Whenever I visit Italy, all I want to do is go to the markets and eat great food. Maybe if I have extra time, I'll squeeze a museum or two into my schedule. While in Florence, you'll have the opportunity to try a variety of Tuscan dishes and even take Tuscan cooking lessons to bring a piece of Italian culture home with you. There are some great hands-on classes taught by Tuscan natives and savoring the fruits of your labor, large feasts made from fresh, seasonal ingredients.

Perhaps more in Italy than any other European country, food plays a central role in family life and culture. Families and friends prepare large feasts and sit down each evening for hours of socializing and fun. My sister, Betsy, and I love to explore the great open-air markets. We drool over the amazing aged meats, fresh cheeses and local produce.

Florence and the surrounding region also offers a wide variety of Tuscan cooking lessons. Whether you want to retreat to a remote Tuscan villa for a week of cooking and feasts or just have time for a part-day class within Florence, Tuscan cooking schools have everything under the sun.

For a great day-long excursion, visit Good Tastes of Tuscany. Around 10am, a driver picks everyone up in Florence and takes them a short drive away to a Tuscan villa. There you'll learn to prepare some of the most wonderful and basic Tuscan dishes. Make pasta fresca (homemade pasta) with fresh tomato sauce or work on a more complicated dish such as broiled garlic mussles. In addition to offering day-long Tuscan cooking lessons, Good Tastes of Tuscany also has multi-day programs and even wine tasting excursions.

If you love dessert like I do, sign up for a chocolate tour with Vinarium. The day-long tour consists of a visit to the Vestri Chocolate Laboratory, La Loggia degli Albizi the pastry shop and Andrea Bianchini's chocolate factory. Along the way, these Tuscan cooking lessons will teach you teach you about the sweeter side of Italian food. You'll even have the chance to sample the secret Medici chocolate recipe which has jasmine.

If you happen to have a kitchen or kitchenette in your Florence hotel, consider having the Kitchen Chez Nous bring the Tuscan cooking lessons to you. Ginny and Fiamma, the founders of Kitchen Chez Nous, bring all ingredients (including a lot of wine) to you and teach a cooking class in the privacy of your suite/apartment.

For multi-day Tuscan cooking lessons, you have a variety of options. Organic Tuscany and Tasty Tuscany have multi-day cooking classes outside of Florence. Organic Tuscany specializes in small group week-long culinary experiences based out of a boutique-style restored family farm. Visit a local organic farm, go to an olive-oil tasting and do day trips around Tuscany. Tasty Tuscany located in a 16th century Tuscan villa offers art tours and visits to local wineries in addition to Tuscan cooking lessons. If you're lucky enough to visit in Fall, you might get the opportunity to hunt for truffles.

Whether you do a day-long or multiple day Tuscan cooking class, be sure to savor the experience and take lots of notes. Once you get home, share your vacation with friends by cooking; they'll like it a whole lot more than a traditional slideshow.