Florance!

     As our plane touched down in Florance the sun started to rise. Rue and I have come to the heart of the Renaissance, Florance, Italy. I was so excited! The weather was perfect and we were going to be learning about food. I was excited to leard about food because Zorah has been complaning about how she does all the cooking and I dont do anything, so I'm looking forward to it.
     Right now we are going to a small bakery to learn about making bread and other baked goods and pastries. The air was cool and crisp. Stepping out it sent shivers down my spine. The aroma of the bakery filled the streets smelling of fresh sweet bread and pastries. Inside the bakery was warm and lit by many candles. A tall middle aged man stepped forward, his name was Cosimo and he was the head baker.                    
     We traded our coats for aprons and got to work. I started by making bread, I took all the ingredients  including yeast, eggs, water, and flour. I mixed them all together, so dough was formed. I sprinkled flour on a large wooden table and laid the dough out. I kneaded the dough just a little bit to add air, then I put it in the pan and set that on the wooden fire. Next Cosimo taught me how to make pasta! We used dough Cosimo had already made and cut it into thin strips. Next we rolled them into long cylindrical shapes and made noodles. Cosimo let them harden and then put them in boiling water. 
     Last we made pastries, the recipe was sent from Cosimos' wife's cousin who was a baker in France. It was a recipe for a tart, and a Latin torta. We made the tart with fresh fruit and a cream-tart filling. The tart has sweet dough, it was like making bread but we added less yeast and brown and regular sugar. When it was out of the oven we added a nice glaze. The torta was a piece of crisp bread with sugar and other flavoring.
     When everything was done we had a feast! I was excited to go home to my despot sister and show her what I learned! I was no longer bankrupt in cooking knowledge. It was a sad goodbye, but I look forward to what the future holds.