Pass the Plate, Please!

So what if I've had a few glasses of wine and moscato...I LOVE Cooking Class Mondays. Last week, the students and I started the first of four cooking classes at a little family owned restaurant here in the center of Arezzo called Osteria delle Poste. Pietro, the father and chef, is the sweetest Sicilian man and not only do we love watching him effortlessly throw together plates of pasta, but it is so wonderful to see how much joy it brings him to be teaching us and enjoying everyone's company. The kitchen is usually pretty chaotic...as there are never measurements but instead ladels of crushed tomatoes...spoonfuls of minced garlic and more salt than I would ever care to know is in my food (but it's so good!). I have been trying to keep up with him so that I can put together a recipe book for everyone at the end of the class, but it is no easy task!

Tonight, we made Papa al Pomodoro (a traditional Tuscan soup with tomatoes, basil, garlic, and bread..the definition of comfort food), baked chicken with potatoes, olive oil and rosemary, Chicken Milanese (fried chicken cutlets), and homemade gnocchi with two different sauces (one cheese, one tomato). I had no idea how easy Gnocchi was to make! You just need to boil some potatoes, mash them, add some flour to roll into a dough, and slice away. It was clear that everyone felt much more comfortable tonight, joking with Pietro, carrying dishes onto the patio where we eat every week, and just relaxing to enjoy an authentic Italian meal.

It means so much to me to look around and see everyone so happy and content..and it always makes me want to work harder to make sure that they are continually given these kinds of opportunities in and outside of the classroom to really experience and to become a part of the culture. It is certainly not perfect, but there is so much beauty in that here. One of the things that I've loved about working in Italy is watching the way that it changes the students over the course of the semester-we are all so used to our busy lifestyles back home, and to come here and learn to appreciate a 3 hour dinner without feeling like you need to be somewhere else is such a gift. I hope that we can all hold onto some of this mentality at home, as I know it really is such a key to happiness and fulfillment. Some things about Italians are always funny to me....like the way that they don't know how to wait behind someone in line, or not run over your toes in the grocery store with their carts, but if you are a guest in their home you better believe you will be there for hours drinking coffee, talking, and sampling everything in their kitchens. I'd like to believe it's just because they are that genuine...nobody actually wants to wait in lines, so they just don't. Afterall, they need to rush home to make lunch or dinner for everyone!

After we finish eating, Pietro always brings out a plate of dessert and at least two bottles of sparkling wine. Afterward, his son Salvatore always asks, 'How was everything tonight?' and naturally, we all give him an enthusiastic smile as we say 'Incredibile!', hug and kiss Pietro on our way out, and tell them both how much we can't wait for next week.

Meal time in Italy has really inspired me to continue learning to cook, because I really do love nothing more than sitting around a table with the people I love and enjoying one another's company over a good meal and bottle of wine. Even if that meal means pancakes for dinner some nights...it is just so nice to have everyone together. Oh gosh, I miss pancakes. And sushi. I don't know how I'm even thinking about food after tonight's meal! Now I think I will make some tea, and sit down with my lovely new French roommate Eloise (she is the best...I am so lucky to have her here for the next few months!) to watch an old Audrey Hepburn movie in leggings and a sweatshirt. Thank you, Tuscany! Buonanotte!