Things I’ve Noticed About Italy-Part 10

Lemon and Olive Oil

I noticed the use to lemon and oil on practically everything except breakfast cereal right when I first moved to Italy. In fact, I like lemon and oil on meats, fish, veggies and salads. The true taste of the food comes through without being smothered and masked by Thousand Island dressing, A-1 steak sauce, BBQ sauce, mustard or ketchup. Italians call this “condire” which means “to dress” say a salad and I have adapted this practice “cento per cento”, 100 percent.

Wear the Right Stockings

Now that the cold of winter has approached, girls, ladies and women all over Italy don stockings under skirts and dresses and body stockings under other things to keep warm. If you are, less than 50-60 years old feel free to wear bright orange stockings with red polka dots if they happen to match the scarf you are wearing. Also, feel free to match your stockings with your turquoise purse or gloves. Lime green is also another popular color for stockings, for goodness sake do not fall into the trap of wearing boring old black stockings, they do match everything but say nothing fashionable at all. The worst of all offenses is to wear nude stockings if you are under 50-60 years old, a sign you are not “hip” at all.

Constant Roadwork

All over Italy, roadwork is in progress. No matter what hour of day or night it is, lanes all over Italy are blocked, traffic cones are set up, workers with cigarettes hanging from their lips may or may not be present but roads are narrowed nevertheless. Some areas are notoriously “under construction” all year around, such as the A-1 motorway that passes through Florence. It can take from 20-60 minutes to drive this piece of highway, a distance of about 10-15 miles. In many places the direction of traffic changes weekly, silly circles spring up, concrete barriers are installed then taken away just as quickly. There is a constant clash between the environmentalists who do not want the motorway widened and the progressives who want better roadways for travel and commerce, the battle wages on.

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Deme and Irene looking very brotherly and sisterly.

Deme's sister, Irene, and Giordano at Christmas dinner.

Absent Blogger

I predict I won't have much time to post until after January 3rd or so. Duties as an aunt, daughter-in-law and tourist in Rome calls...

Happy New Year to Everyone, especially my little sister Tia who was quite lonely for the holidays. I wish I could have been there to see you.

Love,

Jéjé Gina

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Holiday Parodies

When I compare Christmas in the U.S. to the two Christmas' I have experienced in Italy, I've come to the conclusion that both are quite similar. Both countries have advent calendars, Nativity scenes, Christmas trees both real and plastic, holiday lights and all the trimmings. There are stockings, Christmas fairs, decorations to be bought, long lines at the department stores and people of all shape and sizes vying for the latest bargains. Granted I have not heard of Italians trampling over each other and assaulting one another for the last Tickle Me Elmo doll as was reported on the news some years back in your neighborhood suburban mall. No matter how much American bashing I hear I can't help but sigh and giggle whenever Italians tell me how materialistic Americans are. We have more in common than I ever thought before:

Italy has:

-Panettone (a festive rich egg bread that contains candied fruits.)

-Pandoro, another festive egg bread this time without any of the candied
fruit. Just put the whole loaf in a giant plastic bag, add the packet of powdered sugar it come with and give a good shake.)

-Gorgeous Christmas windows with animated, moving stuffed and fluffy animals.

-Street side bagpipe/musicians are common.

-Torrone (type of candy that is served in long bars and is comparable to hard meringue or nougat.

-In Rome, capitone, an eel is the common Christmas meal.

-Kids leave food out for Babbo Natale. (In some TV commercials the food seems to be panatone.)

-Families get together and play Christmas card games like, Tombola.

-Little children often recite Christmas poems they have learned at school.
-Special holiday movies are viewed such as "Vacanze di Natale" A bit like National Lampoon’s Vacation.

-Midnight Mass

-Gifts are usually opened on the stroke of midnight.

-On Christmas Eve, only fish is eaten.


America has:

-Fruit cakes (often really hard, cakes
that contains candied fruits.) Usually red and green ones.

-Tall, double shot, spicy pumpkin pie cappuccino with whip on the side.

-Eggnog, spiked.

-Spiced cider

-Great hot chocolate

-Gorgeous Christmas windows with animated, moving stuffed and fluffy animals and people too.


-Sugar cookies all dressed up a decorated Martha Stewart style.

-Traditionally many families have ham, turkey, roast duckling or prime rib roast for Christmas dinner.

