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Day 14 - Italian Chefs For A Day

Florence

Saturday, June 18, 2011
After waking up from our glorious nights sleep at the new palace, we repacked all of our freshly sink washed laundry.



We headed off to cooking class in Italy! The gypsy found us, yet again, on our way, but they didn't let her in the class. Kelly was thankful.



Our instructor took us to the market where we learned all about the ingredients that we would be working with.
Hey Laurel, look it's my "freaked out face."





We learned about and tasted several types of balsamic vinegar and olive oil



This guy not only posed for a picture but he gave us a sample of delicious pesto.



We learned how to make bruschetta



Homemade pasta with meat sauce



And Tiramisu



We drank wine And BTW Susan Sarandon's doppleganger was in our class.



It was an emotional day:
Scared... Giovanni was telling Kelly she was doing an awful job, just awful. Then he said, "but it's ok, you will be the one eating it."



Longing... Can I give it a try?



Intensity... Don't mess up, don't mess up, don't mess up!



Desperation... I will do anything for positive feedback



Acceptance... Giovanni's only response, "she is so sweet." Note: he was utterly unimpressed with our cooking skills. Plus, we were American.



So scared...



The end result was a delicious lunch. Learning how to cook Italian food is our present to all of our friends and family. You're welcome!



The people we missed the most in class were Jeri, Kris, Nancy and Uncle Forrest. We thought of you often and we will cook for you soon. To Mike Owen, thanks for all your assistance with Italian phrases. We couldn't have gotten thru without you.
Goodbye Italy, we have loved you so.



Wish us luck we are about to embark on the infamous night train from Florence to Paris. If the gypsies don't get us, we will be blogging tomorrow from Paris.

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