What's Cooking?

As Thanksgiving approaches, Sean and I have been searching for recipes and narrowing down our list of what we want to make for Thanksgiving.




So far this is our list:

Turkey
Potato Casserole
Green Bean Casserole
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Stuffing (courtsey of Pioneer Woman)
Cranberry Sauces(another Pioneer Woman recipe)
Rolls (yet another PW recipe)
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Spinach Dip
Mozzarella Dip

Whew! That's a lot of food. I'll be making approximately 3/4 of the items on there. Luckily the pies, dips and casseroles can be made ahead of time.

So...what's on your list for Thanksgiving this year?

Just a few Italy Updates

Time for a few updates.

Housing

We went to view the three bedroom apartment the goverment was offering us yesterday. It was a great layout, three bedrooms, nice kitchen, even a extra closet.

However, we turned it down. There were a couple of things we just couldn't get over, even though we like the layout.

1. It was about a quarter of a mile from the Autostrada. I didn't want to deal with the noise coming off that.

2. The first floor apartment facing the walkway has two dogs. One is quiet the other is the most obnoxious and loud Beagle I've ever seen in my life. He would NOT shut up. I love dogs, but I can't put up with a dog that loud

3. From the look of others balconies, the people who lived there were pretty trashy. I'm talking trash and beer bottles everywhere. No thank you.

So, Sean and I have booked a couple of private rentals to go see tomorrow.

The first is a pink house, it reminds me of a Mexican restaurant back in Oklahoma called Casa Bonita. It is actually a house instead of an apartment and we both like the look of it.

The second is a red exterior apartment that is fairly new.

I think we'll be deciding on one or the other tomorrow. We have to kind of push the housing along because Sean is taking a class starting Monday that will last for an entire month.

Language

I actually uddered an Italian word other than Ciao the other day. I said Buon Giorno and mi scusi to our maintenance man the other day. That may seem like very little, but to me it was a lot. I'm terrified of sounding like an idiot when it comes to foreign language. Yes I know that's something I need to get over and quickly.

Food

Sean and I went back to eat at the cafe on post yesterday and I actually didn't offend anyone. I ate my entire portion of caprese, which is a tomato and mozzarella salad cut into layers with salt, pepper and olive oil for taste. It's delicious!

As for all the questions about Moscato, I don't know how much it would be in the States, but according to other girls you should be able to find it. The award-winning version that I buy here is only about $10.00. (Can you believe that?) I may have a giveaway soon and include a bottle of it.

I tried some Ritter chocolate the other day, they sell about 20 varities of it here on-post. So far I've just tried the chocolate mousse. Good, but nothing to write home about. Obviously I need to investigate the chocolate further.

Random Tidbits

The sun is finally shining here today. I've never been so glad to see the sun in my life. All the haze and clouds were getting a little depressing.

Oh..Sean and I were updating our ID's yesterday and the woman doing it for us told Sean to put his index finger on the glass so she could read it. He puts his ring finger on there! I laughed so hard and the lady thought it was funny too. Did I marry a goober or what?

A Few Culinary Favorites

I'm happy to report that my posterior no longer hurts, so it seems as if my fall wasn't as damaging as I previously thought.

Whew!

As I mentioned in my last blog Sean and I were supposed to swing by housing today and go see our first apartment. I thought it a bit odd that she scheduled it today, on a holiday, but since other things on-post are open I thought perhaps housing was too.

Negative. The walk-out gate to go to housing was locked up tight, which I believe is the only way on-post to get out to housing, so I'm guessing they were closed today. Sean is supposed to call in the morning and see about getting that appointment rescheduled.

Sorry to say we didn't get out to the town this weekend. Sunday we both seemed to have a touch of some sort of stomach bug and although I know I shouldn't let the weather stop me, I didn't really want to take my camera out in the rain. These last few days the weather has been what I'd imagine Seattle to be like. Rainy, cloudy and cold. It's not freezing, but it's not my favorite weather to be out and about in.

To answer Brandi's question, I have to get authentic Italian pizza, although I have gotten a few good suggestions for some places.

The thing that makes me laugh is that there are Mexican and Japanese places off-post to eat at. Sean and I were discussing what the Mexican food would be like. I'm honestly quite curious. I'm under no illusions that it would be similiar to what I'm used to in the Tex-mex way of things.

I have found the best wine I've ever tasted. It's a green label, which according to Rick Steves means that only a certain number of wines in Italy have that distinction and it did say that it was the number one sweet wine in Italy. It's heavenly. It's Moscato...I believe that is the name of it, with hints of citrus and honey. Seriously...it's amazing.

A few other food finds that I like are this yogurt called Froop. I think it's German, but I'm not 100% on that. It's unsweetened yogurt with fruit on top and comes in delish flavors like strawberry and lemon. It's unlike any yougurt I've ever had and it's amazing. I'm also in love with the potatoes and meat cuts that they have. The potatoes are so moist and almost buttery.

Obviously you can see I'm going to gain 50 lbs while I'm here.

*sigh* At least I'll be enjoying some good food!

If you had today off, I hoped you enjoyed it!