Cooking pasta and more

On Tuesday, I attended an Italian cooking class. It was the neatest experience. The participants mainly consisted of Navy wives, but there was one brave husband who went also.

We began our trip by taking a bus to a local town at the top of a mountain near the base. I thought we would never reach the top. The bus kept climbing and increasing altitude. Our tour guide had warned us that some of us may need a bag if we get car sick easily. Thank goodness, I was okay.

When we arrived at our destination, we were so high up that Mt. Etna seemed to be at eye level. Usually we have to crane our necks up to gaze at it. The restaurant was a quaint building that somewhat looked like a small castle. It was a family owned and operated restaurant.

Two Italian women taught our class. They had a long table set up for us with several bowls of different ingredients. Since neither of the women spoke English, our tour guide translated for us. It was so much fun. We learned to make Pasta al Forno (pasta with meat) and Crispelle (a fried dough dessert).

After we finished preparing our dishes, we sat down to a 5 course meal. We had antipasti first (Italian for appetizers): fried ricotta cheese, artichokes, fried eggplant, asparagus, and bread. Then we had our first pasta, which was the pasta we had prepared. Then we were served a second pasta, much like spaghetti. We were then brought all sorts of meat: lamb chops, sausages, steak, and beef. As we were all about to explode, they brought out dessert: crispelles and canoli.

Needless to say, I did not have to eat dinner that night! It was such an amazing feast. As we were walking out the door, our fabulous Italian cooks gave us a wrapped pan of the pasta that we had made to take home. This trip was well worth the experience and the pasta!