Yesterday our third day of house hunting proved rather more productive than the first two. We saw two places we liked and one of those we REALLY liked. If negotiations proceed as we hope we will provide more information.
After we finished viewing houses we went to an evening of cooking and eating at the International Academy of Italian Cuisine in Lucca. This is the same place I did a day at last October and it was just as much fun. The group was arranged by Mary Caselli and included a number of old friends and new acquaintances. This time the head of the school was our instructor and Gianluca was great.
The meal consisted of a salad of fresh porcini mushrooms followed by freshly made spaghetti with a porcini mushroom sauce. The main course was a guinea fowl stuffed with a sausage mixture and a sformato of cardoons. Dessert was a sweet grape filled focaccia called schiacciata.
The most interesting part was the boning of the guinea fowl which was about the size of a roasting chicken. When Gianluca asked for volunteers I was eager to help not realizing that it involved boning the chicken whole. It was a real challenge but I managed to end up with a fowl that looked like an empty suit of clothes. After I stuffed it with the sausage mixture, wrapped it in parchment paper and tied it with string it looked the same as the one Gianluca did (from the outside ).
By the time we sat down to eat, Dom and I were both pretty tired but it was a fun meal. I really harbor dreams of doing a month long course at the school. Perhaps someday.
Tomorrow we are off to Rome tomorrow for our four week sojourn there. Now the real vacation starts.
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