…and once again, cooking hosts also welcomed my old friends: UCB friend Nancy and her husband Neil, who had lived for years in Umbria, joined in. Neil, you did a great job handling the eggplant! All of the guests, in fact, paid serious attention to the dish each was working on. John, you handled the Sicilian chicken dish with mastery. Christopher, thanks for keeping an eye on the amaretti-stuffed apples. Porter - having hosted and/or participated in four other cooking classes with me - you once again proved an enthusiastic chef of Umbrian rural cuisine (Note: Porter and her husband now cook together in their house near Gubbio as well: cooking Umbrian led to home-owning in Umbria!)

Monique, Cindy, Paul and Michelle, and Tina, thanks to each for joining in on a memorable evening.
Nancy, we had you “sing for your supper”: many thanks for adding the musical touch to our dessert.
Linda and Tom, tante grazie - and it seems like yesterday that we toured together here in Umbria: time for a comeback!

“Good food, good conversations ….and thank your for teaching us a different way of flavor!”
John and Cindy

My final day in the U.S appropriately ended with the meeting of friends - and food!
On March 21st, junior-year-abroad-in-Rome friends gathered for a send-off brunch at the home of Roma friend, Joanie and her husband, George. Che bello! Then all helped load the luggage, crutches and me into the car taking me to Dulles. At the airport: final wheelchair delivery to a flight.

Wheelchair arrival in Rome confirmed I was back in Italy: all of us with mobility problems were corraled, quite literally, into a cordoned-off area near immigration and baggage arrival, where our wheelchair wait began…… When I was delivered there, I joined two others and within twenty minutes or so, nearly twenty of us were sitting in the area. There weren’t enough wheelchairs for all! Two women opposite me from Egypt babbled in Arabic. I chatted with an elderly Roman lady just back from Brazil with her Ukrainian caregiver (she had been knocked over by a horse at her son’s ranch in Brazil). An elderly Calabrian couple now living in New York lamented the wheelchair wait in an amusing mixture of calabrese/newyorkese. Stefano, the young man in charge, juggled his clipboard of notes and cellphone, keeping track of us all: non-mobile passengers in transit were whisked off to departing flights. Those of us who had arrived at final destination had to give precedence to those traveling on - and wait. A young woman and another young man assisted Stefano, dashing in and out now and then with wheelchairs, loading up and then heading out with their “cargo”. Stefano even knew some of those waiting, giving them warm welcomes and hugs: “What, back already from your trip? How was your visit?” One grateful elderly lady dressed in black (from Sardinia? southern Italy?) was so grateful to finally be assigned a wheelchair that she wanted to give Stefano the usual Italian sign of affection/gratitude: two cheek-kisses. Stefano, sniffling a bit from a cold, declined with a smile: “grazie, ma non sto bene“.

Nearly an hour after arrival, I was in a wheelchair, being pushed through immigration, then helped with my luggage. Ah, casa dolce casa!

Joao welcomed his crowd with Mediterranean warmth and a wide smile as he passed out aprons - inscribed for the occasion - with menus and pens tucked into the pockets. In Charlie and Mary’s spacious kitchen, many guests sliced and diced, whipped and mixed as Joao’s birthday banquet came together. Other guests happily sampled the antipastos we prepared while sipping aperitifs. Joao added his own touch to our Italian antipastos: a tasty Portugese sausage.

We all gathered in the dining room, balloons festooning the tables, for our Umbrian banquet in Joao’s honor. As huge serving dishes laden with winter squash pasta then a flavorful meat course, then the side dishes circulated, guests launched toasts and speeches. After multiple courses, not just tiramisu closed this birthday feast but also a cake with Joao’s portrait on it! Has anyone ever been so fêted at age sixty!?

As this joyous evening drew to a close, Joanie, another “Rome-years” friend, and her husband George dropped by to pick me up - and joined in the gran finale as Joao generously made sure that they sampled a bit of each dish we had made that evening. The party was just beginning when the three of us toasted Joao and headed for home. Buon Compleanno, Joao and thanks for including me in your milestone feast!

