COOKING CLASS:  MAKING PIZZA - HANDS ON!!

I've allowed many of these invitations pass me by and I LOVE pizza!  You know in Eat, Pray, Love when Julia Roberts says "I'm having a relationship with this pizza."  That's me!  I adore pizza, could handle it daily if my husband enjoyed it as much.  But, for the mercy of my jeans and my family...and probably my tastebuds, I enjoy pizza maybe two to three times a month.  When the Hands On Italian Pizza Making Class in Gaeta popped up onto my newsfeed this time...I signed up immediately. In talking with a friend (Sheri), I found out she and another friend (Danna) had signed up too and we decided to carpool with another lovely lady, (Yaya).  

For the last few weeks, maybe since mid-December, I had been wiped out.  With a scary busy fall full of good things, once my schedule cleared all I really felt I was up for was staring at the wall.  With finishing up my NYIP professional photography course, teaching a PWOC Bible study, taking a Precept Bible study on Revelation, being the PWOC Historian, soccer Saturday's with the kids, the husbandry of my family, attempting to keep my home clean, meal planning, grocery shopping...you get where I'm going...keeping up with friends was difficult at best.  So, I was excited for this day with some ladies who I don't get to spend enough time with socially.  

For the few days prior, I had been feeling deflated with various changes I am attempting to institute with my photography business.  My expectations for the day were to relax, use my hands to make some delicious pizza Italiano, and learn some new ways to make my home pizzas better.  I took my camera along with me because I felt I needed to get back to doing what I do best, capturing moments as they happen.  And boy was I rewarded in that.  I look at these photos of my friends from that day and I can hear the cheers for successfully getting the raw pizza on the paddle, a feat most deserving of raucous hurrahs.  I can feel the warmth from the pizza oven.  Smell the yeast throughout the restaurant.  See the smiles on the faces of men and women who are displaced from their families, friends, comforts of home and are delighting in spending time learning a new trick, meeting some new locals and sinking their teeth into the culture.  Learning that cooking by hand, sight and feel is the Italian way.  In the 18 months we've lived here, I've learned the top four things that are of the utmost importance in an Italian's life:  l'amore, la famiglia, il vino e la cucina - love, family, wine and cooking.  These are bits of the culture I so want to take back with me, hold them close in my heart, make them a part of my every day (maybe not the wine daily, I did that and ended up with some really tight jeans!).  My expectations for the day where tiny compared to what God gifted me with with those ladies's company.  We had great talks, we laughed hard, we ate beautiful pizza...and may have had a relationship with it for that brief lunch.  I'm so glad I brought my camera because when those yucky days swing back around, I can look back on these and so many other pictures and feel the day all over again.    

I hope you enjoy my photos from a day of rejuvenation, I'm hoping to make these more commonplace in my schedule.   

Our fearless pizzaiolo!One of the three brothers who inherited the pizzeria from their father. Three wannabe pizzaiola! Keep it simple and do it by hand. A tasting of just the dough and some olive oil. A drool worthy menu

Loving hands preparing pies.

I never realized how large these paddles really are! Yaya is so full of life and loves meeting new friends! My abnormal circle pie. Not quite a pizzaiola yet. Unsuccessfully working the paddle, but I am so glad they were patient with us and let everyone have a go!

The life of every party!Sheri is such an amazing friend, she gives time to everyone and has so much fun adventuring around. Her best line..."I'm free that day."

Pizza BeautyRuccola, pomodori, parmesano...delizioso!    

Quattro matte!A beautiful day with some beautiful friends.

Danna, Sheri, Yaya...that day with you did more for me than I thought I needed.  I am so thankful that God has crossed our paths, I look forward to more fun days with ya'll!!

Ciao amici!

Mackenzie

(Future pizzaiola)