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Pregnancy Reading

As soon as I found out a little baby was on the way I of course started perusing Pinterest for all the different links related to pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and baby's first year. I also wanted to get some good books to read to try to prepare me as much as one possibly can.  

I picked out a couple of books that were recommended to me from friends or from other blogs that I follow and I was gifted a few. 

All of these books were great reads and I would also recommend them to any mother-to-be. 

My Pregnancy Journey Part III

On Tuesday June 16th at 10 am I had the first application of the inducing gel. They said if it didn't take effect in 6 hours I would need a second application. The hours passed on by and there was little to no effect and so at 4pm I had the second application. By the time Luca was able to come to the hospital after work around 7:30 pm the gel was definitely having its effect. 

My Pregnancy Journey Part II

After switching from being followed by a private gynecologist to being followed by an obstetrician at the birthing center I felt better about my pregnancy. It was a relief to not have to go in about twice a month and have to wait over an hour to see the doctor. I could call the obstetrician when I needed and our appointments were based only on what was necessary. 

As the months progressed and my belly grew I had to make the proper arrangements for when baby was due. We signed up for a prenatal course. I looked around at the prenatal courses offered at various hospitals and the course offered through the public health care system and in the end we opted for the one at the birthing center, not because I was being followed there, but because it was for couples and involved the father.

By April/May I felt like my belly was quite big (even though I was really quite small) and it was taking me always a little bit longer to walk to work and eventually I ended up taking the bus. I didn't like taking the bus because people should technically offer their seat to you but they never did.  Once I was sitting in the "special" seats for the elderly, handicapped, and pregnant women and an elderly lady came and pointed to the sign and gestured for me to move, and I responded by saying, "oh I'm pregnant, but there's an open seat down there I can go sit there" and it ended in a very awkward "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't see, no, no, no stay where you are" and eventually another person offered their seat to the elderly woman. 

My Pregnancy Journey - Part I

Every pregnancy is a journey and has a story of it's own and a first time pregnancy comes with an added touch of anticipation and excitement of something never experienced before.  

Luca and I discovered that we were expecting our first child right before Halloween. I went to the closest grocery store to buy my second pregnancy test. I was nervous and excited. The first time I went to buy a pregnancy test I bought a 2-pack and didn't looking at the packaging carefully. It was a huge disappointment when I got home and went to take the test and realized that it had already been opened and one of the tests had been stolen. So the second time I double-checked the packaging. 

It was a surreal feeling taking the test and hoping for a positive result and then seeing those two lines slowly appear. After the first test being negative I had just expected that also the second one would be too. 

At a halloween party after discovering a little baby
was growing inside 

So after rejoicing in the good news we had to figure out how to proceed. What do we need to do? Who do we need to call? What appointments need to be made?

Italian Autumn

The seasons are passing quickly and with Christmas around the corner autumn as already flown by and it's now already late to be posting about our fall adventures. However because I've been so incredibly busy with work, and life in general, the blog has been on hold and so better late than never will have to do. 

Luca and I totally fell for the TV show Bake Off Italia. Every Friday night we would plan to be at home at 9 pm so we could catch the latest episode of Bake Off waiting to be inspired to try something new in the kitchen. Luca took on a whole new interest in baking and is starting to become my competition. So we attempted eclairs, bagels, and for Luca's birthday he wanted a play on the rainbow cake so I made a 5 layer pistachio cake.

Bread Project #5

Ravazzata

"'A loaf of bread,' the Walrus said, 'is what we chiefly need: Pepper and vinegar besides are very good indeed.'" --Lewis Carroll

While we were in Sicily we made sure to enjoy the typical foods available to us. A few years ago one of Luca's friends went to Sicily and when he came back he brought some deliciously ragù filled rolls. However Luca didn't know what they were called and as we travelled around the island, he would always try to get one from the bar or bakery when he had the chance. It took over 2 weeks to figure out what they were called.

We also discovered that they are only a Palermo thing and so when we were back there to catch the ferry we stopped and got some to bring back to Luca's family. And of course we had to attempt making them in our own home as well. 

This is no light snack, it's a meal in itself. It's stuffed with meat ragù and the giant roll is made with lard, but what isn't good when it's made with lard? 

