First Cooking Class

Ciao friends and family! I apologize it has taken me so long to post on my blog, I didn't realize how many people were actually reading this silly thing. Two people is way more than I could ask for. ;) Anyways, I have done a LOT of fun things every single day since I last posted, so it may take me a few posts to catch up and the details may be condensed. With the jam-packed days we've had, I come home exhausted and not wanting to blog. Shame on me for writing so much, I have so much less motivation at midnight to blog about my day.

Where I left off last, we had visited Antonio's deli last Tuesday. Wednesday was one of my absolute favorite days so far. That was the day we had our first of three cooking classes at the school. In the afternoon, a bunch of people from our group (the entire U of U study

abroad group is around 20 people) just bought a simple lunch and sat in the Piazza to get to know each other. This was the first of what I like to call my "Moments of Contentment." Sitting in the Piazza with my new friends and without worrying about seeing everything or the stress of tourism in the beautiful weather just made me feel beyond relaxed - I could have stayed there all day long and then some. I have had a few of those moments since then , which brings me to the next one: Wednesday night's cooking class.

For an extra $200, we students have the opportunity to participate in a cooking class with the school. There are three separate classes over the course of the 5 weeks we are here and in those classes we learn to make a full four-course meal. The courses consist of  l'antipasto (appetizer), il primo piatto (first course, usually a pasta of some kind), il secondo piatto (second course, usually a type of meat or fish dish), then il dolce (dessert...so good). Most of us in the group chose to do the cooking class, so there were a lot of hands - probably too many. For the appetizer, we made two types of crostini one with mushrooms and another with honey, gorgonzola, and pears. The first course was fresh made egg-pasta with tomato sauce and an arugola pesto sauce on the side. The main course was a veal scallopine with sautéed artichokes. Then finally, the dessert was one of my all-time favorites, panna cotta with strawberries.

The kitchen was set up in mini-stations for different types of tasks, so we didn't make our own meal from start to finish. Rather, we all just helped out with a little bit of everything. I started in the pasta station, so I mixed and kneaded second of the fresh dough and I ended up working with the pasta from start to finish. While the pasta was cooling in the fridge, I went to the artichokes. I removed all of the hard leaves from the artichokes to get near the hearts, peeled the stems (thank you, Mom, for teaching me how to peel with a knife, I'm practically a pro from all of those potatoes over the years), and put them in the lemon water. I watched Luisa, the chef, prepare and cook the veal, sauté the artichokes, and make the arugula pesto. My favorite part of the class was rolling and cutting the pasta dough. I had never used a pasta machine before and it was so fun to do it and watch everyone try. After the dough had been rolled into sheets, Luisa showed us how to roll the ends of the pasta sheet up like a scroll and cut them into long noodles. They were not nearly as nicely cut as from the pasta cutter, but honestly, they tasted amazing and the looks didn't matter once they were dressed and ready to eat.

Throughout the class, I kind of followed Luisa around and just had her give me things to do. I was thinking through the class, I didn't want to seem like the over-eager kid that has to be involved with everything, but at the same time I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity

to actually cook and learn from the chefs in these classes. I love to bake at home (though I can really only make a few things), but my cooking skills aren't quite there yet. I was so excited by the idea of making fresh pasta or other dishes for my family when I go home, so I did, and plan to, take full advantage of these classes. Basically, I abandoned what other people thought of me and jumped in where I could; however, I did really try to be conscious of others and step away to let other people have their turn if they wanted it. By the time we had rolled and cut the pasta (which was the last task before we had our dinner), I was just the happiest little thing in the whole world. I had so much fun chatting with my friends, talking with the chef and another teacher, Claudio,  and keeping myself busy preparing and cooking. This was another one of my Moments of Contentment - it just felt so perfect being in there and working hard to produce a meal in Italy. I also had the thought that this class and other activities that happen while we are here in this beautiful place, are going to be what we make them to be. In direct relation to the cooking class, I thought that some kids might think that the class wasn't fun, or that it was boring, or they didn't have enough to do, etc., but I would argue that it is more likely that they didn't put enough effort into it. I mean, one of the biggest aspects of Italy's culture is the food, so why wouldn't you

want to do everything you could to get as much out of these classes as you can? Either way, whether others had a good time or not, I enjoyed myself immensely and I cannot wait for the next class. Up next: focaccia bread appetizers, pizzas, grilled veggies, and tiramisu!

After the cooking was done, the kitchen staff served us the meal we had made all evening. I was so impressed with how everything came together with all of our work and hands (which were probably more in the way than not). Sitting down to eat the meal we had produced after a few hours in the kitchen gave me a feeling of total satisfaction. Of course, I only had a small role in the bigger picture, but the idea that we had all contributed in some way, however small, made it that much more special. The dinner had great conversations, hilarious jokes, new relationships, and some delicious food. All of those things, together with the still-unbelievable fact that I am in Italy of all places, made for one of the most memorable nights for me on the trip so far.

Well, hopefully you made it this far without falling asleep. I had no intention of that being so long...but I'm glad I am able to share some of what I am experiencing here with you. I still have about 6 days to catch up on, but I'm thinking those will be a little bit quicker to explain and summarize. This day was just a special one that I want to be able to look back on and enjoy. Coming up: more Antonio, Italian aperitivi, Luna Park carnival, the Torture Museum (yikes), wine tour around Tuscany and the beach! Stay tuned.