It was one of those days. Sick, tired, a little homesick. I went to the grocery store hoping to get some beef or maybe chicken to replenish my energy. What I ended up with was a whole new story.
I paced around the meat section for a little before I discovered dinner. I didnt want to spend a lot, so I started looking at the sale section. I found a mystery meat and whipped out my dictionary. I couldnt really figure out what it was other than something involving a pig which seemed safe enough to me.
When I returned to Residence Medaglie d'Oro, I google translated the label (and may I say, Alyx opened up an amazing world for me when she suggested google translator our first week here- best translator I've used!). Turned out, I bought pork neck. So I turned to various sources including allrecipes.com which informed me that this flavorful meat was used in soup and stews.
I ended up making my first soup ever created from scratch- I simmered the meat in a pan with water, spices, and red wine for a bit then put it in our pot with even more water and seasoning and let it go for about 2 hours to create the broth. In this time I ran over to visit my favorite veggie vendor who I affectionately and creatively have named "veggie man." Veggie man has a small store across the street and about a block down from the residence which was probably the best business decision he could ever make seeing as American students tend to need somewhere to buy groceries last minute. Not only does veggie man have fruits and vegetables but he also has a small selection of pretty much anything else you would need last minute- pasta noodles, sauce, beverages, cereal, milk, eggs, snacks, and more edible treasures. He is open later than anywhere else I have found - and this includes Sundays as well- which is a relief when you approach 8:00 PM and realize you are missing an ingredient for the dinner you volunteered to make or when you plan to eat alone and find out all of your food is gone, or in this case, when you spontaneously decide to make soup from a mystery meat on a Wednesday night with no ingredients suitable for soup.
I bought some carrots, potatos and onions and returned to Medaglie where I began chopping veggies- a great experience when all you have been provided with is a dull steak knife and a bread knife and no cutting board to speak of. Anyway, long story short, I added my veggies and potatoes and realized I had told Alyx I would meet her at the school about 5 minutes from the current time.
I let my soup go for a little then turned off the burner and strolled to the Metro to go to school for Italian movie night wearing a Phillies t-shirt with a hoodie, Trojan sweatpants, and crocks with bright green socks and eating an apple while I walked. Points for being culturally acceptable: 0
When we returned from the movie, Alyx and I finally got to taste my creation. The funny thing is, just making it made the whole day feel better so imagine how great it was to finally taste it!
Can't wait for another spontaneous grocery store adventure!!
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