Welcome Back.

So...I haven't written for a while. I have a lot of updates, which start with lambing season in Donegal (wait till you see the videos) then working in a pub in town and enjoying the pre-summer-rainy-season's week of extremely warm spring weather, I got distracted and didn't write. Then, there was a bachelorette weekend in New York for my brother's new wife, a fantastic wedding in Massachusetts, Memorial Day Weekend, my 5-year Bucknell Reunion weekend, an accident I'm still shook up about, and now I'm seriously trying to figure out life. I don't even know what that means. Some of my friends don't even understand me. I think I am in UNISG withdrawal...

Whenever we go on vacation, my dad always wants to get a house there. I have the same problem. We fall in love with places and dream of what life could be like in another place. I am happy wherever I am. After graduating in March, I was convinced I wanted to stay in Europe so I moved into our house in Ireland. I loved it there. There are two months - May and September - where I have weddings and events that I could not miss out on but also could not afford to fly back to each individually. So, since no job would allow me to have such time off, getting a summer job was the best idea and looking for a "real job" in the fall would have to wait. Alright, good plan. But then I come back to America, my sister is now living in the city, my parents are sometimes here, sometimes in Portsmouth - which I also adore - and I feel comfortable back being surrounded by people and places I know and love. Still struggling between where I want to live (am I still convinced I want to go back to Dublin or possibly London in the fall?) I am debating NH or NY. NY pace of life is completely different and the summer's heat is quite sweatily unbearable, but NH is so far from my Jessypoo.

Why am I so bad at making life decisions? I thought after graduation life was supposed to fall into place and it was supposed to give us direction, answer all the questions we had. It seemed so easy in Italy, I thought I almost knew what I wanted to do in Ireland to help promote its food, and now, I haven't a clue what to do. 

Graduation Day.

 "Here’s to all the places we went. And all the places we’ll go. And here’s to me, whispering again and again and again and again: iloveyou." - John Green.


BRAVO UNISG.

Mum Comes to Italy: Modena (aka Osteria Francescana)

Massimo explained to us how UNISG appreciates food and likes to teach us whereas if he taught at ALMA, he would take their money from teaching the class, but they wouldn't get anything out of it. Teaching and living should be two-sided, giving and taking - learning together. 

By the time we arrived in Modena, everything was closed for lunch. We wandered and wandered until we headed back to the main piazza. I don't know if it was because it was Monday and everything was closed, but I didn't like Modena as much as the other cities of Emilia Romagna. It is much smaller and definitely does not cater to as many visitors as Verona or Bologna. The main reason we went there, ok the only reason we went there, was to have dinner at Osteria Francescana - rated #6 in the world and #1 in Italy - my UNISG graduation gift. Chef Mossimo Bottura came to teach us one afternoon and inspired many of us with not only his food, but his philosophy towards cooking and life.

After ringing the doorbell to enter, we stood in the front room until we were brought to our table. Each of our coats were taken and the two girls stood there with them, in silence, until we sat down. Awkward. Massimo came out and talked to every tables and would come to explain what each of the dishes were. Servers would bring the dishes to the tables out together, so that everyone was served at the same time. Glasses of water were never empty, never even half full, as they were constantly refilled as though the servers couldn't walk by without pouring some water. The wine list was incredibly heavy, with mostly Italian wines but ranging in an enormous stretch of prices. 

11,500 euros for a bottle of wine. no big deal. happy graduation.  jk.

Mum had the traditional tasting menu and I had the classic. I thought everything was perfect. It was a lot of food although I wasn't completely stuffed by the end of it. It was very meat heavy though and would have been nice to have another vegetable dish in between, but that's not very typical Italian. Everything was "typical" but reinvented very creatively. 

Massimo's take on spuma di mortadella - served with fluffy, salty focaccia, pistachio and I think mayo?

top 10 dishes that changed cuisine: foie gras popsicle covered in hazelnuts and almonds with aged balsamic in the middle

my non-nut foie gras served with aged balsamic, freshly ground black pepper, course salt and greens

my leeks with black truffles - can actually smell the truffles when they were placed on the table. and they tasted like truffles. take that ristorante diana. and your armpit.

my parmigiano reggiano 5 ways.

mum's tortellini en brodo

my "soup" - Massimo's take on pasta e fagioli - foie gras, rosemary foam, parmigiano crisp that tastes like the "pasta"....amazing. maybe my favourite. 

mum's bolognese

my ravioli - Massimo's take on cotecchino e lentiche - typical italian dish served on New Years Eve, but now in pasta. 

mum's short ribs served with truffled jerusalem artichoke and creamy potato

my bollito misto...non bollito - head, tongue, cheek, belly, tail, and cotechino. 

"orange salad" shot with Massimo in the background

vanilla ice cream with warm cherry sauce.

chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and a fruity film. 

another dessert tray. profiteroles, fruity gel, chocolate truffles, cream cake, and chocolate with pop rocks!

Delicious and perfect. We even got a book of the restaurants in "Les Grandes Tables du Monde."I think this was once in a lifetime though. I loved it. 

Oh, it is wonderful to wake up in the morning with things to look forward to! - Dodie Smith

my thesis was sent last night. celebrations ensued which included too quickly drunk gin & tonics and some coffee shot at the pub. three suitcases are already packed. and i mean stuffed. probably already over the airplane weight limit yet my room still looks full. mum arrives on friday and we're meeting in milan to see the last supper. then verona, bologna and modena. plans tbd but reservation is booked for osteria francescana! back in colorno, the thesis defense presentation is on tuesday afternoon. wednesday night we have a group dinner at pallavicina. graduation is on thursday morning. party at the pub afterwards. early morning (!) flight to ireland the following day. then a week's vacation with mum & dad in donegal! then....post-UNISG life starts.