Keep the shirt on your garlic...

why would you ever take it off?

I know it sounds weird, but the Italians, at least in Rome, have a saying that when you're cooking with garlic and you want the antioxidants and just a little garlic flavor, leave the skin on and cook the meat or whatever else alongside it, then discard the garlic. If you want to have the heavy taste of garlic in your recipe though, obviously, remove the skin and chop it up. Where did I learn this profound knowledge you might ask? From the coolest chef in the Rome, Chef Andrea!

So this past Friday, Jessica and I took a cooking class, and I have to say it was one of my favorite experiences in Rome! For real...The monuments and art is all incredible, but to interact with Chef and his wife, and to see their passion for food, local food especially, was awesome. The class had 12 people in it and lasted 5 hours, but it totally didn't feel long at all. We cooked everything and gobbled up each course. I took a few pictures, but I'll give you a rundown of the menu first and slide in what pictures I can:

Antipasti

Roman artichokes

Searing the artichokes. After they were carved, you could eat every part of it!

Primi piatti

Gnochetti Sardi with boscaiola sauce

Fresh pasta and sauce. Quite the yum....

Secondi piatti

Chicken Cacciatore with potato wedges as a side

Roman chicken cacciatore is unadorned with sauces and veggies. 

Dolce

Tiramisu

In the works...It was a lot easier than I thought!

Check out Jessica's blog for some more (better) pictures of our time...Really, they're great...seriously, stop reading and go here--> http://xjqu.blogspot.it/

Okay, welcome back. Of course taking this class re-ignited my passion to bake and cook, so this weekend I've spent a lot of time in the kitchen, which is good because I miss creating stuff, especially with my sisters :)

The day before, I went to this local park where one of my Italian friends from English class works, so he showed me around some cool parts of the museums in the park, and it was free so that was a plus. The place is called Villa Torlonia, and it was Mussolini's house before and during WWII. I got to see his bunker and underground area too, which was cool...Check out some of these pics!

 The house of the owls contained a lot of symbols alluding to an esoteric society...Hmm.....

Sweet stained glass is pretty rare actually in Rome, so this was cool

More stained glass with mad symbology

I now I'm jumping around here, but I hope you're still with me. Saturday, I went and served at the Afghan refugee lunch and then headed off to the beach. Yes, the beach! So I'm missing out on all the Orioles' games back home, but at least I got some relaxing seaside time...oh yea, and I'm in Rome :-p
I didn't take any pictures, but the beach was pretty simple and not really built up like a touristy attraction. Very relaxing and good to catch some rays...

Still with me? Okay, so today is Sunday, so we went to church and had a lazy day hanging out outside in the beautiful weather and cooking up some more great food, well, mainly just some awesome desserts :)

I can't believe that my time is quickly drawing to a close, and I'm going to miss just about everything from Rome, especially the people (Italians and Americans both). The sermon today was about how to live out a life the reflects the truth of Resurrection Sunday, which was great because everybody puts so much hype into Easter, but then the passion seems to die off and fade back into a lull. But we have eternal life because our God lives; he's risen and conquered the grave! The pastor used Jesus's half-brother James as an example of someone who was changed when he encountered the resurrected Jesus. James was a disciple, but when growing up around Jesus, he had a tough time truly believing that his brother, a guy he slept next to, ate with, played with, and worked with, was the Messiah. James eventually wrote a letter that is in the New Testament and is one of my favorite books. James drops some serious wisdom (inspired by God), but here's just one of my favorites a little slices from his letter:

James 4:7-10 -"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts you double minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up."