The Case of "The Lasts"

Ugh, I hate this part. You know, the one where everything you do is "the last." Last load of laundry in our crazy machine [it secretly wishes it were a rocket ship - you should hear it on spin cycle). Last shopping trip in the market. Last time I have to climb the never-ending stairs to Italian class...ok, maybe I don't hate every part. Those stairs at 8 in the morning were not exactly a treat.

After I got my grade on my Italian final - all good :) - I came home for some overnight oats!

Before you go to bed, put oats in a bowl and pour an equal amount of liquid (I'm a fan of almond milk) over them, and maybe add a dash of cinnamon. Let them sleep in the refigerator and when you are both awake, the oats will have absorbed the liquid and be soft - voila, no-cook oatmeal!

(There are different ways of preparing them; some people add more stuff to it the night before. That's why they're so fun - lots of different ways to experiment!)

Before...

After: all mixed up with some vanilla yogurt.

This was exceptionally good today - it tasted like snickerdoodle cookie dough! The perfect way to prepare for my cooking practical, the second half of my final for that class where we actually have to cook for and be judged by our professor.

We set his table up all pretty:

We were split up into teams to tackle 3 courses of 4 dishes.

Course 1: BREAD

Not just bread - stuffed focaccia and pizza.

This was the focaccia we made a couple weeks ago for our "green class." It's amazing, and this time it was even better. The spinach is sauteed in a little olive oil and garlic to add flavor and it worked - the spinach-garlic combo sang through the bread. The mozzarella (use fresh buffala mozzarella - it's a little fattier but you can use less to get a powerful punch of flavor) was perfectly stretchy, and the dough was juuuust dense enough to hold up it's filling but fluffy enough to be like eating yummy, doughy, pillows. 

Another team made pizza margherita - tomatoes, mozzarella, basil. This was very probably the.best.pizza. I've ever had. The flavors was perfectly balanced and so fresh. The crust was the right thickness - not cracker like but not like you were getting more crust than ingredients in your mouth at once either. The sauteed the tomatoes in garlic and olive before topping the dough to bake - this is essential for non-soggy pizza, because if you just throw the raw ingredients on the top, the water (that makes up most of the veggie) will release and make your pizza WAY to heavy to eat. The cheese was golden but not gummy or too crispy and with the basil was SO good. Yup, will be making this when I come home.

Next course: Pear-filled ravioli in a walnut-herb sauce with pecorino.

PEAR!

This was very tasty. The pasta was a little undercooked, but I actually like overly-al dente pasta (yes, I'm odd). I wish the pear had been blended with the pecorino and then filled, the ravioli with just chopped pear felt a little sparse to me. But the walnut sauce was SO good - walnuts, parsley, and basil. You couldn't really taste the walnuts, at least not unless you looked for it, but that is actually kind of the goal. Like pesto - it's not ALL about the pine nuts that you add to it, but if you took them out you would know. It really did work well the sweetness of the pears. As my professor commented - "amazing".

Dessert: MY TEAM!

[Thanks again blogger for the sideways picture. It's not funny anymore.] 

Crema di amaretti - I also made it here.

Gosh, I love pretty food.

The filling is very similar to tiramisu - we used the double boiler method to kill any salmonella ickiness in the eggs as we beat the. Here's what we did: Separate the whites from the yolks of your eggs (it's one egg for every 2 people you are serving). Get your double -boiler going; when the water is simmering (NOT full-on boiling!), use a hand-mixer (or one of those fancy-schmancy Kitchen Aid mixers that I can only dream about owning) beat the yolks with cane sugar (tablespoons=number of eggs used) until it's nice and creamy. Set it aside to cool. Get your water a-simmerin' again, and repeat the process with egg whites (no sugar) until they form stiff peaks. Not sure what that means? I didn't either. Get them to the point where if you turn the bowl upside down, the egg whites don't move (and please use a second bowl underneath when testing this...). Let those cool as well. Fold in marscapone cheese with yolk-sugar mixture gently. Then add the egg whites. 

