30 December 2009

Recipe - Lasagne bianche marchegiane

This is a white lasagna, which means tomatoes are not called for. What is important for this recipe is the besciamella sauce (béchamel), the “secret to Italian lasagnas,” as Ania calls it. As a disclaimer, this is just one recipe for a white lasagna. Each region of Italy has their own version. This one comes from Le Marche. It serves about six people.

Ingredients

6-7.5 cups mushrooms, sliced
1 lb. sausage
1 pkg. thinly-sliced ham (around 7 oz.)
lasagna noodles (about 2 packages)
1/3 cup flour
6 tbsp butter
6 1/3 cup milk
1 tsp nutmeg
oil (olive, preferably)
3 cloves garlic, halved
grated parmesan cheese (as much as you want!)
a few springs of parsley, chopped
salt

1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Wash mushrooms in cold water, peel, rinse, slice.
3. Cover the bottom of a medium-sized pan with oil, add the halved garlic cloves and turn on heat.
4. Put the mushrooms into the pan, adding more oil on top.
5. When the mushrooms are browned, add the sausage.

Besciamella

6. In another pan, melt the butter and add the nutmeg.
7. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the flour, stirring constantly. Return to heat and bring to a boil.
*Note: you may want to add another tablespoon of flour to thicken the sauce a bit more.
8. In a third pan, warm up the milk (not to a boil) and then add it to the butter mixture, along with 1/2 tsp of salt.

9. Combine the meat/mushroom mixture and the besciamella. Add the parsley and a pinch of salt.
10. Remove from heat.
11. Bring a pot of water to boil, then put each piece of lasagna pasta in the water for about one minute (if it’s fresh, a minute or two longer if not), until softened.
12. Grease your pan with butter.
13. In the pan, layer the pasta, the besciamella/mushroom mixture, the ham, and the grated cheese.
14. Put in oven for 45 minutes.

This picture shows the warming milk in the upper left, the boiling butter in the upper right, and the mushroom/sausage mixture in the bottom right.

This picture shows the besciamella mixed with the mushroom/sausage mixture. It's ready to go in the pan!

The assembly line: pasta, sauce, ham, cheese. And repeat until you reach your desired height.

Ta-da!


Buon appetito! Our chef, Ania, with her masterpiece.

18 December 2009

A Delicious Weekend in Bologna

*Firstly, I would like to apologize for the long absence of new posts. I assure you that I did not forget about the blog, but was kept away from it by the rigorous demands of my schoolwork. I've finished with two courses, history (worst class ever) and philosphy (surprisingly, much better than history). Now I'm just hanging around in Bologna before I head home for Christmas, so I will catch you up on my exciting life.*

Cioccoshow
Every year, Bologna hosts a giant chocolate festival, the Cioccoshow. Spread around the center of the city are big tents filled with tons of stands selling every shape, size, and kind of chocolate you can imagine. Ania and I followed our noses to find the tastiest treats. And it was there that I had my first Italian cioccolato caldo (hot chocolate), which is basically just melted chocolate in a cup. I don't even need to tell you how good it was, because I know your mouth is already watering with the idea. I'll give you some pictures to feast your eyes upon, and while they're uploading, I think I'll go find some chocolate myself...
Fiera di Santa Lucia

Another bolognese tradition: under the porticoes of my neighboring church every year is a Christmas market, named for St. Lucy. It's very cute, and you must take my word for it, because I'm still saying that after walking through it multiple times a day for a few weeks now. Beside the many candy and scarf stands, the Fiera di Santa Lucia is known for is large collection of presepe (nativity scenes).
Cooking lesson with Ania

The icing on the cake this weekend was having the first (of many!) cooking lesson with my roommate, Ania. Armed with her notebook filled with her nonna's recipes, she instructed Vicky and I how to make Lasagne bianche marchigiane, a white lasagna from her home region. I will put up the recipe in a new post. Stay tuned!
Signed, the Sengenblogger

25 November 2009

Photos - Roma

Inside Saint John Lateran.
The Roman Forum.

La Fontana di Trevi!

Hard Rock Cafe.

St. Peter's Basilica.

Inside the cupola of St. Peter's.

