Cooking Class

Last night I took at cooking class which was organized through the school I am attending. This was really fun and gave me a chance to spend time with the other students. We started with prosecco, a drink which is enjoyed before dinner preparation. Prosecco is delicious!!! It tastes like sparkling apple juice and champagne and it's a little dry. Spumante on the other hand is similar, but more fruity (equally delicious).

Because the pasta was from scratch, we didn't end up eating until 10pm even though we started preparing at 7pm. It was well worth the wait. The pasta was gnocchi pasta; I think I rolled approximately 100 pieces of pasta. The dough has potatos, lots of flour, egg and nut meg -- everything that is so good for my figure. Each little cut of dough was pressed onto a fork and quickly rolled down the fork to make a print (kind of like the fork prints in peanut butter cookies). Knowing how to do this -- now that is art!

We cut and marinated artichokes in water and lemon and just ate them raw. The sauce for the pasta (sauce is called "salsa"), was pomodoro with fresh garlic and parsley. It all sounds simple, but each bite was delicious and very rich! And of course, we all drank vino.

I am getting to know the students better -- Annie from Chicago, Sid, Mike and Ben (from Nor Cal), Pat (the oldest in the group besides me -- he's a whopping 22), Julia (my housemate) who I have come to adore, the other Julia, Sweet Claire, Alice, Amy and Allona. All are under 20 and all are from the US except Alice from London.

All of us looked "so cute" in our cooking aprons and made quite a mess cooking, but we really enjoyed the experience. Sabrina, one of my teachers was the cooking instructor and she is so lovely! By the way...the whole cooking lesson was taught in Italian, but somehow when food is involved, I retain the information better. Buon Appetito.