Day 46: Swedish Ladder

"And then we fall down and die."

This was when a student was talking about climbing the Swedish ladder obstacles in gym. Pretty positive that this was a high point of today.

Day 45: Food Adventure

This really is not an Overseas Project blog anymore. It's a food blog. Food food food. I think my last three posts have been about food too. Oof.

But here. I love to bake and cook, and have tried to share some things with my host family while here.

So far:

-pancakes
-sultana muffins
-chocolate chip muffins (which my host brother really wanted to learn how to make)
-apple pie (apple filling: super easy; pie crust: never doing again ugh)
-cupcakes (a failure, which is sad because I'm usually pretty good at making cupcakes)

And sometime soon, I will be baking some chocolate chip cookies. Cookies are different here and usually store bought, so my host family will get to try some fresh out of the oven cookies. Yay.

The point of this:

If you want to bake, remember this. Baking powder here is different. (I guess. I had to ask Bee about it and she explained it to me.) American baking powder starts working when it gets heated. Italian baking powder starts working when it comes in contact with liquid -- so once it's mixed with something wet, boom. Baking powder needs to be put in the mix last here and the mix needs to go into the oven right away. If not, your baked goods will be flat. (As my poor cupcakes were.)

Day 32: Tiramisu (A Recipe)

So, yeah, I dropped off the map for a few days. Been busy with lesson planning, IU reporting, and getting some sun.

In apology I managed to observe a delicious tiramisu (Venetian style) being made and it was so delicious that I figured I should write the recipe down somewhere.

RECIPE:

4 eggs (yolks and whites separated)
2 tbs sugar
500 g mascarpone cheese (2.11 cups apparently; converting is a pain)
pinch of salt
400 mls espresso/strong coffee (1.70 cups; make sure the coffee is cooled)
2 tbs Marsala wine (similar to Port or Sherry, although I've heard of rum or Kahlua being used; optional)
ladyfingers (cookies; sweet, but light, airy, and fragile)
Cocoa powder

1. Place egg yolks and sugar in the same bowl. Beat until peaks form.
2. Slowly fold in the mascarpone cheese. (Using a soft baking spatula to do this would be best.)
3. Place a pinch of salt into the egg whites. Beat until peaks form.
4. Fold the egg white mix into the mascarpone/egg yolk mix.
5. Put Marsala wine (or whatever you choose) into coffee. (My host mom didn't measure with spoons. It was, "Pour until you smell the alcohol but not so much that it's a strong smell.")
6. Quickly dip ladyfingers into coffee. Place first layer of ladyfingers down in (5-cup serving, or whatever the conversion) dish. On top of that, put the egg/cheese mixture. Do another layer of ladyfingers, another layer of egg/cheese. The last layer should be ladyfingers.
7. Dust the top layer with cocoa powder.
8. Cover and let sit in the fridge for about six hours before eating.


Buon appetito!

Day 26: The Egg Salad Mystery

Another food adventure! Yay.

We've all probably heard of egg salad. Eggs, mayo, and. Um. Celery? Whatever. Egg salad.

In Italy there's something similar called Russian salad. Eggs, green beans, carrots, peas, mayo, and I think some potatoes. An potato-y egg salad. Or eggy potato salad.

In Russia there's the exact same thing. Except it's called Italian salad.

I wish I had better investigation skills so I could figure out this mystery.

Day 25: Oh Food

I've explained Italian breakfast already. But today was different. Breakfast is usually a basket full of cakes, pastries, and other sweet things. Today I spotted something covered in chocolate and made by Ferrero (which, if you don't know, is the company that makes Kinder chocolate which is the most glorious thing in existence; yes, I am in fact seven years old secretly).

So, I picked up this chocolate-covered thing, opened it, and took a bite. The taste did not fit what I thought it should be, which is why I stopped and stared. Here was some chocolatey delicious cake thing and I was tasting...alcohol.

Lovely thought to have at seven in the morning.

The wrapper had oranges on it, so at first I figured it was that, but strangely done or something. But then I looked at the list of ingredients and there it was: liquor. What. A breakfast thing and I was eating something like a rum ball.

Okay.

Second food adventure the day:

My host mom doesn't speak English, so sometimes I don't completely understand what's going on when I'm with her. Yay for language barriers. She kept talking about how she was going to make "black rice" for lunch today. I was thinking about that black forbidden rice I sometimes see in Kroger.

Imagine my surprise when "black rice" was risotto with cuttlefish ink added into it. I've never seen cuttlefish ink, much less a dish with it as the main taste.

It was pretty good. Apparently, the ink is added to many dishes (probably all Venetian recipes) to give it the tasty cuttlefish flavor.

Yummy.

