Ms. Adventures in Italy » Random http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog My Stomach and the World. Food, Recipes, Travel and Photography by Sara Rosso. Fri, 23 Jul 2010 09:33:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 2008 Year in Review http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2009/01/19/2008-year-in-review/ http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2009/01/19/2008-year-in-review/#comments Mon, 19 Jan 2009 08:12:18 +0000 Ms. Adventures in Italy http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/?p=935 A yearly tradition, you can check my 2006 and 2007 Years in Review if you are interested. I like to use the Year in Review to reflect not only on activity regarding this blog, but my personal trends and activity as well.

Social Networking

A new category for this year’s roundup, it’s always been present for me, but since so many people are joining the different networks, you can find me somewhere. I’ve also begun a new rule: for every new site I sign up for, I delete one of my old accounts somewhere else.

  • Social Networks using: @rosso on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, ASmallWorld, FriendFeed. In 2008 I became an organizer of the Girl Geek Dinners in Milan as well.
  • Biggest resource of 2008: Twitter. It’s a sounding board, it’s my news alerts, it’s my friends. You can check out my Twitter Landing Page to find out more about how I use Twitter.
  • Biggest “sell-out” of 2008: Facebook. I can say that everbody and MY mother are on Facebook, so you know it’s mainstream. I’m the Grinch who blocks applications on Facebook.
  • Biggest Time-sucker of 2008: FriendFeed. Some people love it, some people hate it, but I think it’s going to take more organization and time for groups to settle down to get some real value out of FriendFeed. For now, it’s too much information, and I’m straddling the Italian and English groups which can be difficult.
  • Working with causes, powered by Social Networks and Bloggers: In October we did a fundraiser re: Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month and raised over $400. It doesn’t sound like much but we were happy to have helped! In December I participated in my 3rd Menu for Hope benefiting the World Food Program, this time as the Regional Host for Europe. We raised over $60,000 which is really an achievement in this economic downtime. Thanks to everyone!

Blogging, Photography and Computing

Reading and eBooks

  • Books (new) read in 2008: 69 (100% were ebooks). These are only new books for this year – I tend to re-read from my library as well. My digital library is almost as big as my shelf library was back in the States.
  • Ebook Advocate: I have been digital for 3 years now and I’ve never regretted it. This year I’m going to try and calculate how much money I’ve saved (will be a lot since I’d have to pay Amazon shipping or Euro prices here in Italy).
  • Biggest reading month: December – 9 books.
  • eBook readers used: HP iPaq and luckily retired that in July for the Apple iTouch 16GB (1st gen) which is easily my favorite gadget of the year. Because of the iTouch and the apps available for it, I’m reading mostly eReader format, and hoping Mobipocket will come out with an app, too, but not holding my breath (they are owned by Amazon!) I also tested the iRex Iliad for 2 weeks and played with a Kindle.

Open Source Software

  • Advocacy: I made a presentation at the Girl Geek Dinner in Milan in October talking about advocacy and getting involved in Open Source Software (English). The Italian version is here.
  • Software I’m Using: WordPress for websites/blogs, Firefox web browser, FileZilla for FTP, VLC media player, Open Office docs and spreadsheets, PDFCreator, Synkron synchronization software, 7 Zip zip files.
  • Saying Goodbye to Microsoft Office: I officially uninstalled Microsoft Office from my home computer and I use Open Office and Google Docs for all my document needs outside of work.
  • Still Dependent on non-OS: Adobe Photoshop. I’ve been using it for about 12 years now and I feel comfortable in it. I’ve been trying out Open Source GIMP for some simple operations in the meantime.

Food, Cooking & Eating

First, let’s look back: How did I do on my “I Dare” cooking challenges for 2008? Not as well as I’d hoped.

