Tuscan Cooking Class - Day 8

This will be a shorter post as we are running out of time here in Florence and still so much to see, do and eat! The food in Italy is spectacular so we decided to take a full day cooking class up in the Tuscan hills overlooking Florence. There are quite a few to choose from but we had gotten a recommendation from my son Tom and his girlfriend Anna and her parents to book with Walkabout for the Cooking Class at a Farmhouse in Tuscany. It’s a full day. You meet the group and walk to the Central Market with the chef to buy the ingredients you will cook the dinner with, and that alone was a fun experience. We hadn’t gotten over to the market but if you have time it is worth a stop. Main level are all the food shops and the second floor is a great food court. 

One of the chefs Issac at a cheese shop explaining and buying the cheeses we needed. The lower left is tripe. Ugh!! I had to post the fun stuff - there were gorgeous fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, breads, flowers etc. Super clean and so tempting.

Then we hopped on a bus to take us up into the hills overlooking Florence to the beautiful grounds and excellent kitchen where we would prepare the amazing meal we would all enjoy together. The menu was bruschetta, pesto pasta, bologanese pasta, roast pork, roasted potatoes and tiramisu. Yes we made and ate all that!! And everything from scratch including the pasta!!! I hardly ever cook so I learned a lot and we had a great time.

Pasta is only flour and egg - who knew!!! That’s Julie with her flour and egg. And me when I got mine to roll out and then the finished product!! Easier than I would have thought and so delicious. I have to admit I was pretty proud!

We met some great people and all enjoyed the fantastic meal together along with plenty of good Chianti wine. And we each made our own tiramisu and had to decorate the top so that we would know which was ours. 

Theat’s Julie’s and mine. So good and really not hard. The grounds of the farm were beautiful. 

And after dinner we each got a certificate of completion. I passed!! Not sure I will make homemade pasta again but there’s a chance.

Issac and Carmela were awesome. She didn’t speak English so Issac was chef and translator. She had so much energy and kept hugging and kissing us. I love the zest and enjoyment of life so many of the Italians display. It makes you feel so joyful.

We did the Rick Steve’s walking tour of Florence last night and got to see it with the lights. So much history. Florence hasn’t changed much since the early 1300’s. 

The jewelry shops on the Ponte Vecchio all closed up. Our evening pizza!! So delicious and cheap. The city at night. Beautiful.

One more day here before we are moving on. I’m going to enjoy every second. Thanks for coming along!