At the Grocery

Italian grocery stores are pretty different from stores in America.  Almost everything in the store is from Italy so that means no ingredients to cook internation food (Mexican, Asian, etc).  There are not aisles and aisles of processed food like in the States.  No doritos, no flavored potato chips, no soups in cans, no bottled salad dressings.  Hydrogenated oils are banned in much of Europe.  So margarine is actually illegal.

Now I am used to the new way of shopping and actually prefer it.  However, this time of year, I am making many of my traditional recipes and am once again missing American ingredients.

Here's my top ten list of things I wish I could buy here:

1.  Brown sugar
2.  Sour cream
3.  Plastic bags (like ziplock)
4.  Cheddar cheese
5.  Goldfish crackers
6.  Italian sausage (they sell sausage here but honestly it is not the same and not as good as the "Italian" sausage from stores in America)
7.  Ranch dressing
8.  Self rising cornmeal (I could probably use polenta but I haven't gone to the trouble to figure out how.)
9.  Cilantro
10. Corn on the cob (They only sell corn in cans.  Never fresh, not even frozen.  Only in cans.)
11.  I know I said 10 things but I have one more.  I miss breakfast food like English muffins, bagels, bacon, etc.

I could go on but really, I don't miss the things I used to eat.  We can do without the frozen burritos.  My husband lost 10 pounds within the first couple months of living in Italy.  Even though he probably eats more food here, the quality of the food is better.  Turns out the packaged food he ate for lunch on the go was packing on the pounds, but a three course lunch with fresh ingredients doesn't.  Hmmm.

I Libri

Addesso e inverno, now it is winter, and time to be cozy and read a good book.  Here's a list of books about Italy that I have enjoyed.  All are set within 30 or 40 miles of where we live.

Italian Neighbors by Tim Parks
Written by a British guy who lived in Italy for 10 years.  Almost everything in this book has happened to me or someone I know.

Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
Cute, easy read set in Parma about an American pro football player who ends up playing in Italy.  I was in the middle of reading this when I met our doctor and friend for the first time.   He is an American who has lived in Italy over 25 years and guess what, used to be the quarterback of an Italian football team here.  This is American football, not soccer.

 The Broker by John Grisham
Another fast read set in Bologna.  Great descriptions of Italian life, architecture, and food.

Leonardo's Swans by Karen Essex
Historical fiction about the Este family who ruled Ferrara for centuries. Da Vinci painted two of the Este princesses and this book centers around them.  Set in Milan and Ferrara.


Now I am in the middle of reading Ciao America.  It is the exact opposite of what I am living now.  It is written by an Italian who moves to America for a year.  The first thing he does in his American house is try to close the shutters but of course American shutters don't move.  He is completely confused by American air conditioners and why anyone would want it to be 70 degrees inside when the outside temp is over 100.  The book is a bit outdated (it was written in the late '90s) but still interesting to read that Italians are as confused in America as we often are in Italy.

Happy reading!

images from Amazon.com

What Not to Say

Today instead of writing about pretty things, I'm going to give a little Italian lesson about what not to say.  First, let me tell you where I went wrong.

It was last January at 9:00 in the morning.  I had my two year old in the stroller and was going to the Friday market with my friend.  (Friday market is a lovely outdoor market that fills the city center with vendors that sell everything from scarves to apples) We were short on time but as we walked past our regular cafe it just didn't feel right to not stop for cappuccino.  We didn't have the time so we just decided to stop in, say ciao, and get a bottle of water to take with us to the market.  We were feeling pretty good about our Italian at this point and this is what we said:

Us: Ciao Bea!

Bea: Ciao! Come stai? (Hi How are you?)

Us: Bene. Per oggi, vorrei solo un aqua naturali da asporta (Good. For today we would like only water to go)
Us: Perche addiamo a marketa (Because we are going to a prostitute)

Bea:  Nothing.  She just stared at us.

Luckily then her husband stepped out of the back laughing and said no, "addiamo a mercato"

Got that?  Mercato not Marketo.  Easy mistake for an English speaker to make don't you think?  Marketa (actually spelled marchetta in Italian) sounds just like market.

It happened again this summer (but not to me thankfully).  I was in the city center with my boys and these cute little American college students who were studying abroad were standing in the street saying "Marketo?  Marketo?"  Poor things didn't speak any Italian and were looking for a grocery store.  Of course no one would speak to them because in Italian they were asking for a prostitute. 

Okay so remember, Mercato not Marketo.

Allora, addesso vado a un mercato.  Ciao ciao.

Roma

Spent a lovely weekend with friends in Rome. Such a gorgeous city. Everywhere you look, there is something beautiful, ancient, and full of history. Truly unbelievable.  If only the walls could talk. . .

I don't even remember what this is but it is gorgeous!

Trevi fountain

Forum.  This is over 2,000 years old

Piazza Navono

 

Just another day standing around on 2,000 year old columns.  Whatever.

St. Peter's Basilica

Sono Francese?

For over a year I have been trying to blend into this culture that I love so much and not seem like an American tourist.  Only the latter has been successful. 

Now they think I'm French.

I'm not sure what went wrong.  My spoken Italian is strongly affected by my southern accent and as soon as I utter a simple "ciao", they know I'm not local. (My pronunciation is really quite horrendous.)  Now though, instead of switching to English, people have started speaking to me in French.

Oh well, could be worse.  Au Revoir.

Let's Get Dressed

Fall's big trend of ladylike, polished clothes has really taken off in Italy.  I'm seeing more skirts, tights, pants and leggings than jeans this season.  Don't get me wrong, we're still dressing up skinny jeans. I'm just seeing less jeans.  (It is a common myth that you don't wear jeans in Europe. Everyone wears jeans-- just wear your nice jeans.) 

The funkiness of last year is still around too so the look isn't stuffy, just more polished.  Isn't it fun to get dressed when anything goes?

top image via http://prettystuff.tumblr.com/
bottom two images from La Dolce Vita

l'autunno

Autumn in Italy. . .

Loving the falling leaves outside our window

 

the coziness of everyone bundled in scarves and coats

and comfort food like Ferrara's famous cappelacci di zucca (pasta stuffed with pumpkin).  Delizioso.