One Week More

I leave Siena in one week.
One more week and I will be leaving Siena.

One more week until I have to say goodbye to Anna and Marcello.
One more week of walking into the Dante and hearing accents and languages galore.
One more week of window shopping and fashion inspiration.
One more week of delicious Italian home-cooked meals.
One more week of hearing this beautiful language, in the gruff voices of the men, the low and deep voices of the women, and the high and sweetly unaffected voices of the children that just melts my heart.
One more week of running at the Fortezza amidst the beautiful fall leaves with the view of the city I have come to love.
One more week of having to climb hills to get anywhere.
One more week of nearly getting hit by taxis and buses on an hourly basis.
One more week of buying lunch at the corner La Bottega or the Conad.
One more week of spending hours people-watching and talking in the Piazza del Campo.
One more week of hearing a low "Ciao bella" whispered too close for comfort.
One more week of Italian PDA of all ages and all over the place.
One more week of carrying my umbrella with me at all times.
One more week of gelato, real lusciously smooth Italian gelato.
One more week of living a dream.
One more week of the most incredible growing experience.
One more week of my adventure abroad.

One more week spent in the place that has become my home.

One more week, Siena, one more week.

The End has COME...

The End has COME...in cooking class that is. (Feel free to cry with me here)

But as all things Italian are...the last day of class went out with a BANG!

I don't know if my mouth has ever been that happy :)

Libby grilling pumpkin

Cutting out the noodles

Ferdinando taught us all kinds of tricks when it comes to making pasta. This would be called the "grab and fling" (shaking out the noodles after cutting them into strips)

 Everything I put in my mouth was pure joy (even more so than usual). Hard to believe I know! But its the truth!

Focaccia bread with tomatoes and olives

This meal was the day of mushrooms. I'm usually not a huge "fungi" fan but this day definitely change my view on them! We used three kinds of mushrooms for the pasta sauce. I'm not sure what kind they were...regular looking ones, dried ones (too rare to buy fresh), and giant straight-from-the-forest-looking ones. We sauteed them in olive oil and parsley, then added tomato sauce.We made the noodles from scratch again and topped it all off with some Parmesan cheese of course!

Pasta with a Mushroom-Tomato Sauce

For the main course we sauteed chunks of pork tenderloin in a little bit of oil, then wrapped them in focaccia dough that was rolled out like pasta. We placed the pork in a little pillow of dough and pinched it close to bake in the oven. We served it with a mushroom cream sauce and grilled pumpkin.

Pork Tenderloin sauted then baked in a bread crust, drizzled with a mushroom cream sauce. Served with grilled pumpkins

And now for the dessert. I'm not even sure how to begin describing this. We made a whipped cream/mousse kind of filling with chestnut marmalade and added little chocolate chips to it. Then we blended a fruit called cachi, which is a kind of persimmon (and kind of looks like an orange rotten tomato btw) It is a very vivid orange color but has a subtle sweet flavor that is much more slight than you would think. It was the perfect balance to the sweet cream!

We served it similar to how we made tirimisu. You layer the fruit, cream, then biscotti cookies soaked in fresh-squeezed orange juice, then repeat! we topped it with almond/molasses biscotti.

and can I just say YUM?!

Pure sweet heaven for the taste buds

It has been a wonderful and adventurous semester with Chef Ferdinando! I have conquered the science of Italian Cooking and the art of Italian eating. Including conquering my fears of fish, mussles, clams, mushrooms, tomatoes, and octopi! (ok the fear of fishy things with tentacles hasn't QUITE been defeated...but hey I went up against them at least!)

I would say it's been a great success indeed!

Chef Ferdinando

Stand by to witness the fruits of my success when I bring my cooking skills home in a few weeks! Cross your fingers that they will be as successful...or at least eventually get there through trial and error! (sorry family...you are about to become the guinea pigs of Italian Chef Jenessa Rose)
Buon Appetito!!

My girl T-SWIFT

Those of you who know me well..know that I have a "minor" obsession with Taylor Swift. 

But how can you not?! She is too stinkin' adorable!!



So its been a tradition first with my friend Jess then also with my best bud Rachel to go buy her album the day it is released and then drive and drive until we have heard the whole thing several times and can sing along.
Well unfortunately, her latest album RED was released in October and I was here obviously. Well let me introduce you to Rachel:

Yes we are at Taylor Swift's concert!

She knew how distressed I would be about not being in the states and able to purchase the new album so (being the best friend that she is) had it pre-ordered and shipped directly to Italia! What a peach right?!
So unbeknownst to me..In the middle of October I received a package.This is what it contained:

That, my friends, is an intensely BEDAZZLED old school Sony "Walkman" decked out in glitter, Taylor's face, and red feathers.

