Snapshot Rome: Drink your eggs! - Trionfale Market

A year later, I'm still exploring my market.

I used to buy my eggs at the supermarket until I "discovered" the egg vendors. The prices are cheaper and the eggs are fresher. What the heck took me so long?

I met up with Erica at the market last Friday. She wanted to check out the fish. Afterward, we stopped by my egg vendor.

Erica wrote a lovely ODE to the egg and the memories of her Roman nonna feeding her a raw egg "shake" for her merenda (Italian for a mid-afternoon snack).

The eggs marked "Da Bere" (to drink) are the freshest of the fresh. You have to eat them within a short period of time.

The vendor was speaking Italian very quickly, so I missed the explanation regarding how these eggs are different from the others.

She said the eggs come from the Le Marche region.

Their eggs are delicious. I can totally taste the difference between their eggs and the ones I used to buy at the supermarket.

Trionfale is not the closest market to my house but it's worth the schlep.

Flashback Friday - St. Peter's cell - Mamertine Prison

We're talking very old school today...over 2000 years.

I wrote a guest post for Nile Guide about Rome's Mamertine Prison.

It is believed to be the first maximum security prison in Rome and the place where St. Peter was held before his crucifixion.

It's an incredible place to visit. Post is HERE.

Have a great weekend.

Made In Italy, Food & Stories...a fantastic cookbook

I know I've said several times I'm not going to buy anymore cookbooks. I couldn't help myself.

I heard great things about this book. While waiting for a friend, I started to skim though it, then bought it.

It's excellent. Some of the recipes are beyond my culinary level but I found it accessible.

Giorgio Locatelli grew up in a small town near Milan and has been cooking since he was five. He owns a very successful restaurant in London. Most of the recipes have a Northern Italy influence.

This is more than just a book of recipes. Locatelli is an excellent writer. He gives great insight into the history of various foods/recipes. The book is well illustrated and I loved reading about his family.

It took me a while to read this book. I wanted to savor every single page. If you love Italian cooking, especially Northern Italian cuisine, I recommend this book.

Flashback Friday - "A Star Is Born" Beyonce to star in remake

Hollywood is abuzz with the news that Clint Eastwood will direct Beyonce in another remake of "A Star Is Born."

Very curious to see how the story is updated and who the male lead will be.

Beyonce better bring it. She has VERY big shoes to fill. While Bey is one of the most famous pop stars in the world, musically Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland are in a completely different world.

Nikki Finke mentioned Puffy as a possible co-star. No. Just no. Who do you think would be a great male lead for Bey?

Have fantastic weekend.

Here's the trailer from the 1954 version starring Judy Garland.



And the trailer from the 1976 version starring Barbra Streisand.

Medium Raw, Glamorama and The Three Weissmans Of Westport

Anthony Bourdian's follow up to Kitchen Confidential was very entertaining. It was interesting to read about how much his life has changed since he wrote that book ten years ago. He never thought it would become a hit (earlier he had written a novel that did not set the publishing world on fire). He's a beautiful writer. Despite his unexpected success, Bourdain still writes from the gut. He's as hard on himself as he is on the people he rips to shreds. His writing is personal and some of it is not pretty. Bourdain does go into detail about his beef with Alan Richman. I wonder if Richman responded to it?



I finally got around to reading Bret Easton Ellis's 1998 novel. It took me a while to get into the novel and his very specific dialogue. I remember hearing about the crazy plot but I still cracked when it became crystal clear what was going on. Not sure if I need to do a spoiler alert for a famous novel that is over a decade old but SPOILER ALERT...





Okay, supermodels who are assassins and terrorists? HILARIOUS! No, really. In this post 9/11 world I skimmed the very detailed descriptions of the bombs aftermaths.

The world Ellis captures at the end of the '90s is superficial and pathetic. Who would have thought the 00's would be worse? I laughed out loud when he named dropped Stanford Blatch. Priceless.



This book received many positive reviews when it was published last year. After fifty years of marriage, Betty Weissman's husband announces he's divorcing her. She's kicked out of her very nice Central Park West apartment and moves to a small run-down cottage at the beach in Westport, Connecticut owned by a generous and wealthy cousin. Her two middle aged daughters join her at the beach for different reasons. All are going through difficult times emotionally, financially and socially. It's a funny take on Austen's Sense and Sensibility.

