Martin & Becca:
“Massimo and Cecilia,
We would like to thank you again for a wonderful stay in your apartment. Also, we really enjoyed the food and the wine from your Osteria.
Tomorrow Becca and I are planning to put the lessons learned from the cooking class into practice by making biscotti (and of course using vin santo wine) for our family.
As promised, hereby I am sending you the picture I took at the end of the cooking class (29th of July). Hope you enjoy it.
Kind regards,”

Christina:
“Dear Massimo & Cecilia,
We had such a wonderful time in Tuscany and some of our happiest memories are the two occasions we spent with you: first as your students, and later as your guests. We left Italy feeling that we had made new friends: YOU! Thank you for your kindness and generosity. We learned SO much from you during the cooking class with Cecilia, and during the lessons about wine and olive oil with Massimo. Also, we ate very very well! We are enjoying the special bottle of olive oil you gave us. Thank you so much!
Here are some photos from our visit. Julian is very interested to work in your kitchen next summer. Is this really possible? If you want him to come, we can make the arrangements. Just let us know what would be a good arrangement for you.
Also, if you wish for Hugo (or, when she is a little bit older...Emma) to visit the United States and learn to speak English very well, we are happy to host him or her at our home near Boston. We have a 17-year-old French girl staying with us now for one month. She is the daughter of our hotel owners from the south of France.
Very best regards,”

Gail and Paul:
“Well hello Cecila, Massimo and Emma,
I sure hope I spelled your names correctly! Hope all is going well. Just wanted you to know, our time at your restaurant was the highlight of our trip. Yes, everything we saw in Italy was gorgeous, and The Vatican was pretty impressive, but the first thing we tell people back here in The States is our experience and the food at your restaurant. Thanks again for having us. Here are the pics we took. Take care!!
Please just send a quick response back so I know you received these. Thank you.
Regards,”

Shaunaugh & Gary:
“Dear Massimo & Cecilia,
It has taken me some time to write this letter but I did want to let you know what a wonderful time we had, firstly eating at your charming restaurant and then the great day of Tuscan regional cooking.
I very much enjoyed learning about the produce, wine and the dishes you create. You have now spoilt me when it comes to good Italian food as I now measure everything against the quality of your dishes. Just recently Gary and I went to a well known Italian Restaurant here in Sydney. While it was very pleasant, I have to say that your food was much better and far more interesting.
Unfortunately we can't just pop into La Gramola whenever we feel like it. The 24 hour flight does tend to put us off a bit! However, I have told a number of my friends about what a wonderful day I had and how much I learnt from the class. Who knows, if any of them get over to Italy, they may just want to check it out.
I have made the Chocolate cake since I have come home and it was a great success. My 4 year old and Gary are particularly partial to it.
I have one final request. While in Italy, I tried a variety of the cantucci biscuits. I have found that yours were by far the best!! Since returning to Australia I have been unable to locate anything that is similar. I have looked at a number of recipes on the net but am unsure about them. A number of them have lemon peel in them, which I think yours had, but they also mention aniseed? I would very much appreciate this recipe as I would like to make them for us at home as well as my dinner guests when I do an Italian feast. Would you be willing to pass it on, or is it a well kept secret. If so I understand, and will look forward to tasting them when I next come back to Italy.
I hope that your restaurant continues to thrive and that business is good. Our best wishes and many thanks once again for a totally enjoyable experience.”

Dawn & Cathy:
Dear Cecilia and Massimo:
The experience of our cooking class at La Gramola remains a high point - a favorite memory - of our trip to Italy. It was truly terrific!!!
We learned new skills, took home some delicious recipes, which we will try to re-create on our own, and can savor in our minds and hearts the sights, smells, tastes, and conversation shared with you at La Gramola. We haven't yet washed our tomato stained aprons, as they are proof to us that we really did cook with you, in Tuscany. Our only regret is that we didn't have a chance to return to the restaurant for a meal prior to our trip coming to an end. This means we will have to return to La Gramola when we are again in Italy!
We will look to hear from you about the cookbook and wish you molto buona fortuna!

Molto Grazie!

Ciao e Arrivederci~
Dawn and Cathy

Fom the dictionary: terrific = magnificent; extraordinary; unusually fine; marvelous; exceptional; wonderful; sensational.

The word terrific does have it's origin in the word terror - meaning terrible or frightening, but in America we do not use the word terrific in that way at all. It always means something really good, like all the other words written above! Now we use terrificante when we mean terrible or frightening!

