La Vita Giulia: Rome

I started the week by making some homemade tomato sauce. I may have gone a bit overboard as I made two and a half (and then some) jars of it! But it turned out wonderful and we now have wonderful sauce!
Ho cominciato la settimana a fare un sugo al pomodoro. E' venuto molto buono, anche se ne' ho fatto un po' tanto! Adesso abbiamo sugo per al meno un paio di mesi!

I also made some pound cake. This was the first time I have ever attempted to make pound cake, and, well, the pictures say it all! The recipe called for a 10-inch angel food loaf pan (?), I used a 9-inch regular loaf pan. Then the recipe called for about 25 different bowls, I used 3 (it really called for about 3 or 4, but I put the ingredients in the wrong bowls). Recipe said to "fold" cut pieces of butter into the egg mixture, I blended. Then said to separate the flour into four areas and slowly add the other mixture to it. Again, I blended. However, despite my carelessness with the recipe (I mean really, I only have so much time) it turned out very tasty! Maybe not like the picture in the book or how it maybe "should" look, but it was very tasty and that's all that matters.
Ho anche fato un pound cake che e' un tipo di torta un po' asciutta, ma molto densa. Ho seguito l'instruzioni abastanza (non tutte) che la torta e' venuta molto buona anchce se un po' e' andata sopra. meno male che c'avevo messo una teglia setto per racogliere tutto!

Before (notice the cookie sheet under the loaf)

After (good thing that cookie sheet is there!)

Final Result

On Saturday night, Jeff surprised me after work and said that he had made us dinner reservations. We went to Steps of Rome on Columbus Avenue (in Little Italy) and it was so yummy! We pulled out all the stops and ordered a bottle of prosecco, calamari fritti, and then shared gnocchi alla salsiccia (gnocchi with a red sauce and spicy sausage) and saltimbocca alla romana (veal with prosciutto cooked in a white wine sauce), and then finally profiterole bianchi/alla vaniglia (cream puffs with a vanilla sauce). Everything was so tasty, we can't wait to go back! We then went to a movie that end and it was just the perfect date!
Sabato sera, Jeff mi ha sorpreso dopo il lavoro dicendomi che aveva prenotato per cena. Siamo andati a un ristorante italiano buonissimo! Abbiamo preso una bottiglia di prosecco, calamari fritti, Jeff ha preso gnocchi alla salsiccia e io ho preso saltimbocca alla romana (buonissimi!). Per dolce, avevano dei profiterole bianchi con una crema alla vaniglia. Erano i profiterole piu' buoni che io ho mai mangiato! Dopo cena, siamo andati al cinema e poi a casa perche' era tardi. Era una serata perfetta!

Prosecco

Saltimbocca Alla Romana

Gnocchi Alla Salsiccia

Profiterole Bianchi

That was my week and now it is t-minus 9 days until the start of the Pacific Cup so life is busy here in the Bay! Have a wonderful week!
Quella era la mia settimana e adesso ci sono solo 9 giorni prima della gara allora noi siamo molto imepgnati! Buona settimana!

