Gina visiting Washington, DC area, Updated schedule and Semifreddo

Great accomodations for either a night or a week. When planning your stay in Italy, begin your 'country living' on a Saturday and depart the area the following Saturday for the best selection of villas and houses!

Contact Mary: 972.342.8308

[email protected]

Ciao amici!

Planning a trip to Italy or to see Gina stateside? Airlines just announced some lower fares to Europe and that includes our favorite country! We'd love to have you join us in Italy this year. There are a few open spots so contact Mary for details.

Check the link below in the Panettone article to go to Gina's blog - always something new to read & learn!

Gina and Mary

Gina in Northern Virginia!

Gina will be visiting Washington, DC area for the first time teaching Culinaria Cooking School in Vienna VA. The classes can be taken as a series (each class showcases different dishes) or a single class. January 20 will be a demonstration class of 4 courses and January 21 will be a hands on pasta making class including gnocchi. She'll be back on February 24 & 25 doing a demonstration class the first night and a hands on pasta making class the next afternoon. Grab your friends and head over! Please register with the school. Click here for their contact info.

Gina will be doing these other events in addition to several private cooking classes around the country. Sign up - space is limited!

University of Denver, Knoebel School of Hospitality College of Business - February 2 - Four course Tuscan dinner paired with wines from Castello di Banfi. Contact: Cindy Koch, [email protected] to sign up.

The Italian Club of Dallas - "Olive Oil Past & Present" a lecture and tasting - February 4 at 1 p.m. Sign up or phone: 972/931-9167.

The Dish Cooking School at Market Street - Colleyville, TX: February 6; McKinney, TX: February 8

Click here to register with the schools.

DeGustibus - New York City - March 22 - Hands-on pasta making class. Click here for menu and to register.

Institute of Culinary Education -New York City
March 25 - Hands on 4 course Tuscan spring menu

Leftover Panettone!

Who's got Panettone left over from Christmas?! Who bought too many and is wondering what to do with them now?

Me.

I love panettone, but there is always some left over in January when I've inevitably gone on a cleanse that doesn't include eating sweet breads with scrumptious raisins and dried orange peel, especially not when it's toasted and slathered in butter!

Slather it instead with some citrus semifreddo, put it in the freezer for a few hours and what you have is a delightfully light and wintery dessert. We're serving it as a finish at the Italian dinner at the University of Denver Knoebel School of Hospitality on February 2nd.

Semifreddo means "semi cold" and is a light dessert made with whipped egg whites and heavy cream, folded with a fruit syrup and put into the freezer until it's set. It doesn't actually freeze hard like ice cream because of all the air that's whipped into the cream and eggs, but it's creamy and cold in your mouth.

I love a citrus semifreddo in the winter when the oranges and grapefruits are in season. It's lovely frozen in individual cups, but also goes beautifully with panettone, flavored with candied orange peel.

Garnish the dessert with a mint leaf and some julienned orange or grapefruit. Click here to jump to my blog.

Buon Appetito!

Citrus Semifreddo with Panettone

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup fresh orange, lemon and/or grapefruit juice

2 tbsp zest of orange & lemon or grapefruit

3 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

1 pint cream

panettone slices

Combine the first cup of sugar together with the orange and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Add the citrus zest and allow it to boil until thickened, about 10 minutes, then take it off the heat and cool completely, stirring it over an ice bath to release the heat.

Whip the egg whites with 1/4 cup sugar until stiff, then whip the cream with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Fold together with the cool syrup.

Slice a panettone into 1/2 inch slices and lay on a sheet pan or in a pan to completely cover the bottom. Spread the semifreddo over the top, about 2 inches thick, and freeze until set. To serve, slice the semifreddo into squares or triangles and decorate it with additional zest and a mint leaf.

Catherine Wygal & Friends Testimonial

My friends Amy, Deanna and I, Catherine Wygal took your amazing class on October 31st. Deanna and I were the ones taking the zillions of photos. Thank you so much for being so accommodating to our lateness... and my vegan diet too! We've got SO many images to share with you a Handrolled Pici waiting for the water

nd we've got thousands total to edit from our trip to Tuscany, so it may be a couple of weeks before we edit them all. Here's a link to a few from the class. I can't get over how gorgeous that mill is! We were so lucky to have found you and your sister on Trip Advisor. It was a day we'll never forget.

...Catherine

Photo by Catherine Wygal

www.foureyesphotography.com

Ecco La Cucina Cookbook

Looking for a last minute gift? Gina's cookbook is a collection of traditional Tuscan cooking, featuring dishes of the Siena area.

Hardcover with spiral binding, the book is also functional and easy to use in the kitchen.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER