Another Adventure!

Has this week felt long to anyone else? I feel like I wrote the last cooking blog forever ago! Hmm.. maybe it was because we spent most of this week in class rather than field trips! Too many lectures :)

We spent Monday morning at the Bernini Elementary School just up the street from the palace. Italy is currently celebrating their 150th Anniversary and the students performed a song, dance, and speech for us about their country. They were so proud and excited we were there. After their performance we were able to go into a 4th grade classroom and ask each other questions. Cinzia translated for us, as usual, and it was so fun to get an idea of what 9 year olds think of Americans. They asked questions like... what we like to eat for breakfast, if we played volleyball, who our favorite singers were, and of course if we had boyfriends! The funniest part was that they also admitted to thinking we were all 30 years old! I hope we don't look that old! :) ...Actually I change my mind.. the funniest part was when they asked, "Which one of you is the best?", we all looked at Cinzia very confused [thinking- best at what??] until she explained they wanted to know who was the smartest aka best in school... still thinking this was a very strange question we all point to Katie and yell her name. ((Now if you haven't met Katie, you need to know that she is unlike anyone I have ever met. She is so outgoing, loved by everyone, and hysterical... always making everyone laugh and ironically constantly says she "struggles with school". )) Immediately, the students start clapping and cheering for her!!! and we all busted out laughing as she bowed and said thanks!!! We called her the best the rest of the day! It was great. Gotta love Italians!

Performing their dance/song! The students in Italy usually wear white or blue aprons and can put patches or designs of their choice on them. They are worn over their clothes like uniforms.

Beautiful girls :)

Explaining their precious poster... [what each part of the Italian symbol means].

More songs! I was loving this! 

During question time! I think this was when we asked who like the Roma "futbol" team! haha

Tuesday, was a very fun day! We spent the morning at the World Food Program [WFP]. If you haven't heard about The World Food Program, it is the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting world hunger. "It is part of the United Nations and if funded solely through volunteers. In emergencies, they get food to where it is needed, saving lives of victims of war, civil conflict and natural disasters. After the cause of an emergency has passed, they use food to help communities rebuild their shattered lives." Oddly enough, their headquarters are in Rome, and even more odd, the girl who gave us our tour was an Auburn Alum! She graduated 2 years ago and actually knew some of the girls on the trip. While at Auburn, she interned in Rome at WFP and ended up getting a job with it when she graduated, so there she was! Also, the current intern that we met was also from Auburn! It was very nice to see Auburn family-- it has been SO long! Auburn, was actually the very first University to get connected with WFP and continues to raise money for them with campus organizations like "Fill the Cup" and Hunger Marches! [Auburn] War Eagle to that!

From there... we went to Tirelli's Tailor Workshop, one of the largest Theatre and Cinema costume workshops. Their collection has over 100,000 pieces from the middle age/renaissance to the 1990s! The workshop and its key costume designs have received Academy Awards in the US for their outstanding work. Our tour guide was, Andrea Sorrentino, a costume designer himself! I could not believe how many costumes there were! You could literally hide in there for days and no one would ever know.

The dress Rose wore in Titanic!

Beautiful white/cream costumes from the 1800s!

Costumes galore! 

Costume from Alice in Wonderland

Leather Chaps!

The robes from Passion of the Christ... very cool!

Cinderella's dress! My fav!

The costume Heath Ledger wore in A Knight's Tale

The other exciting/scary part of the week was that I registered for class for the last time! Yes, you read that correct... and for the first time since I started college I got all the classes I needed in the first 10 minutes I could sign up! Gosh, I feel so old. I have 12 hours in the summer, my last 12 in the fall, then I will do an internship in the spring! Crazy!

Now for the adventures ahead--- Tomorrow morning @ 6 AM I leave for Switzerland! How cool is that! There are 8 of us flying to Geneva and staying at Mary Cate's parents friends house fo freee! They are so excited.. and have planned great things for us like fondue anddd skiing in the Alps on Saturday!! Can someone please wake me up? I'm pumped. 

The unfortunate part is that we get back Sunday night around 10 PM and then have to unpack and repack to head out at 6 AM the next morning for Milan. I'm not sure I will be able to sleep with all I will have to get done in between those trips-- but it will be worth it! We will be in Milan until Thursday and then from there all 19 of us are flying straight to Barcelona for the rest of the weekend! Do you think we are crazy yet? haha Cause I do!

Basically, the next 10 days are going to be crazy [and filled with lots of febreeze] but a blast and I am the happiest girl in the world! I will be sure to post pics from all 3 places when I get back!!!! 

Since I will be out of touch until the 10th.. I hope you all have a great weekend, week, and weekend again! ha! ...and for all my AXO sisters-- have a FABULOUS time at formal tomorrow night!!!!! I wish I could be there with you. Please post pics ASAP! Love you all.

Love the rest of you too! Well, I better finish packing and get some sleep :) 

xoxo

Britt

Cooking 106

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone's week has started off well. Today, was cold and rainy so we were very happy to see that Mary Lou had planned to make French Onion Soup and Pineapple Fritters! The perfect way to warm us up!