Joao wrote me this note of thanks:

“Oh Anne, it was such a nice dinner event and birthday celebration and just what
I had envisioned it being. The mission was accomplished and with flare …
I am so glad you were part of my 60th birthday festa. You made it special and
unique adventure. Everyone is still talking about the fun they had.

Thank you so, so , so much!

It feels like I was in a dream. Was I?”

Joao

The flight to Charlotte, North Carolina was a short one and host Rhea awaited with a warm welcome.
Having toured and cooked with me in Umbria, Rhea and husband Mark were ready for an encore: this time with two cooking classes at their lovely Charlotte home. A simpatico group gathered for the first class that night: many were work colleagues of Mark, who is a doctor. But not only: I finally met Trish and John and Bryan, too. We’d been corresponding via email on their upcoming May trip to Umbria. Now we could do some face-to-face trip-planning….over cutting boards!

After my DVD introduction on Umbrian rural cuisine, we all moved into the kitchen to cook: everyone donned aprons, grabbed a knife and pitched right in. Our meal came together rapidly in an atmosphere of buoyant collaboration. Dr. Ilya, good chopping and you’ve mastered the art of the Italian salad. Darryl and Steve, your fidelity to all the dishes on the stove was commendable! Emily, thanks for juggling the camera with spoons and knives….and Dr. Mitch, thanks for taking the time after dinner to check my injured ankle!

March 17th was a pause day and gave me time to meet a cousin: another Anne Marie Robichaud! As I had learned while at the Congrés Mondial Acadien in Nova Scotia, 2003 with my brother Bill and son, Keegan, all of us Robichauds are descendants of Louis Robichaud who emigrated to Canada in the early 17th century. Bill and I had relished meeting hundreds of Robichaud cousins in Nova Scotia. I certainly never expected to cook with a Robichaud cousin - also called “Anne Marie” - in North Carolina!! After lunch together with Rhea, my “cousin” Anne Marie and I toured the Charlotte art museum together. The day wound up with Rhea and Mark at a superb Indian restaurant (for me, a nice change from italiano!). Grazie, Mark and Rhea!

Anne Marie also joined in Mark and Rhea’s second cooking class on March 18th. A new group, a new menu, but once again, enthusiastic participation on the part of all. Eileen and Scott, so good to reconnect in Charlotte and relive a bit our time together in Umbria. Mechelle, mamma mia, it would have been impossible to detach you from those burners! Glad you feel ready now to cook that entire meal on your own. And wasn’t Rhea kind to send home with you a “take-away” plate of all we cooked for your fiancé who couldn’t make it? Fred, aren’t you now more proud than ever of your Italian heritage?! Anne, Paul, Rita, Roger, Christina, Laura and all, thanks for sharing the evening.

Rhea and Mark, mille grazie just won’t do it. Un milione di grazie falls short, too!
(To view photos of cooking classes with Mark and Rhea click here)

Comments:

“This evening was the most culinary and social evening I can remember in quite some time……….I want to go to Umbria!” Steve

“What a fun evening of eating, drinking and merriment!” Emily M

“…. thank you for an incredible evening of education and entertainment…..I am so fascinated by you and your life (and) I so look forward to more of your stories and incredible recipes.” Mechelle D.

“What a wonderful evening of food and company…My four sons need to learn to cook. You have a God-given gift. Thank you for sharing it.”
Fred D.

“I have waited a long time for this night. These two nights of food and fun have been better than I could have ever expected. I thank you for bringing …friends back into my home”. Rhea V.ack into my home”. Rhea V.

“I am so happy that you came to us! I hope this continues into a long long relationship. Dinner was fantastic. The class was great. The experience was bellissimo! Mille grazie!” Judy and Bob E.

