October 20lost first post, so will start over…
We took a taxi to the Villa Decugnano do Barbi for our cooking lesson. Decugnano is an ancient word that might mean villa, or farm or vineyard, but no one is sure. Dei Barbi means of the Barbi family who have owned the Villa since 1973. There are several buildings on the property, the villa where the family lives, a smaller structure available to rent, a swimming pool, the wine production and storage buildings and a former chapel with kitchen attached. We were given a walking tour of the vineyards, olive grove and the caves where wine is stored at a constant 51 degrees year round. We could see Orvieto 15 mines in the distance.  
We started our cooking class with Anna Rita and Rosanna by donning our aprons (which we got to keep) and chopping and slicing and making pizza and pasta douh. After kneading, we set the pizza dough in the sun to rise and started kneading and rolling out the pasta dough, made with flour, water and eggs. When it was ready, we sliced it about 3/4 inch wide and set it on a board to dry. I stuffed zucchini flowers with. Slice of mozzarella and would have added the traditional anchovy if it had been available. Dipped them in a batter, put them in an oiled pan and baked. Meanwhile, we sliced potatoes, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, chard and leeks, and carrots. Sausage meat, hamburger, egg, garlic, salt & pepper were mashed together and wrapped into a slice of thinly sliced veal, rolled up and secured with a toothpick. Put into a frying pan, two cups of white wine and cooked over a low heat for 15-20 minutes. This was our entree. Meanwhile, we spread the rolled out pizza dough into greased pans. One one we put zucchini slices, salt & pepper and Rosemary. Another potato slices, salt, pepper and Rosemary. One had tomatoes and garlic and the last one had tomatoes, basil and mozzarella added after the crust was done, just to melt the cheese. That was the only pizza with cheese. They were delicious. One pan was foccacia bread with salt and Rosemary. The pasta sauce was crumbled sausage, garlic, tomatoes, onion and carrots. The food was wonderful and simple to make. I will be making pasta at home…without a pasta machine. My pasta making machines are at the end of my arms! We also made cookies for our dessert. They were made with ground almonds, sugar, baking powder and egg whites and put into balls and baked 15-20 minutes. Each course was paired with a wine from the winery. We ate in the former chapel at a table for 10. There are three of those tables in the chapel with plenty of space. There is a huge window at one end where the altar once stood and it is framed with parts of the wooden altar. Pictures around the walls of religious cardinals and such and probably ancestors of the villa. The room looks huge in part to the high restored wooden roof. There are two bell pulls by the front doors. Now the front doors are all glass, which allows the diners to see Orvieto framed in them and the spectacular sunset! Just a beautiful vista! We returned to the convent, full of delicious food and having had a fabulous cooking experience. Would certainly recommend it to anyone going to Orvieto.