This may be be a "little known" fact about me, but I would rather give a speech to an audience of 1,000 than have guests over for dinner. This statement holds true even if the topic of the speech is not a familiar topic. I swear. I think it's the pressure of having the table and linens and glasses all "matchy matchy." (I haven't even mentioned the issue of preparing an edible meal.)
Dinner soiree's are not my forte, I get all twitchy at the mere thought. That being said, for some crazy reason, I decided maybe entertaining for brunch wouldn't be too bad. It seems like so much less pressure. I mean, I have flipped many a pancake in my day and egg bake is prepared the night before, so how hard could it be?
I got a wild notion to invite our Italian neighbors over for brunch. The idea was rolling around in my head- then when I saw Luciano the next day, the words simply came out of my mouth and it was a done deal.
A friend of mine (it's nice I can say that about someone here in Italy), we'll call her Christy, was kind enough to go to the housewares store and help me pick out some dishes and a co-ordinating table cloth, etc. This friend has two adorable twins (18 months) and a singleton who is H's age. Her twins did AWESOME at the store, while my little Z-bomb WOULD NOT stop asking for water. You would have thought she hadn't had a sip of the stuff in months. (OF course, when given said liquid, she drank just a swallow- maybe that's all she REALLY REALLY DESPERATELY needed.)
So, with My Man's help (actually he did everything), the egg bakes were prepared the night before. We used our recipe (available by request- it hails back to artist Elaine Cohen) and a new recipe provided my Mimi, my MIL. The next day, I made doubled the pancake recipe and we were ready.
I kept waiting for the panic to set in the night before- no panic. I was then waiting for the panic to set in the day of the event- no panic ensued! No jitters, no heart palpitations, no sweaty pits- nothing : )
Without further ado- here are most of the characters in our capers:
Luciano with his daughter (not sure of her name) and his niece- Martina.
Here is Bruna (91 years old) and Sylivia. Sylvia is new on the scene. She lives next door with Loretta and Radame (Kiko the dog's parents). She LIVES there. We have been here approximately 15 months and we had never seen her before. Her English is really good. We can't get over the fact that we had never seen her before. She claims she works long hours and then runs off with her friends on weekends. We are stunned. Did I mention her English is quite good?
Y'all know the little cutie on the left. Next to her is Adelia (such a beautiful name!), and next to her is Loretta. Loretta and Radame live with 2 of Loretta's elderly aunts.
Here's is Loretta, Vanda and Bruna. Vanda is married to Luciano. She is wonderfully kind and speaks quite loudly.
Sadly, I don't have a pic of My Man, my friend Christy, or the Z-bomb, who were all in attendance.
I was told the conversation dropped off a bit when I left the room (not because of my stellar personality, mind you, but rather from the increased language barrier). But, for the most part, the conversation flowed and I think everyone had a nice time. My Italian has improved- at least enough to muddle through brunch : )
I had SUCH a headache when they left!
Dinner soiree's are not my forte, I get all twitchy at the mere thought. That being said, for some crazy reason, I decided maybe entertaining for brunch wouldn't be too bad. It seems like so much less pressure. I mean, I have flipped many a pancake in my day and egg bake is prepared the night before, so how hard could it be?
I got a wild notion to invite our Italian neighbors over for brunch. The idea was rolling around in my head- then when I saw Luciano the next day, the words simply came out of my mouth and it was a done deal.
A friend of mine (it's nice I can say that about someone here in Italy), we'll call her Christy, was kind enough to go to the housewares store and help me pick out some dishes and a co-ordinating table cloth, etc. This friend has two adorable twins (18 months) and a singleton who is H's age. Her twins did AWESOME at the store, while my little Z-bomb WOULD NOT stop asking for water. You would have thought she hadn't had a sip of the stuff in months. (OF course, when given said liquid, she drank just a swallow- maybe that's all she REALLY REALLY DESPERATELY needed.)
So, with My Man's help (actually he did everything), the egg bakes were prepared the night before. We used our recipe (available by request- it hails back to artist Elaine Cohen) and a new recipe provided my Mimi, my MIL. The next day, I made doubled the pancake recipe and we were ready.
I kept waiting for the panic to set in the night before- no panic. I was then waiting for the panic to set in the day of the event- no panic ensued! No jitters, no heart palpitations, no sweaty pits- nothing : )
Without further ado- here are most of the characters in our capers:
Luciano with his daughter (not sure of her name) and his niece- Martina.
Here is Bruna (91 years old) and Sylivia. Sylvia is new on the scene. She lives next door with Loretta and Radame (Kiko the dog's parents). She LIVES there. We have been here approximately 15 months and we had never seen her before. Her English is really good. We can't get over the fact that we had never seen her before. She claims she works long hours and then runs off with her friends on weekends. We are stunned. Did I mention her English is quite good? 
Y'all know the little cutie on the left. Next to her is Adelia (such a beautiful name!), and next to her is Loretta. Loretta and Radame live with 2 of Loretta's elderly aunts.
Here's is Loretta, Vanda and Bruna. Vanda is married to Luciano. She is wonderfully kind and speaks quite loudly.
Sadly, I don't have a pic of My Man, my friend Christy, or the Z-bomb, who were all in attendance.
I was told the conversation dropped off a bit when I left the room (not because of my stellar personality, mind you, but rather from the increased language barrier). But, for the most part, the conversation flowed and I think everyone had a nice time. My Italian has improved- at least enough to muddle through brunch : )
I had SUCH a headache when they left!
Comments
Lots of Love, Mimi
Hearts! Shoxoxo
Christy