Mumsnet Little Italy 2

[francagoestohollywood]

Everyone's welcome

rosa com'e' il ragu all'inglese? e quello all'italiana? not sure which one i make.

god we are all proper casalinghe: all we seem to talk about lately is cleaning and cooking.

not as much hangover as violent cold. woke up in the middle of the night with nose che sgocciolava (sorry tmi). Beatuful day here in devon. I'm planning to dump the dc on dh for the morning and go to the new shopping center. We have a zara now ! Then I'll take the dc to a party in the afternoon.
I think the agnello was duro because I made it in advance, and then reheated it. Dunno.
Rosa, cos'e' ill sugo inglese? (is it without soffritto?)
No, I don't drink that much. Usually half a glass of wine per dinner. In fact, I now get "drunk" after only 2 glasses. I used to drink more in my late 20s when leading a single life in Milan. We'd finish work, went for aperitivo etc every other night. But in the late 90s it was still possible with 6.000 lire buying a good sized "negroni" and eat lots of food. I remember visiting dh (not dh then) in London one of the first times and being charged 7 pounds for the smallest gin and tonic I'd ever seen . Well my "wild" days are over. Have been so for the last 8 yrs. What about you, do you drink more (not now obviously)?

Ragu Inglese I call it is less elaborato than the Italian one. Just manzo , cipolle, maybe the odd carrot or sedano ( if I have it) then fried lightly bung in pomodorri and an oxo cube !!
MIL uses 3 types of meat and seems to take about an hour making it and adding brodo a gocce. Same with her pasticcio I just throw it all in she layers it finely .
Hope your cold is better I have just bought tea with lampone and echinacea (sp) which I will try to drink to ward off colds as I got so many last winter despite Bf. Happy shopping I have the ok from dh to start a dress hunt for a wedding next May (!!)..I have been asked to be a testimone. SO am multo contento non solo xche posso avere un vestito nuovo but also for my friend !

I think mine is a mix of the two. I cook the meat for quite a while with soffritto and add wine to it (seems like I add wine to everything , should try stock). but I know you should put a sausage and god know what. hmmm I feel like lasagne.

franca it could be. I couldn't say though as in this house there are hardly ever any leftover so we never reheated. DH is a 'fogna'!!

In england I am considered a little drinker. If I go to the pub I can stay all evening with two pints (and some food). when for dinner Dh and I can share a bottle of wine (and I'm well tipsy).
However the same amount in PG is considered A LOT! Normally 4 people share a bottle of wine and it's not even finished. I am sure it is a bit differet in PG to Veneto, cos I know all my relative are quite parcial (sp?) to a good 'goccetto'! since pg i haven't touched anything. hope sickness will be gone by next weekend so DH and I can enjoy a glass in Bath.

PS: I have tidied up and cleaned, I feel so much better now. ready for my friends to come tomorrow for lunch and for me to have a life.

at franca able to shop at zara!

well I'm back. At the end I didn't do any shopping as I was hunting for hoover's bags per passare l'aspirapolvere and didn't find them. So I lost all the precious time walking up the high street, like a furia.
Ah Rosa, how lovely to be a testimone! I like weddings

Franca.... at going shopping and looking for hoover bags and missing an opportunity to go to Zara!
Pippi I found that when I was pg even a glass of red just diddn't taste the same so I gave it a miss.
DD is already drinking beer in Monaco probably far too much and dd asleep. But I have the accounts to do.... BLAH

I know Rosa, but I promise to raid the shop soon...
Ellbell are you back? com'e' andato il paper?

I am back. The paper was OK, though I felt my vocabulary deserting me when it came to the questions (i.e. the bit I couldn't really prepare in advance). Anyway... I survived, and I'm back (and berolina has a lovely baby boy... I knew he'd arrive when I was away!).

Brava ellbell e brava Berolina. Io oggi sto facendo l'agnello della mamma di pippi, mi sa che sara' squisito...

