Food and Living

Well, hopefully I can attempt to keep this a little more in order that the last post. So, quick recap: I am a student of UW who, for his final quarter, has traveled to Rome, Italy for a studio arts program. Travel and living here is quite a change from my life over in Seattle, and the first days were a little overwhelming, largely in part to this being my first time in Europe. However, I have made a pretty good group of friends and feel like things are actually starting to fly by. Of the 10 weeks that I am here, this is already the end of the 3rd, yet it still feels so new.

Jumping to the idea for today's post. My culinary abilities aren't anthing to really brag about, but I feel I can make some pretty tasty food, and here I have become the lead chef for my small group, although my 9 person house has 4 of us who are actually strong chefs, so the kitchen (which is small) is always bustling and the house is filled with the smells of cooking.

Europe in general is a wonderful place to cook. You have a much more accessable way to get fresh, amazingly tasty ingrediants, and the wine is equally abundant and cheap. I can easily see exploring the delicate and rich varieties of wine, especially as an experiment in the pairing with foods. A great example is that the other day I made a tasty experiment of sliced and fried sicillian sausage, garlic, hot sicillian peppers, and a spicy tomato sauce which was further flavored with a touch of basil. This was poured over a little pasta called gnocchini (or little gnocchi) which turned out to be deliciously spicy and very filling. The great surprise and success of the meal however was that I accidently decided to pair the meal with a Pinot Nero that I had purchased. Wow, what an amazing accident that was. The strong flavors and spicy qualities of the Pinot went so well with the spicy food that I honestly wonder if there could be a better choice available.

Another little recipe for all you guys to tide you until I can write again.
-Some fettucine pasta, preferably fresh for flavor and also cook time.
-Frozen peas left to thaw a bit so that they are moist
-Proscuito
-Garlic
-Tomato Sauce
-Zucchini

Start by dicing the proscuito into small strips or squares. Fry them in a pan with a little olive oil and the garlic (diced or whole cloves if you love the flavor). When the garlic has browned and the meat is crispy pour in the zucchini (diced) and the peas. The moisture of the peas will let them cook quickly and the zucchini should cook through by the time the peas are ready. when the veggies are almost ready, pour in the sauce. (feel free to also cook up some basil with the rest) Hopefully your pasta is ready to go now, and so when you have served the pasta, pour the heated sauce over the top. Garnish with a hard cheese (parmigion works great) and serve with a red wine (i chose some Nero D'avola, but play around) I think this could be delicious with some onion, and as with all experiments in food, play around and see what wonderful flavors you can find.

Arrivaderci my friends!

Welcome To Roma

Ok, basically I set up this blog since it has been something i have thought about for quite awhile now, yet didn't really know how i wanted to get about to it. So, after some talking around I figured out that this format is sort of sponsored by google and as such lets me easily tie it into my gmail account. But I digress, you came here to listen to my experiences with life, not the mundane reasonings behind why this blog was created.

Ok, so most of you know I am a big cycling nut, and that I sort of had some grandiose scheme in my head before heading out here about renting or buying a bicycle so that I could keep going during this sabbatical from the real world. After living here for awhile now I have found out how and where to buy a bike, but I have also gained some insight into the fact that I am sort of dead-center in an urban sprawl that stretches for large distances in every direction from here. So, unless I feel like a lot of urban riding or constantly dodging both pedestrians and vehicles (mainly the thousands of scooters and motorcycles flying around through the narrow streets and weaving between traffic) or breaking stuff running on the loose cobbles, I think I might just nix it for the trip. :/

In brighter news I got a great deal on some sweet running shoes, so I am continuing to get my blood moving, though not building those slow-twitch muscles as much as before (more like hopefully keeping them from atrophy) and when I don't run I am keeping up my other exercise so that I remain lean while amidst the land of carbohydrates.

Speaking of that though, I have been rocking the kitchen here, even though sometimes it can be a bit of a hassle. The scoop on my living situation is this. I am part of 9 guys sharing a 6th floor apartment overlooking the Campo di Fiori in the center of Rome. While our home isn't super crowded for living, it does get a bit tight in our kitchen since it is about the size of a large studio one in Seattle (like maybe 12x5ish plus the hallway which is maybe 3ish feet wide). All our knives are dull as shit, which is cool since cutting things isn't as fun as making a big mess... Joking aside though, if you haven't seen me make pasta, check it out when I am back home. Last night I was chefing it up for 6, since one of my classmates had her 22nd last night. What did I make you ask? I think I will have to start throwing up recipes some other time, sorry.

Ok, so this first post was a little scrambled, but I have a bit too much in my head for getting out all at once, so stick around, ok?