On top of the cupola.

Inside St. Peter's.

In St. Peter's Square.

A really cool painting on the ceiling in one of the rooms in
the Vatican Museums.

The Tiber River at night. That's St. Peter's in the background.

Christen, Lenore, me, Michael, Katie, and Erin!

St. Paul outside the Walls.

20 November 2009

A Rocking Time in the Eternal City

Roma.

Do you hear the gladiators' swords clashing, the church bells ringing, the people bustling? Yeah, me too.

Oh, where to begin?

One thing that struck me about Rome was how present and visible the Roman ruins are. There are excavation sites right in the middle of everything. You never know when you round that next corner if you'll find an ancient temple. Sometimes the ruins find you, and sometimes you need to know where to look to find them.

San Clemente is one Church among thousands in Rome. However, what sets it apart is its unique history, which is still visible. Underneath the building you enter is another church, and then underneath of that is a ancient Roman house. Talk about old.

The Roman Forum covers the entirety of the Palatine hill, and houses tons and tons of ruins. It's a nice stroll, if you're into rocks and have a vague idea of what things are. Erin and I were fortunate enough to have Michael, the classics major, there to tell us about everything. And sometimes we even listened to what he had to say! Your ticket to the Forum also gets you into the Colosseum, but, alas, it had closed for the day. I'll have to save it for next time.

The Forum continues across the large Via dei Fori Imperiali with Trajan's column, etc. Normally Italians want to save every piece of their long and illustrious past, but then there are others who have no problem with slapping a road down on top of Roman ruins. Thanks, Mussolini.

Friday night found us three Americans in the Hard Rock Cafe. The menu is just about the same as in the US, and burgers and brownies have never tasted so good. We forgot, for a while, that we were in Italy at all. The really loud group of Italian girls having a birthday party next to us brought us back to the reality of the situation, however.

Sometimes places don't live up to all the hype, and sometimes they do. I would put the Spanish Steps in the first category (granted, however, there were no flowers because it was November) and the Trevi Fountain in the second. It is absolutely beautiful, and if you can find a spot to sit down, after getting all your pictures taken and such, I would definitely recommend just pausing for a while to listen to the water and to watch the people and to admire the art.

Rome is filled with piazzas, notable among them Piazza Navona and Piazza del Popolo, which are filled with people. Actually, there isn't much of Rome that isn't filled with people, except maybe churches on Sunday mornings. Speaking of which, let me tell you about all the churches we saw!

Ok, maybe not all of them. That would be a lot. We saw each of the big shots: the Pantheon (yes, it's a church now), Saint Mary Major, Saint John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and, of course, St. Peter's. First of all, the Square is huge. And not a square... After getting through security (tip: get there before 9:00 AM), Erin, Michael, and I went up the dome. It is an opportunity not to miss. However, that being said, prepare yourself, because it's not actually a walk in the park. The stairs become narrower and narrower, and the spiral tighter and tighter as you ascend. The first stop is inside the Basilica, and offers you a stupendous view of the largest Catholic church in the world. Then you keep climbing until at one point you have to lean sideways to account for the curvature of the dome you're inside. And, if you can make it through all of this, you are rewarded with an incredible vista of the vastness and beauty of Rome.

Inside St. Peter's is amazing. As you can imagine, every surface is covered with mosaic, sculpture, painting, colored glass, and gold. It's hard to believe that you're seeing the real Pieta, and that you are standing over St. Peter's grave, the rock on which the Church was built in quite a literal sense. One thing you need to appreciate how well-lit it is, especially compared to the standard dingy-ness of European churches.

Then we explored the Vatican Museums. Fantastic, but pace yourself. It takes a long time (at least three hours) to get through because of all the treasures it contains. Michelangelo's works were stupendous, and I personally enjoyed the hearty collection of Egyptian stuff and the animal room. I am sure I undervalued things because of my ignorance of art, but it was all very pretty! Well, not all of it. Some of those Roman busts were pretty ugly...