-Santa Clause get a few cookies and some milk.

-Parents read special holiday books to their children.

-Special holiday movies are watched like "It’s a Wonderful Life and Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer."

-Gifts are opened Christmas morning, usually in pajamas.

-Midnight Mass

Christmas caroling.

-We have sledding and other winter sports all over the U.S., snowmen are rare in Italy.

In both countries traffic is a mess at Christmas season, there aren't any parking spaces, people are pushy, short tempered, kids are crying and tired as they are dragged from here to there and back to here again as everyone tries to finish their shopping. Cities all over Italy and the U.S. decorate their cities, squares and take special care to make their homes festive and pretty. There are discussions about whose family to visit when on Christmas Day, how much time to spend with each in-law, the similar types of "issues" American couples/families grapple with. As I spend more and more time in Italy, I come to understand that I am now living in not a totally foreign country but a parallel one.

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Happy Holiday to Friends, Family and Fellow Bloggers

Happy Holidays!
This card was sent out over cyperspace and by snail mail. I'm sorry if I missed anyone. I will have to make more copies next year.


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Candied Ginger and Walnut Biscotti

Why on earth would I make candied ginger? Well for my famous candied ginger and walnut biscotti of course. I actually stole this recipe from a friend, Jane. She used to give it out for Christmas and I think she still does. I had to have the recipe and she gladly shared it with me. These biscotti are crispy and lightly chewy thanks to the candied ginger. I'm still keeping the recipe to myself since they are fast becoming my signature cookie.


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Candied Ginger

Candied ginger is not an easy thing to find in Torino. I know of a gourmet shop that sells it for 5 dollars a pound. Bars and specialty stores sell about 4 ounces for 5 Euros on a nifty spice pack. I am used to getting bags and bags of it for 2-3 dollars a pound and so when I saw the prices in Torino, I gasped and set out to make my own. It's a time consuming process but easy as pie.

Candied Ginger

2 C. peeled and sliced ginger
3 C. sugar
3 lemon slices

*This recipe is adapted from the Joy of Cooking via the internet.

1. Add the ginger to a good solid saucepan that is large enough to not to cause a spill over if the sugar boils.

2. Add 1 C. of sugar to the ginger slices, a tiny bit of water and heat to melt the sugar. When the sugar is melted, turn the flame to low, cover and let simmer for 30 mins. Stir occasionally. After an hour turn the flame off and set aside for 24 hours.

3. Day 2, add 1 C. of sugar and a bit of water if the syrup is too thick, to the ginger slices and repeat the procedure from Day 1.

4. Day 3, add 1 C. of sugar, the lemon slices to the ginger and repeat the process one last time.

5. Day 4, remove the ginger from the thick syrup, set aside on a bakers rack to drip and dry. When the ginger is dry, toss the slices a few at a time into a large bowl of sugar. After the slices are sugar coated, store them in a dry cool place. Now they are ready to be added to tea infusions, eaten as candy, chopped up and used in baking, the possibilities are endless.


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My First Polenta

Before today, I had never made polenta before. I've eaten lots of it, soft and liquidy like porriage, stiff and firm like good mashed potatoes and everything in between with cheese, with buckwheat instead of corn; you name it. Demetrio tells me polenta is traditionally eaten with a braised meat of some sort, usually a short rib or shank bone. Who am I to argue? I used my mom's old braising technique and Deme showed me how to make the polenta.

To stew the meat:

4 large rib chops or other giant cut of meat with the bone included
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 onion, diced
1 15 oz can of chopped tomatoes, or make your own
rosemary
thyme
1/2 C. red wine
broth
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper

1. Make the sure the meat is at room temp. generously season the meat with salt and pepper.
2. Add some oil to a deep pan and heat on medium until almost smoking, brown the meat on all sides until dark brown but not burnt. When you have browned all 4 pieces, set aside.
3. Add more oil if needed to the pan and turn the heat down to low. Add the onion, carrot, celery, pinch of sugar and herbs and saute on low until the onions are translucent, about 5-10 minutes, deglaze with the wine and scrape the pan clean of brown bits.
4. Take the meat pieces and arrange them so they fit rather snugly in the same pan if it is small enough or another smaller pan. Pour the vegetable and wine mixture over the meat and add the tomatoes. If the meat pieces are not submerged in the liquid from the tomatoes add up to 1/2 a cup of broth. Cover, bring to a boil and let simmer on low for at least 2 hours or until a meat is tender and falling off the bone.

