Why head to Nocera? Here’s one reason. …and have a look at the good eating in Nocera Umbra: Click here to raed about nearby Gualdo Tadino Read more on Gualdo Tadino Read about a fascinating May festival, not far away
Not far from us, Gualdo Tadino, of pre-Roman origins, perches like a silent sentinel on a forested hilltop. A few buildings miraculously survived the devastating 1751 earthquake: one was the frescoed 13th-century church of San Francesco, dedicated to the beloved Saint of the nearby hill town of Assisi. The pale pastel colors of the medieval…
I suggested to Pino that we put fewer zucchini plants in our garden this year: to no avail. The “zucchini tsunami” has hit. Our chickens are relishing the seeds and soft pulp of the giant ones, too overgrown for zucchine marinate. We often have penne with zucchini and zucchini flowers (with and without shaved black…
Late afternoon on a breezy summer Sunday, Pino and I set out for Arezzo, a favorite southern Tuscan city. It was the first Sunday of the month, the day of the Fiera Antiquaria and we’d never been. We were there to wander the booths lining the cobblestoned alleyways between Renaissance palazzi, not for a purchase.…
Just south of Parma, the region of Reggio Emilia is best associated with parmigiano reggiano cheese. And not only: if you’re a teacher, you’ve probably studied Reggio Emilia’s innovative early childhood education – the Reggio Emilia Approach. Modern architecture appassionati will know Reggio Emilia boasts Calatrava bridges, a railway station and other stunning Calatrava infrastructure…
When heading off on vacation to the seaside – either the Mediterranean coast or the Adriatic – Italians must leave behind their center of town life, the main piazza, but they simply transfer to another place of social gathering. A sandy one, not a cobblestoned or paved one: their favorite stabilmento balneare. The literal translation,…
Nothing really regal about the farrmhouse of Chiarina and Marino but their welcome certainly is. And Chiarina with daughter Rossanna cook up rural banquets fit for royalty. Have a look at the feasting enjoyed recently by an international group: Meet our farm friends, givers of the greatest gifts Read about – and see – our…
In Italian, “gusto” means “flavor” – and what flavorful rural goodness cooked up by the locals to celebrate la Festa di Sant’Anna, July 26th. And the rural people of the mountain area near Assisi don’t just fête the Saint for a day..but for ten days. Locals outfitted in the obligatory plastic caps (for anyone cooking),…
Pam was doing a project on olive oil for her study program in Perugia – and no better way to learn about olive oil – and olive oil lore!- than with visits to our farm friends in the Assisi hills. At Peppe and Gentile’s, impossible to get away with just olive oil tastes: we had…
Feasting with Giuseppa is always unforgettable – and not just for the Umbrian goodness she cooks up, but for her ebullient joy as she welcomes guests into her Deruta farmhouse. Starting off a Giuseppa rural banquet might be slices of the family’s prosciutto and salami, topping cheese bread baked in her outdoor bread oven. Next?…