Saturday, March 7, 2009

Welcome Home Sun

The sun shines on this Saturday afternoon in Florence, and it is 12:45. A nice time of day to get out and explore. This means I must peel myself away from the computer and these papers to enjoy the city without the rain.

I have been sitting in front of this computer for too many hours in the last week, but for a few reasons. One, its been raining outside, and this makes it hard to get motivated out the door and on my feet. Instead, I make hot cocoa and hibernate. Two, I have three 6 page papers due in the next six weeks so I have been trying to get a jump start on them before Melissa comes to visit, spring break comes, and we go to Greece. 

Paper #1- BORING!! 6 pages on Gluten. Now, don't get me wrong, I love that I am writing on something other then gay marriage, gun control, abortion or the summary of a college read novel, but it is hard to talk about protein structure for  pages. I am trying though, and it will be successful!

Paper #2- much more interesting, if I do say so myself. Flavor combinations, the five flavors themselves- Salty, Sour, Sweet, Bitter and Umami. This is more up my alley, and really is a large part about what separates one chef from another in the world of creativity. I am also assigned to discuss the importance of planning the flavors on a plate, and what are the rules to be followed when combining one flavor with another. :)

Paper #3- This paper is for my Tradition of Italian Foods course, which is very interesting, and tasty!! This papers is to include discussion on as many or as few of the traditional ingredients to Italian cuisine. Such ingredients may include Prosciutto, Truffles, Traditional Balsamic Vinegar, Parmigiano Reggiano, and many others. But wait, for the best part..................I am to write a recipe, Italian style, and take pictures of the product!! Pretty exciting!

So, now that I have dipped my toes into all three of these assignments and have notes of research spread from one end of the kitchen table to the other, I part this Florence apartment to soak up the Vitamin D. I think a nice run will do the trick!

All my love, hope the weather is sweet where you are as well.

Ciao Bella

No comments: