A great idea blossomed!

Parmesan and black olives biscuits, topped with sweet and sour red onion and a pinch of thyme

To say my week started benissimo is an understatement ,  this is not just because the sun has finally decided to arrive in Umbria but mainly because this morning I  had the pleasure and honor of cooking with a talented chef who luckily for me also happens to be a truly good friend.  Lorna Dunhill, after years of great  success in gastronomy ,has sold her London based business “ Above the Salt” and has embarked on a career as a food consultant. Working with a team of likewise people she is also involved in developing  new products for Supermarkets and restaurants in the UK.  In short, she is a known expert in the food industry, so imagine my delight when my friend decided to move and live for few months every year  in Umbria, choosing a small village not far from me.

I am telling you all this just to give you the right picture:  when together ,Lorna and I can happily spend hours endlessly discussing different combinations of ingredients, traditional recipes and revised recipes. We have been sharing this strong food passion for about five years. Suddenly today while sitting in the sunshine in the beautiful green Umbrian hills waiting for the parmesan cookies to come out of the oven, that she had kindly been showing me how to make,  a great idea blossomed  and grew with every minute.
It was after the usual moaning about the winter months , always very hard and grey in both London and  Allerona , that Lona suggested that I started holding Italian Cooking Classes  in London commencing next winter . Can you believe it? So COOL, not only a chance to go to London every couple of weeks and share my passion for Italian cuisine made with the best of Italian products but also maybe a little light shopping in the vintage clothes shops I`ve heard about. What do you think, could  this project possibly work ?

However  as we say in Italy:  Chi vivrà vedrà ( time will tell). For the moment, after having enriched our great parmesan biscuits with different experimental toppings  Lorna, Nick (the nice looking man behind the camera!) and I opened a bottle of Pinot Grigio and raised our glasses to friendship, sunshine and  positive ideas.