The Most AMAZING Cooking Class

We have officially had our single best experience in Italy! Everyone who comes to Florence must take advantage of the cooking class at the Villa Monteoriolo! When we (Tim and Florann were with us!) arrived at the villa, we met Eleonora, our amazing hostess and teacher, who gave us a tour of the entire property. She showed us the inside of the villa, the vineyards, and her family's cellar where she stores her homemade olive oil. After spending some time relaxing by the pool, we made our way into the kitchen. We started the evening by learning how to make pasta noodles from scratch, and we made homemade ravioli with a delicious ricotta cheese and basil filling. These were covered with a tasty tomato sauce. We also made an incredible rub which we used to season pork tenderloin and roasted potatoes. As we were cooking, we had incredible white wine that was made from a local vineyard and pecorino cheese. We ate our freshly cooked food in the large candle-lit dining room in the villa. After dinner, we all went out onto the terrace and enjoyed our homemade peach tiramisu and some amazing dessert wine. It was such a treat! We fully intend to stay in contact with Eleonora, and we are hoping to take another class from her before we leave.

Our friend Kendall came into town for a couple of days, and she treated us to the best dinner we have had here yet! We enjoyed their famous balsamic and blueberry steaks. To die for!!! It is officially our new favorite restaurant! We made friends with the people at the table next to us, and we all went out together after dinner. It was a blast!

The traveling is officially beginning today! We are taking off for Southern Italy, Greece, the French Riviera and Germany. We could not be more excited! We are looking to do some exploring of these new places and then a lot of relaxing on the beach. To end the trip, we are going to visit our friend Mari in Germany. We will be out of touch for a while, but we will definitely have some fun updates when we return.