Note: The tight fit is meant to keep the meat under liquid, let it cook slowly without much stirring. This way the vegetables and meat do not don't turn to mush. If there is still too much liquid for your taste after the meat is done. Remove the meat, cover and let rest and then reduce the sauce to more of a gravy.

For the polenta we used a quick cooking mix that took about 5 minutes to prepare. I was concerned about knowing the right texture but the recipe proportions were on the bag. I have yet to try the "real" polenta that takes 40 minutes or so to cook.



Deme had cheese on his meat and polenta. I had it just plain and both tasted great.


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You are What You Eat- A Meme

The Top 10 Foodstuffs I Cannot Live Without

Alan tagged me for this Meme and I have to say I have been thinking quite a bit about food lately since I've decided to put myself on a low-carb diet. The South Beach Diet is a no-carb for 2 weeks, shock your body diet but I had to modify it since I missed fruits and vegetables too much. Surprisingly I am doing fine without pasta, rice and potatoes.

10-SALT/SOY SAUCE
Love it even though I have high blood pressure. Just a tiny sprinkling/dash will do. (Alan I'm still hoarding the special Hawaiian salt you sent me.) Can you say salt crusted red snapper without drooling?

9-PEPPER
Freshly cracked on meats and with a squeeze of fresh lemon is simplicity at its best.

8-TEA
When it's cold outside I have to have my Twinnings English or Irish Breakfast tea with a dash of honey or a nice cookie/biscuit. It makes my morning and afternoon and evening.

7-SPICES/HERBS
There is no way I can cook without garlic, onions, chili, thyme, rosemary, cilantro and I think it's safe for me to say that I can't eat well without them either.

6-PANCETTA/GUANCIALE
This cured meat is like bacon but not smoked. In the kitchen it is an invaluable to add richness and flavor to soups and stews. I saute a few cubes of pancetta (from the belly area of the pig) and guanciale (sweeter and from the cheek/jaw area of the pig) before make bean soups. The aroma they impart is simply delectable and cooks up much faster than a ham hock.

5-SHELLFISH
If I did not have a run of high cholesterol in my family I could eat clams, mussels, crab, lobster, prawns, scampi, crayfish, mantis shrimp, until the cows come home or until my wallet comes up empty.

4-MILK
2% to be exact. I need it in my tea and coffee. No if's and or but's. Everyone in Italy drinks "cafe' normale" which is an espresso shot and after 10 months I still can't handle it.

3-CHEESE
I am stealing this from Alan. Even when I was a kid I loved cheese. My dad really liked blue cheese when I was growing up and I learned to like cheddar by tasting it at a neighbors house. Then when I moved to the U.S. I began to really experiment. My sisters will attest to the time I opened up a batch of Limburger in the car and they all demanded I throw it out before I even left the grocery store parking lot.

2-SALAD
Part of me think I would just die and wither if I could not have a salad. The pungent greens that are common here are simply delicious, arugula, chicory, radicchio, and lamb's lettuce or mache are very popular here. Give me some vinaigrette and a giant fork and stand back.

1-FRUITS
I cannot go a day without a bit of fruit and it really does not matter what they are. It's winter now in Italy, cold and frigid especially in Torino. I find myself eating a ton of mandarin oranges, pineapple (though from Chile), lychees (from Madagascar) and persimmons (local and in season).

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Mexican in Torino?

We went to our first Mexican restaurant in Torino last night. It was called The Malibu, via Regina Margherita, 27. The decor was very authentic, I loved the colors, the tables were of a nice size, there were "scenes" of shoes stores, a post office, etc... There were old photos on the wall and if I were not in Torino, I would think I was in Cancun or Baja. BUT the service was terrible since it took 45 minutes for our bill to arrive. (We asked 3 times and when we gave them 2 cards to run through, they run only one and tell us they can't split the bill. Huh?) Never again.

See the food photos below:

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Demetrio's dish, again bad guacamole, bad pico di gallo, even bad white rice, okay beans and okay steak.

My taco salad, not good. The salad had fried flour tortillas (yuck). The guacamole is light green due to the addition of mayo, not very authentic. The tomatoes tasted not so fresh and the taco salad was 80 percent lettuce, minus the sour cream, cheddar cheese, green onions, cilantro and basic Mexican flavor.

