A little taste of Italy

You might think that Jim and I have been taking it easy between the summer and winter seasons, and probably going on holiday ourselves. However, as we are always thinking of you, our esteemed guests, we recently embarked on an Italian cookery course. Which, well yes, was in Italy!

Cat in the kitchen

We both love Italian food, and thought that a fabulous Italian meal would be a great addition to our menu in the chalet. Thankfully, we knew just the place to go to learn the art of pasta-making and the like.

Last year we spent our honeymoon in Italy (because we like the food so much), where we stayed with the lovely Lismay at her B&B. Lismay runs Villa Anne, where she caters for guests from her beautiful home on the outskirts of Rome. Her garden is full of olive, lemon and orange trees, and she herself is a trained Italian chef and a wonderful hostess.
Learning to cook Italian food

During our stay last week we went to visit the local olive press where we watched the fascinating process of cleaning, grinding, pulping and pressing the olives, until the beautiful yellow oil poured out. Of course olive oil is central to Italian cooking, so we bought some of this lovely local extra virgin oil to use in the chalet this winter.
Learning to cook Italian food

The cookery course was great fun and Jim and I feel that we’ve definitely added to our culinary repertoire. So thanks to Lismay, we’ll be cooking up an Italian feast for one night of your stay: Maybe homemade gnocchi for starters, mozarella chicken or meatballs for the main, and a luscious tiramisu for dessert. Bellissimo!!

Learning to cook Italian food