her and Anita for dinner at our favorite osteria. But of course were on time and the ladies were a little behind. Breadsticks, water, red wine. Waiting. Miko’s working there again, so chatted with him when he had spare minutes. We all split a tomato and mozzarella salad. Since it was meat-free Lenten Friday, I got Pappa al pomodoro (a really thick, tasty tomato soup) and spaghetti di mare. I had originally ordered it vongole (clam) but they were out. Anyway the mix of artificial crab, mussel, shrimp, and squid was great anyway. We shared a slice of chocolate “cake” – really a pie with a very rich and solid filling – for dessert. We killed the rest of the night at the bar, which Serg and I agreed that night was like “a bad greatest hits album.”

Saturday 2/28

That Saturday was pretty laidback. Adrian and I spent the afternoon at a bar getting internet, which turned into getting sandwiches and fries. That night, in a welcome change, Emo made dinner for the rest of us. (Well, he was in charge, and we all just helped. Which is what usually happens.) Bulgarian meatballs and a cold, Bulgarian yogurt soup which went really well with them. Then a little Emo-less barhopping.

Sunday 3/1 and Monday 3/2

Miles and I went on a culinary Parma excursion. We got lunch dinner at a good restaurant there: Quail salad, crusted caprino, green lentil ravioli, veal filet stuffed with foie gras, Parmigiano-Reggiano selection, and chestnut gelato, chestnut chocolate, and chestnut tiramisu. Miles called it “the best meal of [his] life.” I don’t know if I would go that far, but it was definitely in my top ten. We got back really early on Monday, so I just spent the day napping. That night Adrian, Miles and I went out to our favorite pub for Haley’s birthday with her and her roommates. They’re pretty loud, so you could see the Italians looking over like “who brought these loud American chicks here?” Guilty as charged. It’s becoming our habit to hit up the Asian market and the Hispanic carryout near our house for midnight snacks, so that happened that night also.

Tuesday 3/3 and Tuesday 3/10

The first Tuesday was dry pasta day. Rotini with olive oil and spaghetti carbonara. Partnered up, which I hate. Simultaneous serving. Andrea’s critique: The simple pasta was overcooked by approximately 15 seconds. The carbonara sauce was perfect except for just a little too much pepper and the pasta was undercooked by about a minute. Perfection is the goal, no matter how simple the dish.

The second Tuesday was fresh pasta day. Taglierini with clams. “Straw and hay” au gratin aka baked green taglierini with vegetables. Partnered up with a different partner. Simultaneous serving. Ac: Both sauces were perfect, but both pastas were a little overdone. Class was a little stressful with time and scheduling, but Andrea said it was supposed to be “to simulate a professional kitchen.”

Both Tuesdays ended at Naima with Sergio bartending and hanging out with The Sisters aka Michaela, Nicole, and Tiffany.

Wednesday 3/4 and 3/11

First Wednesday: Wine class. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know about wine. Tradition of Italian Food II was all about cheese. Smoked scamorza ravioli with a zesty (probably Sicilian) sauce. Broccoli and provolone quiche. Both wound up pretty good.

Second Wednesday: Wine class. See above. ToIFII was all about honey. Did a tasting of seven kinds of honey. Then roasted pork stuffed with figs, herbs and spices and put it on top of apples and potatoes baked in honey. Then poached a pear in a honey, wine, and fresh OJ for dessert. The entire class approved of the pork, which means it was spectacular. It was.

Thursday 3/5

Dessert Styling was devoted to the timeless dessert known as Crème Brulee. Finally, a class where my love of playing with fire is not only allowed but necessary. We made it flavored several ways: Classic, orange, pistachio, and coffee, which we served in cups and actually looked pretty damn cool.

Italian Pastries was all about cookies: Simple pasta frolla ones (regular and chocolate), perfect for afternoon tea. And some Italian ones I forget the name of but that were good.

Saturday 3/7

I got back from a Friday trip from Udine around two in the morning, so I slept in. My friend Miki, another Alaskan who’s been here since last semester, called and woke me up. I was glad because it was a perfect, sunny, breezy day. So we walked the Arno on both sides. Then talked about gelato. So we got gelato. While eating gelato, we talked about this really cool tea house I’d never been too. So we went there and drank tea and ate cookies, and we talked about Black Forest cake, which inspired a German dinner. So we rallied Miles and Adrian and made Wiener-Schnitzel and the aforementioned cake, all gluten-free for dinner. And then hit up the bar. Of course. And then played card games and ate some more.

Sunday 3/8

There were lots of crazy people at the grocery on Sunday, so that is a good reason for most of the groceries to be closed as well as for people not to go shopping that day. (This is all aside from the obvious fact it’s crowded with last minute shoppers.)

Miles made a very late breakfast for us: A skillet of eggs, pancetta, rucola, and cheese.

I went to mass and then came home and learned a new Indian recipe for dinner: Butter chicken and basmati cinnamon rice. I no longer think Indian food is as healthy as I used to think. Emo didn’t eat with us, but he did join us for our first apartment-wide Rummy500 game.

Monday 3/9

There was a wine tasting at the school’s cultural association, so Michaela, Adrian, Miles, and I all went. Two wines with the Marchese di Frescobaldi (aka The Marquis of royal descent currently in charge of the family’s historical wine empire) himself. The dinner was based around wine pairings. For me, the highlight of it was definitely the main entrée of pork filet with caramelized shallots and pork shoulder confit with crispy pork skin over roasted potatoes. Even the pairing with a 2005 Tenuta Castiglione was perfect.

Wednesday 3/11

Yesterday afternoon, I finally purchased my “knife set.” I use the quotation marks because my rather schizophrenic bag is half sharp objects and half pastry equipment.

I helped a little with the prep for the stuffed crust pizzas Miles and Adrian were making with The Sisters, but went to dinner with Sergio and some new girls and their visiting friends. Two live in Paris with “The Tin-Man and The Ogress” so they shared stories of their life with their “host family.” More bar action of course, where all the people from the pizza party at my apartment showed up. “Midnight Hot” was on the television the entire time, so that was just a tad distracting.

Thursday/TODAY 3/12

Dessert styling was all about meringue. Classic ones, macaroons with chocolate, marenga (an Italian dessert that sandwiches whipped cream, pasty cream, jam, or chocolate between two meringues), and of course lemon meringue pie.

I grabbed a quick lunch at the Chinese place near school, where I ran into Grace and that-guy-whose-name-I-don’t-know-who-looks-like-Pat-Healey. Thursday is rough because all I do all day is bake in a hot kitchen and taste the resulting desserts, so a high-protein semi-healthy lunch is necessary. I explained this to the Chinese lady who wondered why the guy in the chef jacket was buying food. I should ask her for Chinese culinary lessons.

Italian Pastries was devoted to a supposedly simple Pear Cake and an Almond Tart. Mario wasn’t there, so it was the Bonnie/Andrew show. The tart was decidedly way more successful than the cake but both tasted good.

Anyway, I'm at the bar now finishing this entry and chatting with my other younger brother Phil. (I'm pretty sure you still read this so here's a superfluous "hey, how's it going?" despite knowing you're on spring break and having a great time.) Always a pleasure.

FINALLY FINISHED AND UPDATED.