Farinata genovese

So in Genova there is a flatbread called farinata. It is quite different from other breads in that it is made of chick peas rather than flour. Strangely, to me it tastes kind of eggy, even though there are no eggs in it. Amilynne called me and was wondering about it because since it is made of legumes it is probably better for you than most breads. So I pulled out my recipe, we had a few laughs and a good language lesson translating it, and the farinata just came out of the oven.

Here's the recipe:

250g (about 2 cups) chick pea flour

3/4 of a liter of water

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c. olive oil

First, soak the flour in the water for 4 hours. Then strain it. This was the surprising part - I ended up using my yogurt strainer and it took 28 hours to strain it all. I imagine that the needed time using cheesecloth would vary depending on how much surface area your strainer had. Anyway, once it's strained, stir in the oil really well - and it does take some stirring to suspend all that oil in the flour paste. It ends up the consistency of pancake batter. Then you're supposed to pour it on an oiled cooking sheet - I poured it into a giant nonstick oven-safe skillet instead, as it seemed that the oil content was probably already high enough. Bake until golden.

It turned out pretty good - a little less oily than the original, but still tasty. Buon appetito!

Epistemology, Subjunctive Mood, and Pizza

I love teaching Italian. Love it absolutely unabashedly smashingly 100%. Especially during the summer at the university. When the students have to look at it every day, it is an avalanche of information, but we're so absorbed in it that it gets in our bones.

I also love it because it's Italian. Have you ever heard a more beautiful, expressive language? Really? Right. I thought not. Sometimes just the sounds of Italian can be enough to choke me up and put tears smarting in my eyes. Some poetry is so mellifluous it could bring the world to its end. I was talking with an Italian friend once and I asked her if Italians realize just how beautiful their language is. "Ma certo," - of course - she said, out of hand.

And today was extraordinary. First off, you have to know that I have just the best little class right now. They are all working very hard and have their footing better than I did when I took Italian 102. Italian 102 made me cry. I have never felt more stupid than I did taking Italian 102, which is saying a lot. Let's just say that I am not the person from my Italian 102 class who was voted Most Likely to Be an Italian Teacher. I probably came in last for that, and my professor would probably die of shock if she found out. Anyway. I have a great class of students who are working hard.

So today started normally for a quiz day: vocabulary review, grammatical review, quiz. And a five minute break after the last person finishes their quiz. Well, the five minute break ended and two of the students were still gone, so I waited an extra minute but then we just went ahead and got started going over last night's homework. We hadn't gotten too far when one of the missing students poked her head in. She made a funny wincey face and then asked (in Italian), "Can we eat in here?" I consented. Both girls came in with slices of pepperoni pizza. And they're like, "Do you want some pizza? There's free pizza down in the quad." So the students in the class were all "Let us go get pizza!" I looked at the clock, and they were like "We'll stay late! Let us go get pizza! Come on! You want some too!"

And they were right. I love pizza. It may be the perfect food, along with gelato, pork chops, and chocolate. But I don't do pizza often because, let's face it, I don't need to be eating a whole pizza myself. Well, it has been such a good class. So I gave in. The two with the pizza stayed in the classroom, and the rest of us went down. It took about 7 minutes, and we talked Italian while we were in line. I did start to second guess myself that we should have done it after class, but when our last class member got the next-to-last slice, my misgivings went away. We went back up to the classroom. (The teacher for the next class was outside the classroom. She gave me a funny look as we walked past her, into the room, with pizza. Oh well.)

And this is where the class became brilliant. Because you see, language is always better if you are talking about real things, and there we were, biting into hot yummy slices of pizza, a perfect circumstance of real life having brought us to that point: some friends told some other friends about something that they had experienced.

And today's topic was the subjunctive. And here is how the lesson went.

Two students came in and said "There's free pizza in the quad." To them, the statement was absolute true fact. They had been there. They had stood in line and listened to the band performing there. They had received the pizza, and nibbled on it already. Everything about what they said was real.

For the rest of us, though, it wasn't real yet. The situation for us was different. We had to believe or not believe about the pizza. Our situation was this: "We think that there's free pizza in the quad." For all we knew, they were playing a joke on us, or the pizza would be gone before we got there, so in our case, "there's free pizza" was something that lacked complete certainty. And that would be expressed in the subjunctive.

Hooray! and perfect.

No Fly Zone

So it's July and as I am looking back over the past month, one thing is striking: I didn't fly anywhere in the month of June. Can I tell you how nice that is? I mean, I love to go to different places, but it's starting to get to the point where I wonder if having to go by plane doesn't just ruin the whole thing. In the past 6 months, I have flown round trip across the country three times, and on each trip I got stuck somewhere overnight on the outbound or on the return trip. That means that 50% of the time, they just haven't been able to get me to where I was going that day. I give the situation an F. And I'm glad to have stayed on the ground in June.

