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My dinner diary has been redeemed, three more days in Italy, and a brief travel update.

Most of you don't know that I keep a dinner diary. Earlier this year my friend Elyse and I were inspired by a New York Times article about a women who kept a diary for years, writing down what she ate each evening. Elyse bought me a Moleskine to start my own (again, THANK YOU!) and on February 14th, it began:

Braised chicken thighs
Risotto with lemon & rosemary
Mushrooms with vermouth, more lemon and rosemary
Chocolate coconut French silk pie
Boulevard Chocolate Ale & pinot noir

The Dinner Diary
Now, all my meals were definitely not this decadent (it was Valentine's Day, after all). See three months later, on May 14th:

Lentils
Chicken tacos
Popcorn

Or one of several late nights at the Capitol, like April 21st:

Wasa crackers
Peanut buter
Banana

I definitely had my dinner ups and downs over the first six months of the year, but while working at American Village, it was a steady "down" 

July 14th: Turkey, green beans

July 15th: Egg omelet, potato salad, ratatoiolle,

July 24th: fish filet

Now, I'll admit, I got pretty lazy when it came to recording dinners at camp. I wasn't inspired at all. There are several days that I forgot, and had to leave blank- nothing was particularly memorable.

This all changed as soon as I made it back to Paris to stay with the Van Den Broeks (Chicken kebabs and sauteed peppers! cheese! flan!)

And shortly after that, I entered dinner diary heaven: Italy. My entries have definitely been boosted by staying at Santa Reparata:

September 4th: Pizza with prosciutto, zucchini, tomatoes, cheese, white anchovies, beer

September 9th: Spaghetti Bolognese, roasted zucchini, tomatoes, and red peppers

September 13th: chicken with cumin and curry, beef, roasted veg, crostini and gnoccho, ricotta cheesecake with berries

Meals were always enjoyable. For breakfast every day, I made myself a cappuccino and toasted/fried some bread in olive oil in a small pan and spooned on one of several homemade jams:


Lunches usually consisted of homemade or dried pasta with a cheesy veggie or meat sauce. One of my favorites was when Roberto would use the scraps from making cappelletti pasta. It was eggy and delicious. There would always be fresh bread, and usually red or white wine, which some would mix with cold sparkling water. The product was incredibly refreshing. After lunch, there is always an espresso (and a cigarette, if you smoke). 

Dinner would sometimes be pasta, polenta, or roasted/grilled meats with vegetables. A few days ago we sampled the grilled pork the agriturismo will be serving this Saturday at a party. Always bread, most of the time wine, and SOMETIMES Roberto would make some fantastic dessert. The most memorable I had was hot chocolate - he added potato starch to the milk-cocoa-sugar mix to thicken it, and topped it off with fresh whipped cream. TO DIE FOR. Here's a recipe I found, in case you want to try it.

Although I won't recount every meal I enjoyed at Santa Reparata in this blog, I can say that it was a truly healing experience for my mind (and stomach!), and thanks to my dinner diary, I can relive my time here easily.

As for a quick travel update, today is my last day at Santa Reparata. Tomorrow I will be visiting Ravenna, a former Roman capital city with 8 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. On Friday I will take the train back to Bologna, and then hopefully get a blablacar to Trieste. My travel plans changed last minute, and I'm a little worried that I won't find a carpool, but if that happens I'll just take the train (it costs over twice as much). I'm couchsurfing...somewhere..in Trieste (again, change of plans) and then onto Ljubljana on Saturday, to start my Eastern European adventure! 

I'll be on the road for a little over three weeks, spending no more than three days in a particular city. My first "deadline" is October 5th, to be in Cluj Napoca, Romania, to see my favorite band, Pink Martini. I've seen them four times in concert- Kansas City, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and New York City- and they just happen to be in Romania the same time I am. I can't pass up that opportunity! So far, the couchsurfing gods have smiled down upon me, and I have accommodation lined up through October 6th. The next "deadline" is October 20th, when I'm expected to be in a town outside of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, to spend two weeks working on an organic farm.

Anyway, more to come soon!

<3

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