MN Little Italy 7

[francagoestohollywood]

Ciao, hello, welcome!

Thanks so much guys - I think it was the altri mamme asking me what we should do that threw me as well as me not wanting dd to get bitten or to start to bite !!!
When I see them domani I will say what I originally thought let the teachers do the stuff they know how to do and take it from there and hope dd doesn't get in the way of this nipper !
I am a brit in Venice and at this moment in time just going to the fish market or past a stall makes me want to heave big time - poor dd gets frozen fish that I bung in tom sauce to cook I cannot suppport the smell. Seppie blah ! Am hoping that afer dd2 arrives I can go back to at least coking the stuff again !

Anna, do you still have my email address? We can def meet up. When are you coming?

The event I'm mostly looking forward to is an exhibition of the works of Mario Schifano from the 17th of October. : here

Ciao belle, baby came and she is wonderful, very very happy. We are internetless which is just as well, as i am very busy. She is a beauty and a good sleeper, and relaxed, so far, hopefully wont' turn into a screamer too soon. Sorry cannot read the whole thread, dp has to check his mail too. I am sooooooo happy.

How wonderful, we were wondering how you got on. So you have a little girl, one of each now. What day was she born on? What's her name? You must tell all when you get the chance to come one here for a bit longer.

Anna, so you're coming to Milan for Halloween are you? Oddly enough, I'm supposed to be going to Paris at the end of October although nothing is confirmed yet. If I'm around I'm definitely on for a meet up. What kind of tips are you after? Culture, partying or shopping? I'm not sure how useful I'll be on the shopping front as I spend far too much time in French children's clothing stores, which I'm sure is not what you're after. Do you want to know where to stay, eat out etc. etc. etc.?

Hothell congratulations on the birth of your lovely baby girl . Hope you get the internet sorted asap, as we miss you !

I'm a nervous wreck, as ds's teachers want the school texts to be covered with a copertina trasparente, and it's one of those jobs that I find quite tricky as I'm disordinata and not precisa, so I'm and grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I do have the address of a lovely children's shop which doesn't rely on French imports . We could drag Anna for a proper cappuccino at cucchi...

Ooh, what shop is that? I'm so out of touch with shopping Milan nowadays, the last time we went out of an evening we were walking around where I used to live and so much has changed.

What's this copertina trasparente thing? Don't they sell them in cartolerie? Coloured (or not)plastic things with pockets to slip over the covers. Is that what you mean? Or are they expecting you to laminate the things? Is this what I ahve to look forward to? How is your DS coming on with his writing? Are you still surrounded by pushy mums? We have anxious mums at DD's materna, anxious that their DC wouldn't be able to sleep unless the bed was turned 45° to the sun, wouldn't eat without being read Biancaneve (yes, really!), ridiculous things like that. And to think I was worried about being a PITA because of DD's vegetarian diet.

It's called Amelia, it is in one of those little streets between via Torino and Corso Magenta. It is uber stylish, imo. It is also uber expensive, I usually go with a friend che ha le mani bucate.

Yes. They want copertine of different colours for the quaderni (red for Italian, blue for math, pink for music, etc etc). You buy those at cartolerie and that's easy enough for me. BUT you also have to cover the text books with copertina trasparente. Which is easy, you'll say, as you can also buy those. BUT NO! Because the modern text books are larger than the normal A4 copertine sold. So I had to buy a rotolo of transparent plastic and made a mess. I'll force dh (Mr neat) to do it.

Ds is still the untidiest writer in the world. Non rispetta le righe. His teacher is apparently into tidyness.

Blimey, 2 lots of plastic. That's something I'd delegate to DP as well, I just don't have the patience for fiddly things. Maybe you should make the point to the school that is is poco ecologico, that way you'd get out of it, no?

Got to tidy up, have a friend coming over later. It's so sad, her DD has been placed under tutela del tribunale dei minori because her father's being a git. She's had to do that to ensure only supervised access as he is quite mad.

Does anyone know how to make custard from scratch? Is it a total faff? I've run out of custard powder and I need something to go with the pineapple upside down cake I made earlier. Maybe I'll just buy some ice cream instead.

Is custard the same as crema pasticciera?

Oh, that is really sad Brangelina. Your poor friend .

I always presumed it was. Maybe custard is a runnier version. Do you have an easy recipe?

It is sad, she's quite young too so it really weighs on her. That's why I made the cakes, a nice bit of stodge always makes you feel better.

I made muffins too, only they're a bit flat. I think turning off the oven to go and pick up DD from school and turning it back on again later was the death knell. Still, they taste nice.