I'm sure you were brilliant Ellbell. And how lovely that Berolina's had her little boy. I like newborns.
L'agnello della mamma di pippi is becoming the piatto ufficiale of this thread

cpngrats berolina!!! wow we did say it was going to be fri or sat ellbell didn't we?! Oh I'm so so glad!!!

oh I must phone my mum, she will be so proud!!

Era delizioso, grazie mamma di pippi! Ora vogliamo altre ricette!!!
Spending the evening drinking wine...I already feel pissed...I like newborns too.

Congratulations Berolina
I love newborns!

I talked to a friend on the phone this evening and told her I think I want to have another baby, she pointed out whilst saying that it is of course a wondrful idea, it will be interesting to see how such a big gap works, at least 5/6 years, in fact even if I get pregnant tomorrow Do you think that is too big? Will they have anything in common? Do you know anybody with such a big gap?

there nearly 5 yrs between me and my brother. I felt he was a bit of a pain when very little. You know when your seven and you want to giocare in pace with your barbies, and in comes your 2 yrs old brother pretending he is gig uobo' (sic) d'acciaio and destroys everything in 2 secs. I love him very much though, and his wife is a great cook.

I honestly believe that any kind of gap brings vantaggi and svantaggi, you can't always predict. What do you think your ds's reaction could be?

he told me today he wants a fratellina and a sorellino! he is a sweetie, i think he will be love whoever! whilst being terribly geloso e birichino.

bless! I really wouldn't worry about the age gap. There's 22 months between mine, and it feeels as if I can't remember anything about ds being 2

i shouldnt worry i know...buonanotte franca. Quando pensi di venire a Londra allora?

Hi hotmed I have 4 children 19, 18, 5.9 & 23 months (girl, boy, boy, girl)
There is 17 months between my first 2, really hard work at first, my dd was very jealous of her little bro at first but then they played really well together until they got to about 11 then they had different interests and hardly speak now, they are like chalk & cheese. Between my last 2 there is 3.9 years they play really well and love each other to bits. My eldest dd loves her little bro and always takes him places, they also fight like cat & dog sometimes, like when he goes in her bedroom and touches her stuff LOL she was there at the birth of my last 2 so has a special bond.
I don't think any age gap is ideal they all have pros & cons, it also depends on the personality of the children, whether they are boys or girls etc. The age gap thing also becomes much less noticeable when they are 20 & 25 for example. I am an only child and would have loved a sibling of any age, thats probably why I wanted a big family, shame my parents didn't do more of the hard work LOL
Sorry I have been rambling on a bit

Thank you jane4!

i wouldn't worry about that either hotmed. like everyone else has said pro and cons in any case. it will dep on their personalities as well. they'll also go through different stages. IMO any bro or sist is better than none. they might be a pain at times but it's fun. as you cannot predict what's going to be, do what's good for you. I could not have faced getting pg any earlier than I did. I needed a good break. there'll be almost 3 years. good? bad? who knows.

yes franca when are you coming?

ohhh newborns I want one ... There are just under 5 years between my sister and myself. I can recall wanting to grow up faster makeup , ears pierced etc as my sister had them ..But not me !!! But we managed to have friends that were between our age gap and had some good games. We were not close 13-20 ish but now are very close even if we are several 1000 miles apart. I admire Jane having 4 so spread out - I started too late so have to compact them together ( heres hoping )
DD 18 mths has just done her first jump - both feet off ground at the same time ( surprised both of us !!) so we are off out side to do some more. I think we might get the odd grazed knee! Buona Giornata tutti

Rosa is your sister in the UK?

Ragazze, I'm going to Milan form the 8-14 to sort out a few things (start the cambio di residenza, tour nurseries and school, parrucchiere ) and then it's half term form the 22-26 here. shall we say early november?
what would you like to do? meet on a saturday and spend a few hours together? Tell me a date that'd suit you best, the earlier I know the better, as I need to ask hospitality to friends and most impportantly book the train, I'd really love to meet you .