New: Etsy Shop!

Hello lovelies!

Some of you may have noticed a brief (cough) lull in the postings. This was due to, first of all, serious time constraints (yay grad school!), but also financial issues. Cooking is expensive! Have you ever had to maintain a constant supply of almond flour? HAVE YOU?

I rest my case.

So, to at least help with the latter issue, I have opened Sideways Sweeties, the sister shop to Sideways Sweets! Here, you’ll find all sorts of hand-sewn goods, from custom-sized clothes (currently working on 2 skirt designs to post soon!) to cute accessories to kitchen nicknacks to anything else I can come up with. The profits from these items go toward (and I quote the Tortuga Twins here) “keeping us off the streets… and in the bars where we belong!” And by bars I mean my apartment, baking, as Zeus almighty intended.

Anyway, check out my shop here! Expect plenty of listings in the next few days; I’ve been working like a madwoman. I suppose that’s redundant. Mad woman. :)

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The Coffee Culture: Un Caffè

Next to the hotel that so kindly housed us was a tiny caffè (that’s café for us Americanos) where I ended up getting my daily caffeine more often than not. It was a cute little place and I am now sad that I didn’t end up taking a picture of it. Imagine a 50s diner, then replace the kitchen with a coffee bar and pastry cabinet. Sort of Starbucks meets Grease. This is the world I got to enter in order to receive the nectar of the gods.

A morning espresso to leave me fantastically jittery all through Italian Film.

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Italian Snacks: Program Opening Reception and Tour

Finally, the first day down! Things will pick up significantly now. Hopefully so will my posting speed… Anywho! The second day (Monday, for those of you who have lost track), we had short class followed by a welcoming ceremony and tour of the city. The Mayor and the President of the University where we were taking classes said a few words about how excited they were to be collaborating with us again, and we proceeded to the reception in the quad.

The president of the University.

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The First Supper: Dinners in Gorizia

Dinners in Gorizia are provided by the lovely Grand Hotel Entourage, which is our place of residence for the duration of our stay. They take dinner very seriously in Italy, and even our study abroad group was pampered with a traditional four-course meal every night (except Fridays and Saturdays).

The first course, typically called the antipasti, is essentially an appetizer. We were usually given bread and veggies, though sometimes the kitchen went out on a limb and made french fries, possibly to cater to us American folk. Tonight was carrots, peas, and something along the lines of cabbage or onion… we weren’t sure which.

Carrots, peas, and ???

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Marzipan Cherries and Sfogliatina Nutella: More Gorizian Culture

My first look at Gorizian culture continued that day, leading us to a square near where I would discover to be the University. The festival opened up into an open-air market with summer clothes, bakeware, knick-knacks, and our favorite–Italian sweets.

A brief introduction into the array of sweets offered in Italy.

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Cherries: Fresh Produce and Culture Festivals

If there are two things Gorizians do incredibly well, they are produce and festivals. And I got a taste of both.

I dare you to eat just one.

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Quattro Formaggi: My First Italian Pizza and Communication Fail

Man, I am so behind on this stuff! I can’t believe I have been here for two weeks and managed to post once. It probably has something to do with my choppy internet. Moving on though, I had my first pizza in Italy on my first full day.

Ordering was interesting.

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Cannelloni With Marinara and Mozzarella: A Lesson in Airport Food

Ciao! I am in Italy! And boy, has it been an adventure so far. But now it is time to share the adventure with you! Starting with the bumpy ride here.

My parentals dropped me off at the airport at about 12pm on their way to Florida. My new Nintendo 3DS kept me company for the wait and the start of the flight. About 5 minutes in, I discovered that I was across the aisle from what would soon be revealed as the quintessential screaming plane child. Little sleep was had, but I have successfully navigated about 30% of The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and managed to get fired from, ironically, a culinary career track in The Sims 3D.

I arrived at Roma Fiumicino at something like 10am Italy time. My outgoing was at 5. So, understandably, I did some wandering. While Catherine (Hi Q!) was with me, we grabbed some food at a little caffè and met some adorable people from Lebanon. When Q caught her flight, I alternated shopping, sleeping, and eating until boarding. And that’s when I found this gem.

I really had no idea what cannelloni was when I ordered.

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Aspiring Bakers #7 – Chocolate Delight (May 2011) hosted by DG from Tested and Tasted: Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake

This post is my entry for the Aspiring Bakers Challenge #7. Enjoy!

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NEW CAMERA NEW CAMERA NEW CAMERA!

Yum yum yum. This was breakfast.

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Chocolate Cups

I have decided that I love working with chocolate. It’s so much fun to make shapes and freeze them in place, then eat the shapes. So today I attempted to make chocolate cups.

Melon-ball ice cream is particularly cute.

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