I have learned a new lesson here in Italy. Italian dishwashers should not be trusted. The two words just don't go together. The other day we had our landlady come over to help us with our washing machine (which we had somehow managed to fill with stale water and couldn't drain). After we learned how to use our washing machine, we asked about the dishwasher. She turned a knob under the sink to open up a pipe so the dishwasher could have water. Then she showed us basically how to use the dishwasher. We left. About half an hour later we came back to a lake about an inch deep, not only in our kitchen but in our hall, our roommate's room and the bathroom. Apparently the dishwasher does not work. The landlady is bringing a new one tomorrow, but I doubt any of us will touch it because, as I have said, we have learned a lesson about Italian dishwashers.

The lateria, the milk shop, is now probably my favorite place in Perugia. As soon as we stepped inside, the man behind the counter (who only spoke Italian- yay!) brought out a huge bowl overfilling with panna, whipped cream. But this was no ordinary whipped cream. It was fluffy, fresh, sweet and wonderful!!! He let us all try a spoonful of it and then we all got fresh brioches filled with the panna and Nutella. It was heaven on bread. The milk we bought was pretty good too.

Last night my roommates and I cooked dinner for ourselves. We had angel hair pasta (obviously not the Italian word for it, but I can't remember what it is right now), and we made a cheese sauce with mozzarella, a little emmentaler, a little parmesan, sundried tomatoes (the best I've ever had), lots of random spices like basil, pepper and rosemary, milk and oil. It tasted great but it was definitely not a sauce sauce. It was more like a big gooey mess. Anybody know how to make a cheese sauce creamy?

Either tonight or tomorrow, I head for Amalfi, which is on the West coast of Italy near Sorrento and Capri. It's supposed to be beautiful and I can't wait!

Ciao!-Ellie