GAM

I woke up this morning dreaming of Torino. I don't know if I've ever dreamed of Torino before (besides possibly when I lived there). Always when I came back it was Genova Genova Genova in my dreams, but if I had limitless possibilities I would board a plane for Torino immediately. It is a beautiful city. I dreamed about taking my sister there and going to the Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea- GAM - a wonderful museum with much of its catalogue online. Of course, and this is typical, my favorite painting is not shown. It is IMMENSE, and it must be of St. Teresa, because it is of a levitating nun and other nuns are trying to hold her down, and there is a mother superior type nun who looks like she disapproves, although she might just be afraid. And it is (or was, in 1996) outside the galleries on the 19th century floor.

It would also be a lot of fun to go to Parco Valentino again and this time to buy the awesome catapult for sale in the weaponry replicas store. There was a guillotine there that was pretty cool too, but I've always been loyal to the catapult. And to cross the Po and see the Gran Madre, a beautiful domed church shown below (painting by Enrico Reycend, from GAM). And there were some twin churches that were cool, and a goldsmith, who was awesome, and I could really just go on and on. Anyway. Torino is just a really fantastic city, and if I were headed to Italy today, I would definitely swing by.

Captain Kirk and Filthy Wilma

So last weekend was my trek out to my mother's wedding. My scheduled arrival had me missing the big dinner the night before the event. My actual arrival was even later and included a night in the Phoenix airport. A night made much more pleasant by the generosity of a woman who cleans airplanes for Southwest at night who brought me a blanket to use, which she led me to believe was from one of the planes, but which I actually found out was her own personal blanket - the airline agent to whom I tried to return it the next morning said it wasn't one of theirs. Anyway. So when I arrived (finally!) for the wedding, one of the first pieces of news gleaned from my brother and my sister was that there was a pan of Filthy Wilma in the fridge, left over from the previous night's festivities. What is Filthy Wilma? Well, as Amilynne puts it, if you're a good Mormon, it's Republican Dessert, and if you're a bad Mormon, it's Filthy Wilma. And it's a crust topped with a cream cheese layer and a chocolate pudding layer, with various amounts of Cool Whip throughout, and it's mighty tasty.

Well, we attended the wedding, and the next day made a trek to Virginia City, which was a lot of fun. We played the Virginia City Game: on the way up the mountain to Virginia City, make a list of all of the people you want to see there. (We deviated and added a couple of things to our list, too.) Once in Virginia City, call these people/items as you see them, and when you go home, the person with the most points wins. My brother won, hands down. Let's just say that his ability to spot handlebar moustaches and mutton chops is the stuff of legend.

Also in Virginia City, we bought fudge at Grandma's Fudge Factory. Wow. You knew it would be good because you can watch them fluff up the hot fudge from the store window. It was seriously the best fudge I've ever bought. The guy working there was very funny. There was harmonica music playing, and it felt sad to him - he remarked on the irony of sad music in a candy store, and it was just funny. Anyway. We also went to the cemetery and to a shooting gallery, 45 shots for $2, which was an awesome fun time. Amilynne had made lunches for us to eat, but once we got back to the car, we decided to forego the sandwiches and go early to eat Basque food, then go see the Star Trek movie, which none of us had had a chance to see yet.

At the cemetery

So just how did Captain Kirk meet Filthy Wilma? Somewhere along the ride home, Amilynne let it slip that in Reno, you can bring your own food to the movie theater. She said that she had seen people bring in pizzas and fast food bags before. So of course, much to her chagrin, that night we walked into the theater toting a shiny silver 9x13 cake pan half full of Filthy Wilma. Popcorn will never be the same.

I thought the movie was awesome, by the way. 5 stars.

Filthy Wilma

Grandma's Fudge Factory -- yeah, it costs less when you actually go there.

A few words

So my absence here can be traced to one cause and one cause only: in January, I had the cable company come to take the analog box off of my cable for the new "digital transition" and all, and when the box went away, I got like 30 more channels.  So I have been watching TV for the past five months.   Just so you know.

I've also had an incredible number of migraine headaches.  Go figure.