  1. Macarons – I made macarons several times this year and love making them! I expect to make several more varities this year.
  2. Roast – Left over from 2007′s goals, though I didn’t blog about it, I went on a roast-making rampage in the autumn and I now feel like a certified roast maker.
  3. Orecchiette and Ravioli – I had an orecchiette-making lesson in December that I haven’t blogged about yet. But my raviolis definitely need some more attention.
  4. Bread – Not much excuse here, I didn’t make much bread.
  5. Indian – I also spent more time eating than cooking Indian.

So what’s in store for “I Dare” cooking goals of 2009?

  1. Cake, cupcake, cookie decorating – I got a good piping set this summer but I haven’t had much practice with it. There’s a pretty impressive decorating section on the Wilton site to get me started.
  2. 12 Fresh Pastas – I’m going to dedicate myself to fresh pasta this year, at least one new type a month. Orecchiette and ravioli will definitely play a part.
  3. Alternative flours, grains and legumes - I played with quinoa this year, but I want to delve more into wheatberries, lentils, millet, barley, etc. and use alternative flours like chestnut flour and chickpea flour in my cooking.
  4. Playing with Flavored Liquor – after making my own Basicello liquor in 2007, my appetite has been whetted for more. Italy is a great place to be if you love flavored liquors.
  5. Croissants – Since I love a good croissant, and Italy’s “cornetti” or “brioche” on average are mediocre, I’d like to try my own hand at them. Luckily the Daring Bakers have left a ton of tutorials for me to follow!

Can you come up with 5 “I Dare” cooking goals for 2009?

Travel and Moving Around

  • Cities lived in: 1 – Milan, Italy
  • Countries visited: 2 – U.S., India (Jan 2008)
  • Years without a car: 5.5 and counting. I thought for sure we’d buy a car in 2008 but it hasn’t happened yet.
  • Carbon: According to Dopplr, a service I used to track my travels, I Total: 2,227 kg CO2

New Year’s Resolutions

I would like to say I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions, but I do. Someone who loves lists and goal-setting as much as me? I have a few, but I’m not publishing them online this year.

How was 2008 for you? Did you make New Year’s Resolutions? Do you hate them?

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]]> http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2009/01/19/2008-year-in-review/feed/ 7 A New Project, and Needing Your Input http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2008/11/18/a-new-project-and-needing-your-input/ http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2008/11/18/a-new-project-and-needing-your-input/#comments Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:38:44 +0000 Ms. Adventures in Italy http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/?p=712 The Field Guide to Cookies Book Tour is still going on….but in the meantime I’ve been working on a new project that’s not related to food, to feed the other side of my life: the tech-lover and digital strategist.

I’m looking for a few people to give me feedback on the site before it’s officially launched.

If:

  • you have a website/blog  or
  • you’re interested in creating one or improving your own    or
  • you want to increase your general technical knowledge and experimentation    or
  • you’re interested in using the Internet as a tool to learn more about different subjects

you’re someone I want to hear from!

If you’re interested in filling out a survey or being part of the focus group, send me an email or leave me a comment on this post (fill out the email field correctly so I can contact you but don’t leave your email address in the comment itself). The information I’m collecting will remain anonymous but I need your email address to send you the survey.

It will take about 10-15 minutes of your time.

I’m also going to be looking for guest posts for this new endeavour, so watch this space!

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]]> http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2008/11/18/a-new-project-and-needing-your-input/feed/ 33 Italian Summer Music 2008 http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2008/08/19/italian-summer-music-2008/ http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/2008/08/19/italian-summer-music-2008/#comments Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:47:44 +0000 Ms. Adventures in Italy http://www.msadventuresinitaly.com/blog/?p=639 Note: Feed readers, there are several videos embedded in this post. Click through to the site to view them.

An update from last year’s Italian Summer Music 2007 roundup: Check out my Italian Music section to immediately buy some popular albums!

I usually use the FestivalBar CDs as a bit of a barometer for the Italian hits of the summer. They must be hard up for money, as they are also shameless enough to have the FestivalBar site hosted by MSN and they are taking a “year off” of doing the FestivalBar tour.

