So this week was fun, in an Oh-God-I-Can't-Breathe kind of way. It's flu season in Italy, and Giovanni had it last week, so this week it appeared to be my turn. I woke up on Monday with a thumping headache and a throat that felt like it had been vacuum-sealed, so there was no going to work for a few days. I've been living off a diet of Lemsip, soup and the occasional sandwich or piece of fruit, sleeping like the proverbial log, and keeping myself amused by inventing recipes and watching Disney films or Star Wars, depending on my mood.
Thankfully, though, I am now mostly well again except for the odd sniffle, so I went back to work today and did a fun lesson about the Kings and Queens of England, culminating in having my class sing the Horrible Histories Kings and Queens song.
In other news, we've got our window shutter fixed, after nearly three months of not having one on the kitchen window. Thanks to the torrential downpours and ferocious winds of October/November, it got completely broken - the bolt snapped through the frame - and while we managed to eventually close it, the window-men just took the whole thing away and left us with the fishbowl effect in our kitchen.
I may appreciate having a nice whole window-frame once again and the ability to keep my cookery exploits and kitchen dancing private if I so wish, but I did NOT enjoy the forty minutes of hammering, drilling, and shouted Italian conversation yesterday afternoon, while it was being repaired and I was trying to snooze.
And now for something completely different. Last Friday at Claudia's, after I'd done my usual lesson with a grumpy and tired Simone, Marine made us all an authentic French dinner, which included foie gras (I'd never had this before, and while I'm not sure if I'd like it on it's own, when served on a cracker with some red onion chutney it's delicious), cheese fondue (which wasn't quite thick enough and so was more like cheese sauce, but it was very tasty), strange grey crepes full of salmon and bacon, and tarte tatin. Upside-down puddings are some of my favourite things - well, puddings in general are some of my favourite things - so this last one was definitely well-received by yours truly.
It was a really nice evening, with the nine of us - Claudia, Giovanni, Marine, Simone, Fabiana (Claudia's daughter), Fabiana's boyfriend (whose name escapes me), Giovanni's brother (whose name also escapes me), his fiancée Valeria, and myself - sat around the big dining table, talking and laughing and drinking homemade red wine, making jokes, and on more than one occasion having to fish for pieces of bread in the fondue.
Anyway, the result of this, me being a bit tipsy after three glasses of champagne, was my suggestion that I do the same thing, only with English food. So now I have to organise a three-course meal for nine people, the largest number I've ever cooked for. Nice challenge!
That's pretty much the only interesting stuff that's happened to me over the last month, to be honest. However, now it's February, there is Pancake Day to look forward to on the 12th, and on March 1st my brother is coming to see me! Exciting stuff.
Until next time, my (hopefully) avid readers!
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