Cooking School in Casperia

The students getting ready.

Desert course - custard base needed cooling.

Now pasta course. 

Chin Chin came in for a drink. He was one of five cats that came to visit.

Paula showing how to roll the pasta dough.

Now making ravioli.

Kate tries it too.

Anna gets in on the fun.

Main course - chicken, jambon crus and parmesan.

Someone got a bit messy.

Now we eat.

Our creation.

Now desert.

On Sunday evening, we attended cooking school at Scuola di Cucina Gusto al Borgo under the guidance of chef Paula. What a fabulous evening. We prepared three of the courses of a three-course meal. We started with Semifreddo, a custard based dish. Then, we moved on to preparing the pasta, which was a ricotta and spinach stuffed ravioli. For the main plate, we made a breaded chicken cutlet baked with prosciutto and Parmesan. The cooks got to drink wine made by Paula's husband - a blend of sangiovesi and merlot. We were entertained at dinner by four of Paula's five cats, our favorite being Chin Chin. The whole evening took over five hours and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Christmas Markets in Alsace

Colmar - the crew ready to do some shopping.

First things first - cheese and potatoes to give energy. One never feels cold after eating this.

Steve taking it all in.

When in France.....

And they are so good.

Kaysersburgs.

Kaysersburg.

Domaine Mittnacht.

Tasting with Mark, Sylvie and Charlotte.

Hunawihr.

Lunch - delicious.

Outside the restaurant. Sylvie's father was born here.

We took a hike from Hunawihr to Ribeauville.

Ribeauville's medieval market.

Great idea - fire burns the log from inside.

Ribeauville.

Ribeauville.

Good news - Ribeauville and Hunawihr are on the Camino!!

Rosacker Grand Crus vineyard.

While in Salamanca, we met Mark and Sylvie Killian. They were staying at the same hotel and we noticed that they were speaking French. Our casual "bonjours" turned into more and more conversation. We learned that Mark and Sylvie live in France, just outside of Basel, Switzerland. They are both wine lovers and, while tasting Spanish wines with them in Salamanca, we discovered that Sylvie’s' family owns and operates Domaine Mittnacht in Hunawihr, a small village next to Ribeauville. Mark and Sylvie invited us to visit them and we said we would.

Alsace is famous for its Christmas markets. So we decided to combine a visit to the Christmas markets in Colmar and Kaysersberg with an Alsatian food and wine experience with our newfound friends. Next-door neighbor Camilla Trentini came with us to round out the fun

The Colmar Christmas market was huge and hugely populated. There were five completely different Christmas markets that lined the streets of Colmar. It was chilly so we warmed-up with gluhwein and the famous Alsatian gratin-styled potatoes. Full, warm and happy we departed for Orbey to meet the proprietors of our lodging for the evening. The bed and breakfast was really a rented room in the home of a lovely French couple, who spoke only French. Between Maria and Steve's french, we got along and had lovely conversations about their families, the region and our experiences in Suisse.

We had dinner that evening in Kayserberg – an impossibly cute Alsatian village. It also had a Christmas market. This small village, sitting in the shadows of an ancient castle, get a top score on the cuteness chart. We had dinner there – more potatoes and cheese accompanied with a nice Riesling.

Having said au revoir to our hosts, we headed to Hubinwihr to meet Mark and Sylvie at Domaine Mittnacht. Sylvie’s cousin Christopher hosted the tasting and gave us a broad sampling of the wines, including a 1998 Grand Crus Rosacker vineyard Riesling. It was amazing and shows that white wines can age well too. We also got to meet Mark and Sylvie’s daughter, Charlotte.

Following the tasting we headed to a small restaurant located in Sylvie’s childhood home. The food was fantastic and we dined as if we were with rock stars. The people were so nice and the traditional Alsatian cuisine was fantastic. After lunch, we hiked through the vineyards to Ribeauville to see the medieval-themed Christmas market (and to walk off a bit of lunch). It was a beautiful hike and gave us a chance to talk (mostly in French) about the life and times of each family.

It was a fantastic weekend. We look forward to a return trip for a special tasting dinner prepared by Christopher and his wife. Until then, we will think of the people and cuisine of Alsace when we raise our glasses of Riesling or Gewürztraminer. 

Our Italian Christmas: Milan

Restaurant in Settimo Vittone.

Anna and Kate enjoying gnocchi.

This pan disappeared within minutes - note the butter - yumm.

Unique interior - decked-out for the holidays.

Maria's soup - we weren't always sure what we were going to get. No english anywhere! It was amazing.

Milan Duomo - so ornate - not surprised it took 600 years to complete.

View from the roof of the Milan Duomo.

Steve and kids on the roof of the Duomo di Milan.

Kate - happy as always.

The girls taking in the sites.

Lola - 100% love.

Our hosts in Pavia - lovely people.

Family photo on the Duomo.

Milan Duomo and Christmas market.

Lots of photos I know - but this place was amazing.

Finally down in the Christmas market for some last minute shopping.

Right after seeing da Vinci's Last Supper.

Castello in Milan.

Inside the home of Juan Carlo and Gabriella - our hosts in Pavia.

Breakfast Pavia style - delicious.

We have made no secret about how much the family loves Italy. So we decided to combine celebrating our favorite holiday of the year with new adventures in one of our favorite places to visit. We started the journey with a visit to Milan.

As is our tradition when traveling to Italy through Aosta in the evenings, we stop in Settimo Vittone for dinner. This visit we ate at Osteria La Sosta. And like previous stops in Settimo Vittone, nobody spoke english. We ordered gnocchi with burro for the kids - and then re-orderd more because it was so good. Steve and Maria were adventurous and ordered from the menu without really knowing what we ordered. We just waited to see what came out. The food was great; it is always a nice feeling to spend time in the village where Maria's family is from.

Milan is bustling during the holidays and affordable hotel accommodations were hard to come by. So we stayed in Pavia, a city rich with Italian history and known for its universities and being the capital of the Kingdom of the Lombards. We didn't have time to explore the culture treasures Pavia had to offer, but we experience the kindness of its people and fantastic cuisine. We stayed at an old farm that has been converted into a bed and breakfast by Gabriella and Gian Carlo Carena, retired architects who now run the B&B. Even Lola the golden retriever was as nice as could be. Though most of the discussion was in French, we enjoyed our time at this retreat from the bustling life in Milan. Juan Carol is an accomplished artist as well. They were wonderful people.

Milan has many attractions. We wanted to see da Vinci's masterpiece,"Last Supper". We learned from other friends that reservations well in advance are a must and thanks to Maria's diligence, we secured tickets. It was an awe-inspiring treat to see the real painting that has been the subject of so many pictures in history books. After that we walked the streets of Milan and the Castillo. We then headed to see the Duomo and see if we could do some last-minute Christmas shopping in Milan's famous shopping districts. The Duomo di Milan was amazing. We purchased tickets (using the elevator to avoid 252 steps) to go the roof. The views of Milan were amazing and we were also able to get close to the ornate sculptures that make-up this beautiful building. We can understand why it took nearly 600 years to finish, beginning in 1386 and finishing only relatively recently in 1965.

A Christmas market was set-up in the square around the Duomo. Kate and Steve went shopping together to find last-minute gifts. Anna and Maria did the same. It was fun to see the different foods and gifts at this market in comparison to Colmar. 

We rewarded our hard days work with dinner at AnticaTrattoria Ferarri in Pavia. The food was great. As we relaxed we enjoyed watching the Italians enjoying their evenings and food. The next morning we said good bye to Juan Carlo, Gabriella and Lola and headed south to Casperia.