“We have really looked forward to this evening and it was more fun than we would have imagined! All of your insights into kitchen life and cooking were so interesting, and your ability to direct all of the hands in the kitchen was amazing - thank you so much for a memorable and delicious evening!” Carol and Michael J.

Delicious meal and great company brightened up a dreary rainy evening. Bad weather continued and incessant rain made the next day the greatest challenge of the trip. Thankfully, friends drove me and my luggage to the Penn Station on March 13th for the train to Philadelphia: wheelchair delivery to the train and wheelchair transfer in Philadelphia to the train for Landsdale, with Red Cap assistance for my luggage. No station as far as I could see in Lansdale which means - in this case - that I could not see far at all due to the torrential rains.

A conductor was getting off at my Lansdale stop and ran my suitcase through the rain. I covered my head with a scarf and hobbled with crutches through puddles, aircast on the sprained ankle getting soaked as the shoe on the other foot filled up.

My cooking class host, Gina, honked at the conductor who headed towards her car with my suitcase (the wind had turned her umbrella inside out so rescue was impossible). He dropped it and ran. Tiny Gina was out of that car in the deluge and threw the suitcase into the back, i have-no-idea-how. She knew me right away (”just look for the crutches”).

Gina and her husband James warmly welcomed me into their home and their boxer Diesel gave me a rousing welcome. I rested from the odyssey and then the guests arrived, though two could not make it due to the storm: trees down on New Jersey roads blocked their route. James and Gina’s cooking group soon filled the kitchen with good cheer as we sliced and diced, mixed and amalgamated and enjoyed the antipastos we made as we cooked the main course.

The enthusiasm and eager participation of all those young couples refreshed and recharged me - and lit up that dreary rainy day! Mille grazie, Gina, James….and all!

“Absolutely wonderful! Simple, easy, quick recipes that can be used everyday. Loved the hands-on preparation. Great food! Great company!” - Frank and Sharon P.

“Thank you so much for such a wonderful experience! True Umbrian cooking is so delicious and enjoying the meal we cooked was a real treat. We look forward to making y our recipes at home.” - Carolyn and Marshall O.

“Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and talents with us. Looking forward to sharing the recipes and techniques with family and friends…..you are an inspiration!” - Sue and Dennis W.

“…. how much we enjoyed the cooking experience with you at Gina and James’ house in Pennsylvania. What a treat it was with such great food, friends, conversation and learning about your little pearl of the world. It definitely confirmed the desire for my husband, Brian, and I to travel to Italy and more specifically Umbria. Until then, thank you for bringing a little piece of Italy to us! Ciao, Trisha T

“Thank you so much for the amazing experience…” - Gina and James (my hosts)

Right from the start, I had slipped in a few extra days in New York into my itinerary, planning to walk the city and explore my favorite museums. My fall down the stair while in Pittsburgh changed all that: still on
crutches in New York this time around. A wheelchair delivered me to the train from Penn Station to Saratoga Springs for my lecture at the home of Ashley’s parents.

Prior to my talk, “Italians, HANDS ON!”, guests shared Italian antipastos and prosecco and Ashley set out biscotti in the living room for “post-talk” dessert. Not sure who most enjoyed the evening: the guests or
Murphy, the family dog, who finished off the biscotti during my talk - and then slept off his feast on the kitchen floor.

…and now a word from hostess, Beth: “These are my best friends in all the world - you added to our collective life history and that is what was the most wonderful thing of all - and the food . See you next year”
Beth

I arrived before the guests and discarded my crutches, sat up on a high chair with leg extended and helped Allison prep all the ingredients before her guests arrived. Husband Patrice had fled for this class: not a “couples” event this year but “just the girls”. And what a delightful group of Allison friends and co-workers - and all welcomed Kathryn who had read about my New York stop on the Net and had called Allison for a spot. Allison’s small New York apartment was quickly filled with animated chatter as nearly every woman set to work, after donning a new apron, a gift from hostess Allison.
Allison’s small New York kitchen quickly filled with activity: the chopping of the mint and basil for the stuffed tomatoes, tossing of the cauliflower with almonds and raisins for the pasta, the crushing the amaretti for the wine-soaked baked apples….

