Thank you to everyone for all your messages of support for The Good Kitchen since we opened, it means a great deal to me. I am happy to report that as soon as we opened we started to provide meals to vulnerable people in the town and also we had some very special guests in for lunch. The guests are children from a charity called Casa Vanessa. This is a very special home where children live whose parents can no longer look after them. Every week since we opened I have either delivered food for the children at their house or they have come to the kitchen for lunch. A few weeks ago my friend's Mother, Calogera offered to come and run a cooking class for the children from Casa Vanessa. Calogera taught the children how to decorate biscuits and afterwards we all sat down and had lunch together. It was a beautiful day and brilliant to see the elderly generation of Mussomeli passing on their food skills to the children.
On Monday my friend Michelina ran a class for the children, teaching them the English
names for fruits and vegetables. The kids loved learning this and it was great for my Italian as well. I must admit that at times I struggle with Italian. All of my neighbours here in Sant Enrico do not speak English and spending time with them if definitely the best way for me to learn. We all sit out on the street every night after dinner and this is when I soak in all the Italian that I can and of course speak as well. Lots of laughter as you can imagine when I mix the words up.
Aside from the classes for the children I have also been providing lunch at 1pm on Friday for free for anyone who would like to come along. I have titled this "Lunch & Learn" and the idea is that the guests bring a small donation for the kitchen such as a bottle of olive oil or vinegar and in return they sit down to a lovely lunch and learn more about The Good Kitchen. For me this is the best way to get the word out about the kitchen and to date the lunches have been a great success.
It certainly has been a busy time since we opened the kitchen and I could not be happier with how it is all progressing. The local supermarket Sisa has been delivering surplus food that we cook with and I have been overwhelmed with the generosity from the locals as every day someone arrives with a donation of food. This is usually from their "compagna" which is the term that is used to describe small Italian farms.
The figs are ripe here in Italy and I have so many in the kitchen that I have started to preserve them. This weekend I am taking some time out and spending a few days in Siracusa. I am so looking forward to this break as I know that there will be busy times ahead here at The Good Kitchen. Sending you all my best wherever you are.....
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