Today I was flipping channels and saw Prague.  Which of course meant I had to stop and watch.  The movie was xXx, staring the city of Prague and Vin Diesel.  And I watched it all.  You know the building the Americans take over as their little weapons armory?  Yeah.  That's my favorite building in Prague, except that instead of a weapons armory inside, there's a little bar where Amilynne kindly got coffee so I could sit and soak the building in.  So of course the movie prompted a phone call to Amilynne, which led to her getting out her travel journal from last summer and basically reading the whole thing, punctuated with exclamations from both of us and little details added from my journal.  So I have just relived the trek from Prague to Rome.  I can't even begin to express how I wish it were summer and I had a ticket for Europe!  

It's not summer.  I have a stack of work to grade that will only grow this week, so I ought to get to it.  And maybe do some lesson planning too, and some prep work on final exams and all.  And since the season for good television is waning, maybe I'll write more here too in the coming days.

For pure enjoyment

Yeah.  I am loving this one.

Pancetta is a gift from the gods.

So tonight I made a wonderful concoction: a couple of slices of pancetta cubed and fried up with garlic, add water, a chipotle cube, green lentils, and split mung beans.  Cook.  When they're about ready, throw in some spinach, and top with European style yogurt (runny, no pectin, super tangy).  Chompy winter's gruel.  

The Great Music Trawl - December Edition

So tonight I did my monthly Internet music trawl and came up with some interesting things.  I come up with interesting things almost every month, and I guess I could make a note of them here, why not?

So what is the monthly music trawl?  I have a subscription to emusic, so I have 75 downloads each month (and I often buy extras - yes, I'm a junkie).  I have stopped listening to music on the radio, as the redundance of the music usually bored me to tears and morning DJs around here are loud and crude and I just can't get into that.   The last morning radio show I liked was Tim and Yvonne on 93.3 in Dallas - but that incarnation of that station has been stone cold in the grave for a long time now, along with the morning show.  So I very much listen to stuff I find on the Internet.  I have found some great stuff.  Here is what I found for this month:

The Magnetic Fields.  They issued 3 albums in 1999 called 69 (vols. 1, 2, & 3), each with 23 songs - love songs.  Ha!  And I figured the love song has been dead since at least 1993.  But apparently 69 of them appeared in 1999.  The song that made me know I would like this group is called "The Book of Love" and it's about being in love with a reader.  :D   

So that was 69 of the 75 downloads.  You can guess, can't you, that I had to buy extra tracks this month.

Next I found Langhorne Slim.  He is described as being sort of country/folk, but he's more folk than country, or at least most of his better songs are (other songs are more sing-along-with-your-beer-glass-swaying).  But he's acoustic and cool, and the killer song is "Restless," all about how one could blame one's screwed up inability to commit on lots of things, but deep down really you're just (you guessed it) restless.

So really, that should have been enough for the month, but it's December, and therefore it's a month for excess, so of course I ran up against The Cribs.  They are AWESOME.  They are the band tonight that I am the most excited about - sort of Killers, sort of really 80's pop, current album (Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever) produced by one of the guys in Franz Ferdinand (hooray!) so you can kind of hear them in there from time to time too, anyway, it's the album I'm listening to right now.  And did I mention JOHNNY MARR JOINED THE BAND???  Yeah.  Ok.  HAD to have it.  Here's the deal, though: for some reason, it wasn't currently downloadable on emusic, so I had to go to Amazon and buy it.  (The track Be Safe stands out because it's spoken instead of sung, but really the whole thing is fantastic so far.)

While on Amazon, a thumbnail for Weezer Chrismas caught my eye.  Couldn't be good.  But I gave the samples a listen.  Yeah.  Most of it wasn't good - let's face it, most carols just honestly sound bad when played by rock bands, especially rock bands as tied to a solid beat as is Weezer.  The exception?  O Holy Night - the complexities of the flowing accompaniament made it interesting enough that I downloaded that track.  Why not?  It's my favorite religious carol, and so I kind of collect versions of it, some better and some not as good.

So then I was done for the night.  Except then I was writing this post and clicked back over to emusic to check something and I couldn't help but start playing the sample that popped up and it was really good.  Best of Stereophonics.  Which is a band I've definitely heard of but don't know if I've ever really heard.  They are super good.  So I downloaded the Best Of album for a nice overview (some bands are too prolific to ever catch up with for real).

Anyway, so that is what happened tonight while I was trawling for music.  A nice evening.  And now there is stuff to listen to for the next month.  I'm such a geek, but I enjoy this way too much.  It's like I'm still twelve recording songs I like off the radio.  Yeah, I'll never grow up.

To be fair, Amilynne nails it here.

A bit of art history while we wait to go to the Uffizi in Firenze. Michelangelo greets Julius upon the former's return from Carrera on a trip to procure marble for the latter's amazingly grandiose tomb.

Brilliant.