Day 24: April Showers

So, yesterday when I was in Genova, there was sun in Voghera. Today, on my day off in Voghera, there was rain, rain, and more rain. I like the sun. Can I have it back please?

Also, I like muffins. I made some today with my host mom and sister because they're not used to making them. I love that moment when you try to combine about three recipes and several ideas into one dish and it somehow works out. Orange syrup (from the pancakes) plus sultanas in some delicious muffins. Yum.

Wardrobe choice of the day (since it was raining and I was actually doing laundry yay): VS yoga pants and my Bedford Lady Stars shirt.

...Why do people think I'm a real adult again?

Day 23: Total Eclipse

So, Bee (I've mentioned Bee before) is awesome and cool and everybody in the Italy program will probably meet her at some point because of reasons.

She invited me to go with her family to Genova for an art exhibit. And it was absolutely beautiful out so we walked around some.

Genova!

Yay!

Also, this exists.

THE END.

Day 22: Best Lies I've Told

Note: Lying is bad. Honesty is good. Yep.

Lie One: One of my teachers told the students that I couldn't speak or understand any Italian. I figured I would just ignore that and use Italian when I needed to. When I was working with the students the other day, they worked together to figure out the English they needed to communicate. It was amusing hearing their, "She doesn't understand! Speak English!" but I don't think I'm going to correct them on this.

Lie Two: Northern Italian food does not contain much spice. I love spicy food and I'm used to putting spice with everything. My host family, being northern Italians, will think something is very spicy while I think it is only a little. In an effort to find something that I think is spicy, my host mom bought harissa, which is very spicy. One of the brothers put harissa on some bread and gave it to his sister, who does not like/cannot handle spicy food. When she asked me what it was, at the direction of said brother, I told her it was tomato paste and that it wasn't spicy. She took one bite and turned bright red.

Evil? Perhaps.

Day 20-21: School Time

So. School stuff. I feel super weird being that person with a camera taking pictures of a hallway.

Yep. This is a school area, folks. Watch out.

This is elementary/middle school. Complete with shady white van in front.

Teacher's lounge. It's actually pretty small in there.

CLASSROOM. I didn't get a picture of the high school classrooms, but they all kinda look like this.

Here's the (scientific) high school. It's...high school-y.

And the teacher's lounge there.

I also work in the classic high school, but I didn't take pictures. Don't worry. They all have the same format.

Day 18-19: The Walk

I really wish the title meant something deep and/or cryptic, but it really just means that it's finally been nice enough outside to take a walk. So, I took my camera with me and took some pictures of the town. Here you go.

Italian street

I've seen a lot of graffiti around.This is a piece I see on my way to school.

The street where I live.

Little men warn when you to walk and not.

A very nice walking path

Garden behind the castle

A place that used to be knight's stables, I think? Not sure. I think there's a library in there now.

Water fountain. Be wary of these.

A place to post official notices about the city so people cannot ignore them as much.

Police station

Bell tower

Agriculture school

Look at those beautiful mountains. Told you they were there.

Day 16: Easter Lunch

So, when I heard Italian meals described in my Italian classes, I kinda brushed it off. That many courses? That much food? Well, this past weekend for Easter, I went with my host family to their family's Easter get together. There was so much food. I don't know how I ate that much.

The line up:

Antipasto (appetizer) - Some chic platter with cuttlefish eggs (surprisingly tasty), mussels, squid, shrimp, and polenta

First course (pasta/rice course) - Meat-filled tortellini in broth (the only course I skipped because, hey, kinda sorta vegetarian)

Second course (meat course) - Giant shrimp and crayfish with spaghetti noodles

Third course (veggie course) - Octopus (suckers and all) with potatoes, peas, carrots, two types of radicchio, spinach, and zucchini

Cheese (um...cheese) - It was offered, but no one took the hostess up on it, because SO MUCH FOOD

Fruit -Macedonia

Sweet - sorbetto (which is drunk from a sort of champagne glass; which can be alcoholic or not; which was so tasty I had two of them); tiramisu (deliciousness); Colombo, a traditional Easter cake (usually it's filled with almonds and candied fruit and is covered in powered sugar; however, you can get many kinds; I saw a dark chocolate and Grand Marnier one at the grocery store and it looked glorious)

Coffee - by which I mean "espresso," not "American coffee"; taken with sugar, if desired

Liquor- a shot of amaretto, limoncello, or grappa, depending on tastes (this, obviously, depends on the host/family)

It was all very delicious, but oof. So much food.

Eating notes: People eat continental style here. Eating utensils do not switch hands, as the Americans do. In informal settings, the fork can be in the dominant hand. However, with something a bit more proper (like this), the knife is in the dominant hand like in an etiquette guide. This has been one of the more difficult things I have had to learn how to do here.

Also: elbows on the table. Really. Hands and elbows on the table at all times. It's a thing.