By now the compilations are pretty predictable: almost half “foreign” bands: Duffy, Amy Winehouse (a mere two years after her album came out), Coldplay, Leona Lewis, James Blunt; the usual “Italian standby’s” : Zucchero, Vasco Rossi, Max Pezzali, Ligabue mixed in with some new(er) blood.

The biggest phenomenon this summer is of course Giusy Ferreri, who is not on the FestivalBar CD. She is the runner-up to X-Factor show in Italy (Leona Lewis was a winner in the UK version of X-Factor)

Giusy is extraordinarily popular not only because she sings well, but because she was “just a cashier” in a supermarket before being discovered on X-Factor, and this is usually the first phrase out of someone’s mouth when speaking about her. I would call her the “Italian Amy Winehouse” without, of course, all the drugs and crack-house features. Yet.

Here’s the song performed during the finals of X-Factor: Non Ti Scordar Mai Di Me (Don’t Ever Forget About Me) written for her by none other than Tiziano Ferro (mentioned in last summer’s round-up) [Buy Giusy Ferreri's album]

So, who won X-Factor, you might ask? An acapella group called the Aram Quartet who now have their single “Per Elisa” making the rounds heavily on radio and TV. They have pretty good voices, though this is a remake of an old hit, but the melodramatic tone of the video kind of makes me chuckle and the various outfit changes (with sunglasses, without glasses) makes me wonder how many of them are really in the group.

Negramaro, mentioned in my post about Italian Summer Music 2007 with “Parlami d’Amore” (and who were quite good live at FestivalBar) are back with another song this summer, Via Le Mani Dagli Occhi (Take (Your) Hands Off Your Eyes). [Buy Negramaro's La Finestra album]

This next song came out before the summer break (and Michelle from Michellanea talked about this song in June), but I think it’s worth noting as it combines two interesting Italian artists: Fabri Fibra (a rapper from Le Marche) and Gianna Nannini (the Italian “Melissa Ethridge”) in a song called “In Italia” about the dichotomy of the reality of the beautiful and dysfunctional sides of Italy – I recommend taking a look at the Italian lyrics. From the chorus:

“There are things no one will tell you
There are things no one will give you
You were born and will die here
You were born and will die here
Born in the country of the half-truths”

Above all, I really like some of the images that the director included in the black and white video, these little slices of Italy and the people who live there. [Buy Fabri Fibra's Bugiardo or Tradimento albums]

Caparezza is noted for his crazy hair, his catchy music (Sono Fuori dal Tunnel, Vengo dalla Luna), but of course his beats are usually wrapped around a social commentary. “Vieni a ballare in Puglia” (Come dance in Puglia) is another song that is undeniably catchy (our 5-year-old cousin sings it often) but I suggest reading the original lyrics while watching the video as you’ll see “Turista tu balli e canti, io conto i defunti di questo paese” Tourist, you dance and sing, I count the dead of this country.

Bet you’ll dance, though. [Buy Caparezza's Habemus Capa]

An “oldie” but a goodie is Jovanotti who has been around for a while and whose “A Te” single from the album Safari is popular right now but I would suggest listening to “L’ombelico del Mondo” below for a fun, drum-filled dancing song from the 90s. [Buy Jovanotti's Safari or 1990-1995 Raccolta with the single below]

Elisa is one of the first Italian artists I discovered in 2000, and though she sings mainly in English, she’s finally making her debut in the US with “Dancing” (available on iTunes and Amazon) – many songs are from her previous albums. Below is Elisa’s song “Dancing” featured on “So You Think You Can Dance” (US) and the full-length song of Dancing mixed with clips of Elisa’s other videos.

And what about the quintessential “latin” hit of the summer? Well, it looks like this summer we’re to be spared from overkill on one particular song, though I’ve heard Cinema2′s Ah Ah Ah a few times. Maybe next year!

Check out my Italian Music section to immediately buy some popular albums!

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