Sto imparando come cucinare

Peppers, zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms, fennel, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and olive oil. Lots and lots of olive oil. This is what most of my diet has recently consisted of.  My roommate Fabio is a great cook and everytime he cooks I am always in the kitchen bothering him.  Here is a little summary of what I have learned so far:
1) Always start a pasta sauce with onions and, you guessed it, olive oil.
2) NEVER add salt to the pasta water before it boils.
3) NEVER EVER add salt to pasta after it had been cooked.
4) NEVER EVER EVER think you used too much olive oil.

A lot of what I have learned has been from things that I did that is VIETATO (forbidden) in Italian cooking (see #1-4 above).  I have also learned how important it is to enjoy the company of others around you while you eat. This is what I love about learning the Italian culture. About 5 out of the last 7 nights I have cooked and ate with all of my friends and roommates. Last night, Alex, Mallory and Maried all got together and made hummus, vegetables and baked bread.  The night before that 11 of us all got together and Fabio cooked us all a huge meal. The first course was pasta with vegetables, then he fried bread and potatoes and cooked sausage for the second course. We finished off the meal with cookies.  It is like my Italian flatmates have never ever had cookies in their lives.  The first time Mallory made them, I thought someone was going to lose an eye trying to get to the cookies first. For a while, the only referred to her as "Cookies", asking "Dov'è Cookies?".  Since then, she has taught Augusto how to make them for himself, thank god!

For all of you back in America HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  There is an actual Halloween party tonight hosted by one of my American friends and his flatmates.  It is not commonly celebrated in Italy so all of our Italian flatmates are really excited to dress up and celebrate!  Should be an interesting night!

Baci xx