The heat of July has moved in and zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant have taken the place of the fava beans in our vegetable garden. Springtime is fava bean season – and they’re now in the freezer. I pulled a bag out this morning to defrost for a favorite dish: fava bean with potatoes and…
After we’ve explored Assisi’s treasure, the Basilica of St. Francis, come out to the countryside with me to connect with other Umbrian treasures: our farm friends. Our rural neighbors taught us everything when we moved to the land: where to find the wild mushrooms, where the wild asparagus sprouted in the spring, which grasses were…
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…
Modena’s known for Ferrari and Maserati – balsamic vinegar, too, of course – with Ducatis and Lamborghini produced not far away. But there’s more to the so-called “Motor Valley” of Italy than motors: there’s Ristorante Da Danilo. Sitting at the outdoor table next to us was Silvia, Roman state employee in Modena monthly for work,…
In one way or another, Umbria’s June rural rites rotate around the summer solstice. The ancients believed that on the vigil of June 24th (later designated as the feast of St. John the Baptist by the Church), the elements of Nature – water, fire, earth, and air – were charged with particular powers. And what…
On a recent jaunt, two Giuseppes connected: one is my husband Pino (in southern Italy, “Giuseppino” is the diminutive of “Joseph”) and the other is Beppe, last miller of Tuscany. (Other diminutives in Tuscany and central Italy for “Giuseppe” are “Peppe” – and long ago, “Geppetto”). We met Beppe – “last miller of Tuscany” –…
La passione. It’s a recurring theme to life in Italy. As I often tell my tour guests while strolling the Umbrian hillltown gems, “If you don’t get la passione, you miss out on Italy.” Take Spello’s flower petal tapestry festival, le Infiorate, for the feast of Corpus Domini, sixty days after Easter. Why else would…
Just outside of the massive medieval walls of Castiglione del Lago, walk up the “little steps (“le scalette”) to a wooden terrace shaded by a wide cream-colored awning. “Osteria Le Scalette” in brown letters runs along the awning’s borders. You’ve arrived – and if you’re lucky, you might find a seat at one of…
During late May and June, enjoy the best in simple local cooking (at enticingly low prices!) and ballroom dancing with “the locals” at a sagra. Which one and where? That depends on your “culinary craving” of the moment: If pasta with sauce of fish or fish grilled on an open fire tempt, you can head…
Actually, there’s nothing “piccola” about la passione in Gubbio every year on June 2nd, except the size of the little ones living that passion. On May 15th, their fathers, uncles – in some cases, even grandparents – run the Corsa dei Ceri, carrying huge wooden pyramidical structures (i Ceri) up the mountain to the Basilica…