One of the most blessed experiences I had the whole weekend was going to the Vatican on Sunday morning for the Angelus. Turns out the Pope wasn't there, but then guess who was? Katie, Christen, and Lenore! Along with the entire group of Franciscan students. Now, if that's not God's grace, I don't know what is: running into three of your best friends in St. Peter's Square on a Sunday at noon. It rocked.

Signed, the Sengenblogger

P.S. I forgot to mention the freak ten-minute hail storm that occured when we were near the Colosseum, which was followed by the Jonas brothers walking by, five minutes later.

17 November 2009

Pictures di padre

Lesser-known fact about Padua: there are canals!
Michael and I in fron of the Basilica of St. Anthony

Dad and I in the botanical garden.


How is that baby even up there?!

Michael, me and Dad inside San Domenico.

Inside of the dome in the Duomo of Florence.

Fall leaves and the Ponte Vecchio, which, I learned,
was the only bridge in Florence left standing after the Second World War.

Dad and I at the Piazzale Michelangelo, with
the Duomo of Florence behind us.

15 November 2009

O mio babbino caro...

My Daddy came to visit me in Bologna! While we spent a good deal of time exploring Bologna, the churches, the library, the markets, the parks, we also went on two day trips, to Padua and to Florence.

Padua



Of course, Padua always sticks out in our minds because of St. Anthony, and Michael, Dad, and I did get to explore the Basilica of the saint, but not until after we saw Giotto's masterpiece: the Scrovegni Chapel.


First of all, getting into the chapel is quite the procedure. You need to make reservations at least twenty-four hours in advance for a fifteen-minute stay inside the small building. But then they want you to be there fifteen minutes early for the fifteen minutes you spend watching a video on Giotto and the chapel/having the air santitized, and then they let you in for fifteen minutes, but you'd better get out as soon as the timer goes off!


All of the ladies working at the adjacent art museum are very...passionate about their job, which means in this case that they want you to see all of the art, but in exactly the right way. Every time we would come to the beggining of a new hallway, a lady would approach us, "Have you already seen the chapel? What time's your appointment?" Then, pointing, "Well, you go to this room, then this room, then that room, and then you exit there. Make sure you're at the chapel fifteen minutes before!" And that's great, when it happens once or maybe twice, but try ten times. They would just appear from behind the art, always telling us where to go and how to exit to go to the chapel. Nevertheless, we did make it to Giotto's chapel on time, and saw all of the frescoes of the lives of Joachim and Anne, Mary, and Jesus, concluding in a giant (it took up the whole back wall) rendering of the final judgement.


St. Anthony's Basilica was beautiful, and it was refreshing to be in a church full of people. The basilica was full of colors of all different types: three different marbles, mosaics, frescoes... there was hardly a white space in the whole building! Another interesting part of the church was the chapel of relics. Three giant display cases filled with gold reliquaries containing relics of many saints, but mostly St. Anthony (including his incorrupt tongue).


Padua is a lovely little town, with a big university, idyllic streets, and picturesque canals. The three of us wandered through the open air market in what was once one of the biggest piazzas in Europe and one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world before heading back to Bologna.


Florence

I didn't think Florence would be as great the second time I went, but I was wrong. First of all, the weather was fantastic, with the sun shining on the River Arno and the leaves changing color. Second of all, I was able to see a lot of things I wasn't able to the first time around, like the outdoor leather market and the inside of the Duomo. It, like most major churches here, is filled with very important masterpieces and has a very long and impressive history. Hoever, even without knowing all about that, it is still a wonderful place to be. That's the point, right?

The walls of the Duomo were not as busy as those of the Basilica of Saint Anthoy, rather, they were mostly white, with gray stonework throughout. Nice stained glass, some good statues, but what really took the cake was the inside of the dome: depicted is an amazingly brilliant rendition of the Last Judgement (that seems to be the theme, doesn't it?). The only thing is, you have to crane your neck to look at it, but there's so much to see that you need to take breaks or else dislocate a vertebrae. What I really wanted to do was just lie on the floor to get a more complete view. But I also didn't want to be asked to leave the church, so I restrained myself. Dad and I went to Mass in the baptistery right across from the Duomo, and were pleasantly surprised to find a stunning display of gold-backgrounded mosaics covering the entire ceiling. Hint: normally you have to buy a ticket to see the baptistery, but if you happen to be there in time for the 11:30 Mass, I would recommend that instead.

