Pasta and a Side of Spring Rolls

These past two days my host mom, Michela, has been in Milan on business.  She is presenting the Summer 2012 line for her company.  This would include shoes and clothing for her company L'Autre Chose.  While she has been away, Gregorio and I have had a lot of time together.  His dad, Alfredo, goes to the office everyday while Gregorio and I hang at home.  We have been working on his English and my Italian.  Let's just say that the English part is going much better than the Italian part.  We also hangout at the pool, play board games, and try to keep Nina from attacking us (she is teething pretty badly, so all she wants to do is chew on you).

Because Alfredo goes to work from about 9:30 to 6 everyday, Gregorio was a little worried about one thing.  Who was going to feed him lunch?!  I told him not to worry because I would have everything under control.  The look on his face said that he was terrified (and I guess my family at home would agree to that).  I don't cook often.  If I cook, then it usually consists of me putting a bowl of pasta together or cooking the individually wrapped frozen chicken breast that is already seasoned.  You can see that I usually go the easy route.  I had no idea what was going to be in the kitchen, but I figured the pasta would be somewhere.  On day one I made pasta blanca, which is pasta with oil and parmesan cheese.  It came out pretty well, and I must say that Gregorio was pleased with his meal.  On day two I made pasta blanca.  I tend to stick with what I know, but I did spice it up a little with a side of spring rolls.  The spring rolls were already put together, so all I had to do was fry them up.  Again Gregorio was impressed.  Generally the meals here are all centered around some type of pasta dish with a side of something.  The something is usually salad, crackers/bread, proscuitto, or cheese.

I am hoping to pick up some cooking tips while I am here.  Other than the marmalade, spring rolls, and pasta making, I have a ways to go before I become an expert in the kitchen.