March 1st... whatttt?!?!

I cannot believe that it is March 1st already!

The Mediterranean Diet: Carbohydrates are the body's most efficient source of energy. Our body needs carbohydrates in order to keep it running. In America everyone is concerned about carbs and often limiting or cutting them from their diet as a means to lose weight. Whereas, at the bottom (the biggest part) of the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid is bread, pasta, rice, couscous, polenta, other whole grains, and potatoes. As I have mentioned before pizza, pasta, and bread is a huge part of their diet here and very rarely do you ever see an overweight Italian. Although carbs are the main portion of their diet, it is important to eliminate white and refined grains from your diet. I feel that my diet has changed a bit since being here because I eat so much pasta and bread which I would never do at home for fear of gaining weight but it's the culture here and I am very much enjoying it. Today in class, we made rich in carbohydrate recipes. We first made Risotto Al Radicchio Rosso (Red Chicory Risotto) although any type of vegetable can be used but it is important to use short-grained rice, Arborio rice is preferred but you can also use Carnaroli and Vialone nano. I have had Risotto at restaurants a few times already while being here and it was delicious but when we made it today, I did not like it as much. The dish is really creamy so you would think that it was made with cream but I discovered today that it is actually mantecatura (fat/ butter, cheese, and air) which provides the dish with its creamy consistency. We then made Orecchiette al Pomodoro which is just a type of homemade pasta of homemade tomato sauce. This was really easy to make and definitely my favorite of the two dishes.

Tuscany & Its Wines: The lecture focused on Montepulciano a region in South-East Tuscany that produces noble wines such as Nobile di Montepulciano and Rosso di Montepulciano. We tried three different (all red) wines in class today from Montepulciano. I know that there are thousands and thousands of different types of wines but you would expect them to taste somewhat similar but from week to week, the wines are continually different. It amazes me how different each of the wines taste. I can't imagine being a wine taster though and tasting all of the wines and being able to differentiate between them all. Some wines have some of the same qualities that I am starting to pick up on but they definitely all have their own unique characteristics. We tried two Nobile di Montepulciano but one was from the Bindella farm and the other from La Braccesca. Now, they were the same type of wine but each one was a little different because they were harvested on different farms. My favorite though was actually the Rosso di Montepulicano La Braccesca because it was not as dry as the other two Nobiles.

I CAN COOK (Eggs, that is): So for dinner I made myself an egg, broccoli, and cheese omelet. So, Mom.. I can cook for myself and am not starving!

Photo Shoot? Picture Day: So, it was like picture night tonight but to the extreme. We all had to go and try and look pretty. They took a group shot (like a class photo) but there are about 40 of us here from Endicott so they had to split us into two groups and then I guess they will photo shop them together or something? Then they took individual shots of all us and they are going to create the first ever yearbook of Endicott College. It's like senior year of high school all over again because we have to fill out a questionnaire with a quote and everything. It is kind of neat though because we get to submit pictures, etc and they are are going to create a yearbook/ scrapbook that we will receive at the end of the trip and a few copies will be displayed in the International Office at school too to encourage other students to study abroad. It was just to the extreme because usually they take one photo for school pictures but these photographers were intense and were taking photos of us sitting and then standing and then they would come really close to your face and take close up photo shots, it was scary and definitely not what everyone was expecting because every time someone came out of the photo room, they looked as if they were traumatized, nobody is used to posing for a camera or having a camera 4 inches from your face. I'm just glad it's over with!