Rome Reunion

Oh my goodness... Romesickness.

Certain things... the smell of fresh basil, the first couple notes of PYT by Michael Jackson, my great copper sandals from Dublin, checking my morning messages, the thought of skype, hearing or replying with Ciao bella!, oh my... so many things flood me with thoughts of Rome and my time abroad.

Last fall was an incredible semester. With 6 incredible girls.
We have had plenty of family dinners.... whether it was in our dining room on Circonvallazione Gianicolense

I think this was the dinner Bethany and I made, if I remember correctly.

Or in a hostel in the middle of Venice :)

oh. my. what a night :/

And even though we were in the heart of the city with the most incredible food... we still managed to eat plenty of Chinese.

When our semester ended, we vowed to do Gianni 7 things together hopefully weekly, and if not weekly, then every couple weeks! So, at the end of March all of the PYTs came over for a little family reunion :)

On the menu

• wine. wine. wine.
• Two types of lasagna (one for the glutard and veg, one for the rest of us)
• A colorful salad
• Garlic Bread
• & for dessert, a fresh lemon tart (channeling a little Sorrento)

The Lemon Tree Restaurant in the heart of Sorrento, Italy

My mom and I started zested, juicing, stirring, straining, and baking the lemon tarts Saturday morning. It was kind of a long process but completely paid off. It was fun to try such a unique dessert with such a bold flavor!!

zeeeest

straining numerous times to achieve that silky texture

lots. of. yolks. hello cholesterol!

After making the tart and whipping up the first lasagna, we took a lunch break.
I grabbed this loaf of bread that I brought home from the test kitchens at work and made a quick egg sandwich.

Wow. Can't beat those ingredients and nutritional facts!

This bread was Dense. But tasted great toasted. Served with an apple and peanut butter. YUM!
Next up was the gfree/vegetarian Spinach and Artichoke Lasagna. This baby turned out gooood. I'll post the actual recipe soon, girls!

the goods

sauteeing the homemade sauce

and finishing up the sauce.

I put the lasagna in the oven and started prepping the salad. which took forever! gr.

Salad ingredients

After the salad was together, the food was ready to go. A few last minute prep items... and things were in place!
Around 5 o'clock the girls arrived!
It was a fun evening! We listened to MJ and watched our vid eos haha and reminisced. Can't wait to do it again!

fresh lemon tart with raspberry sauce