In preparation for our upcoming trip to Rome, we attended an Italian cooking class on Saturday. It wasn't so much a "class" as it was a social gathering. Elsa, the instructor, gets someone to volunteer their home for the get together and a bunch of people sign up to come and bring a bottle of wine. Elsa demonstrates each recipe and everybody gets a little plate of each menu item.

Saturday nights event featured a stuffed bread antipasti - like a little sandwich actually - a ciabatta bread with tomatoes and cheese and another one with anchovies and cheese; a primo of spaghetti w/red sauce and sauteed zucchini followed by a Segundo of chicken cacciatore which veered far from any chicken cacciatore I've ever had. This one featured chicken legs sauteed with onions, carrots, garlic and olive oil, yummy, but very different from what I expected. We also had tiramisu for dessert. All the food was very good and there were a lot of people, probably about a dozen couples!

We met some nice people, including a sweet young couple, Betsy and Eric, recently transplanted from Washington, DC. We exchanged phone numbers with them and hope to have them over for a Soprano's night sometime soon along with our friends Jen and Rob.