The Malibu Margarita-The best part of the meal. Tangy, slightly sweet and with not too much alcohol.

THE Slow Food Restaurant

You might have heard about it, you might have wondered about it, but do you really know what Slow Food is? After having met Demetrio I heard about Slow Food for the first time in 2004, a late comer, to the term.

Many people have never visited a farm, and don't know where their food comes from, do you? How many months does it take to grow the perfect cantaloupe? What does an artichoke plant look like? When are stone fruits in season? In the U.S. I was used to getting fruits and vegetables of all types, all season long. I miss this about the U.S. all the time, being able to get what you wanted, when you wanted. This past summer I could not for the life of me find any spinach. Only when the weather turned a bit cooler and Fall began, did I see them in the markets again. When I think back I was not raised with access to everything, all the time. I was born into the Slow Food movement without knowing it, I was raised with seasonal vegetables, organically grown by my family and so I can say I am a Slow Foodie.

The Movement itself was started by Carlo Petrini in protest to a McDonalds being opened at the base of the Spanish Steps in Rome; the Movement's mascot was a tiny snail. Today this movement had spread all over the world, including the U.S.A.. It preaches the wonders of home grown food, fresh food, organic food and most of all the preservation of "cultural cuisine." In short I can Slow Food is not only an idea and a movement, it's a consciousness.



A festive street in the town of Bra, the home of Slow Food. There is quite a famous University of Gastronomic Sciences associated with the movement, located in Pollenzo, about 20 km away.



Grisini, a Piemontese specialty. Basically a super light and delicious homemade bread stick. They come in many different varieties, covered with sesame seeds, with olives rolled into them, plain and my favorite with herbs added.



Cardi gobbi di Nizza Monferrato gratinati con crema di bagno caoda. (can also be spelled cauda.)
Cardi are cardoons in English. A relative of the globe artichoke, its large, grayish-green stalks are somewhat bitter, but they remain popular in Italy, Spain and North Africa. Nizza Monferrato is a town in which cardoons are a typical ingredient. These cardoons were served in a gratin with creme of bagna caoda (a sauce from Piemonte made of anchovies, olive oil, and garlic-sometimes with milk and sometimes with wine also. There is no standard recipe, everyone has their own variation.) This was delicious, crisp, salty, creamy and savory, all at the same time.



Tortino di porri di Cervere con fonduta al raschera.
Porri are leeks in English. Cervere is also a city in which leeks are a typical item. This tiny little "tortino" was more like a soufflé of leeks accompanied by thick, creamy cheese sauce. It was light, tasted of egg and leeks and heavenly with the cheese sauce.



Panna Cotta, not a Slow Food item. Panna cotta is a cooked cream custard, although there are no eggs. This was creamy, sweet and silken.

This restaurant is owned and run by the Slow Food folks in Bra and was very nice indeed. As we say in Italy, "Ho mangiato bene.", which translates to "I ate well." We will be headed back next season to see how them make use to Spring's ingredients.

Osteria del BoccoDiVinno
Via Mendicita' Istruita, 14
Bra, Italy 10240
Ph: 0172 42 56 74

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Tree Trimming on My Street

BEFORE
I am not sure what kinds of trees line my street but the entire street looks like it's getting a face lift this week. Although it's been cold, this tree still has all it's leaves from spring and summer.



DURING
I was awakened by the chain saws, cranes and wood chipper this morning as the work began. Our parking strip is off limits today as the work is done.



AFTER
Maybe the parks department wants to tidy up the trees all in one foul swoop instead of taking weeks to gather up the fallen leaves. Nevertheless the streets now look a little more bare.

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PRK-1 month Later

I just found this site and think it gives an really nice contrast to my PRK experience. The weblogs' owner had PRK in one eye and LASIK in the other.

It's been a month after my eye surgery (November 17) and my eyes are still not healed. I have been instructed to suspended my cortisone drops, the help speed healing and have been told that there is no sign of infection. All in all, I would say PRK involves too much down time since I have not been able to drive for the last month. We will be going back to the eye doctor after Christmas, I hope to be seeing even better then.


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Some Random Things About Me

I first must make a disclaimer that I stole this Meme from Sara.