This is where I added a couple teaspoons of cinnamon. I remember thinking it would be good the first time we made it, and I wanted to do it for the final. My teacher loved it! Yay! Nothing like feeling innovative in the kitchen to make me smile:)

Now, look at the consistency you have. You want something tiramisu-filling-like, very light and creamy. We made the call to add a liiiiittle bit of whipping cream (whipped with a little lemon juice and a pinch of salt to get it fluffy!), and that really made a huge difference. We used about 125 grams of cream, and we were making for 14 people - so you really don't need much.

To plate, dip two amaretti cookies (they're like little almond biscuits, I will have to consciously search for them in the States when I come home - I'll keep you updated!) in strong coffee mixed with just a few drops of milk and sugar. Sprinkle the top with coffee (instant here is fine), chocolate chips and cocoa powder. Voila! better-than-tiramisu goodness.

Our professor's comment? "Delizioso!"

He gave me a big hug when I left and that was when this whole "I'm actually leaving" business hit me. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! DON'T MAKE ME GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahem.

SO, after class I wandered over to the Ponte Vecchio to do some window shopping. I have been searching for a necklace with the Florentine fleur-de-lis crest, and I knew if I would find it anywhere, that's where it would be. The Ponte Vecchio is known for its jewlery, specifically marble and gold. Honestly, I really can't stand gold, but I was still hopeful. It was looking pretty dim at first; all I could find were charms the size of my pinky fingernail at the low, low price of 122 euro - which is, what, maybe 150 dollars? Ugh. I was feeling like giving up, when I crossed to the other side and found it.

Yay! 6 euro, and I already have a chain :) Ain't it perty?

For the first time this week, the sun was out! I have been planning on returning to Piazzale Michelangiolo to get some better pictures because a) the day we went it was cloudy, b) I have a new camera!!, and c) the combination of my carberrific lunch + the joy of finding my jewelry left me with some newfound energy to burn!

The walk there is lovely.

[Ponte Vecchio]

Remember the funky trees?

It's quite a hike to get there...

And just when you think it's over...

But it's worth it.

Even though I've only been here for 4 teeny months, I still call it 'mine.' Not that it only belongs to me; more in the way that it has made such an impact on me. It's home.

Dinner tonight was long-anticipated. We planned to go to Cibreino - "the poor man's Cibreo." Cibreo is one of the most important (and most expensive) restaurants in Florence. The chef is world-reknowned for his take on Italian food. Simply put, it's a big deal.

Cibreino is a little trattoria around the corner from Cibreo that offers a limited menu for a MUCH smaller price. Same kitchen - fewer options.

I was excited.

We got there at 7, when it opens, and all breathed sighs of relief when there was a table for 4 ready and waiting. The trattoria is a very small room with only 8 or so tables, so we were a little worried. It was also mostly tourists - and we were treated as such, which was a little annoying but to be expected considering the fame of this place.

After much debate and some help from our very entertaining waiter, I ordered:

It was a veggie-fish soup. Very well spiced and I loved the fish that was in it - no idea what it was called, a kind of white fish that looked a little bit like tuna (different taste though). It was a little brothy for me, but it was so well-seasoned that it didn't hinder my enjoyment of it. They also brought us a "surprise" bowl of the minestra di pane - bread soup - that is very similar to ribollita. That was awesome - tasted just like Thanksgiving stuffing! Ah, the wonders of sage.

At the end of our class today, my cooking professor was talking about going to restaurants. He said the best way to judge a restaurant is by its appetizers and dessert - how they start and end a meal. He emphasized the great importance of dessert and ending a meal on a sweet note, because there's always room for sweet! (You understand now why I enjoyed this class so much?) I was feeling inspired and so Alaina and I split the flourless chocolate cake.

Best. Decision. Ever.

This was one of the best chocolate cakes EVER. Very thin but SO dense and moist. I could have eaten an entire cake's worth of it. But, aside from the phenomenal flavor, I also appreciated the portion size - it was a perfect dessert. Wonderful taste but not overwhelmingly huge so as to make you waddle out of the restaurant. Well done, Cibreino. Well done.

What fabulous plans do we have on our last day in Firenze? Pack, pack, pack - print boarding passes - and then pack some more. Ah, the glamour of life abroad.

And I loved every second.

~Namaste~