Sunday, July 12

What a day!!!!!! It actually began late for Holly, Beth and I. Once we finally arrived at Casa Ombuto late on Saturday night, we weren't ready to go to bed. So, we stayed up late, like 3:00AM late and therefore that allowed us to sleep in yesterday morning. We didn't get up until 10:00 AM and for me, I feel like half of my day was lost. Not so though once we got going. We came down to the cooking and dining area and had a breakfast of cheeses, meat and fruit. I'm loving the cheese stuff!! We have pecorino cheese every single day and that is my absolute favorite cheese!!!! We had part of the day off as our cooking lessons didn't start until 3:00. So, we walked around the grounds and took in every bit of Tuscany that we could. Just so you can understand this, right now as I'm typing, the wood firepit outside is going as we will be making pizzas today for lunch. Back to yesterday. We've already made many new friends here and they are quite diverse. That's what makes it interesting though. All are Americans with the exception of Vinita who is from the UK. We even have one young lady from MN and she is eloping next week in Positano. I'm not sure that the spelling of that town is correct but supposedly it is beautiful there. I would love to be the photographer at that simple wedding!!!

After walking around on the grounds we were called to the dining room for a lunch that was prepared for us. The menu was this:

Pasta alla Norma which was Pasta with eggplant and tomato sauce

Bistecca alla Fiorentina---Florentine steak sliced very thin and seared

Patate alle erbe aromatiche--Aromatic herb roasted potatoes

Robiolo cheese which is like a marscapone cheese with cherry sauce

I swear by the time I get back to the states, they are going to have to wheel me off the airplane!!! However, the portions are so much that I'm only able to eat about one third of everything.

The following is what we prepared in class yesterday. Probably the most exciting thing for yesterday was learning how to make homemade pasta and roll it out and everything. We made tortellini with sun-dried tomatoes, basis and mozzarella.

Stuffed veal rolls which is sliced extremely thin and stuffed with chopped ham and buffalo mozzarella cheese. It is topped with a sauce of tomatoes, onions and garlic with a splash of wine and olive oil. Yum yum.

Fresh green beans with pesto topping.

Zabaglione with strawberries. That basically is like a marscapone cheese, pureed strawberries on the bottom and topped with a few fresh berries.

I will include some of the photos from our class. It was an absolutely incredible day and this cooking school far exceeds my expectations!! I would recommend it to anyone. We are looking forward to today and what it holds. We will be cooking all day today and preparing two separate meals. Our chef and instructor is Italian and she is so much fun. Her name is Laura and just darling. After class and dinner are over, Holly, Beth and I are the last ones to leave. Laura comes and sits with us and we finish off the bottles of wine!!! Last night though, we finished off the bottle of cream limoncello. Oh my gosh, it was wonderful. I sure wish we could get that in the states. I'm even learning some Italian. Hopefully I won't need it though in regards to a rental car. Signing off for Sunday's post. I hope you enjoy your day as I'm sure I will enjoy mine.