Reflections on Rome

Since returning from Rome, I have introduced some new habits into my daily routine, in an attempt to pretend I'm still on holiday.

I have at least one espresso a day. I have it quite short, a bit less than a single shot of coffee. I don't put any milk or sugar or anything in it. And it is much tastier. I think the longer you run the espresso for, the more bitter it goes. As my previous dislike of coffee generally arose from the bitter taste, I am well on my way to liking coffee if I can figure out how to make it not bitter. So I just have a short one.

I also eat little Italian pastries quite often and, as yet, am unsure whether this is a reliving-the-holiday thing or a greedy-cow thing. I will usually have one with my espresso. Maybe that habit needs to calm down...? (When I was wondering aloud with a friend about how the Italians are not fat, she said, in an ominous tone, "O but they are! Check them out after they've turned 30, it's not pretty.")

I have eaten risotto both evenings for dinner since my return. Both times, I made it with porcini mushrooms and when it was cooked all the way through, right before I put it on the plate, I mixed in white truffle and parmesan. Porcini mushrooms and white truffle with dinner every evening will start to make me a poor Laura, if I don't watch it...!

On the truffle front, do you remember when I went mental on discovering the truffle butter at the Fine Food Fair?





Well, I was worried about trying to find it online because I thought it could turn into a real obsession, if I knew how to get it. Stupidly, I was having a truffle moment and was ordering some truffle pasta online and found the EXACT truffle butter I tasted. So I ordered one black and one white. This could be the beginning of my downfall, people. I'll be writing posts about how I'm scared to go outside and I just stay inside all day, eating sticks of butter as though they are chocolate bars. I'll quit my job and have bad cholesterol and turn my nose up at green vegetables. I may need you all to help me through.

I also wear my very Italian apron, when cooking my risotto, as it helps me feel all Italian. I got it at a little shop near the Pantheon. Here is a photo of me posing in it....





I asked Danda what things he learned from our Roman Holiday and what habits he has kept up. He said "Ice cream."