Back to Blogging: An Update on My Life

Hello Bloggers… You don’t need to adjust your eyes.  Yes, I’m back.  It has been almost a year.  What a year it has been.  The biggest change is that.  My favorite sous chef is now Mr. Polka Dot. That’s right – He finally proposed.  After a whirlwind engagement period of 6 months and a week, we finally got married on July 2.

From Jovan Photography

 See that cake,  that would be our cake. 

From Jovan Photography

The cake was full of chocolate.  The top layer in which we will eat next year was chocolate cake with chocolate fudge.  The layer that we cut into was checkerboard.  The bottom tiers were chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream. 

Now for our honeymoon, we did every foodie’s dream – ITALY.  We went to Venice, Florence, Tuscany, with our home base in Sinalunga, and Rome.  We had some amazing meals there with our favorite in Florence and the countryside.  Have you ever had drunken spaghetti before?  What about stuffed zucchini flowers?  I also had one of my lifetime dreams completed - Mr. and Mrs. Polka Dot had a private cooking lesson in Tuscany. 

Funny story – we never had the lesson scheduled before we left.  We couldn’t find one that we liked.  Our travel agent recommended this restaurant in Tuscany called La Chiusa.  Not only are the views of Montepulicano and Pienza, but the food is amazing.  We had amazing homemade pasta, stuffed zucchini flowers.  Let’s not forget the best black truffle pasta I have ever had in my life. Totally worth the 18 euros.  Long story short, we met the chef, Dania, and asked her to give us a private lesson.  The cooking lesson was amazing.  We learned to make vegetable risotto, three different types of handmade pasta (pici, tagliatelle, ravioli), her special tomato sauce, chicken with herbs, and caramel ice cream along with her helpful tips for entertaining.  Also, Massimo, the best waiter, helped us pair wine to the courses. 

Other places we enjoyed:  The food was also really good at our hotel Amorosa.  Mr. Polka Dot’s favorite meal was in Florence at Il Latini.  The whole meal was all meat that I do not typically eat such as steak. Mr Polka Dot was shocked I tried it.  I preferred the melon and potatoes though.   My favorite meal in Florence was the drunken spaghetti at Osteria Dei Benci.

Here are some pictures from our honeymoon, obviously, in food. 

Steak at Il Latini

Bread salad at Il Latini

Caramel Ice Cream from La Chiusa cooking class

  

Keep checking Polka Dot Chef for more updates. I’ve been working hard on recreating and creating various recipes that I cannot wait to share.  Have a great Labor Day Weekend!