A dream come true...

We both love Italian food, and especially pasta, but how do you make good pasta? You get an expert to teach you.

Meet Arianne, her mama and her partner Maritsio (Mari), hovering in the back ground. Arianne is sweet spirited, soft spoken, funny, and so personable. Mari was the exact opposite and they were a hoot together. Mama was very quiet, patient, and even though she didn't speak a word of english, we always knew exactly what she was saying, just by her gestures and expressions. They were perfect.

Arianne was the chef at our dinner party several nights earlier at the villa and she was an absolute delight. We had already booked an evening with her to make pasta, and a traditional Italian dinner and after that first dinner, I could hardly wait. Originally, it was just Keith and I, but another family of four asked if they could join us. Absolutely, the more the merrier.

Let me make this very clear - I was in heaven!!!! I have wanted to do this my whole adult life and I enjoyed every moment.

We arrived at 4:30 and jumped right in. First thing, get the Bolonaise started as it takes three hours to cook.

Mari made sure we all understood, olive oil is like rain, it is necessary for every living thing. The top picture is the beginning process, the bottom is the finished product without the tomatoes.

This is David and his wife Stephanie from Germany. While the sauces were started, it was important to construct the dessert - Tiramisu - to get it in the refrigerator … I don't need to say anything more!

Next, prepare the dough for the spinach/ricotta ravioli. This is Horst (a retired firefighter from Germany) working the dough. Once this was done, we created a second batch for the fettucini. One dough is more firm than the other so they had to be done separately. I don't know how I missed it, but Keith was the first one at the dough press and I didn't get a picture. It was an art and he became very proficient at it.

These were ready for the cutter - not difficult, but quite the production under Mama's help and watchful eye.

While this was occuring, the girls were making the ingrediants for Bruschetta, and the zuchinni/cashew pesto for the vegetarians in the group.

The table was set, the wine was poured and it was finally time to eat. It was 9:30 pm… we'd been cooking for 5 hours and it went by so fast. But we were all so hungry - we couldn't wait. The meal started with the Bruschetta, then the raviolis, followed by the fettucini, and ending with Tiramisu. Oh, and we can't forget the wine… and wine… and wine!

Just before dessert was served, the wind picked up, so the table was moved over to the patio and we continued our evening in a little more comfort. We didn't want the evening to end.

Arianne has an organic farm where she grows most of her own ingrediants. She also built her home 12 years ago patterning it after her parents old home. It was absolutely beautiful. Her family lives in the big house and her mom and sister live in a smaller home on the same property. I wanted to move in and just stay there.

The evening had finally come to an end and we had to say our good byes and head home. It was 11:30 pm when we left and if felt like 8:00. We were tired, but just didn't want the night to end. It was magical! I couldn't have dreamed of a more beautiful experience. We can't wait to get home and recreate it for our next dinner party. Yes, we get all the recipes too…. SO MUCH FUN!

But wait… we had one more encounter with a Pheasant. Just after we sat down to eat, we looked over into the field and there he was.