In our wandering through this fair city, we stumbled upon one of the florentine specialties: the outdoor leather market. Florence is in a textile region, and you can tell. Coats, purses, shoes, gloves, everything you could want made out of leather and more is there in an extensive network of booths covering several streets. Adjacent is a gigantic fresh food market, inside a large, warehouse-type building. It's amazing the things you find when you aren't looking for them, like how we found the best view of Florence ever.

We were walking along the Arno, when we looked to our right and saw some steps going up a hill. Reaching the top of those, we found another set, then another, and another, until finally we saw where they led: a large piazza and a fantastic opportunity to look down on the city of Florence from above. It's called the Piazzale Michelangelo, and you should write that don on your list of things to see, if, in fact, you happen to have a list of things to see...

Signed, the Sengenblogger

12 November 2009

Pictures - Austria



Ten-thirty at night? Let's go to the airport and rent a car!The ladies, still lovely after driving all night.

I have confidence!


So I tried to make it the mush-iest picture ever. How'd I do?



The Leopoldskron-Palace, where they filmed the boat scene, etc.



On our tour, we drove out into the lake district near Salzburg.

Good decision: we also sang songs along the way.


Apple streudel!

(Around the table from the left: Michael, me, Alex,

Michelle, Clare, Rodolfo, and Allegra!)


That red tower on the right is the convent where the real

and fictional Maria von Trapp lived as a novice.



Do-Re-Maria!


Salzburg at night.


Amazing view from the top of the Untersberg mountain!

11 November 2009

A Few of My Favorite Things

Once upon a time, Maria got the crazy idea of roadtripping through Austria. The idea gathered steam with her friends, and off they went in late October, seven friends, two cars, three days.

The voyage began with an all-night drive from Bologna to Vienna. Somehow they managed to make it through the long, dark hours on the highways and the busy, virtually nameless streets of rush-hour Vienna the next morning. They found a parking garage, and, not quite understanding how the tram system worked (a.k.a. how to buy a ticket) decided to trust their luck and ride it for free, which actually worked quite well.

Our seven young travellers found an ample breakfast in one of the charming Viennese Kaffeehausen, and then, charged up with coffee, they set off to enjoy the beauties of the former seat of the Hapsburg empire. White marble, green bronze, and gold paint covered each of the magnificent buildings in the historical section of town, and they stumbled upon an army festival, complete with pretzel stands and tours of helicopters. Michael and Rodolfo being vastly outnumbered by the five girls, the group chose to go on a tour of the Kaiserapparments, which included a large (which is hardly a large enough word to describe it) collection of flatware, an exhibition on the Empress Sisi, and a walk through the imperial appartments. Lots of gold, everywhere. For dinner the troop descended upon an unsuspecting little restaurant and ordered six weiner schnitzels. (Clare had to be unique.) Then it was back to the cars for a short little jaunt (three hours) over to Salzburg.

Our seven Americans were immediately taken with the city of Salzburg, starting with the hostel (it's called Jufa Hostel). Free breakfasts are priceless. Quite literally. Whereas Vienna was grand and impressive, Salzburg had more of a charming, lived-in feel.

The highlight of their Saturday was, of course, going on the Sound of Music tour with the lovely tour guide Sue, who led the bus in singing...well, maybe not. But they did see almost all of the places in which the classic film was shot, like the Mirabellgarten and the gazebo (which unfortunately was locked due to an eighty-year-old woman pretending she was Liesel and a broken hip)! And ate apple streusel. And learned interesting facts about the movie and Austria, such as: every third wall in Austria is yellow, and Gretel almost drowned in the boat scene. Next time you watch the movie, look for her, floundering in the middle of the screen.

That night they stumbled upon one a classic Austrian restaurant, and ate lots of bratwurst and other types of sausages. And Clare finally got weiner schnitzel. For dessert, a few brave souls tried the Sachertorte, a very compact chocolate cake.

