Updates!
I've decided I want to update every day until this program ends in Rome.
This isn't saying too much, considering the date is April 23rd and the program officially ends May 6th. But still, for someone whose longest link of updates is five days (or something like that), two weeks is a significant commitment.
The thing is, I'm so not ready to leave Roma yet, and I want to remember EVERY LAST MUNDANE SECOND I have in this beautiful city!
So, a few life updates...
I'm getting a tattoo in 3 days! I'm really nervous about it, but also very excited. I've been thinking/planning this for a while, so I'm sure in my decision. It's going to be a lotus and lilypads (a chinese watercolor painting), and I chose it because a) it has to do with my ancestry, and b) it signifies summer, rebirth, and perservering through adversity, all messages that I really like.
Yeah, it's kind of a big deal I know! On a totally different note, last night I watched Spring Awakening and Glee with my roommate Paola. It was very, very intense but so totally worth watching (SA, not Glee..Glee was hilarious and amazing as usual). I can't even believe how amazing Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff's voices are, it's so strikingly beautiful. I absolutely must download those songs ASAP. We were going to go out, but plans sort of fell through, but I'm a little bit glad because I was coughing so hard last night that going to a smoky club couldn't have helped at all.
Today I FINALLY did laundry for the first time in something gross like 3 weeks...and in the meantime my friend Justin and I went to the open air market across the street to do some food searching. I love open air markets, especially here in Rome, where they have boar heads hanging and rolls of pecorino romano larger than my torso. We passed a booth selling herbs and nuts, and a 2 euro box of curry powder caught my eye, and I decided randomly to make chicken curry con patate e carote!
Curry is one of my FAVORITE FOODS ever, and even though I'm incredibly sad that I'm leaving Europe so soon, I also miss home a lot. I've found myself increasingly thinking about my family and friends in California, about everything from drinking with friends to sister dinners with Jenny, to falling asleep in my bed in the US. Curry (ethnic food in general, really) is one of those foods that reminds me of home, because my mom used to make it for us all the time from little packets of curry powder she would buy at the asian supermarkets.
Now, here's the thing: my internet wasn't working at the time and I'd never made curry before, so when I got home I stared at my ingredients for quite a while, wondering where the fuck to start. I figured that the consistency of curry (I was looking for a thicker sort of sauce-y curry) was sort of similar to stew, so I decided to make it in a similar fashion by which I made stew. So I cut up my patate e carote, and tossed in some rosemary, basil, salt, and olive oil and cooked them for a few minutes before pouring in some water and a tiiiny bit of white wine and then putting in the chicken.
The thing that made me the most nervous was making sure the chicken was fully cooked--no recipe means I had no idea how long to cook it for in order to make sure it was done. I set the timer for 55 minutes but kept the pot on high heat just because I was hungry and I didn't want it to take TOO long. It took less time than expected, but I had to put a little flour in to make it thicker.
EITHER WAY the point of this post is that I was successful! It actually turned out really well (:
In the next two weeks I have every intention of exploring as much of Rome as I can before I have to leave. Justin and I are scouring a book he got for Christmas (Food Wine Rome) that lists out excellent restaurants/bakeries/wine bars/pizzerias/etc etc in different areas of Rome and visiting ones that we haven't been to already.
Also, I miss being in a relationship! Not in a relationship with a particular person (though I miss him too, in the same way I miss all my friends!), but just being in a relationship in general. I want someone to spoon with in the evenings and hold hands with in Villa Borghese. (: Especially now that the weather is warmer and all the touristy couples are walking around eating gelato together. (Random aside--speaking of the weather, Rome's weather is on CRACK. This week, we have seen hot sun, cloudy days, rain, thunder, perfect spring weather, lightning, and hail. all in ONE WEEK!)
Two weeks left, what's the update on food goals??
- Cinnamon rolls (from Pease Pudding)
- Pizza
- Pasta con broccoli romanesco (from Rachel Eats)
- Puff pastry (recipe/inspiration courtesy of chrryblssmninja
- Curry, the end
- A whole roasted chicken...no idea who would eat this but I WANT TO DO IT
- Blueberry pie (with vodka pie crust (:! from Willow Bird Baking)
- Breakfast pizza (from Smitten Kitchen)
- Macarons with ganache filling (from The Food Librarian)
This isn't saying too much, considering the date is April 23rd and the program officially ends May 6th. But still, for someone whose longest link of updates is five days (or something like that), two weeks is a significant commitment.
