However it did, it sure happened quick. One minute it was spring, with each long, languid day offering the promise of infinitely more to come, and the next it's late August, and each warm breeze feels like the closing act. Even if the temperature hasn't dipped too much yet, the evenings are becoming noticeably shorter, and as early pumpkins and apples start appearing beside the peaches, corn and tomatoes, I know it's just a matter of time before we're digging out the parkas and extra socks.

As much as I loved Palermo, I have to say it paled in comparison to the the five days I spent with the most incredible group of bloggers at the Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School.

Should you ever find yourself, on a particularly dark winter day, opening your inbox to find an email inviting you to spend a week in Sicily in early spring, here's a few things you shouldn't do. Don't stop to think about your schedule, or how any number of things might come up in your life between now and then to prevent you from going. Don't start looking at your travel options yet, which on first glance always appear to be more convoluted and/or expensive than they will actually turn out to be. Don't start wondering if your family will ever speak to you again when you announce you're abandoning them to their frigid northern fates while you jet off for a romp in the Mediterranean sun. Don't hesitate even for a minute, just hit the reply button and type the biggest 'YES!' your sense of propriety and font options will allow, and hit send.

It offers no exotic ingredients, unusual spices or trendy cooking methods à la sous vide. It contains no pasta, cheese or chocolate, and hasn't been culled from the pages of the latest celebrity food tome. It's not even very visually appealing, essentially consisting of various shades of beige. And it that weren't bad enough, the things it does feature are firmly entrenched at the top of many people's 'most-detested' lists: anchovies, mayonnaise, cauliflower, and a pot of boiling water as the main cooking medium.