dancing, cooking, fashion and babies

23 CommentsMonday • August 4, 2008 • by michelle

And yet no kitchen sink.

Anyhoo, I’m back to answering your questions, and today we’re going to address some light-hearted ones—tune in tomorrow for the more philosophical edition.

(1) Wanderlust Scarlett of From the Shores of Introspect and Retrospect wants to know if I dance.

Hmm…well…are you sitting down?

Once upon a time in high school I was a cheerleader.

So during those two years, dancing was pretty mandatory at least to the extent of cheerleading routines (and I still remember parts of some of them!). Overall, I would say I can keep the beat fairly well, but I have never taken any formal dance lessons so unlike nearly every Italian around me, I can’t do the fancy stuff.

That said, I am so *not* one to get up and dance just for the fun of it or at weddings, etc., except for some fooling around in my house. But I do love to sing! In private. I’m rather shy actually.

(2) Sue (blogless as of now) wants to know if I make up all of the recipes listed on my ‘recipe’ tab myself? “Or, have they been handed down, found in books, etc.? More importantly, do you ever have to refer to a recipe card to make things or are you one of those women who has it all in her head?”

OK, well I certainly didn’t make up all the recipes. I try to relay the story of each recipe as I post them—so that something from my grandmother, like Italian Wedding Soup, or from my grandmother’s neighbor Louise (Louise’s Banana Cake!) is credited as such.

I do get some from books as well like the Calabrian Cuzzupa recipe from Cucina di Calabria by Mary Amabile Palmer and Ricotta Pound Cake from Dolce Italiano by Gina DePalma. And now, I also find lots of things to try online and mention that in the write-ups.

And I definitely follow recipes when it’s something new that I’ve never made before. Many of the everyday dishes I make, though, are just in my head (although I do try to record them here to share!).

(3) Sue also wants to know whether I dress more like an American or an Italian.

This is a bit difficult to answer since I live in a small town in Italy, which means people are so *not* dressing like they do in Milan. Actually people in this village dress pretty much like small town America, from what I remember of it.

So let’s get at this from a different angle. Do I do designer labels? No. And if you’re talking stereotypical Italian fashion for women (including stilettos, super tight jeans), nope, don’t do it at all—but neither do a lot of the Italian women around here.

I wear what I like and what I think is flattering on me—so much of Italian fashion just isn’t. Plus I’m not much into trends; I prefer classic. Eh, I wear what I wear. Punto e basta.

(4) Flurrious wrote: I have a question about this recent Twitter entry of yours: ‘Back from the dentist. No pain meds offered. Apparently I look like I want to build up pain resistance for childbirth.’ And my question is: tap tap tap tap … well?”

I answered this originally in the comments but this was fun enough to repeat here for those who didn’t see it, so here’s my response:

Ahem. Gulp. Let’s just say that one Novocaine-less trip to the dentist hasn’t prepared me for much of anything. Except having more of a fear of returning.

And I know Paul of Crazy Like Whoa has been itching to ask baby questions, so hopefully this will satisfy that craving.

Hah! Get it? Craving!

OK, tomorrow, more answers about adjusting to life in southern Italy!

P.S. The photos are all of prickly pear cactus flowers from May.