Cooking, Miscellaneous, Rome, San Francisco

Jeff and I were lucky enough to get to go to Italy this October for two weeks. We were mainly in Parma, which is where all of my family is but we traveled to Florence and Rome. We had plans to go visit the Cinque Terre, however the weather did not cooperate and we didn’t want to go if it was raining. The first thing we did in Parma was that we went to the Italy-Cyprus soccer game with Novella (my cousin) and Valerio (her boyfriend). The game started out very slow as Cyprus scored the first two goals. Then, in the last 20 minutes of the game, Italy came back and scored three goals. Italy ended up winning 3-2 and the game was so much fun! I had never been to an Italian soccer game and neither had Jeff, and we both (along with Novella and Valerio) had so much fun! The excitement and adrenaline at these games is so high that you can’t not enjoy yourself. Jeff and I then went down to Florence for the day where we lucked out on weather – it was sunny and warm the whole day! We went and visited the Palazzo Pitti and the Giardini dei Boboli, which are gorgeous, and we just had fun! From the top of the gardens, you can see all of Florence. Since the weather was gorgeous, the views were spectacular! After the gardens, we went shopping. Florence has a great little market in Borgo San Lorenzo that has nothing that you need but everything that you want. Jeff bought himself a really nice brown leather jacket, I bought myself some green leather gloves and scarves, we also bought quite a few presents at the market. When we left, we realized that we still had three days to spend in Rome and needed to add some luggage! Therefore, upon arriving in Rome, we went to Carpisa, which has great purses, and big bags and I bought a “twofer.” This was a purple cloth bag inside a black leather bag so I got two bags for one! I love my new purse! We filled the purse with our new goodies and headed off into Rome to sightsee. Since we were there for three days, we decided to sign up for the Hop On/Hop Off bus that they have in Rome. This ended up being very convenient for us because it took us everywhere that we wanted to go and we were able to get off and go see the sights. We were also lucky enough to stay with friends of my family, the Bartuli’s, while we were in Rome. Their house is located two blocks from the Vatican and we walked through the Vatican every day. One afternoon, Jeff and I climbed up to the top of the Cupola (Dome) of St. Peter’s. The view was spectacular! Unfortunately, my camera decided to run out of batteries while we were trying to take pictures up at the top. Fortunately, we were still able to get some decent pictures before it ran out. In Rome, we visited St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museums, the Trevi Fountain, Piazza del Popolo, Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, and the Coliseum. We really loved Rome and hope to go back again soon! When we came back to Parma, we went to the Castello di Torrechiara near Felino. The castle was very fun (even though it was raining). We then spent the rest of our time hanging out in Parma and visiting with my family. Jeff and I had an amazing time in Italy and can’t wait to go back and visit again!

Io e Jeff siamo stati fortunati poter andare in Italia quest'ottobre per due settimane. Eravamo principalmente in Parma, che è dove tutta la mia famiglia è ma siamo andati a Firenze ed a Roma. Volevamo andare alle Cinque Terre pero’ il tempo non ha cooperato e non ci siamo andati. La prima cosa che abbiamo fatto a Parma era che siamo andati alla partita di calcio di Italia-Cipro con la Novella (mia cugina) e Valerio (il suo ragazzo). Il gioco stava andando adagio perche’ Cipro ha segnato I primi due goal. Poi, nell'ultimi 20 minuti del gioco, l’Italia è ritornata e ha segnato tre goal. L'Italia ha finito su vincere 3-2 ed il gioco era così molto divertimento! Io e Jeff siamo poi andati giu a Firenze per la giornata prima di andare a Roma. Siamo andati al Palazzo Pitti per vedere i Giardini dei Boboli che sono stupendi! Dalla cima dei giardini, si vede tutta Firenze; poi la giornata era cosi’ belle che la vista era ancora piu’ bella! Dopo i giardini, siamo andati a fare spese. Jeff si è comprato la giacca di pelle marrone, io mi sono comprata dei guanti Verdi e delle sciarpe. Abbiamo anche comprato molti regali al mercato. Quando siamo arrivati a Roma, abbiamo deciso di fare un biglietto sull’autobus che ci portava in giro (l’autobus dei turisti). Questo era molto conveniente per noi perché ci ha portati dove volevamo andare e potevamo scendere e visitare quello che c’era attorno. Eravamo anche abbastanza fortunati per stare con gli amici della mia famiglia, il Bartuli, mentre eravamo a Roma. La loro casa è a due passi dal Vaticano ed abbiamo camminato attraverso il Vaticano ogni giorno. Un pomeriggio, io e Jeff siamo andati alla cima della Cupola (il Duomo) di San Pietro. La vista da in alto era spettacolare! A Roma, abbiamo visitato la Basilica di San Pietro, I Musei Vaticani, la Fontana di Trevi, Piazza del Poplo, Piazza Navona, Piazza di Spagna, e il Coloseo. Quando siamo ritornati a Parma, siamo andati a vedere il Castello di Torrechiara che e vicino a Felino. Il castello era molto divertente (anche se pioveva). Siamo poi stati a Parma con la mia famiglia e ci siamo divertiti molto! Non vediamo l’ora di tornare in Italia!

Parma and Italia - Cipro.................................