 We've tried making ravazzate only once, however we loved the roll recipe which is easy and quick so we've been making batches and freezing them so we can have them with dinner whenever we want. So this a recipe I highly recommend. 

Recipe for Brioche da Rosticceria

8 cups flour

2 cups warm water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup lard

4 tsp salt

50 grams yeast 

Mix flour, sugar, lard, and yeast. Slowly add the warm water. It's best to use a standing mixer with the hook attachment. Mix until the dough starts to form into a ball. Then add the salt. (DON'T FORGET THE SALT) and mix until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. 

Once you have a nice round dough ball, rub a thin layer of lard around it. Place it in a covered bowel in a warm dry place to rise. Let it sit for about 20 minutes- until it's doubled in size.  Then you can use this dough to make one large loaf, rolls, or ravazzata.

Bake in the oven at 400º for about 10 minutes. 

I'm not giving the ragù recipe because I didn't particularly like this recipe and there are so many different variations so if you want to make a ravazzata and not just the bread rolls look up a recipe and you'll easily find one! 

Sicily - Week 2

After a week spent on the North/North Eastern side of Sicily we were looking forward to heading on over to the side- Siracusa. 

But before we could make our way over there we had to see Palermo! 

We walked as much of  the large city as we could. In some parts it really felt like we were in a 3rd world country. There were also some surreal scenes that we saw of what poverty is like in Sicily. We saw a young couple walking around the market after it had closed, picking up the scraps and then later we saw them preparing the food they had found on the ground. We also saw children playing in an abandoned piazza with old household items thrown out in the street. 

As mentioned before, there were so many Italians traveling around Sicily and one of those happened to be my good friend from when I was studying in Italy during high school. She also happened to be in Sicily, but in Messina. 

Messina is near Isola Bella- so we decided to meet up there and enjoy the afternoon together. Isola Bella means beautiful island- and it is beautiful- therefore a ton of people! It took us almost an hour to find a parking spot and we still had about a 20 minute walk to the beach. But it's worth it! 

After an afternoon in the sun we took the cableway up to Taormina which is a lovely quaint town. It felt like we were on the Amalfi Coast. We didn't have much time so we took a quick look around, but then we decided to go back the following morning to visit the roman theater. 

We had a whole afternoon to spend before we could arrive in Siracusa so we stopped at Etna. We would have liked to go up to the large crater, but it was 80euros a person and we didn't have quite enough time to really take in the whole experience. However we were able to see some small craters from previous eruptions. 

 When we arrived at our second airbnb apartment near Siracusa that evening, we immediately headed out to Ortigia which is the historical center. Ortigia was both Luca and my favorite city on our trip. It had a nice night life, a relaxing walk along the historical barricades, and is just simply beautiful. We knew that we would want to go back and visit it during the day so we made sure we did! 

 There are a few baroque towns near Siracusa: Ragusa, Modica, and Noto. We stopped to visit Ragusa and Noto and we drove through Modica. These cities look like they could crumble from one moment to the next- it's incredible they're the way they are and that people actually live in those homes. 

RAGUSA 

 MODICA

 NOTO

Even though we visited these beautiful baroque towns, we also made sure to get in some more beach time. We often went to smaller beaches, there was even a small inlet right by our apartment. But one day we made a special trip out to Calamosche. It was crazy how many people were there- again as mentioned before- if we were the only people there it would have been spectacular. But with the crowds, it takes away from the beauty. 

Arenella

Fontane Bianche 

Calamosche

We had our ferry up to Napoli on Sunday night so we worked our way back to Palermo Sunday morning. We stopped to eat the most delicious cannoli and cassata in all of Italy at Pasticceria Da Oscar . We also visited the memorial for Borsellino, and took a drive up to Monte Pellegrino for some awesome views of Palermo.

After a long overnight journey, we made it to Napoli and were greeted with this gorgeous sunrise.

So long Sicily! We'll definitely be back hopefully sooner than later! 

Sicily - Week 1

In August it feels like most of Europe shuts down for holiday. Luca and I were able to take a lovely 2 week trip to Sicily. We planned our trip thinking that our puppy, Macchia, would be coming with us. In the end, we left her with the "grandparents" which turned out well. 

