FOOD

        Let's be honest, the last post was a little anti-climatic but the past is the past and something new is about to start here at Karin's blog. If you don't know me, I am a cook. Four years ago I joined staff at the bible school I attended for two years as a cook. I liked eating, I didn't mind cooking, and baking was always rewarding once the finished product exited the oven and entered my mouth but I never saw myself as an actual cook. Chefs were always snobby and obsessed with their food in my head. I did not want to be associated with any of that but there I was, September 1, 2006, putting on checkered pants, a big white jacket that made me feel fat and a navy blue hat that had an appearance of a bowl. Well, four years have come and gone (my last day was Sunday), views have changed and  now I just laugh at how much I have become a foodie. With that said, I have also gained a nice amount of weight. That wasn't really what I had in mind but for me it turned out to be part of the package deal. Fresh bread, delicious pastas, homemade, amazing desserts, oh my word! What I'm trying to say is that it's time for a weight loss program. What does this have to do with my trip to Europe? Well, seeing as I also have to travel on a budget and food is expensive but necessary for life,  I have put the two and two together and have come up with a million dollar genuis idea! "New Weight Loss Program: Going to Europe on  Budget" It's brilliant, I know, except that I'm kind of against weight loss programs and believe in just healthy eating and exercise and I am also really looking forward to thoroughly enjoying the delicious, authentic foods that the countries I am visiting have to offer. So in conclusion, I will not starve myself but I will not be eating like I have been these last years and maybe, just maybe I will lose a pound or two. I'd be okay with that.

        So with all this food talk I have come up with a fun idea to blog about while waiting for my departure. I want to cook a traditional meal or close to it from almost every country I plan to visit. I think I will enjoy learning new things and it will also give me a little taste of their culture. Haha, taste, I didn't even plan that pun. I will try to post recipes as well if you'd like to try it for yourself and I think it'll just be a fun time!

       Last night was Italian night. I made pizza!! Who would've guessed? It was definately a fun evening. It started off at the Liqour Store because you need wine with an Italian meal so I headed to the back corner of the store and found the Italy section. I'm no wine expert that's for sure so I didn't really know where to start except at the price tag. I went for the ten dollar to fifteen dollar range and ended up coming across a red wine called Castelli Romani, 2008. This wine is from the hillsides surrounding Rome and is a medium-bodied, premium dry red wine, says the label. It was also the first one I had picked up that said it went well with pizza. I was a little hesitant, though when I pulled it off the shelf and noticed the nice collection of dust that was making itself very comfortable on the bottle. But then I thought, 'No one should be forgotten or ignored and that goes for this bottle too!' So I bought it with satisfaction and headed to the Grocery store!

       This was no night for ham and pineapple, barbeque chicken or perogie pizza. No, this night was Italy night not North American Pizza Chain night. I picked up some parmigiano reggiano, mozzarella cheese, prosciutto, a fresh basil plant, fresh spinach, artichokes and a tomato! Mmm...I could taste it already. My only disappointments were that I totally forgot about goats cheese which I am deeply in love with and I also failed to read the 'Organic' sign underneath the tomato which made for a very expensive tomato but what can you do?
      I got started right away and drafted Terry, my little sister, to help. Before we could start I had to find some Italian music so I searched the world wide web for an Italian radio. We needed to set the mood and I succeeded. Terry did very well to make fun of me but I knew she fell for it all when she placed the tomatoes on the pizza and said, "Magnifico!". Heather, one of my older sisters came up for supper, my mom arrived home from work, as did my dad and we all sat down at the table to the smell of roasted garlic and melting cheese! I would say it was a successful meal. Heather, who has been to Italy and ate a whole pizza nearly every day said it tasted pretty close to that. The wine was actually really good too. Heather who is a bartender and has taken some wine courses first looked at it and said, "It's probably cheap table wine." But she ended up enjoying it along with the rest of us.
      We finished the night with the movie, 'Letter's to Juliet' with Amanda Seyfried and Christopher Egan. Cute and cheesy but takes place in Tuscany and is beautiful. It was two for one day at the movie rental so I also got 'When in Rome' which we will be watching tonight!
      So that is Italy night and a fun night it was! Enjoy the photos. Ciao!

Terry and her mad cheese shredding skills

                                                            

Me kneading the dough

         



The finished product







Enjoying it all!