Art in the Kitchen- Cooking Lessons in Tuscany

Food that looks good always tastes better!

We packed a lot into our Artfully Tasteful Tour of Tuscany. The tour was about seeing the region, painting, cooking, relaxing with guitars in the evening, and of course, EATING! Food is a huge part of the Italian culture. Love of food and cooking is what drew many of us to take part in this tour. We have been thrilled with what we've been eating and drinking here at San Fedele all week. We've also enjoyed what we were able to help prepare in the kitchen.

Our chef at San Fedele, Andreá Anichini is excellent. In addition, he is also a sommelier, but for me, what's really special about him is his great sense of humor. Bottom line: Andreá is a lot of fun. Sometimes, you might assume that if someone is an artisan in the food and wine world, they might also be a snob. No food snobs here!

A self described, " Man from Chianti", Andreá loves to laugh and tease. Butter is rare in his recipes. He usually cooks with wine, and frequently he puts it in the food!

We took a little break from touring and painting and spent some time cooking with Andrea a couple of times during our stay. Enjoy these photos of some of us in action.

Jim Ward mans the stovetop.

Ginny Ward gets some input from Andrea

Rebecca gets some direction on where to jump in from Ken

Many hands make light work

Martha Sue Henley Sledge and Becky Conwell in the kitchen making eggplant tartlets which tasted amazing!

Paul Zdybel scored the best job in the kitchen- licking the chocolate covered spoon!

Joan Chartier observes with a little of the obligatory vino di casa.

We knew we could take classes while at San Fedele, but it was such a pleasant surprise when we were informally welcome to drop into the kitchen with Andreá at any time. One of our group was such a frequent visitor to the kitchens that we teased him about being the sous chef!