Happy Birthday...Steve Wonder's MLK Jr. Tribute

This song appeared on Stevie Wonder's 1980 CD "Hotter Than July" (which is a GREAT CD by the way). The CD has a heavy reggae influence thanks to Stevie spending a lot of time with Bob Marley before he went into the studio.

At the time Stevie was very active in the campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr's birthday a Federal holiday. The holiday was very controversial.

In 1983 President Reagan signed the bill making it a holiday. The celebration started in 1986. However, not every state celebrated the holiday at first. For the longest time Arizona refused to. In Mississippi and Virgina the holiday was combined with the celebration of Confederate heroes Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee.

Virgina finally split the holidays after many complained it wasn't very appropriate.

Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King.

Flashback Friday - Whitney Houston - "Love Will Save The Day"

Hands down this single from Whitney's second album, released in 1988, is one of my favorite Whitney songs.

Produced by John "Jellybean" Benitez, there was never a video cut for this single.

Overall, a really crappy week. Rejections (I hate emails from my manager that say "They're going in a different direction"), bills, the cold that wouldn't go away, etc.

I wanted to hear something upbeat and positive to kick off the weekend.

Have a great one.

EBONY magazine....Somewhat shameless self-promotion.

I say it's somewhat because I would link to Courtney's post even if I weren't interviewed for her article on black expats in Rome.

Some of you might recognize fellow Blogger Courtney by the name Coco Cooks or Glamah16. She's a very talented cook, baker, photographer and writer.

This is her first print article for EBONY. Courtney was in Rome for a tribute to her great-uncle, dancer and artist Bob Curtis. The way she writes about her uncle and his legacy is very moving.

I really enjoyed meeting Courtney. I'm excited for her. I hope this article will lead to more writing assignments for her.

EBONY has been going through some major changes lately. It's difficult to update a magazine and yet not alienate a loyal readership.

It will be interesting see what direction the magazine goes in after bringing on Desiree Rogers.

The February issue of EBONY is on newsstands (in America) now. Here is Courtney's POST.

Congrats Courtney!!

Renato e Luisa restaurant

My first trip to this restaurant in my area was with my infamous Italian friend, G, and a friend of ours who was visiting from L.A.
I wish I had written down what we ate it was so freaking good. We ordered three of the daily specials. I remember there was one fish dish, a ravioli dish and a spaghetti dish with a tomato based sauce.

We barely spoke as we were too busy eating. The restaurant was packed and the service a little scattered. We didn't mind. The food was worth the wait. The crowd was a mix of locals and tourists. The restaurant is located on a side street near Largo Argentina. It's tiny. There are only a few tables.

Renato e Luisa
Quelli della Taverna
Via dei Barbieri, 25
+(39)06-68-69-660
http://www.renatoeluisa.it/

Words do mean something Mrs. Palin

I found it fascinating that Palin took down her offensive map after the shooting. She also tried to erase the Tweet and Facebook postings that told her supporters to not "retreat but reload."



Congresswoman Giffords complained about this crosshairs maps back in March.


We need to reign in the hateful political rhetoric in America. All this screaming and violence over a health care bill and an immigration bill? The leaders of the GOP started lowering the political discourse way back with Lee Atwater. It's only getting worse. A Republican candidate saying if you don't get what you want at the ballot box, resort to the using the Second Amendment? Where was Michael Steele?

Fox News (aka Radio Rwanda) needs to stop enabling hypocritical idiots like Beck and Palin. At least O'Reilly tries to be open minded. I get it. It's all about ratings but Beck and Palin go too far.

I remember doing meet and greets with Senator Bill Bradley in Jersey. There was never any security. Members of Congress need to meet with their constituents. How can we have a representative government if we can't interact with the public officials we elect?

That innocent people would be gunned down in the middle of the day in front of supermarket breaks my heart. One of the victims, Christina Green, was a nine year-old who was born on 9/11. She was just elected to her student council and wanted to meet her Congresswoman. Now she's dead. Murdered in front of a Safeway supermarket.