TEN Random Things You Might Not Know About Me

1. I am a real nerd and used to study the dictionary\ies and encyclopedias.
2. I like dissecting things.
3. I have big feet, 8.5 in the U.S. and 39-40 in Italy.
4. I love the idea of travel but abhor flying.
5. Next to my bed, I must have water, lip balm and my Maalox.
6. My favorite household chores are doing dishes and vacuuming.
7. My favorite color is lime green and if I could I would have a lime green car.
8. Much to my husbands’ dismay, I have a zero alcohol tolerance.
9. I have a high pain tolerance but a low tolerance of the idea of pain.
10. I had a tattoo removed.

NINE Places I’ve Visited

1. The Ginza shopping district in Tokyo.
2. Manila, Philippines
3. The Arch in St. Louis
4. The Sunday Market in Bangkok
5. Kowloon Island, Hong Kong
6. New York’s Chinatown
7. San Francisco’s Chinatown
8. The Olympic National Forest in WA
9. The Shedd Aquarium, Chicago

EIGHT Ways to Win My Heart

1. Eat my pasta even after I tell you it is overcooked.
2. Offer me your seat in a restaurant if mine is near a doorway.
3. Tell me you don’t see dust in my house even if I know there is.
4. Offer me a jacket if it is cold outside.
5. Give me flowers of any kind, even if they are from the island next to a freeway.
6. Send me a real letter or card.
7. Call me on my birthday.
8. Love my dog.

SEVEN Things I Want to Do Before I Die

1. Go to China with my dad.
2. Go to Vietnam with my mom.
3. Take my sister(s) on a two week vacation of their choice.
4. Give my mother in law and her husband a vacation of their choice.
5. Enroll in a formal cooking school/academy and graduate.
6. Re-learn Cantonese and teach it to my children.
7. Complete the story of my life.

SIX Things I’m Afraid Of

1. I am afraid of heights and things that move really fast like roller coasters. Sometimes even my husbands driving.
2. Not being in control of my blood pressure.
3. Having my parents get sick.
4. Losing my husband.
5. The day have to put my cat down.
6. Losing Zavier.

FIVE Things I Don't Like

1. Being cold
2. Coffee without sugar and/or milk.
3. Badly cooked plain white rice.
4. Uneven chopsticks.
5. When the non-stick coating rubs off a non-stick pan.

FOUR Ways to Turn Me Off

1. Burp out loud, at the table.
2. Tell me you don’t eat this or that and visibly pick things out of your food instead of being discreet about it.
3. Chew with your mouth open.
4. Be mean/rude.

THREE Things I Do Everyday

1. Hug/Kiss the dog.
2. Hug/Kiss the Hubby
3. Wish for a child.

TWO Things That Make Me Happy

1. Being married to my husband.
2. The love of my family and friends.

ONE Thing On My Mind Right Now

1. My old cat, Bak-Gai.


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Small Town Girl in the Big City

I think almost everyone that reads my blog knows I am from Guam. Everyone asks me where I grew up and why I don’t seem so American, especially my mother-in-law. She once said when she compares me to other Europeans, I seem very Italian (a big compliment, I think). I tell her it’s just that our families, one Chinese and one Italian have similar values. Another reason I might not fit the typical Italians’ idea of an American is I grew up on Guam. This tiny little island in the middle of the Pacific, near the Marianas Trench-the deepest point in the ocean, was a haven for my family. It protected us from many things, mostly drugs, AIDS, and violence. I think I lived a carefree childhood, one I wish for my children; one many people that grew up in small towns and safe neighborhoods have had the advantage to experience.

I can’t deny there were also disadvantages as well; Guam was a closed and cloistered from the rest of the world. I never traveled as a child because everything was just too far. Being a minority and “of color” on Guam put you in the majority, along with Filipinos, Guamanians, Chamorros (the indigenous people of Guam), Japanese, Koreans and Vietnamese but left me with the idea that being “white or Anglo” was not a good thing. The children from military families were somewhat shunned if they were white and totally shunned if they were black. I think I only saw one or two African Americans in my entire life as a child on Guam. With TV programs from California, we accessed the outside world but never fully experienced it. When I left Guam at 18 to go to college, I was filled with anxiousness about living in the U.S. but also filled with naivety, prejudices and generalizations.

