Two Loves: Cooking Class in Firenze and the LOVE of Family...

Last Monday was an AMAZING day.

My italian class had our 'corsa di cucina' which is where instead of being stuck in a classroom all day, we got to cook Florentine dishes made from scratch. Every Italian class has one class throughout the semester that is a cooking class, and ours happened to be last Monday. It was SO much fun and I even got an apron that I get to keep!

We made 4 different Tuscan dishes that I have the recipes for and cannot WAIT to bring my knowledge back home and try it out on my family. Pappa al Pomodoro, Tuscan pork loin, amazing potatoes that have a special name I just cannot remember, and the ever famous Tuscan biscottis: Cantuccini. These were probably my favorite. They tasted the BEST too. At the store, these biscottis run about 5 or 6 euro for a bag of about 15 of them. They are extremely expensive, but SO good. We made a batch of about 150 in my class that tasted better than anything you could buy at the store-probably because when you make it yourself, you're that much more proud of your work and it tastes even better, too.

Later that evening, my ever loving Aunt Gay and Uncle Thom took a train down from northern Italy to meet me in Florence. Having family here...there are no words to describe it. It is literally the best feeling in the world. I absolutely adored every single second I spent with them and even though our time was short, it was perfect. I LOVE them SO incredibly much and I cannot thank them enough for coming down to see me, take me out to dinner, and spend that precious time together. It was wonderful to show my family my city and I got so excited that I was able to share this amazing place with them. It also shocked me at how much I have learned about this city from living here. I got to share so much of Florence's history and I didn't realize how much I have learned from this city just from being here.

It was a wonderful day, wonderful start to my week and I cannot thank them enough. Thank you SO much Uncle Gay and Aunt Thom =) I love you so much and will cherish our day in Florence together, forever!