blogfromafar

One of our stops on our food and wine trip this fall was a visit with Betty and Cesare Nadalini, who bring us Tutta Toscana Olive Oil. Betty will be here on Saturday with armfuls of her lovely olive oil ($34.99, $19.99) from near Pisa and the Italian coast. We call this a “Red Wine” olive oil; with so much taste, it stands up to beef and pork They took us to meet Pilade and Franca who own the estate that produces their oil. (more…)

We love Thanksgivings: gathering with friends and family, remembering old traditions and starting anew each year.

This Thanksgiving, Gary outdid himself, starting with Giatta DiLaurentis’s recipes for Herbes de Provence Turkey and Ciabatta Stuffing with Pancetta and Chestnuts. (more…)

Well, to be honest, lovely Stefano is a bit late with his recipes, but he has cooked a “sformato” both times we’ve been to his class, and we had one at our cooking class in Siena which was light and delightful, so here goes. A “sformato” is like a little souffle casserole cooked in a tiny cup inverted over on your plate, perfectly “s-form-ato’ed” (more…)

In the villa at Montestigliano where we stay, there are rooms upstairs that either wait to be or resist being restored. I’ve dreamed at night of finding new rooms in a familiar house and it’s said that that this represents discovering parts of yourself that you’ve forgotten, never known, or tried to avoid. Maybe this is why we travel: (more…)

Our Cooking and Wine Tour concludes this week with a visit to a “frantoio” where this year’s bumper crop of olives are pressed, on to see the Cinta Senese Pigs, a local breed with a white belt “Cinta” around their middle from the Siena “Senese” region, a cooking school in the evening, and a Florentine finish with visits to markets and museums. (more…)

One of the rewards of picking olives in the Tuscan hills is an evening cooking lesson with Stefano, childhood friend of owner Daniele Raspini. Here’s what we savored following this Monday’s class. (more…)

Buon Giorno tutti! This week’s olive picking is off to a fine start. By Monday, our “Group of 7″ who ventured to Italy to help in the olive harvest had already picked 25 baskets full and by the time we went to the olive press (“fantoio”) on Wednesday, we weighed the olives in at 2006 pounds (for the year 2006 – think of us the next time you enjoy Amici Olive Oil!). We celebrated by taking a trip to the market at nearby Figline Valdarno. The vegetables here are riotous! (more…)