Icecubes & Pizza

Life is a constant adventure here. Sometimes I walk through the grocery store and feel so cultured as I pick up my mozzarella, olive oil, and pesto before heading to the fruit stand for the freshest, sweetest tomatoes on the vine I will ever be lucky enough to eat. And then sometimes I feel like a complete fool.

Ziplocs don't exist. I know there's the whole principle of cooking fresh food everyday, but sometimes I just want to be a poor, lazy college student and eat left overs. Also, cooking for a serving size of one is not easy.

Back to the Ziplocs - they don't exist. The other day I went to the aisle with plastic wrap and tin foil hoping to find something useful. Convinced I had found what I thought were plastic bags, I threw them in my cart and took them home. When I went to put my food away, however, I couldn't seem to open the plastic bags. Looking at the box again, it looked strangely like there were ice cubes on the front. Confused, I filled the hole in the top with water. To my surprise, the bag started to fill up in tiny compartments with little pockets of water! So I now discovered how Italians make ice cubes. I'm not complaining since the ice cube trays in our freezer are cracked and impossible to use... Anyhow, my roommate and I spent a good five minutes laughing over my most recent and ridiculous fail at Roman life. Allora, c'e la vita.

My most recent success? Finding some of the BEST authentic Roman pizza! We've been talking of going to Dar Poeta for a while now and finally decided to go out to dinner. [Yes, I'm surrounded by good food in Italy, but my wallet is not full of enough euros to eat it all!] It was seriously one of the best decisions we've made for a while as I can confidently say it ranks up in the top five meals I've eaten in Rome. Dar Poeta is known for their wood oven which bakes the pizzas to crispy, fluffy, melty perfection! It's located in Trastevere, where there is an endless number of restaurants to choose from, just off the beaten path but not too hard to find. Thankfully we went early at 7:30 because after 8 there is a huge line to get in. But it's SO worth it.

We've been trying to taste a little bit of everything and get the full dining experience when we go out without busting out of our pants and emptying our wallets. It's tough to do so Gianna and I split our meal - gorgonzola e miele bruschetta [bleu cheese and honey] and a pizza bufala [fresh tomato sauce, cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and fresh basil leaves]. It left us speechless! Even better, we had some good house wine to go along with it. The best part, however, was dessert! It took the cake [pun intended :) ]. Dar Poeta is known for their nutella and ricotta calzone. Seriously - chocolate and cheese. You really can't go wrong with combining two of the best foods ever created. My family is probably in shock because growing up I hated most dairy [except ice cream, duh], but Italy has changed my mind forever! I cannot emphasize how perfectly it finished off our dinner. You're just going to have to go for yourself and enjoy the great food and relaxed atmosphere of this little gem. Molto buono!