Post-Christmas celebrations

Due to the tardiness of the mail, we had a late but still fun mini-Christmas party this past week by assembling the gingerbread house kit Seth's folks had sent us. The celebration was prolonged because it took quite a lot of time to properly prepare and decorate the house--like, 3 or 4 days--but the final product was bellissima!

Seth's half of the house. He either tried to depict the Medici coat of arms or a turtle with 8 legs.

My half of the house--obviously much more beautiful, Country Cottage style.
Ah, home sweet home!

We waited a respectful 2 days before starting to eat the final product. It smells really nice, so we are trying to make it last as long as possible. There were even presents for Lorenzo (notice the sign)!

Last night we treated ourselves out to one of the best-known restaurants in Florence, Cibrèo, which of course just so happens to be in Piazza Sant'Ambrogio (about a 30 second walk away). This place specializes in Tuscan cuisine, so you'll never find pasta on the menu. In fact, the menu is hand-written (and barely legible), and we were told it changes daily.

Primi: Sformato di patate e ricotta (a sort of souffle of potato and ricotta, which looked like a stick of butter--and tasted about as rich, too!), plus zuppa di pesca passata (spicy fish soup) as a "present."

Secondi: Vitello tonnato (veal slices with tuna sauce, capers, oil and lemon with a side of sweet onions) and Stoccafisso (dried unsalted fish with herbs with a side of creamy mashed potatoes). We didn't order dessert, but the waiter gave us a thin slice of cheesecake with orange marmalade as another "present."

For dessert back at home, I made Tiramisu for the first time. I never had the desire to make it before because I was under the impression it is labor-intensive, but I made a few substitutions and it was a piece of cake!