Celebrating Mardi Gras in Rome

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras/Martedi Grasso (in Italian).  It was the final day of the Mardi Gras/Carnevale celebrations.  I'm pretty lucky as I not only grew up in the city where Mardi Gras originated in the States (it's Mobile, Alabama by the way, not New Orleans, Louisiana), but I now live in the city where the celebrations actually originated (the ancient Romans started all these shenanigans, go figure).  

Although the festivities for Mardi Gras in Rome are fun, I miss the parade of floats from home and being bombarded with MoonPies, beads, candies and other trinkets and goodies as they're thrown from the floats in to the crowds.  It's a different type of celebration.  I have such vivid childhood memories of celebrating Mardi Gras at my Grandparents' bicycle shop in downtown Mobile as we had one of the best spots on the parade route.  The smells, the tastes, the feelings I remember ... maybe this is why the festivities in Rome just can't compare to the days I once knew.  

One of the traditional things to do during Carnevale (aka Mardi Gras) in Italy is to eat castagnole.  Castagnole are a sweet dessert, similar to doughnut holes.  They have different variations.  Some are plain and rolled in sugar, others are stuffed with cream, ricotta, or chocolate, while others are soaked in rum.  We celebrated Fat Tuesday yesterday by indulging in a variety of the tasty little treats.  Even though I had plenty of castagnole, my mouth still watered for a chocolate MoonPie ... and my heart ached for days long gone.  

To read more about the Mardi Gras traditions in the city where it originated in the U.S., click here.  To read more about the Carnevale traditions and celebrations in Rome, click here.  

Panettoncino

We recently made a new discovery ... panettoncino.  They are little mini versions of panettone.  They are about the size of a muffin or cupcake, and are super cute.  These also came in the most adorable little holiday boxes.  No mess, no fuss (like the king size ones) ... just cute and tasty! 

American Christmas Traditions in Rome

We did it.  We finally had a traditional Christmas.  We've been married and living in Italy for three Christmases now, and this year we had a traditional Christmas at home.  I couldn't have been happier about it.  It was what I needed.  

Rome is beautiful around the holidays with all the lights, so it's not hard to get into the Christmas spirit here.  One of my favorite places to go is to the Christmas market in Piazza Navona.  It's magical at night with all the lights.  It's also a little bizarre with all the overpriced commercialized goodies for sale at the market among the beautiful, ancient buildings and fountains, but it's still a lot of fun to walk through.  You can read more about the Christmas market in Piazza Navona here.  

Continuing with our traditional Christmas, we decided to put up a Christmas tree this year.  We don't have a lot of space, and we certainly don't have much storage space, so we opted for a small tree.  The little tree was perfect for our little family.  I love having it on at night for the lights to give off a soft glow ... so relaxing.  You can see our little tree below, and if you look closely, you can also see our little angel.  

On Christmas morning we woke early to open gifts.  Our little Dolce also had his own presents to unwrap.  He's only slightly spoiled. ;-)

*If you missed meeting Dolce, you can check out the newest little member of our family here.  

Dolce with his Christmas loot ... balls, mice, treats and a walking jacket.  

Dolce having fun with his new toys.

For lunch, I prepared traditional southern dishes.  They are what I grew up eating every year for the holidays, and they taste like home to me.  We had cornbread dressing, green bean casserole and sweet potato casserole.  We also had roasted chicken (for the hubby since I'm a vegetarian) and cranberry sauce "substitute".  Everything was made from scratch.  There are no French's fried onions or cream of any kind of soup mix here in Italy, and other typical ingredients are hard to find (think sweet potatoes).  So at the end of the day, I was patting myself on the back for pulling off a traditional southern American holiday meal in Italy.   

*If you would like any of the recipes, you can find them here on Why Rome's Pinterest, under 'Expat Food'.  
  

When it comes to cranberry sauce, I'm a canned girl.  Always have been.  All for the better in Italy though because I have never seen whole cranberries here (or even cranberry juice for that matter).  Isn't that strange?  Anyway, I found the perfect cranberry sauce substitute.  It's lingon jam from Ikea.  To me, it's a tad bitter sweeter, but does the trick and gave me the cranberry sauce "fix" I was craving. 

Sweet potato casserole with brown sugar and nut topping

Green bean casserole with homemade fried onions

And desserts, I couldn't leave out the desserts ... brownies, banana nut muffins & bread, chocolate almond candies, and cookies with dried cranberries (from the States), dark chocolate and hazelnuts.  Needless to say, we were STUFFED at the end of the day, and I was one happy girl with a belly full of American food! :-) 

Southern Food Delights...in Rome

Sweet potatoes and black eyed peas ... found in Rome.  I couldn't believe our find!  Just a few of the simple things that make my southern heart swoon.  

Piazza Treasures in Piazza Navona

The other week we stopped in Piazza Navona, and the square was bustling with street performers.  It seemed every direction we turned, someone was doing something to draw a crowd.  Here are a few of the acts that caught our attention ... 


These guys drew quite a crowd.  Everyone stood in fascination as they tried to figure out just how this guy seemed to sit effortlessly in mid air.  

The balloon-making clown was popular with the younger crowd.  

We've seen this guy before and he always draws a crowd with his comic routine.  He's big on audience participation, and always receives a lot of laughs.  

We first saw this little man back in August.  He completely brightened my day with his dancing and lip singing to Elvis Presley songs.  He brightened my day again, but this time he had classic Italian songs playing.  He always makes me reach for my change purse. :-)