frutti.gummi

I'm just not ready to take any exams only after 6 weeks of classes. It still feels like the start of the semester and I'm just getting used to attending classes again after a long summer break. We had an exam last week and supposedly this week and people around got pretty tense. Although we're also planning for a trip, I don't see any excitement around. The good news came on Sunday that this week's exam is postponed and people suddenly became livelier. I see people smiling again and joy in their hearts. Hehe. And looking forward to the long weekend starting Thu.

Since I came back after the summer, the apartment only has one frying pan left. My flatmates took theirs back when they left. Stuck with a really lousy, sticky pan, I was contemplating whether to buy myself a new one. Then I got news that everyone in the building might be moved to the new apartments on the south side. So I thought there's no point buying one when I'll get getting a new one in the new apartment. Earlier this week, my new flatmate broke the pan while she was washing it. The handle came off and there's a tiny hole in the pan where the handle used to be attached to. The hole makes it impossible to re-attach the handle. Anyway, I finally submitted a fault report after my exam yesterday and this morning, 2 guys showed up with a brand new pan! I can't believe the efficiency of the system. This is Italy after all. I'm going to ask my flatmate if she submitted a report earlier. The new, bigger 28" non-stick pan is great. I can make fried rice again without having all the rice sticking to the pan and I don't need to use as much oil. Way to healthier eating. Hehe.

I made an 'instant' version of pasta with mushrooms after I burnt the soup. When my friend moved away last summer, I was given a box of long crinkled pasta labelled "Reginelle - Pasta di semola di grano duro". The packing was different from the normal pasta boxes so I wasn't sure if it actually taste like normal pasta. This ribbon-like pasta goes well with creamy sauce so I decided to try it with the mushroom soup I just bought. Italian mushroom soup is tons better than Campbells! Adding it to my list of goodies to bring home. Hehe. Anyway, make the soup real thick and creamy such that when you add the cooked pasta in, it has similar texture like a carbonara. Super easy and yummy!

I did have the thought that the soup could get dried up but I reassured myself that I put enough water and it's only going to be about an hour on very low fire. So I went to take a nap looking forward to have a nice bowl of soup for dinner. When I got up and went to check on the pot, it's all dried up and burnt at the bottom. The potatoes though looks like they were roasted. Hehe. Surprisingly, there was no burnt smell permeating the air. Had to throw everything away and make something else for dinner. Luckily, that something else turned out really well. :D

Went for a day trip to Venice last weekend with a bunch of new friends. We walked around a lot and saw the famous landmarks. I think Venice is a city where you really need to take time to walk around, browse the little shops and sit down for coffee and enjoy the view. Although the company was good, we just don't share the same travel style. I'm for shopping for local gifts and trying out the specialty dishes while the rest of them are mostly into taking lots of photos. So, I did not buy anything during this trip. I did kind of look out for cute Italy t-shirts while we were zipping though the streets but nothing caught my eye. As for masks and Murano glass, I'll need plenty of time to check them out. Definately a must on my next trip.

Most grocery stores here are small and don't carry international stuff. The few bigger ones do carry some. After shopping at a few bigger stores, I know which store to go to buy a certain product. For example, ketchup. The one from the local brand is sweet so I don't like it. I found a few stores selling the McD version which is ok. To get the Heinz version in a squeeze bottle, there is only one store that sells that. This is also the only store that sells salad dressing! Italian salad dressing is olive oil and vinegar so you can't find other types in most stores. I found a small gourmet grocery store in town where you can buy a small can of campbell soup for over 2€. I never went back again. There is also the German store Lidl where I buy 1.5L 100% fruit juices, yogurt drinks, gummi bears, american chocolate chip cookies, chicken nuggets, mars or snickers bars. And I'm so glad to have found Heinz baked beans in the Thai shop.

This is my first attempt at cooking a pork dish coz I generally don't like pork. I bought some ribs for cooking soup last week and there are quite a few pieces left. So I searched around for ribs recipes and decided to make spicy honey mustard sauce to go with the pork. I boiled the ribs in water for about an hour to soften it. Then I make the sauce and marinade the meat overnight. I don't have a grill in the kitchen so I pan-fried it. After about 5 minutes, I realised that the meat is not as soft I wanted them to be. So I debone the ribs and simmer the meat with the sauce for another 5 minutes. The meat turned out really tasty :D




Recipe for Spicy Honey Mustard Sauce
Ingredients

• For quarter pounds of ribs:
• 3/4 tbs oil
• 1/8 small onion finely minced
• 3 tbs honey
• 2 tbs Dijon mustard
• 1 tbs cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 ts red pepper flakes
• a pinch of salt
• pepper to taste
  

Directions

I just found out about this guy recently. He makes jokes about Indians and other races. It's hilarious!
Russell Peters: Outsourced

Aggiungi al mio pofilo | altri Video

It's nice that the apartment comes with a washing machine and washing is free. There's no dryer though so we have to dry the clothes on the rack. It wasn't a problem before. During the winter when it was cold, the apartment is heated from midnight to early morning so the clothes get dry inside the apartment. When it was summer, the clothes get dry in the balcony even though there isnt much direct sunlight on the balcony. Now that the weather is cooler, my clothes just couldn't get dry after leaving them on the balcony for 2 days. It's still a little damp but no smell. Since there is no heat in the apartment yet, it couldn't be dried inside either. Sigh!

I just couldn't find seedless grapes here. It's almost like there is no such thing. So since I moved from Germany, I didn't eat any grapes at all until last week. I could no longer resist the delicious looking grapes every time I go to the supermarket. I bought a bunch and they were sweet and juicy. But it was a mess coz I had to dig the seeds out for each one. I have eaten half and I figured it's just too much of effort. I doubt I'll buy anymore grapes here after I finished the remaining ones. I wonder why they don't have seedless grapes...