Sunday morning, Michael and Maria woke up earlier than the rest of the group to "climb every mountain." They ended up on a ski lift that took them to the very top of the snowy Untersberg mountain, with breathtaking panoramic views of the countryside, dotted with quaint little towns. On the way down, they spied, high on the hill, a lonely goat. Julie Andrews would be proud.

Alas, the time had come to say so long, farewell, auf wiedershen, and goodbye to the lovely country of Austria. Back into the cars, trying to dechiper how the directions, written in Italian, drenched in crazy German street names, cooresponded to the poorly-marked road signs. They made it back to Bologna, and all lived happily ever after. Up until now, that is. The End.

Signed,

the Sengenblogger

29 October 2009

Pictures - Milano

Lenore, me, and Christen, in front of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele.

Vicky and I, in front of the Duomo.
I've always wanted to be an Egyptian...
Castello Sforzesco at night.
Lenore and Christen metro it up.
McDonalds... :)
One last hug goodbye before Lenore and Christen go back to Austria.

Milano

What happens when three americans and one spanish girl travel to Milano together? Linguistic gynmnastics, that's what. Using whatever combination of English, Spanish, and if you can believe it, French amongst ourselves, and Italian with the rest of the world, we headed off to see as much as we could of the city known for music, art, and fashion in only twenty-four hours.

The first thing we discovered was that our hostel no longer had room for us and had to send us to the three-star hotel a few streets down. Life is tough, I know. The second thing we discovered was that our hotel was really, really far away from the actual city. No problem, because Milano has an excellent subway system.

We first hit up the Duomo, which I think might be the tallest building inside I've ever seen. Very gothic, the vibrant and slender stained glass windows gleaming in the late afternoon sun among the soaring gray stone. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay long because they were closing for the afternoon, so we consoled ourselves by walking along the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, one of the most famous shopping streets in the world. It is a covered shopping area connecting the Piazza del Duomo with the Piazza della Scala. There you can find your Prada, Armani, and all their friends, but at the very center of the Galleria, I found a gem: the nicest McDonald's I've ever seen. It's gotta keep up with the Joneses, after all.

After window-shopping, we headed to La Scala, and were able to get into a box and see the opera house first-hand, then we checked out the museum. The only problem with the museum was that it was filled with German schoolchildren who had no interest in opera and clogged all the walkways. Some problems are just universal, I suppose.

After La Scala, we strolled through the Brera region of the city, and had a cappuccino before continuing our walking tour. We found the city gardens and the giant Castello Sforzesco which doubles as an art museum. On our way looking for dinner, we found an outdoor food market that was still open, even at eight o'clock at night! We couldn't miss the opportunity, and tried some sicilian pastries, ruining our dinner, but, hey, we're in college, right?!

Saturday morning we went to the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the oldest art museum in Milano. There we saw some Leonardo da Vinci sketches and his "Musico," Rafaello's sketch of "The School at Athens," and the gloves Napoleon wore at the Battle of Waterloo, among other things, of course.

We had only a short amount of time before we needed to head back to the train station (a side note: the Milano train station is beautiful, especially for a train station). We ate lunch at the ritzy McDonalds in the Galleria. I told Vicky it was ok that we were eating McDonalds because we were "with americans." Then I remembered my own nationality, and corrected the statement and hid in my Big Mac.

Milano is a lovely city, and I very much enjoyed being there. The interesting thing we found about it was that it doesn't send out a very italian vibe. It's more like a little bit of the rest of Europe in Italy. In fact, it reminded each of us of a different city, Paris, Barcelona, Vienna. I felt like I got a very good look at the city, and I've decided that I will only return if I become enormously wealthy, to be able to enjoy the other side of the music, art, and fashion. But I never found those Milano cookies, sorry, Mom.

Signed, the Sengenblogger

27 October 2009

Pictures of P's

Our indoor picnic: Anne, Erin, and Alex.
Danielle and Lillo hiding behind Rodolfo, Clara, and I.


At La Traviatta with the girls! Lenore, Christen, me, Sarah, and Katie.

Christen, me, Lenore, and Katie outside the restaurant.

Roommates and pancakes. Ania, me, and Vicky.

Christen and I in the library, enjoying the cool chairs.


Christen, me, Lenore, and Katie outside of San Francesco.