Tuscany Day 4: Rain, Rain Go Away!

Wednesday we woke up to rain. A lot of rain. We had planned on going to Siena but there was no way we were gonna walk around the hilly town in the rain, with our eight kids. Instead the boys stayed at the villa watching movies and having a pajama morning while the girls went back to Marcos (so Amy could shop) then we went on to a ceramic studio. This wasn't the same as the terracotta, this was a studio full of elaborated painted dishes, serving ware, lamps, clocks and some pottery. I regret not taking photos but it was raining, I was carrying Sissy and she was watching Tangled on my phone so I didn't have an opportunity. I did find a link to their website though: http://www.ceramicheleona.it/eng/index.asp.

Honestly while it was all lovely, I didn't buy (nor feel the urge) to buy anything. It was (justifiably) pretty expensive. The lasagne pans were gorgeous but you couldn't actually bake in them. I don't have a hutch or anything to display the pieces in so it was pretty much something I would buy, have nothing to do with it, then risk the kids breaking it. We live very close to Nove, Italy, which is known for pottery and ceramics. They produce and design pieces for Tiffany and Co, Lenox, and other high end retailers. I know I definitely will go there and to me, Tuscany is known for Terracotta whereas Nove is known for their Ceramics so I don't regret my decision in the slightest.

So while at the Ceramics studio it started pouring down rain, lighting the whole bit. We made it back to the Villa, had PB&J sandwiches and took a long family nap. Seriously I think we woke up close to 4pm. But Wednesday night at Podere Casanova is Pizza Night, so at 8pm we were joining Lisa, Lara and their family for dinner. They made the most amazing pizzas! I had the Prosciutto Cotto, which is cooked ham and it was delicious. The kids had the Margherita (just cheese), which Steve (Amy's husband) said was the best Margherita pizza he had ever had. After we ate dinner, they invited the kids to put on hats and aprons and learn how to make pizza in the outdoor, wood fired oven. They LOVED it!

 Bubba and pooks went first, after Trey and Jackson. First they got hats and aprons... 

They they rolled out the dough.......

 

 They put it in the oven (with a little help)...and waited just a few minutes. Sissy tried on their hats while they waited.

 They it was time to shimmy them back out of the oven. 

Since we had already eaten dinner the kids made dessert pizzas with Nutella. They were very excited and with deep concentration spread the Nutella on the warm crust.

 

 Tada!

 Lastly, after seeing that everyone else was eating Nutella, the littlest kids gave it a go. Peanut and Delilah rolled out their dough..

 

Peanut had trouble rolling so he developed a patting technique.

Placed it in and minutes later, took it out of the oven.

 And Viola! Peanut's Nutella dessert pizza!

 Before the kids got too messy we snagged a group shot...seriously it was SO much fun!

Thank you Lisa and Lara!!