We drove down to Napoli and caught the overnight ferry to Palermo. We used Airbnb for our lodging because we were able to find independent apartments with closed garden space which would have been perfect for the dog. We used our apartments as a home base to travel around the surrounding area. 

The first week we stayed about 20 minutes from Palermo in a small town called Terrasini. Our host was great and he had fig and lemon trees in his backyard, so he had picked us a basket full of the most delicious, juicy, sweet figs. 

We had a lovely view of the sunset every evening and were close to various beaches for when we wanted to take it easy. 

Our first trip out was to Riserva dello Zingaro. It's the first nature reserve in Sicily and it was almost demolished in the 1980's when construction to pave roads was already underway. We paid 10euros to get in and we walked about an hour to get to the furthest cove/inlet and then worked our way back. Unfortunately the whole trip, everywhere we went, was packed and overcrowded with people. 

 The next day out we drove down to San Vito lo Capo. It's famous beach known for its crystal clear water. Even as we travelled around we overhead other Italians talking about how amazing San Vito lo Capo was. When we went, it was absolutely packed. We decided to stay the whole afternoon so we rented an umbrella and two beach chairs. Since the beach had so many people the water wasn't as clear as we expected near the shore, but we just had to swim out a ways to enjoy the beautiful clear blue water. 

On our the way back to our apartment we stopped at the historical town Erice. It was a unique quaint town full of history from the ancient greeks to the normans. We wish we would have had more time to explore and look around. Erice is up on Mount Erice and so the views are spectacular. 

The following day we drove inland to Corleone. If you've seen the Godfather you probably know that Corleone if known for the mafia since that's where some of the infamous mafia bosses come from. It's a small town practically in the middle of no where. Driving there felt like we were driving through no-man's land. 

While meandering around the town we came across the anti-mafia museum. We paid 10euros to visit and it was incredible. You can't visit the museum without being effected by the history, the photos, and the stories. They have all the files and documents from the mafia cases and it was surreal to see all of these and know that most of the cases were absolved because of lack of proof. 

After experiencing Corleone we drove down to the seaside near Agrigento where there is the Scala dei Turchi (Stair of the Turks). It's a popular tourist destination. It's beautiful, but again with the crowds of people, it takes away from the beauty. We still had fun covering ourselves in the clay found in the shallow waters and taking a swim. 

Our fifth day in Northern Sicily we drove over to Cefalù, a small historical town. What makes this town particular is the fact that it goes right up to the sea's edge. We wanted to relax on the beach and swim but this day was particularly hot that it was so uncomfortable and with all the people the water was pretty dirty, so instead we enjoyed walking around the town.  

Finally the last 2 days on this side of Sicily were spent in and around Trapani. We got to visit Trapani on August 15th which is Ferragosto and so almost everything everywhere was closed. It was great for taking in the city without a lot of people. We discovered that August 16th is the celebration of the Madonna of Trapani. So we enjoyed the peaceful city then visited the Saline di Trapani which are Salt-works. We also stopped at Segesta on the way back to our apartment. Segesta has the most beautiful ancient greek amphitheater I have ever seen. The Greeks definitely knew what they were up to.  

 On the last day we spent the morning at the beach and then headed back down to Trapani to see the festival of the Madonna. The legend goes that the statue was in a church owned by the knight Pisano in Syria. A bloody war broke out and Pisano decided it would be best to go back to Pisa and to bring the madonna with him as to protect her from the infidels. They were able to sail safely near Lampedusa but then a terrible storm came and they couldn't continue onwards. They tried a second time but again there was a terrible storm.  There was so much damage done to the ship the crew had to rest and make repairs at the port in Trapani. After the ship was ready to set sail for the third time carrying the madonna another storm came and prevented them from continuing on to Pisa. Therefore they believed it was divine intervention and that the Madonna should remain in Trapani. 

   

 We watched the beginning of the procession, grabbed dinner, and then found a close up spot to watch the amazing firework show. It was the perfect ending for our time spent on this side of the beautiful island of Sicily.