Bad luck in Calabria...

So unfortunately I really won't be able to post any more photos for the rest of the trip... because yesterday as I was walking up the hill to the DeRada Center I tripped and hit my laptop on the sidewalk. It's ok, it has a dent and it turns on but it's a bit fuzzy and definately needs to be fixed. So I'm praying it's just something small, and taking it easy with it for now so hopefully no more damage will be done to it before I can take it to an apple store.

Yesterday really wasn't the best day for me. I got some unfortunate news about my New York trip after I leave Italy (it's cut short a day), plus my laptop, and I felt sick.
But the day got better as it went on, I had a gelato and did some yoga to calm me down in the afternoon, and in the evening we learned how to make bread from the really cute bread guy, Franco. He gave us biscotti and traditional albanian cookies to try =)

Dinner was good as well, pasta with eggplant/pomodoro sauce with a bit of pepperoncini, zucchini parmesean, potatoes & peppers and bruschetta (I had a small piece of bread beforehand so I just ate the topping off the bruschetta!)
For dessert we had fruit, which was a nice refreshing way to end the meal!
We also shared a bottle of vino bianco, to relax us for the quiz we were supposed to have today... that we ended up not having after all!

This morning I woke up with a headache after not sleeping very well, so I had some coconut yogurt, museli and a banana for breakfast. I'm snacking on a nectarine now, and I'm not sure what we'll be doing for lunch today... we're leaving for the mall at one, and then we have an art exhibition to go to.

We're relaxing in town this weekend, no excursions except a trip to the beach on Saturday. I have had a wonderful experience here and really don't want it to end!! But truth be told I am a bit anxious to get back to the states and get my laptop fixed...

But i'm trying not to think about that, and enjoying every last minute here my last week in San Demetrio!

Have a fantastic venerdi!

A fruitful walk

I had the loveliest afternoon yesterday!
After having another delicious cone of gelato with Carolyn and Erika, I finished my work and met up with Danielle and a couple of our other friends to take a nice walk. We decided to go exploring, and ended up in a giant fruit field! It was incredible. Olive groves on one side, vineyards on the other, dotted with fig trees, apple trees, pear trees and blackberry bushes. Since it was a public path, we helped ourselves to some fruit along the way, and walked for about an hour and a half, enjoying the sweet fruit. I had an apple, a fig, a pear, and some blackberries! (Note these were very small fruits compared to what you see in a supermarket back home)

Dinnertime was healthy and refreshing as well. We started with some antipasti- fresh formaggio (I ate a few of the pieces here), sundried tomatoes with capers, marinated mushrooms and peppers. A great way to start a meal, in my opinion. I also had a half a piece of bread before our primo piatto came.

It was my favorite sauce, once again- pesto! I'm not the biggest fan of spaghetti, but anything with pesto is delicious to me!

My favorite part of the meal was our secondo piatto- fresh salads with beans, dressed in an olive oil/vingear sauce, I ate all my veggies, as usual!

Dessert was a crisp apple, and my friend Danielle also surprised me with my favorite treat from Stilla- I can't get enough of these cute little pastries! They're just a couple bites, but the perfect way to satisfy an after dinner sweet tooth.

Today I felt a bit sick in the morning, I had a granola/museli combo with some soymilk and nectarine, which I was ok with. I got hungry during class and snacked on some wheat crackers, but decided to go with a light lunch to settle my stomach.

It worked; I had a big salad with lettuce, tomato, carrots and ceci dressed in olive oil with some plain yogurt. It was just enough to fill me up, and I feel much better now!

I really can not believe it's already Thursday- I feel like it's still Monday!

Cucinare con Fifina!

Cooking dinner with Fifina is ALWAYS a fun time!
Last night was molto divertento; I got to make the melanzane parmigiana- which is eggplant parmesan, and helped make home made fusilli. The other group made parsley/cheese baked mashed potatoes, and we had a gigantic feast, complete with grilled eggplant, fresh olives and fried artichokes. I had a snack of some cheese and crackers with iced tea while preparing our meal. But rolling pasta is EXHAUSTING, and I was starving by the time we sat down to eat! I started with a small piece of bread, and had a little of everything- fresh fusilli with marinara sauce, a piece each of eggplant and artichoke, a couple olives and a small piece each of eggplant parm and potatoes.

I was STUFFED, and then I remembered I had carved a watermelon (I was busy this lab!!) so I had a big piece of that.

After dinner, my friends and I decided to have a couple sweet treats to help us study for our exam the next day- my friend Natalie and I ordered a Cannoli, which I had a few bites of, and then we went back to the room and studied with some red wine- I had a few almond m&ms as well. My sweet tooth has been kicking in lately...

This morning I woke up and had some muesli with soymilk, and a nectarine. In class I snacked on some grapes and a few almonds.
The test I had went pretty well today. I studied hard (I swear red wine helps!) and we celebrated by going out to lunch again. I had my favorite salad at Dante's again, and a piece of bread as well. I felt full and healthy- but I have a bit of a confession to make.

