Ciao a tutti!
Yesterday evening, Maria Pia had all of my friends over to celebrate both mine and Andrea's birthdays. (Andrea's will be coming up on Feb. 16.) She extended the table and set it absolutely beautifully, with fancy plates and wine glasses and everything! We started with three types of crostini, one with a salmon butter spread and capers, the next with sauteed onions, and the last with pureed broccoli and kidney beans. All delicious. For the first part of the first course, we had my favorite, spaghetti with olive oil, garlic and pepperoncino. For the second part, we had lasagna with bechemel (sp?) sauce that was absolutely, indescribably incredible! For the second course, we had chicken soaked in a gravy and mushroom sauce and we also had roast beef. Both were fabulous, of course, and the chicken was sooooo moist for having been cooked the way it was! We also had grilled eggplant with chopped parsley and tomatoes on top.
Right before dessert, Maria Pia gave Andrea and I our birthday gifts. We each received an authentic Italian cookbook with recipes labeled by the different regions from which they originate. It's all in Italian and all in the metric system. It's the coolest thing I've ever seen! I was so incredibly touched because it was such a thoughtful gift. She had written me a card, but I asked her to re-write her words in the cover of the book. I never want to forget what she had to say. I absolutely love it. We took plenty of pictures :)
At dessert, she brought out two cakes with candles on them, one for me and one for Andrea. "Mine" was basically a chocolate fudge cake. It's made with no flour, so that's what made it so incredibly fudgy, just the way I like it! "Andrea's" was the famous "Torta della Nonna," which is a Tuscan classic. It consists of a gooey white cream inside and a a fabulously fresh pastry crust, topped with naked almonds and powdered sugar. It's to die for... seriously. There were also Maria Pia's famous "Cenci" which are hard to describe. They are a Tuscan specialty that are made only around the festival of Carnevale (which is Feb. 16) and they are a light, cookie-type pastry, but much more flaky and thin. They are drowning in powdered sugar and absolutely delicious. Kevin loved them and ate 12. I can't forget to mention that everyone sang "Tanti Auguri" to us with the lights off and the candles going. That was very nice as well.
With the dessert, she served us home made limoncello, Vin Santo, and a sweet red wine. After having had plenty of regular wine with dinner, this was pretty crazy for us, but it was a celebration, so we drank it anyway. After all of this, we were incredibly full, so Maria Pia made us some tea for digestion. She offered us a digestive liquor, but we passed. We couldn't take any more alcohol haha.
After dinner, we chatted for a while and then passed around photos of Maria Pia's family, which she was happy to show us. As we hear over and over, she adores her grandson Leonardo, who is 5. She shared a hilarious story with us that I absolutely have to retell... So, Federica (Maria Pia's daughter, Leonardo's mother) is trying to have another child with her husband, Lorenzo. Sadly, Federica has some irreversible problems with her female parts, so she and Lorenzo have been having a lot of trouble. Leonardo doesn't understand, and wants a sibling very badly. So one morning, Lorenzo walks into the living room and greets Leonardo. Immediately Leonardo asks, "did you try to make a sibling for me last night?!" Lorenzo doesn't answer and then the next day, Leonardo asks the same thing. This time, Lorenzo says "no," and Leonardo then asks "well, if you can't try any more, let me try!" We died laughing.
I think that everyone had a great time. We were originally planning on going out, but we were all so exhausted that we changed our minds on that one. Thank goodness, because I'm still exhausted today.
Today, we met Elisa at 12:45 for lunch at Teatro del Sale. Yes, that same terrible place that we went last time with Elia for dinner and a show. This time, it was better because lunch was much more calm and quiet. The asshole host was still there watching us though. We had a nice time and of course, ate too much. At 3:00 after lunch, Elisa took us to our cultural event for this month. Jeff, Carla, Andrea and myself went to the workshop of a leather artisan, while Kevin, Maggie, Maggie and Grace went to a book-binding workshop. For 3 hours, the artisan named Moranda helped us to make a real leather picture frame book! (You know, the ones that open like a book and have a spot for a 4 x 6 photo on each inside cover.) I was finally able to figure out how those imprinted designs on leather actually stayed that way because I got to do them myself! For that, you leave the metal stamp on an open flame for five minutes and then quickly dip it in water to cool it slightly. Then, you press the metal stamp right onto the leather- and there you have your imprint that won't ever go away!
I really enjoyed working on this picture holder with the artisan. The other ones with me didn't seem to enjoy it as much, but I'm so into arts and crafts that I had a great time! Mine doesn't look as good as all of hers do, but it takes practice!
Now, I'm home and about to take a nap. It's about 8:30 pm and at 11:44, Andrea and I will be taking the bus into the center to wait for our bus to Pisa that will be leaving at 3:30 am. When we arrive in Pisa, we will be flying Ryanair at 6:30 am to Eindhoven. From there, we will take a train to Amsterdam and finally arrive sometime during the day tomorrow. I'm really excited, but dreading the trip itself. I'm sure I will have plenty of stories on Monday!
A presto!
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