“Good things come in threes,” they say. For me, our third year of the early May ten-day “Annesitaly INSIDE Umbria” Celebration affirms the saying. Kris, Sally, Jerry and Carol, mille grazie to…
Hot summer days bring “panzanella time” to central Italy. This rural dish of la cucina povera (literally “cooking of the poor man,” ie humble cuisine), la panzanella (bread salad) is a perfect…
In 1971, Alice Waters basically launched a California version of the Mediterranean diet when opening Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, promoting farm-to-table fresh local ingredients. Although I’d studied at UCB in the…
Sharing Umbrian rural culinary lore tidbits is always part of my U.S. Umbrian rural cuisine events (and when cooking with guests in our Assisi farmhouse). Like “fare la scarpetta,” that (acceptable) Italian…
This May’s 10-day “Annesitaly Inside Umbria” Celebration had to include, of course, a rural feast with Giuseppa at her farmhouse near Deruta – and then, Deruta wonders (including a “hidden treasure”). This…
Simply a piece of fresh fruit usually drops the curtain on an Italian meal, for after all the good flavors and abundance of a pasta or risotto dish and savory main courses,…
It’s my mandra: to truly KNOW Umbria, meet our rural friends who taught us everything about life on the land. And not only: about LIFE. They are Umbria’s treasures. Come and meet…
The key objective of my early May “Annesitaly Inside Umbria Celebration” experience is to truly take tour guests INSIDE Umbria, aiming to have them live Umbria from the inside out. And that…
In this third annual 10-day early May “Annesitaly Inside Umbria Celebration,” of course there had to be cooking and feasting. What better way to celebrate Umbria,“Italy’s green heart”? Where to cook? In…
No better way to launch my third annual “Annesitaly Inside Umbria Celebration” tour than with a buonissimo meal with an Umbrian family. Rural friends, Olga and Americo, welcomed us all into their…