The salad I've been eating has some tuna in it. I know I said I would stay vegetarian in Italia, but it has been very hard to resist a lot of the fresh seafood available here in Calabria. I have not decided yet whether I am going to continue being a pescetarian when I return to the states or not, this is a decision I will have to make. But for now, it's all about how the food makes me feel and honestly, eating lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, cheese, olive oil and fish, I have never felt better. It's all about what works for you, and makes you feel the healthiest. So this is what has been working for me.

I just got back from a seminar on the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil (it was great, I was so excited!) and now I'm doing some work before going on a walk and grabbing a gelato with my friends Natalie and Danielle later this afternoon.

This trip has been quite the culinary adventure for sure! I can't believe I only have a week left- I've got so much more to try!! For one of our final projects we have to cook a dish for everyone... I'm so excited there are so many things I want to make!

Back in the south

Yesterday and today have been nice, relaxing days back here in San Demetrio. Yesterday morning I snacked on some nuts in class, and then after we had a whole long lesson on the passato prossimo, a few of my friends and I decided to go to Dante's for lunch. I got my favorite Dante dish, potatoes and peppers sauteed in olive oil, and a fresh green salad dressed with balsamic vinegar. It was perfectly filling, and fueled me for a couple hours of studying.

After doing some work, Danielle and I decided to take a nice walk on the mountain again; I snacked on a big pretzel before we left. It was a great walk- we got super sweaty and it felt great to get in some more good exercise after such a lazy weekend on the bus. On our way back, we found a grove of pear trees and snagged a couple fresh pears for a snack!

A while later, on our way to check our emails, we also had gelato cones- it was too hot to pass up a cool treat!

Dinner was alright- the pasta, farfalle with zucchini, was so incredible I ate my whole plate! We also had risotto balls (I only ate 3/4 of one) and vegetable fritatta, which I ate all of. I was pretty full afterwards, but I still had a small gelato they gave us for dessert! We hung out at fusion for a while talking to some locals, and got to bed for a good night's sleep. It was a bit of a chilly night in Calabria, SO refreshing after these hot days!

For breakfast this morning we were out of fruit, so I just had some muesli and coffee yogurt, before stopping at the fruttivendolo before class. During class I had a couple granola cookies to hold me over. I ran some errands after class, it's been nice and warm but not too hot, great to walk around in!

It was just a relaxing day here, we stopped at Dante's again for big salads and fresh bread for lunch, with a tiny square of dark chocolate for dessert. In the early afternoon I snacked on a nectarine and some pretzels before doing a 20 minute core yoga session.

I had more gelato on my way here- another cone, I love my afternoon cones! They're refreshing, yummy, and since the gelato is home made of milk and no creme, and all fresh ingrediants at Stilla- they make a good snack that holds me over.

Gotta love treats with benefits =)

Tonight we have another cooking lab, the rest of the week should be much busier than these last couple of days!!

Weekend Excursion

Just another weekend excursion here in Italia!

Friday night was a good night, we heard from the gelato guy again, we tried a couple of the home made sorbettos and had a great dinner- Risotto porcini, tomatoes with olive oil and ricotta, some potatoes and a couple fried veggies. We had gelato and a small piece of cake for dessert- it was someone's birthday so we had extra treats!

Friday night I spent out at Fusion with my friends, so I was quite tired on Saturday and my appetite was strange. For breakfast I had muesli with almond milk, and my stomach was feeling a bit funny in the morning so I snacked on some pretzels and dates... a weird combination I know, but it made me feel better.

For lunch we stopped and got these funny little things...

They're called "pizzos" and they're special at the stop we were at in Lecche. They're basically tomato bread with onions, olives and peppers. It was good, but quite large- I only had about 1/2 of it.
We spent some time in Lecche, had some gelato and a nectarine in the afternoon, and FINALLY after a long bus ride arrived in Puglia, at the most gorgeous beach I have ever seen in my life!

We spent some time relaxing and enjoying the city, dinner was ok- just pasta with pomodoro, fresh bread, insalata, and they gave me MORE pasta with vegetables, for my secondo piatto- which I just ate a few bites of because I realized there were meatballs in it. Ew. I guess some Italians really don't understand "vegetariana".
The night got better, however- dessert was fresh fruit, and we spent the evening walking around town, did a little shopping, ate some crepes, and went to bed fairly early for a weekend. I was glad though- I needed the rest.

Sunday was an interesting day. Breakfast at the hotel was a simple croissant and yogurt, during the morning we visited another castle and did some shopping in town. My friends and I tried some of these interesting sweet/salty treats famous in the area, I have no idea how to describe the flavor, but they sure were addicting! I had a handful, I almost couldn't stop!


The day went by slowly, we did a lot of driving and didn't stop much. We had a great big lunch, some antipasti, pasta pomodoro, grilled zucchini, mozzarella and italian french fries. I had all the antipasti on my plate, a piece of bread, 1/2 the pasta, 1/2 the eggplant/mozzarella and a few fries. We had two desserts yet again- watermelon and cake. I was full, but luckily not TOO stuffed- we had to drive another 5 whole hours to get home!!