Fast forward to 14 years later; I am living in Torino but am in Rome for the holiday of the Immaculate Conception. Rome is a vast city of about 4 million, filled with antiquated buildings, tourists, lines and lines of traffic and crowds of people everywhere. Before I arrived in Italy, I had never crossed the Atlantic. I enjoyed visiting Manila, Bangkok, and Tokyo but have never aspired to live in a large city. So I’ve been asking myself; can I be happy in a large city? I have a new family now in Rome but still I daydream about life away from the the traffic, the crowding and the people.

Seattle was more like a big town than a large city, the traffic wasn’t great and neither was the weather but I liked living in the suburbs. I was close enough to downtown to have the convenience of the city center yet far enough away to have parking spaces, a garden and a block watch. I liked Seattle very much. You could not get a pizza at 1 a.m. like you can here in Rome, you did not arrive at a restaurant at 9-10 p.m. for dinner, you definitely did not have fresh markets in every neighborhood but still I enjoyed life in Seattle.

After I left Guam I realized how big her world was. Guam was a pinpoint on the map not even a speck. I ate canned asparagus since fresh was not available as most cold weather fruits and vegetables were rare. There was no theatre, no opera, not many museums, I hate to say this about my home but there was not much culture at all. Nevertheless all the things that bored me about Guam when I was a curious teenager suddenly have a new appeal: the air is fresh, unlike Torino, the water is warm and aqua, unlike Puget Sound, apartments are less common than homes, unlike Rome. The people are simple and genuine, they are warm and gracious. Because the weather is tropical, we had to deal with blazing heat, high humidity and typhoons during the rainy season. No matter where I live I know I’ll have to deal with the positives and the negatives of each place since no place is perfect. After our time in Torino is over, possibly as early as next summer, we hope to finally settle down in a place that both of us are keen on. But in reality I think we may settle in Rome even if I am not that keen on it.

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Our Bologna GTG-Get Together

Sara beat me to the punch when it came to blogging about the Bologna ex-pat GTG. Initially I was planning to meet just Cyndi and Danilo in Bologna for lunch but to my delight Sara and Franco also came along. Our plan was to stop in Bologna on our way up from Rome to Torino. We left Rome at 10 a.m. and through some miracle, encountered no traffic, no road work and no accidents. The drive was quick with one stop for gas and we made it at 1 p.m. sharp at the restaurant.

Here are the photos:



Here are the men (left to right) Demetrio, Danilo and Franco. We call them the ala carte men, we women look at the menu, order our meals and then men then have to pay ala card, if you know what I mean, AMEX, MC or VISA please.



Here are the ladies (left to right) Sara, Cyndi and myself.



This was the plaque on the door that said to "push". "Funny" I thought is this written in French or some other language, since "push" in Italian is spingere. The signs on the restroom doors were also strange to me. I find out later from Danilo these words are Italian but in the Bolognese dialect. Ah! that explains everything, the dialects of the different regions of Italy can seem like another language. I knew this but to see it in writing was very cool indeed.

On a hilarious side note, Cyndi was telling us a few stories of the Ebonics, some claim it is an American dialect, that she heard while on the job as a paramedic in Indianapolis. One day upon arriving at a call, a man says to her that he needs more medicine for his seizures. "Okay, what do you need?" asks Cyndi. The man says "I need more peanut butter balls." "Huh?" Cyndi wonders, after a few moments she figures out that he needs more Phenobarbital, a barbiturate that helps with controlling seizures. I could not stop laughing; I laughed so much Deme though for sure I was drunk. She told us a few more funny stories; it took me a minute to get the one about the man who called an ambulance because he had "skank on the hang down." Cyndi told him that was a problem but he needed a doctor, not an ambulance and he said it seems like an emergency to him; I just about fell under the table with this one.

After lunch we drove to the city center to walk around, look at the Christmas markets, there was an ice skating rink, a merry-go-round for the kids and tons of family type activities. The center alone there were 3-4 McDonalds' that shocked and disgusted me at the same time. I had a great time chatting with the ladies and really enjoyed the fact they understood my humor, American humor, we laughed ourselves silly and had a wonderful yet chilly afternoon.


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Quick Update on the Cat

My sister and I decided to go ahead with mouth surgery on the cat and fluid intervention to help his little kidneys work better. So far, so good, after three days he is eating better, purring a lot more and generally seems for comfortable with life. I am breathing a giant sigh of relief…

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Ginevra, Giselle and I set up The Nativity this past week.

