Today

Class: CHOCOLATE!

-We made 3 different kinds of chocolate mousse, as well as a recipe that was on the menu tomorrow so we would have something more than chocolate to eat for lunch

• Sarde in Soar (Sweet and Sour Sardines)
  -YUM! We pan-fried sardines (after scaling and gutting them, of course), then layered with sauteed onions, raisins, vinegar and pine nuts for a wonderful sweet and sour combination
  -unfortunately there were no brussel sprouts to go along with it ;)
  
  
  

  Sarde in Soar
  
  
• Mousse di Ciocollato con Sale (Chocolate Mousse with Salt)
  -made with soy lechitin, this mousse is a bit more thick and dense than a typical mousse
  -the salt and olive oil topping was quite lovely
  
  
  
  Mousse di Cioccolato con Sale
  
  
• Mouse di Cioccolato, decorazioni di Lamponi (Chocolate Mousse, Raspberry Garnish)
  -such a bitter mousse (made with 85% cacao chocolate) but the sweet raspberry contrasted this so nicely, and I love dark chocolate
  -we also garnished it with chocolate covered raspberries. In order to let them harden after dipping them in chocolate, we put the toothpicks in a piece of bread and then put it in the fridge:
  
  
  
  Raspberry Forest!
  
  
  -Served in a lacy sugar cup made from a combo of raspberry juice, flour, brown and white sugar
  
  
  
  Lace Sugar Cups
  
  
• Mousse di Cioccolato (Chocolate Mousse)
  -standard chocolate mousse, served in a wine glass topped with shreds of white chocolate
  -we also made a caramel sauce with a hint of liquorice in it, just for teaching purposes, which we ate with some of this mousse
  
  
  
  Bad plating job

Afternoon

• Mercato Centrale
  -I didn't need to buy or eat anything but I just wanted to go and explore
  -I love that I cook lunch for myself and have dinner with the family at home, but it really does give me such a different experience of Firenze and Italy
  -The food here is incredible, and yes, I am learning to cook it, but otherwise I'm hardly experiencing it
  -I loved looking at all the fresh meat and fruit, in addition to all the beautiful panini, pizzas and dried fruit
  -Such a cool place
  
  
  Pig's head
  
  
  Dried Fruit (and GINGER!)
  
  
  Meat stand at Mercato Centrale
  
  
• Accademia
  -I was told a million times how amazing The David was in real life and I was still unprepared for turning the corner
  -Unbelievable. Marcella was right--if you stare long enough, it moves
  -I could see him breathing, it was absolutely incredible
  -The rest of the gallery, not so exciting, but worth it for The David
  -I did enjoy seeing the unfinished works of Michelangelo--it enables you to see the process which I really enjoyed
• Gelato Festival
  -Can you say anti-climactic?
  -There is nothing free about the Gelato Festival, therefore I don't think it deserves the title "Festival"
  -You have to buy a pass and then you can go to select gelato stores and get gelato there...bOOORING
• Duomo
  -I finally went inside!
  -Definitely not very exciting
  -The one in Siena is much more interesting
  -The dome is nice, though (that's what it's most famous for)
  
  
  
  Brunelleschi's dome
  
  
  Inside The Duomo
• Shopping!
  -Walked through the San Lorenzo market and bought Italian leather sandals and sheep skin mittens
  -I know, it's definitely not mitten season, but they were so cute and warm and given that I live in the winter for 3/4 of the year, I thought it was relatively practical
• Packing :(
  -It's about that time again...

Photo of the Day
I did not make this.

Yum.

Lesson of the Day

This evening, Alyssa and I played this game that's similar to mastermind but with 5-letter words...there are a lot of 5-letter words in the world!!

The Count

Glasses of wine drinken: 62

Plates of pasta eaten: 31
Churches toured: 12 + 1 synagogue

Photos taken: 2253