Every cooking class has its hilarious moments and this one was no exception: at a certain point, I knew I was missing half the cauliflower we needed for the pasta sauce. Trying to keep order and make room in her kitchen, Allison had pitched all the cauliflower stalks cut into pieces, leaving only the flowerets to cook. “Allison”, I reprimanded, “you are obviously not one of my rural farm neighbors who uses absolutely everyting and discards nothing!” The stalks were retrieved and washed and our “pasta al cavolfiore” would have pleased even Signora Vincenza, my dear Sicilian mother-in-law who had first taught me to make it. Allison, she would even have loved our substitution of the pinenuts with slivered almonds!

Comments from guests:

“Delish!…I had such a wonderful time, meeting you, cooking with you and learning from you….look forward to the next time!” Ann

“Annie, thank you for sharing your passion and knowledge of all things Italian! What a wonderful evening!” Andrea P

This year I arrived in Pittsburgh from Milwaukee (with a 2-day stop for family visits) on February 3 and the snowfall dumps of the weeks before were all around: parking lots were filled with huge gray and black mounds of snow. My warm and welcoming hosts George and Michelle gathered a group of extraordinary friends for a welcome dinner at a charming restaurant in Greensburg, PA where they live.

I had met Michelle a few years ago in Assisi where she was studying Italian on sabbatical from her teaching position at Westmoreland County College in Greensburg. As soon as I met George and Michelle’s group of friends, I knew I was in for a treat. The next morning Kay and Skip - who had been at the welcome dinner - took me to Pittsburgh (my first visit) for food shopping in “the Strip”, the city’s “Little Italy.” After an espresso and a chat in italiano with elderly men playing cards in a local cafe’, we shopped in small, characteristic markets in preparation for the next night’s cooking class. Lunch at Lidia’s Pittsburgh restaurant: buonissimo. After lunch, we visited the Carnegie Museum of Art and then back to Greensburg for my lecture at the College.

Michelle and collaborators had worked months to create an amazing event that drew an enthusiastic crowd. Michelle’s students helped me set up for my Powerpoint talk while others welcomed guests, added last-minute touches to the colorful directions, sold tickets to the auction benefit (to raise money for student scholarships in Italy) and passed out programs and my lecture handout. The warm response to my lecture carried over to the post-lecture biscotti/coffee reception. Even the local TV and newspaper people joined in (and here is the article on my talk).

Michelle, sei grande!

I had plans to explore Greensburg with Kay and Michelle the next day, March 5th but never made it: a tumble down the stairs at Michelle and George’s house ended with a visit to the doctor’s, x-rays, an ankle splint and crutches for a severely sprained ankle. But…the cooking class that night at the home of Vince and Patti went on as scheduled. Patti and Vince had also toured with me in Italy years ago, along with one of their two sons (who also joined in our class). George and Michelle were there, as well my “Pittsburgh guides”, Skip and Kay, Kay’s husband, Joe, 14-year-old Lilli (who was at my side all night - and I’m sure could replicate the whole dinner on her own) and other friends — this jovial and boisterous group I orchestrated as best I could from a high chair in the kitchen with my leg stretched out and ice on top of my ankle! As I tried to oversee the happy chaos and confusion from my chair, Italian-American host Vince threw up his hands and said - “I didn’t know this night was going to be like having my Nonna back!”

…and now a few comments:
“Life blesses us with unique experiences - and you have added another level of life to our world - we thank you and love you and hope that we will be together again” Vince and Patti (cooking hosts).

“Anne, how lucky are we to have met you in Assisi! Our life is enhanced because of you. We loved your lecture and the dinner… grazie mille. Chie trova un’amica trova un tesoro. Noi amiamo te molto.” George and Michelle (my hosts).