Jess 1-24-08

Hello everyone! Quick entry today.

We really started to get going with the art project today, it was a lot of fun. I have to say... painting is hard :( It doesn't help that I'm painting a clear, undulating glass with light reflecting off of it. This is not the easiest subject ever, not to mention the fine pattern of the zoomed-in paper towel next to it. Nonetheless, I truck on. The professor didn't have much to add to mine, just sort of looked at it, nodded or said something encouraging and moved on. I guess that means I'm doing alright, although I wish in the back of my mind that she would suggest more. Oil paint is difficult to get used to, it's thick and I'm so/too frugal I don't want to use much. Bill brought the camera at the end of class so I have pictures of work-in-progress, although not the hookup to download them at the moment. I'll post that soon, promise.

In the meantime, we DO have some photos of our meals and ourselves. Voila!

This was some French Toast we made out of stale bread, it's nice and thick. Since syrup doesn't really exist here we sugared and sauteed some apples, which tasted just as good :)

Me finishing up skinning the cooked peppers for marinating.

Bill cuttin' up some delicious fresh Tuscan bread from the local bakery!

Our feast -- salad with apples, carrots, and celery with a dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, mushroom and cream sauce with rotini pasta, baked rosemary and garlic potatoes and chicken, and marinated peppers. Mmm! It took us a while but it paid off :)

This is the inside of Nessy, or Loch Ness Cultural club. The girl in blue in the left-center is my roommate, Daniella, in front of her with the curly hair is my other roommate, Kim. To the right of Kim is Dan, one of our fellow culinary arts learners, and in front of him in the black facing the camera is Drew, another fellow food person.

Bill and I on the bridge near my apartment and the school. You can't see but behind us is the Ponte Vecchio.

A ceiling painting in the school, at Palazzo Rucellai.

THE SOUP. (In the background -- the cups we bought to make caffelatte)

A really pretty, distant sunset, facing the other direction on the bridge near my place.

Food club! See Bill in the yellow on the left.

This is a really neat chair in the computer room for the students at the school. I suppose at one time it was probably used by the head of the family or a lounge for a lady but it's roped off now.

Bill inside one of the classrooms at the school. Yep, it's a classroom.

P.S. we made a really delicious meal last night for the Food Club, which is how I like to refer to cooking class for the sake of ease. We had turkey stuffed with what was essentially bacon (cured bacon, to be exact), browned and cooked in fresh lemon juice. Later cream and more bacon bits were added to make a sauce -- Mom, it tasted so much like your Hollandaise sauce, I couldn't put my finger on it but it was delicious. Unfortunately there wasn't much of that and one of the girls at the end of the table took two huge pieces from the middle - and didn't even finish it >:( - leaving us at the end of the table with the smaller ends and only one piece to share. Nonetheless, it was very tasty and Bill and I are talented enough to recreate it, I'm sure. We also had pasta fagioli with chick peas and oh man, that was the best part. I took seconds. We also had homemade foccacia with onions on top with olive oil -- the recipe was so simple, and she said you can use it to make pizza too. Good to know. What else...? Oh yeah, and we had crostata, which is like a pie, but shallower with a sweet, sugar cookie-like crust, and blackberry jam filling. In any case, I'm anxious to remake these recipes as well because it was just divine. I can't wait!