CHEEEEEEEEESE

Today we went to to a cheese factory and I got to see how cheese was made! It was pretty awesome. I had no idea how the process was. So much milk is used to create cheese but only a small amount of cheese is created from all the milk used. It's nuts. After we went through a tour of the factory we were able to try 4 different types of cheeses and also sip wine and eat bread while we tried them. (It was 10 am and we were drinking wine, i fell asleep asap when we got on the bus to Padova) We also tasted some salami that the owner of the factory also makes. Everything was so good. We tried different aged cheeses and there was one unique cheese that was called "Formaggio Briacho" which is translated to Drunk Cheese. They call it this because they add wine to it when they make it. When I tasted it, there was a definite taste of wine it is infused with. My favorite cheese we tried was the first one, which was a "young" cheese. Meaning it was more than a couple months old. Fyi, the younger the cheese, the whiter in color it is and the more holes you can find in it.
Anyway, that experience was really interesting and one of the top things I experienced and learned about while in Italy.

.Nutella.

Tonight we all went back to the Cappa Cafe to hang out. When we were there we each tried different drinks. I had an orange spritzer which was pretty good but doesn't really compare to the strawberry one that I ordered before. Erica ordered a dessert that had Nutella on it. We had no idea what it was from looking at it on the menu, but she oredered it anyway, because if Nutella is on it, it can't be bad. So when her dessert arrived it was a huge loaf of bread (like a very large piece of toast) that was covered in nutella and topped with nuts. It was SO GOOD. The bread was warm so it made it taste even better. That dessert was really good but filling. I was all set with one piece. The best part is that its simple enough to make if I crave it when I go back to the United States. YUMMMM.

dont judge me.

I have been going psycho for candy and am having a hard time finding any I like. It's gotten so bad that I see a child walking down the street eating some delicious treat and I think about mugging him. Luckily, today I received a package in the mail from my boyfriend that contains about 8 packages of sour skittles. ...i couldnt control my urge and I devoured half the loot within 36 hours. Needless to say, today was a sad day in my Italian cuisine world.

la dolce vita

I was in Florence today and I didn't get a chance to eat any food from the city but I did manage to stop by a small cafe in between my shopping. I went to this cafe mainly because I was on a mission to find cannolis... AND I DID! Me and Vicky both ordered cannolis and 2 cappuccinos. We were having a great time. The cannolis were delicious. So after finishing the best little cafe break we could have had it was time for the bill. We thought maybe it would be around 7 euros each. Maybe the drinks would be 2 euros each and the cannolli would be 3 euros. NOPE! we were dead wrong. The place was basically a delicious little tourist trap. Our bill total (which included 2 cappuccinos and 1 cannolli each) came out to 31 euros!!!!! the pastry was 4.50 and the drinks were 5.50 each. so i paid 15 euros for my coffee and dessert. what does that translate to in American dollars? basically a little over $20- each. Over priced? yes. -however- delicious? asbsolutely.

chef food part 2

Today was our last time meeting with the chef. After 3 hours of learning how to cook we came up with a variety of meals to devour. First off, the chef created this quick little appetizer that I have never tried before. It was fried zucchini flowers. I was starving so i devoured them and they tasted good, I don't know if I would have been so eager to eat them if I wasn't so hungry, but they were good. Then for the second dish he made trout with a sweet and sour sauce that had vinegar and raisins and other ingredients in the sauce. The third dish was rizzotto. The rice tasted so good! That was my first time eating rizzotto. The third dish was a pork meat wrapped up like a cinnamon roll with a meat mousse in between the layers. As for dessert, we had baked a lemon meringue type of pie. The whole meal was delicious but personally, my favorite meal was the one that we created the week before.

cafe

I decided that I love the "bars" here. The bars are actually coffee bars were people go and order a cappuccino or any other usually caffeinated drink ( which is one size) and stand there and drink it and then leave. It is quick and most of the places have great drinks. Mostly all the drinks cost 1 Euro it's really cheap here too because coffee is so popular. It's so different from home where Starbucks basically serves the same thing for $6. And in the states iced coffee is really popular but it's not like that here. Although some places do offer "cafe freddo" (iced coffee)- you dont usually see anyone drinking it.
I have become addicted to this coffee machine that we have in the building that our classes are in. Every morning before class starts I go to that machine and it automatically dispenses a small cup of cappuccino for me and it only cost 50 cents. I have that every morning and this chocolate bar that has rice puffs in it (like in rice cakes). Those taste awesome and I want to buy out all of the ones stocked in the vending machine. That's probably going to be one of the biggest things I miss about Italy- the cheap awesome tasting coffee and those chocolate bars.

dinnertime

Me and Vicky went to the Pam today to get food for dinner. We decided we were going to make eggplant parmesan and pasta. I was in charge of making the pasta so I cooked the pasta with olive oil and cut up pieces of garlic, red pepper, lemon bits, and chicken to add to it. I bought dried out red peppers at the Pam, they must have been gourmet peppers or something because the little prepackaged bag that I purchased was the most expensive thing I bought at the grocery store. I was 4 Euros for something so small. I couldn't complain though because they made the pasta taste really good. I also prepped the marinara sauce for the eggplant and added crushed garlic and onions to add flavor to the sauce. We then layed out the eggplant and mozzarella/parmesan cheese to it and through it in the oven and baked it for about half an hour. The prep time was also about half an hour as well. It ook a while to mak eit but in the end it was worth it. It was probably the second best dinner I have had since I've been here (the chef's was the best). All that was missing was beer. That would have made it perfect!