How did a man who was turned down by the army for being unstable able to buy a gun?

I'm not sure if there will be any positive changes after this incident. I fear in a few months it will be back to business as usual as people gear up for the 2012 Presidential election.

Flashback Friday - Leif Garret - "I Was Made For Dancing"

Before Biefer Fever there was Leif Garret.

His VH1 Behind The Music episode was so sad.

This video from 1979 cracks me up. It's not the most upbeat crowd for a disco song.

Have a great weekend.

Places to eat near the Spanish Steps?

I'm asked this question a lot. I run errands in that area but other than GiNa's, I never eat around there.

GiNa's a great place for lunch, especially if you're craving a salad. They have a fantastic selection.

The decor is hip and bright and it's excellent people watching. The crowd is a mix of chic Roman mommies and fab singles with Birkins, Chanel's 2.55, etc., business lunches, high school students from the private school nearby, and the occasional tourist. Prices are moderate, especially for the area. Reservations are recommended. It can get packed, especially during nice weather and sales season.

My friend Shelley wrote about GiNa a few years ago HERE. At that time she raved about their picnic lunches. I don't know they still do that. I've only been to GiNa during the fall/winter.

The New York Times also wrote about their picnic lunches.

GiNa
Via San Sebastianello, 7/A
Piazza di Spagna
www.ginaroma.com

If you have a favorite place for lunch (and/or dinner) near the Spanish Steps, please feel free to share in the comments.

So you want to write a novel

This video has been making the rounds. Priceless.

I've just started working on my second novel. My first novel is sitting a drawer.

However, I finished it. I had very generous writer friends who took time from their own work to read multiple drafts and give me feedback.

Screenplays and novels couldn't be more different. Working on the novel is helping with the rewrite I'm doing on a spec script. It's as if I'm using two separate but related muscles at the same time.

Finally, I'm back on a writing schedule. The worst of the procrastination has ended.

I really like the world my novel is set in. I'm 10,000 words in. Only 70,000 plus (bwahaha) to go.

R.I.P. Teena Maria

I can't believe she died this week in her sleep at age 54. The New York Times obituary is HERE.

Referred to as the Queen of Blue-Eyed Soul, Teena was one of the few whites artists that received airplay on R&B/Soul stations back in the day.

Her first album didn't have her picture on the cover (this was the pre-music video era) and when her second album dropped with her picture, her R&B fans were shocked to find out she was a white woman from Santa Monica, California.

Her biggest hits were in the early-mid 80s but every time I went to a party in college, the DJs would spin some Lady T.

My favorite songs are Portugese Love, Behind The Groove and of course this one:

Christmas Eve, St. Peter's Square, Rome Italy

Last night Erica, The Professor, Baby X and I went to St. Peter's Square after enjoying a tradition Christmas Eve dinner. It was the first time I've been to St. Peter's on Christmas Eve.

The Vatican unveils their life-size manger on Christmas Eve.

It was raining and I'm not Catholic but I was moved by the entire experience.

Merry Christmas/Buon Natale a tutti!

A few holiday lights in Rome

I cannot believe Christmas is only five days away.

Flashback Friday - Sandra Lee's Kwanzaa Cake

Oh LAWD!

This abomination is probably one of the funniest and scariest things I have ever seen.

There is no such think as a Kwanzaa cake. Earlier, she made a Hanukkah cake because she had converted to Judism for her ex-husband. Never mind that nothing in the cake was Kosher.

She's dating New York Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo. Is Mrs. Lee going start screwing up Italian food? I could see her taking a can of Spaghettios throwing some grated cheese on top and saying "Here's a lovely semi-homemade Eye-talian dinner!" Her "tablescape" would look like a trattoria on crack and God only knows what type of hideous cocktail she would make.

Some people watch her show as part of a drinking game. That number is not enough to explain why her shows/books are so popular. She not a cook or a chef. I don't get it, I really don't.

I have no idea which part of this "cake" is more offensive. What do Corn Nuts (WTF?!) have to do with Kwanzaa? How can using all store bought goods represent a celebration of the harvest? My mind is blown. This woman is making millions a year.

