Learn Things Spring
Normalize learning whatever the heck you want
Lately when someone asks me what I’ve been up to, I tell them that I’ve just been taking classes.
It’s not what you think. I’m not taking a class on art history at a local university or learning to speak a new language or really learning any sort of useful skill.
I’m taking the pressure off myself to learn something useful or impressive. Instead, I am simply signing up for one-off classes that sound fun.
Here are the classes I’ve taken this spring:
Fresh Pasta at Dave’s Fresh Pasta
Tyson surprised me with this class for my birthday, which was a really good idea. We don’t need more stuff in our apartment, so we try to get each other experiential gifts for birthdays. In the class, we learned how to make fresh egg pasta with a pasta machine. After learning how to make the dough with a mixture of semolina, durum flour, and eggs, we pressed it through a countertop pasta machine and cut it into spaghetti, linguine, tortellini, and ravioli.
What I learned:
Making fresh egg pasta is a different process from making dried pasta (which is made from just flour and water, then dried, as the name suggests)
Dave is a real person who still owns the shop
Mushrooms, Fungi, and Natural Wine at Formaggio
Taking a note from Tyson’s genius, I semi-surprised him with this class for his birthday. We both love mushrooms (the boring kind, not the *fun* kind) and after our forest bathing experience, I was especially interested to see what we’d learn from Somerville’s own mushroom expert. The class consisted of a four-course, mushroom-focused meal, paired with four wines, and followed by a tour of the “cheese cave” beneath the store.
What I learned:
Mushroom identification and foraging is just as hard/dangerous as it sounds
Different types of mushrooms grow in different seasons (this is maybe obvious but I had no idea)
Candy cap mushrooms are shockingly good in desserts
Morels can be stuffed with all kinds of delicious things
Wine School: Anywhere But Napa Valley at Rebel Rebel
Our local wine bar offers “Wine School” every Thursday, with different topics each month. Of course, I already knew that there is great wine to be found in California outside of Napa Valley, but I didn’t know much about the natural wine scene in places like the Suisun Valley and the Sierra Foothills.
What I learned:
The newest American Viticultural Area (AVA) is Contra Costa County – where I’m from!
Wine came to California with the Spanish Franciscan missionaries, who planted what became known as the Mission grape
Wine production started in Southern California and eventually moved to Northern California as a result of the Gold Rush
Winemaker Night: Jeff Cohn Cellars at Bonde
There’s a great wine shop in Harvard Square focused on American wines, and they occasionally host winemakers for classes. This class was focused on Rhone-inspired Zinfandel from Sonoma County, a variety often overlooked amidst all the Cabernet Sauvignons and Pinot Noirs of the region. We tasted six different Zinfandels alongside dishes made from scratch by the store’s French owner, Bertil.
What I learned:
Zinfandel goes really well with blue cheese (if you can find this one at your local Whole Foods, get it)
You will recognize a Zinfandel from its taste and smell (often pepper and blackberry) and dark purple color
Yes, I realize that there is clearly a theme here — I just love wine!
Breaking from the wine theme, I’m going to my first floral workshop at Rococo later this month; the theme is tropical flowers.
Classes on my wish list include pottery at the new Clay Lounge in Somerville, potting our own bonsai at Bonsai Bar, a baking class at Sofra, and a cooking class at Eataly.
Have you taken any fun/random classes lately? I’d love to hear what you learned.
My view this morning:
Lol at my search, “Is Zinfandel a varietal?” (I chose to go with the word “variety” instead. Dad, correct me if I’m wrong.)
I’m writing the newsletter in real time this morning, as the croissants are just coming out of the oven. I’ll be sending off this newsletter and enjoying warm croissants with Tyson. Wishing you a bloom-filled weekend — and happy Mother’s Day!
