The Apartment.............

.....is amazing. Mom and I have spent the week getting it ready for the family. It is a lot of work and we have bought a lot of food to feed the group. We hope to do a lot of nights in and experiment with all the fun food we have found, especially those from Pernini. We are afraid because at Pernini, they will vacuum seal anything you buy to bring it home. So, I think we will have to bring an expensive bag home filled with our favorite treats!

The apartment is very old and very close to the center. It has two large bedrooms and a little den/bedroom for Stella. There are also two bathrooms, a great big living room, a kitchen and a nice dining room. It is perfect for our group and just the right amount of rustic for that true Italian experience.


From our living room we can see through a bakery window. It is not like a bakery you can go into to buy bread. It is on the upper floor and it is a huge operation. We think they bake cookies and such for all the little bars in town or for a big hotel. It is so cool to watch them bake all day long. Cookies! Cookies! Cookies!

The apartment also has two great outdoor areas for sitting and eating. The location is perfect. Please enjoy these fabu pics!

PERINI

So, I am inlove. I have a new boyfriend. His name is Simone. Wait, don't be alarmed. I still love Alex and he is my real bf, but Simone... I love Simone.

Simone works at the Perini counter in the Mercato Centrale. We stumbled upon Perini when Alex, mom and I went to the Central Market. We were helped by a nice American girl named Eliza. She works at Perini and has lived in Florence for three years. It was nice to meet her because she speaks English and she had us try all these wonderful things found only at Perini. We tried three kinds of Pecorino cheese and four fruit mustards: fig, cherry, pear, and orange. They were so delicious, mom and I knew we had to return the following day to stock up the house.

Upon returning, we were warmly welcomed by the owner, and our little helper Simone. He did not bat an eyelash when I asked for 1 Kilogram of Salame Milanese. Now I know from experice that that is a LOT of salame. However, all the times I lived here before, I never got into the whole buying food at the counter thing, so the kilos and what not have been a mystery. Now I am an expert. 1 Kilo is like 2.5 Lbs. That is a lot of Salame.

While deciding what else I wanted, Simone was sure to have us try all sorts of things, like pickled garlic, prosciutto on cracker bread, and more cheese with their homemade fruit mustards. Now, these fruit mustards are amazing. Mom and I have deduced that they are candied fruits that have been thrown in the food processor with mustard powder and honey. They are a divine mixture of sweet and spicey.

We got some fun cheeses to try and went home, only to return two days later for more. To my shock, Simone remembered my name and the owner and him proceeded to shove food down our throats while we ordered more and more treats. We left with fig mustard, fresh pecorino, fresh pesto, and a creamy mushroom sauce. We drew the line at a pint of the most fresh, silky smooth ricotta I have ever tasted. We also sampled a delicious Parmeggiano Reggiano with balsamic vinegar dabbled on it, a tartufo (truffle) ricotta, and a spinach tart I would die for.

We left full and continued to be full as the night progressed. Mom and I went home and made a wonderful dinner for Alex. We made a homemade vegetable soup with fresh porcini mushrooms from the market and tons of veggies we bought. "Quattro cento grami di pomodori e quattro un kilo di finnochio!" Janeille and I are now masters at buying fruit and veggies in Italia!

I have never eaten so much cheese in my life!

Pictures From Dinner-In

DINNER!!

Travelling around Florence with Alex is great. Mom and I could certainly manage on our own, but with him, it is so much easier to engage people and get that something extra. Our dinner last night was proof of that. We went to a place called il Gato e il Volpe, which means The Cat and the Fox. Alex knows the manager, so he served us himself and was amazing. he recommended we get the Mozarella Fresca with tomatoes, as they had just gotten it directly from naples. Dio Mio! This Mozarella was unbelievable. The center was so soft and it tasted almost like there was a hoppy bite to it, like beer in my cheese. It sounds weird, but really is was wonderful. They gave us an entire huge ball of the cheese, wilth sliced cherry tomatoes. It went well with our Carciofi alla Romana (Roman Artichokes). While I was gorging on the cheese, Alex was talking to our server. I was not really listening, but I heard him say, "Soon it will be even bigger!" I looked at him, shocked, and said, "The cheese is going to be bigger?" Silly me, lost in the world of Mozarella, thought he was saying they would be serving bigger balls of cheese, as if that would have been possible.



I chased down my mozarella with a salad and Ribollita, my fovarite Tuscan soup. This Ribollita was exceptional, and more smooth than the usual chunky soup. This soup is very special, as it is how Italians use their old bread. The throw it in with many vegetables and yummy things to make a thick, warm, happy soup. I have a great recipe that I made up myslef for this soup that is fast, easy, e BUONA. Let me know if you would like to have it sometime.

After dinner, mom and I returned to the apartment and Alex went home. Again, we could not sleep, so we watched MTV until 2AM and we made ourselves get up today at 8. I am sooooo sleepy.
I wonder what we will eat today, not that I need it. After yesterday, I don't think I need to eat for 5 days.