A Fun Day with the Family

This morning, Anna and Giulia stayed home from school since Giulia wasn't feeling well. I had a feeling that Anna would stay home as well...where one goes, the other has to be there too. :) The first thing Giulia said to me this morning was, "Addie, when cookies?" So dang cute! I did not have a great feeling about this for many reasons. First, I don't even bake my own cookies at home so how am I going to here with all their different measurements and with no recipe in English? I found one online but the measurements were in English and I had Italian cooking utensils...not a good combo. Second, all of the ingredients were in Italian of course, so I had to look up every single one to make sure that I was using the right thing. The recipe called for brown sugar, which Gianna didn't have so I just added more white sugar and hoped that was better than nothing! I measured with a coffee cup and tried to eyeball the amount but I really had no idea what I was doing...this was turning out to be a disaster. The recipe called for one egg and one egg white...I didn't know how to do that so I just put in two eggs and called it good. Man, this was very interesting! The girls had a blast and so did I. The cleanup was the worst part because we made quite a mess! The girls played with the dough and made shapes for awhile while I tried to clean up. Finally, they were ready to go in the oven but there was one problem...I didn't know how to use their oven! Gianna brieftly told me upstairs on how to set it but I wasn't seeing the oven while she was telling me so none of it made sense. I figured the picture with the cake on it sounded like a good idea for cookies and it set it at 180 degrees celsius, sounded about right to me! I put them in without a timer because I couldn't figure that out on the oven. I kept going back and forth to the oven to make sure I wasn't going to burn the house down or they didn't explode. Thank goodness, they turned out okay and we made another batch! I don't think they are very good at all, too dry and not soft at all. I think I put too much baking soda and flour in it with not enough chocolate chips or sugar. They are good dipped in coffee or milk though! Gianna and Angelo were surprised and said I should give myself a little more credit for my cooking skills. I surprised them even further by making lunch...pesto pasta and a balsamic vinegrette salad! I am pretty proud of myself and I am becoming quite the chef here! I have never loved pasta more in my life and their fresh pesto here is to die for! If I didn't already love pesto before, I really LOVE it now. After lunch, we all laid down for a nap and I couldn't sleep and I didn't feel like reading anymore, even though my book is very good! I was on the internet and decided to look up if "The Bachelorette" was anywhere that I could watch it and I found a website that worked here! I am happy to not be missing out on my favorite show of the summer...even if it is ridiculous! One guilty pleasure never hurted anyone, right? For dinner, we had a beans and rice mixture with oil and fresh parmesan that was very delicious. It was rainy and cold here all day so it was the perfect hot meal for dinner. Gianna told me that a lady was coming over after we ate with her dog. The lady is interested in having Golden Retriever puppies with her dog Ceria and Momo. Gianna told me before hand that this lady seemed a little too weird and she wasn't sure Ceria was pure bred. We went outside in the rain and sure enough, the lady was super weird and the dog looked like a mutt version of a Golden Retriever. She was very skinny and small, with not the same hair or structure like Momo. It was definitely not going to be a love match there for Momo but they will keep looking. I think they are wanting to keep a puppy if this ever happens but they want to make sure it is with the right dog and family. While we were walking into the garage from the rain, Anna slapped my butt and said, "Nice ass!" I of course didn't understand what she said and Gianna started laughing. When she told me what she said, I laughed so hard! Ahh...kids say the darndest things. After we dried off and came inside, we gave the girls a bath and started watching a program here called "Rudolf's Adventures". It is about a popular rugby player from Rome who goes to different countries and tries all there is to do there that is wild and crazy. It is funny to watch with the family because Gianna has a BIG crush on Rudolf...he is pretty handsome and very buff! Angelo is not too thrilled to be watching it because Gianna has to comment everytime he shows off his arms or is in his teeny swimsuit. The banter between them is very sweet...I hope I have as great of a marriage as they have someday. They have been best friends since elementary school and grew up together. They never dated anyone else that I have heard of and married when they were finished with their undergraduate work. They are very supportive and have strong communication between them. Gianna is obviously the strong willed, stubborn type and keeps the house in check all the time. Angelo kinda lets things slide and doesn't sweat anything...he is a very calm person and likes to have fun and laugh a lot. You can tell who keeps the order in the house! From what I understand, this setup is very different from most families in Italy. The wives usually don't work and they stay home with the kids, being the strong but silent type. The husbands are the ones who work but also have the sturdy hand with the family. I have heard Gianna say on many occasions that she is not in this by herself and Angelo knew that when they got married. He likes it that way, being equal parts while parenting. He does a lot of the cooking, cleaning, shopping, lawn work, and still works all day. Gianna works a lot and still finds time to be a great hands on mother and works very hard to keep a clean, tidy, and structured home. Their dynamic is pretty awesome and I hope I can be lucky enough to have that someday, an equal partnership in all aspects of a marriage. It sounds pretty good to me! Well, tomorrow I am off with Angelo to Castelfranco, a tiny town not far from Treviso. I don't know how long we are staying but it looks very quaint and it has beautiful architecture. I can't wait to take more pictures! Ciao!