Zuppe (soup) and cheesy bread:

Ingredients: ONIONS, oil, bouillon cubes, wine, bread, cheese

First chop up all of the onions! and try not to cry :)

Once chopped, put them in a big pot with some oil and water.
Cover the pot, stirring occasionally, until the onions brown.

Once browned, add some white wine and bouillon cubes for flavor...
and water depending on how thick you want it.

Mary Lou says, to thicken a soup, you can add flour
[mixed with cold water first] so that it will mix in smoothly.

While your soup is still simmering, you can cut your fresh bread!

Add cheese and pop them in the over just to toast them!

Finished bread! My favorite.

Put them together and tada!
French Onion Soup with cheesy bread in Italy! Perfecto!

Pineapple Fritters:

Ingredients: pineapple slices, flour, beer, sugar, cinnamon

Sift some flour into a bowl.

Add some beer until it becomes liquid.

It should look like pancake mix!

Add some oil [we used peanut] to a pan...
Mary Lou says you know its hot enough when you can press a wooden spoon down and it sizzles.

Dip the pineapple slices into the batter, covering them thoroughly.

Immediately place them into the frying pan... flip them over after a few minutes [or when brown].

Once cooked, take them out and place them on a paper towel to absorb the oil.

Once cooled off, add some sugar...

and cinnamon! and that's it!

I was amazed at how easy and delicious these recipes were! I could have eaten the entire plate of Pineapple Fritters! They are super good. Will definitely be making those back in Auburn :)

Have a good rest of the week!

xoxo
Britt

Ballet, Beach, & Babies

Hi friends and fam!

Hope everyone has had a good weekend! I thought I would post some pictures from mine... to prove that not going on a weekend trip can be a good thing! :)

Friday night we decided to go to the American Ballet in Rome! After an hour of travel to get there and one wallet pick pocketed, we made it! Yes, Laura got her wallet taken from her purse on the tram! It was so sad. Thankfully she had mentioned needing to go to the ATM when we left the palace but we were in a hurry so she said she would go once we got there... so she had NO money on her! and her parents cancelled her debit card the second we realized! So those punks got nothing! Ha!

Roomies (minus Rae) before the ballet!

The ballet started off very slow but the second half was great! It was weird to be in Rome and watch American's dance while sitting in a theatre full of Italians! I felt like I was at home at times. The funniest part was that we found out the director of the ballet was from Alabama! and when we looked up his name, Laurie screamed, "Hey! I know him!" Her mom is friends with his mom from church! Such a small world!! 

One of our assignments while we are here is a Cultural Event... so we can use the ballet as ours! We saved our tickets and programs! Fun night and class credit! Success.

Saturday, 5 of us got up and headed to Nettuno Beach! We had no idea where it was but knew we could take the bus to get there so we thought why not have an adventure!? We [painfully] put on our swimsuits, packed our lunches, and headed to the bus stop. Keep in mind that Italians DO NOT wear shorts [not even in the summer] sooo we got SO many stares walking down the street in our cover ups and nike shorts! It was hilarious!! It was sunny, mid 50s, but they just couldn't believe what we were wearing! Of course, we waited at the bus stop with all of the students going to school [in their jeans, boots, jackets, and scarves]... they all pointed and laughed with confused faces the entire time... and all we could do was laugh! Hey, at least we were going to the beach and they were going to school!

So we end up sitting there for over an hour, all of the students are gone, and we start to question if our bus is coming. Naturally, we call Cinzia and she tells us to try the next bus stop down... so we run down there and immediately the bus we needed pulled up! Of course! Oh well.. you live and you learn :)

The bus is not my favorite choice of transportation in Italy... mainly because they are so dirty, people smell, and I feel nauseous almost every time! Not fun. Well I was unaware that the bus ride to Nettuno was almost an hour. Let's just say that I have never been so thankful to get off! Seeing the water when we did though, made it worth it! We ran down and couldn't stop smiling! Unfortunately, we could only enjoy the sun for an hour or so because we had to leave in time to wait on the bus and the hour ride back... but it was still great to lay in the sand and listen to the waves.

The reason we had to get back was because Tommy [our Faculty Advisor] had planned a cookout at his villa with us and the Edwards! [the sweet family I keep talking about!] Marco and Mary Lou [our history and cooking professors/Maurizio's parents] live 5 minutes from the palace and Tommy lives in one of their villas and the Edwards were staying in the other. Basically, it was one big party with yummy grilled food and wine! The best part was that I got to play with Chase [his little sister, Reese, was already asleep- bummer!] If you know me at all, you know I love playing with little kids so this made my night!!

Tommy using a hair dryer to start the grill! Pretty sure this is dangerous Tom! 

Chase and Scott being "Jedi's"! They love Star Wars! haha

How cute is he?

I miss babysitting! I took full advantage of getting to play with him!

Griller Tommy. He made chicken, hamburgers, and sausage! So good!

Mary Lou made a yummy cake.

Limoncello shots!

Marco and Mary Lou aka the sweetest couple I have ever met. Literally. I could sit with them all day and listen to their stories. I secretly want them to be my grandparents!!

Well that's all I've got for now! but check back tomorrow for a new recipe from Mary Lou! We have a very busy week ahead but I am gonna try to post about it before I leave for the weekend!

xoxo
Britt