La Carne Non Più: Meat No More

This is one of my favorite stories to share, so please forgive me if you are someone who is hearing it for the bagillionth time.

As many of you know, last spring semester I studied away from the Georgetown Hilltop and relocated to the hillside of Fiesole in Florence, Italy. During those four months abroad, I commuted from my homestay to attend classes at Georgetown’s Tuscan villa, Villa Le Balze. As a homestay, I lived with another female student from the program in the home of a local family. My host mother was the sweetest, tiniest woman, and, as could be expected, she was an incredible cook. Every meal at Flavia’s table reminded me of those Sunday mornings as a child spent with my Italian great grandmothers.

2011: A Year in Review

Dear readers,

Are you there?  It’s me, Bethany.

I know it has been nearly five months since I sat down to blog, and there really is no excuse for it. These past five months have been some of the most challenging, amazing and rewarding times in my life, but writing that does little to relieve the fact that I did not share these experiences. Although I did contribute to the food blogging world with my posts for Small Kitchen College, I failed to keep up-to-date on my own personal blog. This failure is something I resolve to change in 2012.

The Perfect Pick-Me-Up

When I was in Italy I ate my fair share of tiramisu. During lunchtime at the Villa, the students eagerly waited to see if tiramisu would be served for dessert. The moments when the “pick-me-up” made its way to the buffet table, everyone would rush into line and proceed to take large spoonfuls. Sprinkled with coffee powder on top, the caffeine is not hidden. Yet despite the espresso laden ladyfingers and coffee dusting, the rich custard and overwhelming portions meant for very sleepy afternoons. 

The Magnificence of the Capital

We all know I like to drop in on other people’s conversations to listen in on some aspect of their lives. While some exchanges are more interesting than others, a recent conversation overheard at a D.C. café made me pause and take notice.

After visiting one of the city’s museums, I stopped into a nearby bakery for an afternoon pick-me-up. As I took a seat in one of the chairs outside, I overheard the foreign accents of three girls at a table nearby. Although I could not identify their nationality, the subject of their conversation made it clear that they were foreign tourists visiting our nation’s capital.

Screaming [and Sweating] for Ice Cream

I knew the instant I walked out of my apartment this morning that today was going to be a long day. After waking up to my early morning alarm and grabbing my gym bag, I headed out the door ready to brave the heat. Never could I have guessed how bad it would feel.

The instant I opened the door from the inside to step outdoors, I felt as if I had stepped into a sauna. The sunglasses on my face immediately fogged up because of the dome of the humidity and heat that hovered over the city. My watch read 7:00 a.m., yet the thermometer already spiked past 90 degrees. With this in my mind, I knew that it would only get worse. 

A New [Midwest] Lover: Chicago

It has been almost a week since my last blog past. Though I made it my goal to post at least three times a week, I failed to live up to this in the past seven days. I do, however, have a valid reason for my blogging vacation.

After spending a few relaxing days at home enjoying family barbecues, the beach and even a Waterfire, my time expired in the Ocean State and I was airborne. But I was not D.C. bound; what awaited me was a new, exciting destination. For the first time I traveled to the Midwest and touched down in Chicago, Illinois.

Tale of Two Markets

There is a place in D.C. where for a moment I feel like I am back in Florence.

During my time abroad one of my favorite things to do when I was not traveling or studying in class was to go down into the city and visit the San Lorenzo market within the Piazza di Mercato Centrale. Selling genuine Florentine and other Italian products, including leather jackets, handbags, Pashmina scarves, jewelry, and even aprons adorned with David, the market at San Lorenzo has something for everybody.

Abhorring the Debauchery

Courtesy of Kessler/MTV/PictureGroup

I am having a very hard time right now keeping my anger inside about the Jersey Shore cast. So now I have to get it off my chest.

I previously wrote about how I successfully managed to avoid watching any episode of Jersey Shore on television, and even after it transplanted itself onto the Italian airways, I still avoided the debauchery. Unfortunately, however, the same cannot be said for the poor people of Italy. Not only has the MTV program started to broadcast into Italian homes, the cast of the show has also literally landed on the boot-shaped peninsula.    

Arrivederci, Italia!

Orson Welles once said, “There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror.” No offense to Mr. Welles, but I think he forgot the emotion “anxious.”

After waking up Thursday morning at 4:30 to the sound of my alarm, I climbed out of bed for the final time in Italy. Outside my window everything was dark and eerily silent; only the occasional sound of car zooming by disturbed the silence of the morning. As I slowly lifted myself out of bed, the reality of what was to come began to sink in: in less than 24 hours I would be back in America.

Il Giorno di San Giuseppe

St. Joseph by artist Guido Reni, 1640-42

March is one of my favorite months. Once the calendar turns to the first, thoughts of spring immediately come into mind. To me, March is dominated by the warming weather, the Ides of March, lots of green, Saint Patrick’s Day, and March Madness. But amidst all of these wonderful things, there is one thing that I always look forward to with the arrival of the month: Saint Joseph’s Day.

Saint Joseph’s Day is to the Italians what Saint Patrick’s Day is to the Irish. Just two days after the Irish drown themselves in Guinness, the feast of Saint Joseph is celebrated on March 19th. Though the husband of Mary, Joseph is an important figure in the history of Christianity, thereby March 19th is dedicated to his remembrance. Rather than wearing green, Italians typically celebrate by dressing in red. In Italy, il Giorno di San Giuseppe is also Father’s Day, Festa del Papà, but the day has even more significance in the south. Sicily regards Saint Joseph as its Patron Saint because many credit him with saving the people from drought during medieval times. Once the rains arrived, the Sicilians celebrated their good fortune with great feasts. Unlike the heavy Irish fare of corned beef and cabbage, the traditional celebratory food for the Italian feast is based upon the peasant cuisine of the Sicily, including minestrone with fava beans, la frittata, and plenty of fish. But considering that Saint Joseph is also the patron saint of pastry chefs, the holiday is most known for its signature pastry: la zeppola.