On the way I had an apple and we stopped at a small caffe where I got a frozen latte.

We got home late and didn't want a full dinner, so we just grabbed a piece of pizza, and yes- we had yet ANOTHER treat... a small ice cream bar. We went out to the bar later on and had a couple drinks with some snacks as well.

So I didn't eat the healthiest this weekend, and Sunday was kind of a drag, but just the few hours in Puglia alone made the weekend magical. Now we're back, ready to start classes yet again- I had some yogurt, muesli and a peach as usual. I'm trying to stay healthier this week after such an odd weekend of eating... I'll definately try and post as much as I can but they will defiantely be quick, I have SO much work to do!
This week will be jam packed, I can't believe I only have 10 days left! I'm having an incredible experience, and it has flown by... I don't want it to end!

Io sono molto piene...

Which means I am STUFFED in Italian.

Yesterday and today were great days, but I must admit they were not the best, food-portion wise. Everything I ate was delicious, but here in Italy, sometimes they feed you, and feed you, and feed you...and it's pretty hard to say no!

Carolyn and I were craving something cool on a hot day, so we decided to grab gelato cones on the way to the bus to Acri. I got limoncello and nocciola- lemon liquor and hazelnut! They were perfect together, and hit the spot in the sweltering heat.

The gelato held me over through the museum we went to, and then my friend and I split a larabar to tide us over before dinner.

Dinner was amazing- but I definately went overboard. We started with some appetizers- I tried a little of everything, stuffed mushrooms, fried bread, capers, feta puffs.

Then we went to one of the most famous Pizzerias in the south of Italy. Oh my gosh was it INCREDIBLE. The pieces were sooo thin and fresh, yes, I ate a piece of every kind they served... 5 in total. The pieces were wide, but short and super thin- so although I definately over ate, I didn't feel too stuffed afterwards. It was definately worth it to try all the different kinds!!

This morning I needed a light, healthy breakfast- more coffee yogurt, muesli, and a nectarine. My friends and I did out skits during class today, which was a lot of fun, and then snacked on a banana and a couple of graham crackers to hold us over during our cooking lab!!

This cooking lab was the best yet- it was with Fifina again, and EVERYTHING was vegetarian! We learned how to make FRESH pasta! It was tagliatelle with ceci (chickpeas) in a olive oil/paprika sauce, and finocchio with tomatoes and garlic. So delcious, they gave us a big plate of each- and we HAD to finish them both! I stayed away from the bread at this lunch... we also had sauteed potatoes with green tomatoes, and a zucchini salad I helped prep made with olive oil, white wine vinegar and oregano. For dessert we had cocomelo- 3 pieces!!


I love, love, loved learning how to make all of this today! I was starving the entire time, ended up stuffing myself until I couldn't walk... but it was worth it, in every way. Not only did I get to experiance cooking in a real Italian kitchen and eat incredible foods, I learned so much about myself- really, nothing makes me happier than cooking, learning how to cook, and good food =)

Tonight, on top of all the incredible food we were stuffed with today, we're trying the gelato we made two nights ago AND it's one of my favorites for dinner- risotto! Gosh, I love Italia!

Nonstop

Andiamo, Andiamo, Andiamo!

We have been going, going, going here in Italy- it's been a great time but NONSTOP! This is another quick post, because I have a paper to write before we're off to Acris to learn about mushrooms and have dinner at a local Pizzeria.

Making gelato was awesome- we made a non-milk sorbetto with figs, lemon, fruitti di bosco (berry), ciocollata, and straciatella (my favorite!) I had a couple pieces of chocolate and a few almonds during the process- but I was SO tired, I was hardly even awake when I was whipping egg whites and peeling figs!!

We went to dinner afterwards, I had Linguini with pesto sauce, which I LOVE so I ate 3/4 of... the rest of the group had Linguini con frutti di mare... which was a lot of clams and squid- not my cup of tea, but they made for some cool photographs!

I also had 4 out of the 5 pomodoro mozzarellas, some grilled eggplant and zucchini, and a small piece of fresh bread. Dessert was ice cream, but I couldn't even think about gelato because I was so COLD... so we ended the night with tiny pastries from Stilla and a tiny pour of red wine instead.

This morning I woke up bright and early, and had some muesli with coconut yogurt, a HUGE apricot, and had a caffe at Bar Centrale before heading to class.

We have ANOTHER test tomorrow- luckily it won't be as hard as last one- last one was probably the most challenging I've taken. I got an 88, which isn't too good in my book, but I've been doing well on projects so it should make up for it.
During class I had an apple and a granola cracker, and after a quick trip to the supermercato after class we went home to make lunch.

Lunch today was light and healthy, another salad with carrots and garlic olive oil, lupini beans, olives, and tomato with mozarella.

I also had an herbed pretzel while writing out notecards... and a tiny piece of dark chocolate my friend offered me!!

I'm off to Acris, I promise pictures will be up soon!!