Here is what the note accompanying it says: "so I don't know you if you recognize this cause neither of us have seen one for at least 8 years, but this is a walkman....your "walkswift".

And with this lovely contraption came the news that Taylor Swift's brand-spankin' new album was being shipped to me. (AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!) My semester in Italy just became that much better!

 

So on the glorious day of October 29, I walked into my room after a long day at school and had a lovely surprise sitting on my dresser.

IT CAME!!!!!!

In my intense excitement, Libby witnessed a whole new side of her roommate including squeals, dancing, jumping for joy, gushing tears etc. ( ok I was kidding about the tears...but barely)

This is my lovely care package sent from Taylor Swift herself! Complete with cd, bracelet, sticker, and personalized postcard from T-Swift thanking me for my individual support. Yeah she's cool like that.

Needless to say...Rachel Smith you made your best friend a very VERY happy girl :)

The Land of Cioccolato

On October 27 I attended a European Chocolate Festival. I repeat. A European CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL!!! Equivalent of Heaven? Yep pretty close.
 

The streets were lined with booths and booths of chocolate. The whole city literally SMELLED like chocolate. It was a fabulous place to be :)

Nutella hot chocolate...

the CHOCO TRAIN! step aboard and all your sweet tasting dreams come true!

Need i say more?

Chocolate statues ( the rain ruined some of the details but you get the just of it)

This is hot chocolate soup. So thick you have to eat it with a spoon! Let's just say it was the densest, richest, frothiest, most delicious liquid i have ever placed in my mouth.

These were all our free gifts. Pleasant people these chocolatiers are! They give you free stuff just for visiting;)

Pretty much sums up my feelings of the day. I was in my happy place

The City of Flowers

This is Florence, City of Flowers, and it is BEAUTIFUL!

Though Siena will always have a special place in my heart and forever be my home here in Italy, Florence is my favorite city. The city just RADIATES a feeling of classiness, elegance, and luxury.

And for some reason, every time I've been to Florence, including when I came three years ago, Fate has that it will rain on me. Not to fear though, the rain just adds to its romance.  

View from the Ponte Vecchio

Luxury Jewelry window shopping along the Ponte Vecchio

Florence is not only rich in its shopping though, but in its history and culture as well! I was looking forward to this trip to Florence especially because our itinerary included visits to two of the top museums in Italy: the Uffizi and the Accademia.

Katie and I waiting to go into the Uffizi

So the Uffizi is pretty much the Italian Artist snobby museum. Which means that they only allow the best of the best of Italian artists. Which means walking that museum is like walking your art history textbook. It's pure joy.

The Uffizi is also home to two of my all time favorite pieces of art: Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera.

We couldn't take pictures in the museum so here are some Internet cop-outs :)

Primavera

Birth of Venus

So I know that to you they may look all weird and sensual and stuff but trust me, when you know the symbolism behind the paintings and see Botticelli's delicacy upclose, you will love them just as much as I do! It was definitely a pivotal moment in my art history nerd life to see these in person.

Later at the Accademia, we also saw this gem:

Michelangelo's David. no biggie.

 As you enter the Accademia, you turn the corner and all of a sudden, TA-DA there is a 15 ft. tall naked marble man looming above you illuminated by the glass dome above him. It was a pretty epic moment to say the least! (photo courtesy of Sharissa)

View of the Ponte Vecchio from the Uffizi

Also...I'm kind of ashamed to admit...but not really...that THIS happened:

Florence is home to the one and only American-style diner in Italy (all of Europe perhaps?). It was pure heaven. Home of free water, free wi-fi, free bathrooms, free candy, burgers, fries, milkshakes, and pancakes!! Did I explain more why we were drawn there after being in Italy for two months?

and this would be the ecstasy of an American

After our glorious dinner, we headed back to our hotel to get all dolled up to attend the Opera! ok not exactly a whole opera but a special concert held in a little church with the "best of" Italian Operas.

 

At the Opera!

It was the perfect cultural day in the cultural center of Italy!

and Day 2? Shopping Day of course!

At the San Lorenzo Market!

I found the bag of my dreams! (pictures coming in a later post) Yay for successful leather shopping!

Also I am only slightly ashamed that this happened for a second time....

I had to try the chocolate chip pancakes!!! and they were worth it trust me...

and the free ICE water was too tempting!! (water with ice in it is IMPOSSIBLE to find in Europe...they don't believe it)

The proof of our successful shopping day...we pretty much needed an extra table to fit in us AND our bags...

It was a lovely weekend in Florence to say the least :)