Permesso di Soggiorno Part 2

I am now back in Torino but wrote this last Friday...

It’s a law in Italy that after 8 days of having arrived in the country you must go to the local police office and register for a Permesso di Soggiorno, basically a permission to stay in Italy that doubles as your work permit. Americans have a 90 day grace period for tourist reasons and so most American travelers aren’t even aware of this rule. I requested a permesso in March and have yet to receive it; some I ex-pats know have received it in as little as three months. But because we applied for my permesso in Torino and Demetrio is a resident of Rome, this adds a glitch to the whole process. Nine months later, still nothing from the questura in Torino.

Today we tried once again, this time in Rome, to get my permesso. Demetrio called to find out where the right office was as so we headed off and corralled ourselves into the crowded building. After almost 2 hours of me sitting behind an adorable little African girl and Demetrio loitering around the receiving windows, he overhears that we are in the wrong place. The right place is the commissariato or local police office. To make matters worse Italy in general is experiencing a bout of very bad weather, it was absolutely pouring cats and dogs. We head off to the local police office to find out more and are told that all the paperwork needs to be done in Torino. The receptionist actually laughed at us, or should I say laughed with us, when we told him of our situation. He offered us more information, a few papers to fill and advised us of how to apply differently for my permesso in Torino.

As I was sitting in the waiting room of the questura, I thought about this blog post. I thought about all the immigrants that surrounded me and what their reasons might be for wanting to gain legal entry into Italy. I watched the African couple in front of me; they spoke three languages and let me chat with their little girl. I saw red passports, green passports and even a few blue ones like mine. I listened to all the accents around me, most of them sounding unknown. Above all-the sound of the voice on the loudspeaker as it tried to pronounce Arabic, Chinese, Hispanic, Eastern European names and butchering them-drowned out even the rings of cell phones. The men and women behind the windows gave no mercy to those who did not speak or understand Italian well enough or fast enough. Most of the immigrants were treated like a pestilence with no end in sight. Here I was sitting with my husband, who spoke perfect Italian and English there to help me. As I watched those around me struggle I secretly hoped that in my next life I would come back a master linguist. With the ability to speak 5+ languages I could surely help others less fortunate than those in front of me with translating.

I have never stepped foot in an immigration office in the U.S. as I have had no occasion to. If I ever do move back to the U.S. I plan to head to my friendly neighborhood immigration office and see for myself how “friendly” it actually is.

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The South Beach Diet-Italian Style

Yes, the year is almost over and I need a New Years Resolution. In past years I have not made any serious resolutions since I usually just change things as they need to be changed. This year however, I am making a resolution and starting it early. I need to lose 10 pounds (about 4.5 kilos.)immediately. After thinking back on my past 9 months here in Italy, I've come to realize that my eating habits have changed enough for me to put on ½ a pound a month. I have also noticed that I can't zip up certain pairs of pants and that there are bulges where there were none before. Since the hubby has lost so much weight I thought I better get on the band wagon too. There is nothing more annoying that tight clothing.

I know the food culture in Italy is much different than in the U.S. Sometimes I forget this is this not a vacation and I actually live here. In my daily life there are things that I do differently here and these are the things I need to change.

Here's what I've noticed:

1. I never used to drink juice, never. I never bought it and hated the bottled/frozen stuff but now I drink fresh squeezed juice at bars and buy it also. Although good juice has a ton of vitamins in it, it also has the same amount of sugar as soda pop. I never drink soda and still don't thank goodness.

2. The preferred breakfast of Italians in either espresso or espresso and brioche aka pastries. If I want to meet a girlfriend for coffee in the morning I usually have a cappuccino and a pastry either a butter croissant, a croissant filled with nice warm marmalade, a cookie, biscotti, an apple tartlet or a piece of crostata, etc...I think you get the picture, all delicious, all warm and made with butter.

3. I eat much too much pasta. In the U.S. a dish of pasta would be my entire dinner, here in Italy it is only the 1st course. It follows the antipasti and precedes the meat course. That's three courses when I am used to just one.

4. There are less soy products readily available here and so I eat less soy.

5. I eat dinner much later here than in the U.S. Dinner time is between 8 and 9 usually, when we head to Rome is can be as late as 10:30 p.m.

