We learned to cook Italian.

Oct. 18

10 months later, we finally redeemed a Christmas present for an Italian cooking class at Al Boccalini's  in Seattle. Al didn't teach the class, but we saw him pass by during the class. His Italian accent was as thick as his Italian mustache. He said he, "lika the pasta right whennit comma outta the pot". He had a charisma and charm about him that said, "Put me on a reality tv show. People want to watch me. I'm ready."

The chefs-in-training:
My mom & dad
Uncle Mark
David & I
8 other people in the class

The menu:
Piadina - Italian flat bread topped with sautéed mushrooms and rosemary
Angel hair pasta in amatriciana sauce with pecorino romano cheese
Baby romaine salad topped with a red wine vinaigrette
Chicken scaloppini
Mixed berries with whipped cream and orange zest

David learning to make the Piadina.

Sautéing the onions for the pasta sauce.

Our instructor in the black shirt.  He liked the pop quiz way to teach. "Why do we stretch the dough?" *waits for everyone in the class to get it wrong* "Because of the gluten strands". There was a lot of waiting for wrong answers in this class. We don't know the difference between cheeses, that's why we're here.  He was not ready for a reality show.

Everyone got to help make the meal.

Finally, ready to eat.

In this last picture we were able to capture the meal, myself, David. We were also photo bombed by a thumb (which looks like a blazing sun entering the picture).  Thanks mom. :)

We had a fun time and a great meal!