“The Stuff That Binds” in Dallas (Mar 4, 2013)

“Thank you for such fun cooking classes in Dallas. Annie, you are the stuff that binds (all of us),” wrote Jon, my Rome junior-year-abroad friend, after this year’s third (and final – for 2013) Dallas cooking class. Jon, your words touched me..but hold on: cooking together, too, links, binds, ties, connects. People of all ages, all backgrounds form bonds, group together as feasts come together.
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A Dallas Culinary Reunion (Mar 3, 2013)

Julie and Jo, so good to connect once again over the burners! Can it be four years ago since Julie’s cooking class (with Jo as guest)? Jo, thanks for opening your door this time – and kitchen cupboards, fridge and oven! – to an enthusiastic group (everyone bubbling away as they cooked, like that chicken simmering on the stove). Jon, mille graze to you, too – not just for acting gamely as sous-chef for three Dallas classes – but also for having me in your home, for getting me to classes (and not only) during my memorable Dallas stay. (Over forty-five years after our junior year-abroad in Rome, Italian food is still a part of our lives, vero? Now we’re cooking it together!)
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A Family Connects While Cooking – and Not Only… (Mar 2, 2013)

An early-March Lantana, Texas brought together an entire family, everyone connecting in a “culinary” way this time as they prepared our feast. Linda and John, happy to reunite with you about three years after our lunch together in our Assisi farmhouse – and over food once again. Such a pleasure to cook with all your family and thanks so much for including an old friend of mine, Jon: we’d studied together in Rome, junior-year abroad, 1968 – ’69. Logicamente, neither of us could have imagined that we’d be celebrating Italy and Italian flavors over forty-five years later in a Texas kitchen. Che bello!
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Umbrian Rural Friends Highlight a Colorado Feast (Feb 28, 2013)

“A picture is worth a thousand words”, the saying goes. Jackie and Gina proved it: a display of their Rural Life Revisited tour photos (last October with me in Umbria) launched their Parker CO cooking class. Hostess Jackie talked about their ” unforgettable day” with our rural neighbors, backdropped by the photos of our farm friends. Her talk made me feel like I was back in Umbria again while introducing our group to the goodness of our region and to the people who cook the goodness.
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Jordie’s Addition to a Denver Feast (Feb 25, 2013)

Young Jordie picked me up in Denver and on the drive to his family home for our class, his enthusiasm for cooking and Italian food prefaced a great night ahead. Mom Therese welcomed me to their home and Jordie and I set to setting out foods, pots and pans, cutting boards – and soon the guests started to arrive. The recipes called for a winter squash/sage pasta but shopper Jordie had found summer squash and zucchini and not the winter squash. Allora
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Re-uniting While Cooking in Arizona (Feb 22, 2013)

This was my second “cooking reunion” with Maureen and her mother, Therese: we had cooked together two years ago in Phoenix and they were guests. Maureen, Therese and I had reunited over the burners two years ago in Phoenix, sharing memories of our touring times together in Umbria during a cooking class. This year, another ” cooking reunion”- and Therese and husband Marc hosted the class this time. Maureen and sister Megan joined in with their husbands, aunt and uncle and family friends in putting on a feast.
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Valentine’s Day Passion in a Chico Kitchen (Feb 14, 2013)

Tom summed up what my US cooking classes are about when he wrote me this note after our Valentine’s Day class at Corin’s: “Thank you for sharing your passion of cooking with all of us.” You zeroed in on the theme, too, Linda, when you wrote ,” …what a wonderful evening …the food, laughter, cooking with friends, with you was our leader! I loved your passion for the gift of cooking” But It’s not so much a “cooking passion”: it’s a passion for Umbrian’s rural food, rural life and rural tastes coupled with the desire to share the lore.
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