My father and I took cooking classes last month in Florence and Venice — an incredible way to celebrate 100 years of life between the two of us. The Spaniard and my mother were with us, investing their time in the art museums, churches, and chapels while we were cooking (saving the must-see touring for when we were out of class).

Francesca was our cooking instructor for two sessions in Florence.

On the second night, we took a run at a more challenging menu (more challenging for us, anyway)–

• Pappardelle sulla lepre (fat pasta with a hare sauce)
• Quaglie sul crostone (pancetta wrapped quail served on toasted thick bread slices – my mouth is literally watering as I type this)
• Sweet and sour peppers

As we were cooking the quail, I asked Francesca why we didn’t use the oven.

“You use the oven for things you don’t love,” she said.

Very nice, I thought. Not entirely true from a cooking standpoint (in my novice opinion and most likely in her expert opinion) but the spirit of what she said, I understood completely (here’s a great oven example of something we made a couple of weeks ago but with rockfish – outstanding).

To create something wonderful requires attention– on the stove, in a family, at work.

Attention is where everything really begins.

What gets yours? What deserves yours?

(nice work, Francesca)

(more shots from “Cent’ anni” – our trip in Italy)

“Cent’ anni — It means a hundred years. It means we should all live happily for a hundred years — the family.” — The Godfather Part II

(the finished Quaglie sul crostone and peppers)