The thing is, I'm so not ready to leave Roma yet, and I want to remember EVERY LAST MUNDANE SECOND I have in this beautiful city!
So, a few life updates...
I'm getting a tattoo in 3 days! I'm really nervous about it, but also very excited. I've been thinking/planning this for a while, so I'm sure in my decision. It's going to be a lotus and lilypads (a chinese watercolor painting), and I chose it because a) it has to do with my ancestry, and b) it signifies summer, rebirth, and perservering through adversity, all messages that I really like.
Yeah, it's kind of a big deal I know! On a totally different note, last night I watched Spring Awakening and Glee with my roommate Paola. It was very, very intense but so totally worth watching (SA, not Glee..Glee was hilarious and amazing as usual). I can't even believe how amazing Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff's voices are, it's so strikingly beautiful. I absolutely must download those songs ASAP. We were going to go out, but plans sort of fell through, but I'm a little bit glad because I was coughing so hard last night that going to a smoky club couldn't have helped at all.
Today I FINALLY did laundry for the first time in something gross like 3 weeks...and in the meantime my friend Justin and I went to the open air market across the street to do some food searching. I love open air markets, especially here in Rome, where they have boar heads hanging and rolls of pecorino romano larger than my torso. We passed a booth selling herbs and nuts, and a 2 euro box of curry powder caught my eye, and I decided randomly to make chicken curry con patate e carote!
Curry is one of my FAVORITE FOODS ever, and even though I'm incredibly sad that I'm leaving Europe so soon, I also miss home a lot. I've found myself increasingly thinking about my family and friends in California, about everything from drinking with friends to sister dinners with Jenny, to falling asleep in my bed in the US. Curry (ethnic food in general, really) is one of those foods that reminds me of home, because my mom used to make it for us all the time from little packets of curry powder she would buy at the asian supermarkets.
Now, here's the thing: my internet wasn't working at the time and I'd never made curry before, so when I got home I stared at my ingredients for quite a while, wondering where the fuck to start. I figured that the consistency of curry (I was looking for a thicker sort of sauce-y curry) was sort of similar to stew, so I decided to make it in a similar fashion by which I made stew. So I cut up my patate e carote, and tossed in some rosemary, basil, salt, and olive oil and cooked them for a few minutes before pouring in some water and a tiiiny bit of white wine and then putting in the chicken.
The thing that made me the most nervous was making sure the chicken was fully cooked--no recipe means I had no idea how long to cook it for in order to make sure it was done. I set the timer for 55 minutes but kept the pot on high heat just because I was hungry and I didn't want it to take TOO long. It took less time than expected, but I had to put a little flour in to make it thicker.
EITHER WAY the point of this post is that I was successful! It actually turned out really well (:
In the next two weeks I have every intention of exploring as much of Rome as I can before I have to leave. Justin and I are scouring a book he got for Christmas (Food Wine Rome) that lists out excellent restaurants/bakeries/wine bars/pizzerias/etc etc in different areas of Rome and visiting ones that we haven't been to already.
Also, I miss being in a relationship! Not in a relationship with a particular person (though I miss him too, in the same way I miss all my friends!), but just being in a relationship in general. I want someone to spoon with in the evenings and hold hands with in Villa Borghese. (: Especially now that the weather is warmer and all the touristy couples are walking around eating gelato together. (Random aside--speaking of the weather, Rome's weather is on CRACK. This week, we have seen hot sun, cloudy days, rain, thunder, perfect spring weather, lightning, and hail. all in ONE WEEK!)
Two weeks left, what's the update on food goals??
- Cinnamon rolls (from Pease Pudding)
- Pizza
- Pasta con broccoli romanesco (from Rachel Eats)
- Puff pastry (recipe/inspiration courtesy of chrryblssmninja
- Curry, the end
- A whole roasted chicken...no idea who would eat this but I WANT TO DO IT
- Blueberry pie (with vodka pie crust (:! from Willow Bird Baking)
- Breakfast pizza (from Smitten Kitchen)
- Macarons with ganache filling (from The Food Librarian)