Hothell congratulations - get back on the web soon want to hear all the details- So glad for you !
I HATE covering books I always get the bit wrong at the spine and you end up with a book with frilly edges !!
Humid again feet and hands mega swollen !!
Brangelina - copied from BBC - I find the recipes pretty good - If you can get the ready made crema pasticera from a supermarket in cartons usually in fridge section gusto limone or chocolate - you can lengthen with a bit of single cream to pouring consistency ( you can't tell I have cheated in the past can you ?????)
Ingredients
570ml/1 pint milk
55ml/2fl oz single cream
1 vanilla pod or ½ tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs, yolks only
30g/1oz caster sugar
2 level tsp cornflour
Method

1. Bring the milk, cream and vanilla pod to simmering point slowly over a low heat.
2. Remove the vanilla pod (wash the vanilla pod, dry and store in jar with caster sugar to make vanilla sugar).
3. Whisk the yolks, sugar and cornflour together in a bowl until well blended.
4. Pour the hot milk and cream on to the eggs and sugar, whisking all the time with a balloon whisk.
5. Return to the pan, (add vanilla extract if using) and over a low heat gently stir with a wooden spatula until thickened.
6. Pour the custard into a jug and serve at once.
7. To keep hot, stand the jug in a pan of hot water and cover the top with cling film to prevent skin forming.

Thanks for this. Is cornflour amido di mais or farina di mais? All the farina di mais I see looks like polenta so it can't be that? I'll pop off to the bakery later and ask the man there.

Thanks for the cheating tip too, I might actually end up doing that.

amido I think it is.

Ds's just told me he's also the slowest to finish his work. Oh my goodness . I'm oanicking

Franca deep breaths - it will be ok if mega worried have chat with his teacher and ask if you need to help him more at home - I would highly agree with moving his bed to 45 degrees south of the window . Its only been a wek or so since he has been in 'proper' scuola - its bound to take a bit of time.
yes it is amido - but I find it is not as good as Tesco cornflour.
DD wet herself again today - but it is her way of saying 'chappa vecchia' ( stuff you in venetian) to the teachers when they tell her off .

Fantastic news Hothell, that's really lovely, newborns are so delicious

lol at the 45° angle, do these people have their DC's beds on a turntable or something?

I know, I know. I'm making up dreadful scenarios where the teachers don't think he is smart enough, just because he is messy. Will go and see them in 2 weeks.
I see myslef begging him to do a bit of work together and him refusing. And endless bickering . He is a lovely chap though...

Today I seem only to want a good moan. I washed my hair and I look as if I had one of those round spaceship al posto della testa.

I have yet to wash my hair am back to the scraped back pony tail !!!
Franca am sure it will all turn out ok - I was very untidy in school and in life- I turned out ok ( well my mother thinks so ..I am still untidy !!!)
Hows your dd doing Sputnik any better ??

Yes, untidiness is a sign of creativity

I think I may have cracked it with DD, she cried on monday but not since, and has let me go with a smile and a wave and a "bye mummy"

A combination of bribery incentives, talking about how much nicer it is without crying, and determinedly changing the subject when she starts up about not wanting to go to school.

They are still aparently doing nothing in there all day though . Not sure if the Italian is progressing, but she was sort of mumbling away in Italian when we got home today.

How's everyone elses DD's doing?

Echo the untidyness being a sign of creativity. I used to be a very creative child and the despair of my tidy mother. Unfortunately my creativity has taken a dive, but the untidiness is still hanging on in there.

Sputnik, glad to hear your DD is finally settling in. Mine has made little friends and has got back to looking forward to going and complaining when she's not there .

I've often wondered what they do all day, I ask DD and she always says nothing. I think structured classes are beginning next week, there's a sign up about religion/alternative activity and English. There are 8 in her class not doing religion and I discovered today 2 other vegetarians in her year, so I'm not the only weirdo. DD's older teacher is proprio tonta, I bumped into the cook today who told me the school dietician was awaiting my phonecall. I'd only asked for a photocopy of the menu but the daft teacher hadn't understood(what isn't there to understand about can I have a copy of the menu please). Luckily the cook is much brighter and is sorting it out for me, at long last.

Rosa, I'm living with scraped back hair too at the mo, it's so wildly overgrown that if I leave it down I can't see what I'm doing. Must get myself sorted with a hairdresser.

Brange your school is full of weirdo heathens !

Half of DD's teachers were on sciopero today, I kept bumping into them at the market, however they got supplenze in and everything continued as normal, sounds like a win win situation.

congratulations Hothell! Thats fantastic news, get back with more details
Sputnik am so glad your dd seems a bit happier, it must be a weight off your shoulders.
Scraped back hair with split ends here too -how scabby am I!! Too busy packing boxes to do hair stuff. Oh and I used to spend so much time preening in my younger days, (thinks back with nostalgia to hours spent backcombing huge perm with afro comb in 80's to attain bananarama or janet jackson around "Control" time look ). Probably why have split ends now...
Move date next weds hurrah!
Very re your friend Brange, pineapple cake and custard sounds like a plan to me.send any leftovers down here.