Here’s Kathy and her creation. It tasted every bit as good as it looked. Simple food. Just tomatoes, red onions, EXTRA virgin olive oil (we learned that using regular virgin olive oil is grounds for divorce in Italy) and some fresh basil. Tony, I bow to you! Everything you’ve said about making sauce was exactly as she said. Your methods are the same as Maria’s. I guess you really are a native Italian. (Oh, and I promise to always buy the best EXTRA virgin olive oil!)

Check out this sauce…..yum! We learned to cut the cherry tomatoes differently depending on if we were making bruschetta or sauce. How to cut the zucchini in tiny matchsticks for the cold zucchini salad and how to use lemon leaves to wrap chunks of mozzarella before baking to give the cheese that lemony flavor. Maria was a great cook and kept our lessons light and fun. The time we spent with her and her husband and son was like visiting your favorite aunt.

But this dessert was the best EVER!!!!