Tuscan Dinner Party

Have you been to Tuscany?  If you get the opportunity GO.  It's beautiful, relaxing, charming, surreal, inspiring, fragrant, intoxicating, tranquil...oh I could go on and on.  My sister and I went to Tuscany with Jean Cauthen, a local plein air painter and teacher several years ago.  My friends Ruthie and Theresa went back the next year and so from time to time we like to get together and relive those special weeks.  If you are interested in taking an Italian painting trip, the information about Il Chiostro is at the bottom of this post.

I was asked to bring the bread and appetizer.  I made an antipasti platter with roasted garlic over hummus, bruschetta, olives, pecorino cheese and sliced bread.

To roast garlic, you slice off the top and put it in the oven at 350 until it looks like this.  To get the garlic out you squeeze it like a lemon and it comes out soft and spreadable.  If it doesn't come out easily put it back in the oven.

 Jean hung little picnochio's from the chandelier with sprigs of rosemary, tubes of paint and paint brushes.  I think Jean really likes a theme too!

Each table setting was different - all with reds, greens and golds - the traditional colors of Tuscany.

 Of course there were candles everywhere.  On our trip we dined as a group each night and the Il Chiostro staff decorated the rooms with candles, rosemary, flowers, pinecones and anything they found in the hills of tuscany.  It was quite magical after a long day of painting.

Tomorrow I will post more about Jean's art and her AWESOME studio.  Her was all over the house and we had so much fun looking at all of the pieces. 

Here are a few to get us started...

Want more informaiton about Italy Art Trips?  Go to Il Chiostro's website.  They really take giving you the time of your life seriously.  If you aren't in to painting they offer cooking, photography, sculpture, cabaret singing (ha!) and others.