Ciao Bella

Just ran across this gelato and sorbet company with a fabulous name! It's sold at Whole Foods and Central Market (I'm severely depressed about not having either in College Station) and it looks delicious! There is a special place in my heart for gelato - the real kind though! There's so many places that sell "gelato" but it always turns out to be just ice cream - boo. This looks pretty fantastic though.

If anyone tries this you have to let me know how it is, I must know!

Basil, my love

Basil makes me happy. I love the way it smells and tastes, and the way it looks on my back porch! I grew these from little seeds and look how big they are now, I'm so proud!

I used Genovese basil which is supposed to be the strongest smelling and the best for pesto. It really is the strongest smelling basil EVER - even if I just brush my hand against it while I'm watering I can smell it on my skin when I go inside. So I made a little ritual of touching it on my way out to the car in the morning so I can smell the freshness, it's my favorite.

And it happens to be your lucky day my friends - I am sharing the pesto recipe I got in Italy when I studied abroad with you, the best pesto ever! And if there's one thing I know for sure it's that Italians know their pesto. Molto bene, buon appetito!


Fresh Basil Pesto

• 2 cups fresh basil
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup finely chopped pine nuts
• 1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp grated Pecorino cheese
• 1 clove chopped garlic

1. Mash basil into a fine paste (best to chop first, then grind with mortar and pestle, or just chop a lot!)
2. Add olive oil, pine nuts, cheese and garlic. Mix well. (add extra olive oil if needed)
3. Serve on hot pasta or chill for pasta salad.

Me, back in the summer, hoping my little basil seeds will grow!

Friends are good, friends with cool stuff are gooder

You know when you have a friend that moves away and you don't talk to them in a while, and then you get that message from them on your cell phone? How you tell the real friends from the "eh" friends is what they say in that message - if they sound irritated that you haven't talked in a while/try and make you feel bad for not calling them first/back then you have yourself an "eh" friend (you have to make the sound). The kind that will be happy for you when something great happens but are nowhere to be found when you really need them.

On the other hand if they - don't act surprised or irritated that they got your voicemail / try and tell you about some random event that apparently was hilarious but you don't know why because the message was too long and cut them off /choose to sing instead of speak the entire message to you / all of the above - and know you probably won't call them back for 2 weeks and that's just fine with them - then they are definitely worth keeping in touch with, even if it is voicemail to voicemail.

So here's a recipe courtesy of one of my favorite people!

Tangy Tomato Dressing :
(by Lindsey)

2/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1/8 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp coarse black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 pinch thyme
1 dash salt

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, whisking often, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Cover the dressing until cool, then refrigerate it until well chilled.

I haven't gotten to try this one yet but, knowing the fabulous-ness of Lindsey, I trust that it's tasty. Let me know what you think if you try it!

Italy is my favoritist place ever

My street! Ours is the first door on the left, it was an old convent that was converted into a mini campus for the study abroad students.

This is the hallway on the first floor, at the end on the right was the computer room where I emailed my family and Jared about the latest adventures. On the left was the courtyard in the picture below.

Everyday I would come down the hallway (above) , turn left and come down the staircase on the right side of the courtyard (left) , counting my blessings with every step...

I just don't know of very many places where you see things like this around every corner - it really is as beautiful as all of the postcards.

One of my most valuable and rewarding experiences in college was without a doubt studying abroad in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy the summer before my senior year. I always have had a fascination with Italy and when I found out that I was going to spend almost two months there it was more than a dream come true.

There were several interesting things that I learned while I was there - gelato is the food of the gods, wine is free but water costs money (not cool for one of the only non-drinkers in the group!), exactly how severe my shopping problem is, that Olive Garden is not real italian food, and that somehow I was born on the wrong continent. I really fell in love with absolutely everything and can't wait to go back with Jared and my family someday. Lindsey, my roomate and partner in crime there, and I joked around about buying a villa together and getting our husbands to fix it up - we then proceeded to look for villas in every town that we visited and discovered that even the average ones are insanely expensive. Good thing Jared knows how to fix just about anything...

Where have you always wanted to go? or where have you been that has you dying to go back?