Amilynne Gets It Wrong

Amilynne and I got in a discussion today over Christine's World. The discussion was prompted by my telling her about my trip to MoMA. I took the above picture just for her, but I guess now it's for everyone. Anyway. So here I am standing next to this amazing painting. And here's how Amilynne got it dead wrong.

You see, the painting is of Christine, who has fallen and can't get up, and is so dreadfully far away from the farmhouse, she could pull herself along with her hands, but that would really be a rough job, and by the time she got there, her pretty pink dress would, at the best, be grass stained, and at the worst, be torn to rags. How did she get there? Don't know. But the immensity of the space between her and the house shows that she's not getting back any time soon.

Amilynne about died when I said that she couldn't get up. She says that Christine chooses not to get up. She is just there relaxing.

Amilynne is usually right on mark, but this one she absolutely doesn't get. See how Christine is downhill from the house? See how there is almost a swirling vortex between her and the house? See how her hair has flyaways on the sides? See how the farmhouse door and the path to it point away from Christine and off the side of the painting? (There aren't even any windows facing Christine - the house is blind to her.) See how everything is late autumn dead and not early spring green and alive? She's not going to make it in before the first winter storm blows in and freezes her to death. She is not calmly relaxing. She is not at home in bed eating bonbons.

So free will or determinism? For once, Amilynne seems to be the optimistic one.

Election Politics at School

One of my students expressed yesterday that if Obama doesn't win the election, she figures she won't be at school for a couple of days after. I asked why, and she said (so matter-of-factly) that she expects her neighborhood (and mine) to erupt in riots "if they steal the election from Obama." Wow. The implications. The biggest to me: that a loss for Obama will be automatically seen by some as evidence of election fraud. So then the guys in the class chimed in about the constitutional right to overthrow the government if it fails us. Which of course implies that they feel that a McCain win would be a signal of the government's failure.

We're doing a "mock election" at school Monday. I bet it goes 99.9% for Obama, and I know exactly which kid will break for McCain.

Well, I'm going to go Halloweening. It's nice to have one night of the year to pretend that what's really scary is vampires and mummies. Tomorrow I guess we have to face politics again.

It's Official...

October is the month of birthdays - dad's and Junior's. Junior turned 3. Anyway, in typical Melissa fashion, I got the box off late. It arrived this week, and Dad took it over to open with the Kiddo and family - and Junior was very excited by all of it. Apparently he kept saying "It's from Aunt Melissa. It's from Aunt Melissa." but then he capped it off with "She's a very good girl."

Ha!

Must be true. ☺

I promise I'll eventually stop posting about the Quiz...

but Cutest finally found the post about her, so now I have to post how I see her...

Cutest seems darkslategray #2F4F4F

Your dominant hues are green and blue. You're smart and you know it, and want to use your power to help people and relate to others. Even though you tend to battle with yourself, you solve other people's conflicts well. Your saturation level is lower than average - You don't stress out over things and don't understand people who do. Finishing projects may sometimes be a challenge, but you schedule time as you see fit and the important things all happen in the end, even if not everyone sees your grand master plan. Your outlook on life is dark. You're generally a pessimist and everyone knows it; you're the one the come to when they don't want the sunshine blown around, they just want to straight truth. You can miss good things in life if you make up your mind too early though.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

And Amilynne Takes the Color Quiz About Me

Let me tell you what happens when you rent a funky bicycle for two in the Borghese Gardens in Rome. Your sister thinks you're a lot more fun than you really are.

(Borghese Gardens bicycles RULE!!!)

you are mediumorchid #BA55D3

Your dominant hues are red and blue. You're confident and like showing people new ideas. You play well with others and can be very influential if you want to be. Your saturation level is medium - You're not the most decisive go-getter, but you can get a job done when it's required of you. You probably don't think the world can change for you and don't want to spend too much effort trying to force it. Your outlook on life is brighter than most people's. You like the idea of influencing things for the better and find hope in situations where others might give up. You're not exactly a bouncy sunshine but things in your world generally look up.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Amilynne takes the Color Quiz.

She dislikes the fact that it is all yes or no. We also had a bit of entertainment when it became a challenge to express the "yes" or "no" in an adverbial manner to match the adjective described. More entertaining than the quiz itself, even.

So here is Amilynne:

you are aquamarine #7FFFD4

Your dominant hues are cyan and green. Although you definately strive to be logical you care about people and know there's a time and place for thinking emotionally. Your head rules most things but your heart rules others, and getting them to meet in the middle takes a lot of your energy some days. Your saturation level is medium - You're not the most decisive go-getter, but you can get a job done when it's required of you. You probably don't think the world can change for you and don't want to spend too much effort trying to force it. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz