GORGA, a “Five-Star” Town

“Five-star” denotes a luxury hotel here in Italy but I’ve now baptized Gorga, southern Latium village perched on a rocky outcrop, as a “five-star” town. While Roman friend Iva and I wandered the labyrinthine backstreets of this town of her ancestors, I found five (or more?) keystones of 16th-century arched entryways bearing the star. One…

Signora Vincenza’s Sicilian Eggplant Parmesan

Pino’s wonderful mother, Signora Vincenza taught me how to cook various Sicilian dishes – and not only: she was a wise woman and a font of knowledge about every subject from Greek mythology to the origins of Sicilian dialects to… the American Revolution! Signora Vincenza taught me to make summer eggplant Parmesan the Sicilian way:…

Rockin’ Out in Perugia

Al Bianchi – self-declared (with a grin) “sex symbol” of the Four Vegas – urged me to try a selfie when i asked the group for a photo after their Umbria Jazz show. Here’s the result: Four young Roman musicians – united by a shared passione for sounds and lifestyles of the 1950’s and 1960’s…

Zucchini Blossom Bounty

Zucchini Pasta with Zucchini Flowers and Saffron Zucchini abundance in our garden and a Rhode Island family joined me on a late July day in preparing pasta with zucchini, zucchini flowers and saffron. And we cooked quite a few other dishes, too. First step? Pick the zucchini blossoms! Linda and young Julia did a good…

Assisi Artisans at Work

Looking at the restoration going on now out behind our farmhouse, you might wonder what phoenix will rise from the ashes. Now scaffolding crawls up all the fine stonework, not all the earth-colored terra-cotta tiles are on the roof and cement-mixers block the doorways. But just wait: artists are at work. Pino’s company Impresa Edile…