This morning when I headed into the Caseificio Broccatelli to buy fresh ricotta, I mused that I might be living an “only-in-Italy” moment. Perhaps a hackneyed phrase but cheese shops aren’t usually right across the street from a majestic 16th-c Basilica. (Not to mention, a Basilica built over the site where St. Francis died in…
We usually enjoy la macedonia (“fruit cup”) in summertime when peaches and other summer fruits are in abundance. But kiwis in abundance recently inspired a winter macedonia. Anna Maria came to visit the other day bearing gifts: the first poinsettia of the season – and a Christmasy-red wicker basket full of persimmons from her family home…
I had just made the broccoli for pasta ai broccoli when Pino came home, peeked into the pot and asked, “perche’ non facciamo nel modo del cavolfiore?” (“why not make it the cauliflower way?”) I knew what he meant: time to add a handful of pine nuts and the tiny sultana grapes of Sicily (uva sultana), as…
Groveling black pigs, sprouting saffron, the harvesting of mountain grapes and a banquet lunch turned an October outing with our daughter Giulia into “an event to remember.” Giulia even did a video of memorable moments. Enjoy: From our Assisi farmhouse, a twisting road through the woods led us up the mountain, dramatic views all around.…
The road to Todiano through the Valnerina (Nera River Valley) is breath-taking even on a November day. Villages border the Nera River flanked by mountains as it winds through the valley. ..and some villages precariously cling to the mountain sides… Other villages seem about to slip right down the mountain ….. We’d taken this road to Todiano…
In past years while driving through the late fall/early winter Umbrian countryside, you’d spot now and then a tree with orange balls dangling on the scrawny branches, bare of leaves. No, not oranges but the last of the kaki (persimmons), orbs of brightness in the winter dusk, beacons of cheer in winter fog. For me,…
As always, we celebrate our Thanksgiving the Sunday after the holiday and fourteen of us celebrated the Festa di Ringraziamento together this year. ….and today for lunch, I nibbled bits of our leftovers.. There was still a bit of our “re-invented” Waldorf salad (with yogurt and local grapes, our olive oil…and more), creamed onions (with Trinidad rum…
What zucca magnifica we’ll have for our Thanksgiving: a splendid squash of brilliant orange pulp. My favorite: la Marina di Chioggia variety. ….and from our favorite fruit and vegetable stand, that of the Migliosi family not far from Assisi. The Migliosi family cultivates all they sell with the lotta integrata method. “Biologico?” I once asked owner Roberto. “No….ma che…
We’d first savored la roveja legume a few winters back in Cascia during the Umbrian mountain town’s winter festival starring this “lost bean.” Cascia in January Roveja beans and ground roveja flour for polenta That night in Cascia as we had sipped the tasty steaming soup cooked up by the…
First stop on our return from the olive oil mill with our just-pressed oil? At Peppa’s to let her judge the goodness. She’d been out harvesting her own olives with her sons that morning as we could see on arrival: Up in Peppa’s kitchen, Pino proudly poured out our”green gold”… …..and then, time for Peppa’s…