Justin and Janine:
Ciao Cecelia and Massimo,
We are still catching up with all the things that need to be done after our wonderful trip to Italy and in particular to your cooking class.
Without a doubt the day we spent with you was the most fun, learning about Tuscan cooking, differences in the local wines and the different kinds of olive oil. We are very fortunate as we have found a local source of Tuscan olive oil and are enjoying it our American way with bread.
Janine is in the process of planning a dinner party with your menu and we look forward to sharing with our friends just like you did all the new things we learned. We are enclosing a couple of pictures for your album of satisfied students. Probably the best part was just talking to you about the food, family and the local culture. We did make it to the winery and had the grand tour. We have a friend who manages a wine store here and we are going to ask him if we can get more of the Paneretta wine. We still have a bottle but we are saving it for the dinner party.

The best to you both. Thank you for making your class a memorable moment on our trip.

 

Pamela Conley:
Dear Cecilia and Massimo,

There are no words that can express the wonderful time spent with the both of you and with the meals we had at your restaurant. It was a stroke of our good fortune that we chose Osteria La Gramola for our meal that night. We were so impressed with the quality and appealing manner in which you presented our dinner. As you know we, my sister and I, said that "You put your foot in it". Remember, that is the highest form of compliment that you can receive about a meal in our culture. That meal is what made up our minds to take cooking classes from you.
My sister and I will never forget your hospitality, friendliness, and patience with us as we enjoyed learning to cook Tuscan Cuisine. Your classes were very entertaining, and informative. From cooking meals, to wine,cheese and olive oil tasting, you provided a well rounded education in Tuscan Cooking. We won't forget how Massimo went out to buy our cooking utensils, nor the lessons we learned.

Our time with you was absolutely the highlight of our trip! I personally have passed on information to a number of people who are thinking of planning a trip in the near future to Italy. They are very interested in taking lessons. Please let me know by e-mail when you receive this letter and the pictures that I promised. Make sure our waitress gets a copy of the one with my sister, and her and me.

Thanks again for your hospitality and a GREAT TIME!

Sincerely,

 

Pat & Nancy Weddle
Patrick W. Weddle,:
Hi Cicilia and Massimo:
Attached is a picture of one of the highpoints of our recent trip to Tuscany. We really enjoyed your Tuscan cuisine and hospitality. Thank you for helping to make our trip such a huge success.

Cheers and Ciao.

Filippa:

Ciao, Cecilia and Massimo! Thank you again for our Tuscany cooking experience – molto delizioso!. I tried sending some pictures but the e-mail get getting returned so there is a link below if you want to see the pictures I took at your restaurant. They’re mixed in with all the pictures I took of Italy. Hope all is well with you and your family. I am enjoying the olive oil that I bought and think of you both when I use it. I made ribollita last Sunday for la mia familiglia and they loved it! We ate it many times over the week. Mille grazie and all the best.

Arrivaderci,

Jerry and Darlis Arter:
Hello Cecilia and Massimo,

Thank you for the photos of me at your cooking school in your osteria.
I enjoyed Cecilia's cooking lesson and Massimo's olive oil and wine tasting. My wife Darlis and I enjoyed the lunch with both of you and the two dinners at Osteria La Gramola.
I will recommend your osteria and cooking school to everyone interested in Italia Cucina!
I hope to visit and attend your school sometime in the next two years.
I will send the photos that I took when we return home to Florida in June.

Ciao!

Gary D. Tuss:
Buon Giorno Massimo and Cecilia;

I made it back from Italy and am settling back into the routine here of work and kids. I had a wonderful time on vacation in Italy and want to thank you for your time and all of the knowledge that you shared. I hope that all is well with both of you and I've attached a couple of pictures from class. I haven't had an opportunity yet to try to recreate the dishes that we made but I will do that very soon.

Thanks for a wonderful time and keep in touch. Ciao.

 

Tamara Croome:
Oggetto: THANK YOU
Dear Cecilia and Massimo,
I can’t believe it has taken me so long to write and thank you for the wonderful experience Tamara and I had on the 29/Apr 2005 in your cooking class
We spent 5 weeks travelling around Italy and for me the cooking class with you was the highlight. The whole experience exceeded my expectations. Thank you so much.
Cecilia, the food was sensational. I can still taste the ribollita! It was beautiful. The maiale ubriaco was lovely as too was the Cantuccini al Vin Santo. I really admire the way you have learnt to cook and your decision to adhere to traditional Tuscan recipes.

And Massimo, your knowledge of wine and olive oil is amazing. The wine and olive oil tastings we did were great. It was very informative. The wine we purchased at your restaurant is now gone but we are still enjoying the olive oil we bought on the day. Thank you. Please let me know if you are interested in tasting some Australian olive oil and I can send you some.
Cecilia, on the day of the cooking course you gave us copies of the recipes we made. I was wondering if I could buy some other recipes from you?

Thanks again.
Warm regards,