CCR Book Club - December 15, 2024

The CCR Book Club's Christmastime meeting will be a cozy lunchtime get-together. The group has decided to discuss a Christmas tale, "Brightly Shining" by Ingvild Rishoi (translated by Caroline Waight).  According to the New York Times, this short novel is "an emotionally packed little gem" that includes a "dose of Christmas magic."

When: Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024

Time: 1 p.m.

Where: Private residence of CCR member (Villa Pamphili area); exact address sent to confirmed participants by email. Open only to current members of the CCR. 

Potluck: Please let Lucy know what you'll be bringing.

Further info & RSVP: canadarome@gmail.com ATTN Lucy. As space is limited, reservation is compulsory.

Big Friends, Big Cheer! - December 12, 2024

Here's another chance to clink our glasses to holiday cheer. This informal evening will take place at an eatery called "Big Friends" -- and there's certainly a plan in that name!

When: Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Where: Big Friends Rome - Eat and Drink, Via Elvia Recina 27 (near Piazza Tuscolo; closest metro stops: San Giovanni and Re di Roma)

Cost: €10 for the aperitivo menu including one drink, a board with cold cuts (2 types) and cheeses (2 types), plus 2 different types of suppli. Vegetarians can also be accommodated. No host; you will pay the venue directly for the menu plus any extras you order.

RSVP to canadarome@gmail.com ATTN Marielle to join our table by 10 Dec., 2024.

Santa's Dinner Party - December 2, 2024

This year, besides our delicious seafood feast, we're having a "Secret Santa" gift exchange, to welcome the holiday season! Each person is asked to bring a wrapped gift with a maximum value of €15. Santa and his elves will then hand out all the gifts to those who have been good boys and girls this year. But Santa has ditched his old lists and now operates on a random distribution system, so who knows what you'll get! Once you've opened it, you'll be free to exchange it with another party-goer who may be more interested your gift than theirs.

Festive attire is very welcome.

Appetizers

Oysters, scampi and shrimp 

Truffle-scented salmon

Salmon marinated in orange

Seared tuna with balsamic vinegar and soya sauce

Sea bream (spigola) carpaccio

Mussels sautéed with tomatoes

Fried baby octopus

Gateau of Sardinian crisp bread (Pane Carasau), pecorino (sheep) cheese and swordfish

Pasta dishes

Paccheri tube pasta with kingfish (ricciola) and Pachino cherry tomatoes

Creamy risotto with zucchini flowers and shrimp

Mains

Baked sea bass (branzino) with potatoes en croûte

Grilled scampi and prawns

Raw vegetables with Italian oil dip (Pinzimonio)

Sweet endings

Sorbet

Tiramisù 

Traditional Italian Sweet Loaf (Panettone) and bubbly

White wine: Sardinian Vermentino

Water, coffee, digestives

A special menu may be prepared for people who cannot eat fish or seafood, but this and any other dietary restrictions must be communicated in advance to the CCR.

When: Monday, Dec. 2, 2024

Where: Ristorante Eleonora D’Arborea, Corso Trieste 23.

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Cost: CCR members €50; non-members €60.

RSVP: canadarome@gmail.com with the names of members of your party by email and proof of payment no later than 12 noon Nov. 29, 2024, or whenever the maximum number is reached. Please note that those arriving without reservations will not be accommodated.

NB: Payment must be made in advance and will not be refunded for no-shows or late cancellations. Please inform us of any dietary requirements upon reservation and no later than Nov. 29th.

Each participant is asked to bring a wrapped but unlabeled gift (max. value €15) for our gift exchange. 

Parking: Garage entrance at 29 Corso Trieste (before 8 p.m.) – 207/A Via Alessandria (after 8 p.m.).

CCR Book Club - November 21, 2024

The novel chosen for discussion in November is "Horse" by Geraldine Brooks.

The narrative moves between the perspective of a biracial British son of diplomats who is a grad student in the U.S. studying "the equestrian art of the antebellum south" and the life of the enslaved stableman and racehorse depicted in a painting 160 years before. As both the Guardian review and that of the Atlantic point out, the fact the novel is written by a white Australian-American woman is both a bold and controversial undertaking. "Brooks signals that she enters her latest project knowingly. A gauntlet has been thrown, and she will take it up."

When: Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024

Time: 6 p.m.

Where: Private residence of CCR member (San Paolo-Marconi area); exact address sent to confirmed participants by email. Open only to current members of the CCR. 

Potluck: Please let Lucy know what you'll be bringing.

Further info & RSVP: canadarome@gmail.com ATTN Lucy. As space is limited, reservation is compulsory.

CCR Wine Tasting: ‘Heroic Wines’ of Italy - November 16, 2024

N.B. Full/waiting list.

Heroic wines are wines grown in vineyards where the conditions for wine making are extremely difficult. These vineyards are located at high altitudes, on steep slopes, on very small islands -- places requiring complex work where mechanization is almost impossible. Producing wine from these terroirs is truly a heroic act and, at the same time, they safeguard the heritage of these ancestral vineyards and terroirs.

Where: Residence of CCR members – Villa Patrizi area (exact details will be sent to registered participants).

When: Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024

Time: 6 p.m. 

Cost: €35 for members (€40 for non-members); advance payment required to confirm your place. A light dinner will follow the wine tasting.

RSVP to Linda; payment by Monday, Nov. 11th at canadarome@gmail.com. Please note that you are financially responsible for your reservation.

We are pleased to have Marco Lori, Italian sommelier and wine master, lead one of CCR’s wine tastings. Marco’s sommelier training in 1995 sparked his passion for wine and set in motion years of study. In 2014 he earned the “Italian Sommelier Executive Wine Master” status, recognized by the Worldwide Sommelier Association. He is the founder of “Off the Vine,” a gastro-tourism venture in Italy.

CCR Walks: Museum of the Forma Urbis - November 9, 2024

1186 fragments of a 3rd-century map of the city of Rome have gradually surfaced since 1562. They have been studied and drawn, used in repair work, lost and sometimes destroyed or rediscovered. Considered one of the rarest documents from antiquity, a museum close to the Colosseum was set up this year to chart the Forma Urbis and its amazing history. 

When: Saturday, November 9, 2024

Time: 11:00 a.m. walk starts; optional meet-up at 10:30 a.m. for coffee or 10:45 for briefing.

Meeting Place: registered participants will be informed of the exact spot by email.

Cost: Guided tour is €10 for CCR members, €15 for non-members. Museum admission is free for MIC card holders. Otherwise the cost is €6.50 full for Rome residents, €5.50 reduced for Rome residents, €9 full for non-residents, and €6.50 reduced for non-residents.

RSVP: canadarome@gmail.com ATTN Linda by Wednesday, Nov. 6. You are financially responsible for your reservation.