Culinary Heaven

Wednesday, May 28

We drive to Cortona, home of the book and movie Under the Tuscan Sun, where we 
will meet our culinary instructor.  Now Shirley is not quite what we're 
expecting. I knew she was an expat from California but the others in our group 
didn't...so I suppose they were even more surprised than me when our instructor 
is not Italian...but a little Asian woman!!

We meet in a coffee shop and discuss our menu possibilities...which seem 
endless. Then she takes us to various markets to get our meat, our vegetables, 
and other staples. We then head up to one of their homes that they use as an 
agriturismo called Il Rifugio. Wow!  What a place!!  Charm to the Nth degree!

We start cooking and we are making multiple courses at the same time. So much 
going on...and so much to learn!. We make stuffed zucchini blossoms, freshly 
baked focaccia, grilled radicchio, roasted eggplant topped with tomato and 
mozzarella, fresh cantaloupe salad, and a platter of local meats and cheeses.  
And that's just for  lunch!!  

beautiful Il Rifugio, the agritourismo where our

cooking class was held

backyard of Il Rifugio

we made these...not bad, huh?

Jacque made fabulous fresh raviolis

Then we're back to cooking. I sure hope it's 50 courses cuz I'm starving!!  
Not!!
Most of the dinner courses we began before lunch and now return to finish them.  
We made fresh ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta with a puréed vegetable 
sauce, fresh fettuccini in a Bolognese sauce, sautéed eggplant, sautéed 
mushrooms, and saltimboca.  After eating all that we're about to roll down the 
hill. 

our saltimbocca!

We go outside to take some pictures from her fabulous patio, when suddenly 
Shirley reminds us we still have to eat our dessert. Where will it fit??  But I 
must say, our tirimisu is the best I've ever eaten!

Shirley is a fabulous instructor and a very interesting person. We categorize 
her and her husband, Chuck (who is of Italian descent), as a throwback to the 
60's...tree huggers...you get the picture. But wow, can she cook!  She knows not 
only about Italian cooking, but Chinese, Thai, Indian...you name it!  She's a 
very intelligent woman, and after her retirement in the States she seems to have 
thrown all her yearning for learning into studying the Tuscan lifestyle and 
cooking techniques. 

We were with Shirley from 9:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.  Although the class is not 
inexpensive, she could not have made a fantastic hourly rate...because we were 
hopping that whole time. 

 I'm eager to get home and try to make pasta on my own and see if I can do it 
without her guidance.  But for now we'll drive back to our temporary home in 
Montepulciano where it's the dinner hour, 9:00 p.m.  Guess we should look for a 
restaurant!  Ha!