With all these new habits of mine, I blame no one but myself. I have chunked up a bit and now need to form new habits so as to lose the excess. I've decided on the South Beach Diet. I know 5 people personally who have lost weight on this diet and kept it off, it's more of an permanent change in your eating habits, I always eaten healthily but lately just too much. So wish me luck as I try to lose 10 pounds. The most difficult part of the diet is the first 2 weeks in which there is a whole slew of food you can't eat. I will miss the fruit, the dairy and the bread most of all. I keep thinking about the juicy, ruby pomegranate I had last week and drooling.

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Happy Anniversary to Us-A Photo Tribute

I was really trying to get this post in on December 4th but I missed the mark by about 10 minutes. Ugh!!

December 04, 2004 was the day Deme and I hopped on a plane, flew to Las Vegas and got married. I asked him about 3 weeks ago if he had thought about what he was getting me for our anniversary. He said "I hadn't thought about it." With my worries about my cat, I told him I did not want to do anything fancy and asked him if I could make a suggestion. I wanted an authentic Demetrio dinner! It's been over a year since my darling husband has made dinner for me. With the move, his job and my new role as a casalinga (housewife) I usually do all the cooking. I knew how skilled he was in the kitchen, how much he loved to cook and eat and how his creative juices have not been allowed to flow lately, so I thought this was a great way to rekindle them. Here's to us!



Deme and I at a birthday party of mine in March of 2004. He was a show stopper that night; clad in his leather pants and toting a great bottle of champagne.



We meet on Alki Beach at an international BBQ. My good friend Miriam invited me to get out of the house and meet a few of her friends. We arrived with cheese, olives, prosciutto and a long baguette. Demetrio wandered over to chat with us and the rest is history. This photo was taken at Alki but about a year after we had actually met.



We got into Le Cirque for our wedding dinner, a gift from my boss Marc. I still remember his words "Make it Memorable." It was. I asked for a copy of the menu which I keep in our wedding album. I was so stuffed that night!



The waiter was more than happy to take our picture. As a Las Vegas waiter, he'd seen a lot of weddings. He posed us, asked us to smile and gladly snapped away.



Demetrio and Zavier started the day bright and early with a 10K run. My super fit hubby set his mind on finishing the run in 52 minutes and he beat his goal at 51 minutes and some odd seconds. I had a friend over; Natalie and I slept in until 10:30 a.m. and had a leisurely breakfast as we waited for my beloved to arrive home. (The dog did not actually go on the run, he was not registered.) Ha! Ha!



We spent the afternoon at a museum near our house looking at photos of Torino during the Olympic construction and seeing varous installations of modern art. Natalie snapped this photo of us as we left the museum. When Demetrio saw this photi he said he liked it since we both look happy and it "would fool everyone."



This is definitely one of the main reasons I married Deme, he makes great pasta and has excellent knife skills. He says he married me because I knew what a chiffonade was and I am the best soux chef ever.



Another reason Deme and I are a hit, we both love to fillet fish, NOT! This flat, sole like fish called a rombo gave him a run for his money today. We had three knives out, pliers (to pull the skin off) and towels to help us grip the tail. What a piece of work this fish was.



The pasta is called maltagliati (which translates literally to "cut badly". This pasta is cut by hand to just about any size, length and shape. I've had them in triangle shaped, in squares, long and thin and fat and short. Most of the time they are made "on the fly". We sauteed some baby artichokes and then added vongole (clams). This was very delicious.



For our main course Deme layered sliced, herbed, fried potatoes, delicate rombo fillets and two thin slices of tomato, then popped them into the oven. Add a few drops of new oil that we helped to make, chopped parsley and a few drops of lemon and you have a dish to die for. This is one of my favorite dishes.


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The Cat I Left Behind-Part 2

Find Part 1 of this story here. My poor old cat is much worse and he is heading towards kidney failure, a very common problem in old cats. These days I feel quite hysterical as I can't stop crying and trying to absolve myself of guilt that won't go away.

I've asked Cyndi, Laurie, Laura, Dagne, Demetrio, almost everyone I could for advice. My poor husband has had to deal with the brunt of my pain and hurt. Sadly I have been taking it out on him. I just can't seem to feel better about this. It looks like Bak-Gai will have to be put to sleep before his quality of life deteriorates even further. This feels like one of the worst things I have ever done in my life.

Mood(s): Sad, Desperate, Angry, Resentful, Anguished.


All contents copyright 2004/2005.
All rights reserved.