Food

Today I was fortunate enough to do a Tuscan cooking class! I was picked up by one of the owners of the school and taken to a 14th villa to cook. I was joined by 2 other couples from Chicago (one was Kevin Kitching’s twin!) and our Chef for the day , Alberto. He was handsome, funny and a very good chef. We made a four course meal of stuffed onions, home pasta with meat sauce, veal rolls with spinach and ham, roasted potatoes and Tiramisu. I enjoyed making the pasta the most. He taught us how to make it with and without the pasta machine. It was a lot of work but very worth it. I learned a lot of little tips too, for example – when making roasted potatoes, wait until they cool before you try to get them off the pan, then they won’t stick. He suggested doing them ahead of time and them re-heating. At the end we sat down to a wonderful meal. I was so stuffed I didn’t eat again until the following lunch! It was a great morning and the other 2 couples were a lot of fun.

In the evening the girls and I went to an Opera – Guispee Verdi’s La Traviata. Mike opted for beer and snacks! We booked it on line where it said it was in a church. I assumed it was going to be a huge church with many people, but it was actually a very small church and only about 60 people, and we had front row seats! (great for Emy). Wow! What an experience to have the singers 10ft from you. It was very powerful and tragic – Voiletta dies in the end….of course! We also ended up sitting beside a women from Toronto! Small world.

Jane