Studiamo Inglese

I was out late last night, and didn't have the energy for a post.  Yesterday was Maria Grazia's weekly group meeting to practice English.  And, once a month at these meetings, they get together at one of their places for dinner following the discussion.  I was lucky enough to score an invite.  This one was at Sylvianna's, a very nice place close to here.  Sylvianna is the one taking me to the Gobi desert, and she continued to build on this theme.  It was interesting watching them all struggle with English, and to keep things even, they made me do my exercises in Italian.  Then, we proceeded to their version of a pot-luck.  Everyone had brought some dish, and I showed up with bottle of wine.  We started with plate of appetizers which included olives, cheese, eggs meat and a very light form of bread, special for Easter season, that is a Napolitano specialty, and I can't remember the name.  Perhaps if Davide or Stefano sees this, they can enlighten us.  We dipped it in our wine.


This was followed by a pasta all forno.


This was followed by a plate of salami, prosciutto and more bread and cheese, followed by another nameless dish of ricotta with spinach between very light pastry layers and a vegatable dish heavy on garlic. Then followed by noci (nuts), and more wine with each course.  After everyone was totally stuffed, Sylvianna brought out this large sweet, again nameless treat.  We of course all protested, and then proceeded to eat it along with some Moscato.


Here's my new friends.





Sergio, the only other guy in the room is in his 70s and studying archeology.  He wants to put together a tour for me of what he considers important in Roma.  We'll see if he has time to pull this off.  We managed to get ourselves back home where Maria offered me the usual nightcap of grappa.  When I declined, she thought something must be seriously wrong with me.  So to restore order in the universe, I gave in and drank.  We were then very successful in resolving most all of the problems of the world that came to mind.  Oh, just so this isn't all about food, I should point out that I went earlier that afternoon to the Galleria Nazionale in Palazzo Barberini where there are some beautiful Caravaggio pieces, including his famous Giuditta e Oloferne.  Ciao

Comments

  1. EmilyRoseApril 14, 2011 at 10:12 AM

    No wonder you had no energy to post last night, I was stuffed and exhausted just getting through your post. It looked delicious. Glad to see you are getting to see some of the art of Roma. Have you come across any frame shops on any of your excursions?

    ReplyDelete
  2. RoaminForumApril 14, 2011 at 2:14 PM

    Tu hai visto il mio preferito quadro nel tutto del mondo ieri. Sei molto abbronzato, Giuseppe. Abbiamo lo stesso amore vero: Italia! Se hai il tempo, per favore, chiedi a Maria Grazia di un piatto tipico di Roma. Io sono insieme con Stefano alla casa di Silvia questo weekend e voglio portare qualcosa buono a mangiare. Fai un bellissimo venerdi' e ci sentiamo presto.

    ReplyDelete
  3. JimApril 14, 2011 at 5:54 PM

    I have to go on a diet just reading this Joe!

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownApril 14, 2011 at 5:59 PM

    Credo che il pane sia la ciambella pasquale e il dolce e' la colomba Pasquale ne ho appena comprata una;-).

    Giuseppe stai facendo strike sei grande!

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownApril 15, 2011 at 5:13 PM

    Caro, joe amico, r ancheMa casa, bere birra. come stai, far piacere vananze, negozi roma. Mangiare di gusto italia pasta. ricordo ricetta prego. signora Raunatte

    ReplyDelete

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