Wasn’t Triple A an insurance company? AAA? Three “A’s” linked in early September at our farmhouse when nineteen of us gathered for a spaghetti alla amatriciana dinner as an earthquake fund-raiser. Main dish: pasta alla amatriciana. Origin? Amatrice (near the epicenter of the August 24, 2016 earthquake). Where was dinner? At our farmhouse near Assisi.…
…or at least, cook with me! Amy and Fred, Lat and Kathy, sorry Pino missed cooking up Umbrian goodness with us – but he certainly enjoyed our rabbit cacciatore for at dinner that night! Come back again to stay in our countryside apartment, Casa Nuova. La porta e’ sempre aperta! And in the meantime, enjoy…
Pino’s reconstruction team works hard – and as a unit. Now and then, they can team to feast, too! Late in June, Pino’s crew paused in the restoration work of tiny hill town gem, Giove. They set up a grill in the village center and before long, goat meat (goats raised by Pino), sausages, and…
On the last Sunday in August, my crowdfunding venture took to the wheels: Pino and I put on helmets, mounted his moto Guzzi and headed southeast into the mountainous Valnerina (Nera River Valley) towards Norcia, only about 16 kilometers from Accumoli (epicenter of the August 24th earthquake). We had to take a detour to Norcia…
The day following the Amatrice/Accumuli earthquake on August 24th (my birthday), Pino and I were enroute home to Assisi after yet another memorable vacation on the island of Ventotene. Although Ventotene, too, is in the region of Latium – as is Amatrice, near the earthquake epicenter – none of us had felt the early morning…
Not just here on Ventotene but all over Italy, cuisine is always a poetic palate-teaser. And not only: the appeal is to the eye as well. A visual work of art, each dish. And a symphony to the ears, just the names of each culinary creation. Have a look at these poetic palate-pleasers at our…
When you get off the ferry or the hydrofoil at the Ventotene port, you’ll see a landmark: mustached Vincenzo in carefully-ironed cotton shirt and shorts near his Ape (literally, “bumble bee”), piled high with island goodness. He always parks his little putt-putt right outside Mare Pizza, where his wife Antonietta and daughters Anna and Lucia…
Nothing like a “heart-healty,” low-in-gluten farro salad on a hot summer night. And you can even prepare it the day before and refrigerte. There are a couple essential steps to a stellar farro salad: cook the farro to al dente (“to the tooth”) in salted water – and use only TOP extra-virgin olive oil. Here’s…
Yesterday afternoon in the main square of Ventotene, a police car and a couple cars of local officials were parked in front of the crenellated ochre Municipio. A group of firemen gathered under a pine tree, conferring. Under a scorching August sun, two sweaty municipal workers scrambled up ladders to change two of the 28…
In Ventotene’s port, sailboats and yachts rock at anchor and swim-suited vacationers stroll the curvy walkway serpentining alongside the boats, dotted with umbrella-covered outdoor tables for lunchtime or dinnertime snacks. Often during our stay on the magical island of Ventotene, we’ll stop at Mare Pizza for an aperitivo before a lunch or dinner. Daughters Anna…