Yep, making millions and doesn't even write these "recipes" herself.

Jezebel.com wrote a POST about the woman behind this and other lovely treats.

Have a great weekend.

Favorite Things: Clementini

Never had these until I moved to Italy. They are grown mostly in Southern Italy, Morocco and South America. They are delicious.

At the market I go to, (Trionfale) you can buy a kilo for 1 euro. This morning I noticed they were over 3 euros per kilo at the Campo dei Fiori market. This is why I walk all the way to Trionfale...over triple the price? Uhm no.

Will Silvio Berlusconi survive....again?

***update. He won by three votes. This is a very narrow margin. I have no idea what will happen now. I assume more gridlock.

There are demonstrations in the big cities all over Italy today.


Tomorrow the Prime Minister is up for a vote of confidence. It's too close to call. If one or both of the houses vote no, he might have to resign. This article from the Guardian sums things up.

This drama is bananas. I don't get it. Last week, it looked like he was going down and now, who knows?

It cracks me up how Bossi, who is known for flipping the bird during the Italian National Anthem, is all of a sudden trying to front like he's some elder statesman.

There may be some major demonstrations and protests tomorrow. If you're going to be in the Center, you might want to check the news before heading out.

Speaking of politics, why was Kate Gosselin on Sarah Palin's reality show? Are they friends? Random.

Rome...should I stay or should I go?

When I went to L.A. I was told by a producer I need to move back if I want to be taken seriously as a screenwriter in Hollywood.

My head was spinning. Of course my career is important to me. I had sacrificed a personal life since college for it.

Well, the joke's on me. If I were paid in full, perhaps the years of working for unstable people 24/7, the migraines and the panic attacks from stress would have been worth it.

I am fine with being single and child free. I'm not happy about being so broke when I first started in Hollywood, I missed weddings and other big occasions in my friends' lives back East. I'm not happy I let my former boss with his passive aggressive bullshit get to me. I'm not happy that at my age I don't own a home and still have no idea how my bills will get paid next year.

I'm older now and once again I made another big change in my life.

It's different this time. The move was to Rome was for my life. I was drowning in L.A. I kept a lot of things to myself but during my return trip every single friend commented on the physical and emotional differences.

Two of my closest friends from L.A. visited Rome during Thanksgiving. We all grew up in the "biz" together. They said it was interesting to see me in this environment and the kind of life I had here.

I thought long and hard about my trip to L.A. Could I move back? Would things be better as a writer vs. an exec? Am I doing great harm to my career by not living in Hollywood?

I did a pros and cons list (hello, I'm a Virgo). At the end, it was no contest. Not even close, I'm not going back.

The simple fact is, there is no guarantee returning to L.A. will make this what I do for a living any easier. One of the top screenwriters said to make it in Hollywood it's in your best interest to be a rich white Jewish male under 30 from the Westside of L.A....extra points if your father was in the business.

I'm none of those things. It's going to be a struggle regardless. I'd rather be in a place I love and where I have a better quality of life.

My lawyer and my manager reminded me that things really started to click for me once I moved. They stressed how difficult the business is and things are only going to get worse. Why fix what's not broken?

One of my friends who visited Rome over Thanksgiving is a producer. She said that the goal is to get movies made, all the rest is BS. We know so many writers who have sold scripts but none of their projects have been made in over twelve years. You can't build a career that way and eventually those writers leave the business.

If I wanted to work in TV I would have to move. Film is different. When I mentioned all the successful screenwriters in the UK, I was told, "you're not a white male and I'm a little worried that you're comparing yourself to Peter Morgan."

I wasn't but I realized at that moment I really can't deal with American ethnocentrism anymore. Film is a global medium. I resent that as a black woman I'm constantly being put in a very narrow box in my home country.

I find it fascinating that an Italian company had no problem buying an idea of mine set in an Italian high school.

I wonder sometimes if my parents were not from another country, would I have the same rah, rah, rah, America is the ONLY country that matters attitude? Of course as a super power we're important but we are part of the global community. Without international box office profits, the studios would go bankrupt.

I don't know what will happen with my career. I do know living in Italy at this point in my life is better for my mental health.