(click photos twice to enlarge)
Wednesday centered on a Tuscan-style cooking lesson from Linda, which started first thing in the morning at the farmer’s market in town. Everyone got to pick some item that looked good, and we would decide later what meal to compile from the collected goodies. Linda provided some background on veggies we don’t see for sale in the U.S., such as puntarelle, agretti, zucchini blossoms, and sedano rapa (below — it’s celeriac).
The town’s community garden supplied herbs for the occasion — lemon balm, sage, rosemary, lavender.
We stopped into the Co-op supermarket to supplement the fresh produce. This pasta called out, for some reason.
We brought the market bounty back to the villa and spread it out on the table to ponder.
Linda helped everyone figure out how to create a yummy dish from the ingredients they’d selected, and the next couple of hours were a frenzy of cleaning, chopping, and cooking. Jay prepared the first course — melon soup garnished with fried prosciutto.
The collective ownership made the long leisurely lunch especially satisfying — one of the best days I’ve ever spent in Italy.
At the end of the afternoon we hopped in the van and headed to Siena for some sightseeing and shopping. I collect hand-painted Sienese ceramics with a particular geometric pattern and picked up two beautiful bowls to take home (the third was too big to lug home).
Nothing beats sitting in Il Campo with a cocktail watching the sun set.
Andy and I had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the back of the Duomo — this picture was designed specifically for sharing on social media with the caption “Neener fucking neener.”
another eye opens 
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