Finalmente...una serata italiana

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I am going to skip a couple days. Those days include quite the adventure - Capri, Venezia, Firenze...a bus that breaks down in the middle of a highway, a train ticket bought by mistake costing $112, you know....No, last night warrants a skip above the rest of the stories. It does, because this night was actually a truly Roman night.

I decided to throw a dinner party for the owner of this apartment and his family. Mother, two sons (one married), and us. I wanted to do something very particular, very Roman. I planned in my head a primo piatto, secondo piatto, contorno, e dolce. It was much pressure considering I was cooking for a family of Italians with obviously amazing taste.

This morning I did the shopping. I chose a ragu' for il primo, an arrosto di vitello per il secondo, e funghi per il contorno. I can honestly say I was impressed with myself, but only because I am surrrounded by the freshest of ingredients. For such a small amount of money, I can get ingredients one can only dream of in America. I am lucky. The finest goods at my fingertips.

The dinner was a success. Not only for the food, which actually was delicious, but for the company. The best part of the evening was putting on the speakers the dixieland music and watching the Italians dance with us, in circles, with spins and dips. St. Peter's Basilica in the background, the Italian sounds enveloping us, the wine and limencello giving us the courage to cross any language barrier and embrace each other as family. It was completely, utterly, fantastic.

Tomorrow we go to the sea. I will continue to update you. For now I live in a fantasy....a life I only wish I could have, here in Rome. I pray to God that His will brings me here.

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