Cappucci e Brioche

i swear this blog shows us doing nothing other than eat!! and yes here we are again....Max worked at 5 pm today so we took sophia to school on the bikes and then went to 'the center.' there is this small cafe there that serves the best cappuccinos (with illy cafe) and brioche (like croissants, but not necessarily in the crescent shape, not as buttery and often filled with stuff like nutella, pastry cream, marmalade), and if you've ever come to visit us we've probably taken you there. and if you havent been there, we will take you there when you get here, cuz it is sooooooo good! they also have really good panini and amazing hot chocolate (its thick and almost pudding like) in diff flavors- cinn, ginger, spicy, with baileys, and a million other different ways with whipped cream, sprinkles and etc on top.

La Cassoeula

Sophia couldnt wait to go to Casa Whilhelm to see Pietro and we couldnt wait for the Cassoeula. Not really sure how you spell it, nor am i really sure whats in it. but basically its a stew made from cabbage and just about every part of the pig you can stick in-snout, feet, skin, plus sausages and some ribs to add a little meat. Not easy to digest, but extra good to eat!! fyi, paolo did not add in all the afore mentioned parts, just some of them.


paolo adds the cabbage


the cassoeula


romantic table for 2


the kids wear out virginia


left to right there is (me), virginia, guia, franci, max, lorenzo and paolo (max parisi is taking the pic.

Complimenti Whilhelms!!

Lots of Smog...

...makes for the best sunsets! (Even the crappy view from our balcony looks wonderful during one of these babies).

andrea, pietro and pia

the whilhelms and another family- giancarlo, simona and their son andrea came over for dinner tonight. the kids played (and fought) together and had a good ol' time. unfortunately i forgot to take pix when g, s, a came...ps i wont describe what we had for dinner cuz it didnt come out that great...happy auntie holly?? ha ha!

ick a big ol spider

woke up this morning and sophia came into our room to ask for tv (as usual) and then says 'oh incy wincy spider'. of course we think she wants to sing the song. but she says 'noooo.... incy... wincy... spider!' and points up at where the ceiling and wall meet. oh, incy wincy my @$$! there was a big ol friggin spider crawlin on the wall. good thing max was home or i would have had to close the door with a wet towel to seal the opening and i wouldnt have entered all day! the thing was straight out of arachnophobia, and wayyyy to high for me to reach. max got it down and stuck it in a glass for sophia to see and study. she was sooooo bummed out when we threw it out the window. i, however, was not!

some new stuff

this morning sophia woke up early and went to play and bounce on her dad and wake his lazy but up! there was some nice light in the background so i shot some pix, this is about the only one that came out.








here's some stuff ive been working on:

the bracelet is from eni oken's tutorial.











not crazy about this copper ring, but i wanted to just play with some different weaves and new twisting technique










it was hard and complicated, but it was kind of fun to do something new. it took me forever to figure out how to attach the bead/cab...i think i lost quarts of blood from all the small cuts i received in the process...but at least we got some safety glasses, so i didnt lose an eye!

pietro house

from the time she woke up this morning sophia has been shouting ' pietro house, pietro house.' she even sang a song in the car about 'pietro house.' the kids are getting so good playing with each other, especially since pietro is soooo good about sharing is toys with sophia! and of course we ate loads and loads again. fra and paolo made brasato, which is like a pot roast cooked in veggies and wine and eaten with polenta. OMG it was sooo good. and there was also an artichoke torta and some fresh olives (soaked in parlsey, garlic and peperoncino), gorgonzola, then fresh fruit and pastry cream, i made a chocolate cake and there was an apple cake too. i must weigh a ton now! i cant go back to their house until after the class reunion or else i will be as big as a house! max and i are like 2 old people, we just cheered a glass of alkaseltzer...plop plop fizz fizzzzzzz!