To My Cincinnati Students and Friends: Come Along to Italy and the Road Less Traveled

This post is for my CooksWares students, and friends who have heard me talk so much about my love for Italy, our adopted hometown of Spello and the Italians.  Come along next May for the trip I've been wanting to take you on for years.  We will see beautiful hill towns, experience uncrowded villages, and end the trip in Rome.  It will be a week packed with food, wine, and culture, with a bit of time for shopping and relaxing, as well.  Umbria is the road less traveled, not nearly as overrun with tourists, its pleasures are many, and you will experience them all.  So, take a look at the brochure and get your deposit in soon.  I am leading this trip for another school in October, and it sold out in a week.  Space is limited, so come along and we'll experience a culinary trip designed just for you.

 -Highlights of this Small Custom Group Tour- May 13-22, 2017

•Rome:  1 Night Hilton Airport on arrival day, Classic rooms 

•Todi:  5 Nights Hotel Bramante,  Deluxe rooms with valley view 

•Rome:  2 Nights Hotel 47,  Deluxe rooms 

•All Breakfasts    •5 Lunches   •4 Dinners (one at a Michelin-starred restaurant) 

•5 Cooking Classes     •Cheese-making demonstration     •Truffle hunt 

•Guided tour of Assisi     •4 casual Town visits     •Private Vatican Tour

                                                               
                                      

Our first full day, we will have a cooking class at the hotel with their renown chef, and lunch.  After a brief rest, we will head to Assisi, the home of St. Francis, the patron saint of Italy for a private tour, and dinner on your own.

Day two we will head to Pienza to a working farm, and watch as pecorino cheese is being made, and then enjoy lunch at the farm.  Pienza is the home of the best Pecorino in Italy.

After lunch a short trip to Montepulciano, and a walk about before returning to Todi and dinner at the Michelin starred restaurant Casa Vissani.  

Day 3 takes us to Citta' di Castello in northern Umbria for a truffle hunt, visit to the truffle museum and then a truffle lunch.  We will return to Todi, dinner will be on your own.

Day 4 we will travel to the capital of Perugia, and participate in a hands on chocolate class at Perugina, directed by their master chocolatier.

After the class we will head to Spello (my adopted hometown) and have a wine and olive oil tasting and lunch at Enoteca Properzio, one of the top 3 wine bars in Italy, owned by my family, the Angelini's. Wine and olive oils are available for shipment home.

On our return to Todi, we will stop in Deruta for a ceramics demonstration and time to shop for ceramics. Dinner on your own.

Day 5 we will check out of our hotel in Todi and head to Rome.  On our way into Rome we will stop at Eataly, a 4 story food emporium for lunch on your own (there are 18 restaurants in the store) and time to shop for goodies to take home.

We will arrive at our hotel, and in the afternoon be taken to a pizza class.  Dinner will be your very own creation.  

Day 6, after an early breakfast, we will be transferred to the Vatican for a private morning tour of the Vatican museums, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. The rest of the day will be at your leisure to explore the eternal city.

 Day 7, Check out and transfer to the airport.

Our travel agent will be happy to arrange before and after tour extensions for you.
Since space is limited, a non-refundable deposit will be required by July 21, 2016
COST IS FOR THE LAND PORTION ONLY:  Merlene will be happy to arrange airfare.

Pricing, not including Air:  Euros 3670 - Per Person, Double Occupancy (Approximately $4168 at exchange rate on June 6, 2016)
Single Occupancy (two spots, subject to availability) - Euros 4135  (Charges to your credit card will be in U.S. dollars equal to the active Euro exchange rate on the date that your payments process.  No foreign exchange fee charges will be incurred for the conversion from Euros to U.S. dollars)   
Respond Quickly – This special tour is Limited to 20 participants! Note:  The group minimum for this experience is 16 participants.  If for some reason group numbers fall below  the minimum requirement, extra costs may apply.   
Payment Dates Deposit Deadline:   July 21, 2016 Final Payment Deadline:  January 20, 2017
*Non-refundable Deposit:   Per Person double - Euros 1650;   Single - Euros 1800 *Travel insurance is available for purchase and is strongly recommended. Should you have to cancel for a ‘covered’ reason, non-refundable trip costs may be refunded if you have purchased travel insurance.  Further details of this coverage protection are available.

            
                                       

For the full itinerary and/or to sign up for this tour, Contact- Merlene Lynch   -  
Protravel International Direct:  760-489-2230          Merlene.Lynch@Protravelinc.com       
 California Sellers of Travel CST# 2063352-40                                                                               

Mantra of Naan

 My stay in Cincinnati was so much fun, since I got to spend an afternoon with a few friends and get to know their city.  One stop was Mantra on the Hill, a beautiful space in the Mt. Adams area, housing Chef Yajan Upadhyaya's fabulous Indian restaurant.  Chef Yajan is a friend of one of the girls I was with, and we crashed the afternoon prep session, with my friend saying I had to see how he made naan, Indian flat bread. 
The tandoor had been fired, and the dough was ready and so were we!

After shaping the dough on a football-like mold

Chef Yajan takes the dough and tosses it on the side of the tandoor---

Once the naan has begun to puff, he turns it, then hangs it over the tandoor to further cook

The result?  Perfectly cooked Naan and happy people in the kitchen. 

Thanks Chef Yajan, you rock!  I've already picked out our table for my next visit! 

Field Trips

While teaching in Cincinnati, I had some time on Friday to meet two friends that I adore, and we went on a field trip to Jungle Jim's---legendary, it is like an airplane hanger filled with foods, beverages, and just about anything else.

 It was like a culinary Disneyland; I knew we were in trouble when we went by the butter counter which was 10 feet long, and about 4 feet wide, and packed with butter from around the world.

There is something so wrong with this!

This is only one side of the olive bar--be still my heart!

Cheese

And more cheese, there were at least 4 walls of cheese from all over the world---Polish cheese?  Who knew?

The wine and beer, and liquor departments were incredible---but this is just a wall of Sake!

Ah, pork snout....

And whole fresh hams....

Loving the meat department!

And then there is bacon...........

Beautiful fruits and vegetables....and this is Cincinnati!

Then there is tea.........

and more tea....

You want hot sauce? They have it categorized by region and heat.......and there are aisles of it!

In all the years I've been in the food industry, I've never seen bottles this big!

The original location located north of the city, has more ambiance, according to the locals ---there is a new Jungle Jim's located nearer to downtown Cincinnati, but if I lived here I'd been at the original everyday---it's that much fun.  

Anyone with a sense of humor like this gets my business!!  Behind the doors are actual restrooms!

 The best part of my job is the people that I meet when I teach, and then getting to spend time with them when I am off.  Thanks Lana and Cossette for a day that was more fun than should be legally possible!