I Adore September

September 1984- the month my life changed

I wanted to title this blog post I HATE AUGUST- but decided to look on the bright side!

In Italy, if anything can go wrong it will in August, when everyone one is on vacation and nothing gets done. I had paperwork in process with the Italian government which took about three months.When I finally picked up the new permits, they are only good for 3 months and need more paperwork done to make them finally permanent.

My computer hard drive blocked up so I was “crippled” until the shops reopened for repairs.

The heat was devastating and makes me go brain-dead; I over did it one day and in my exhausted state returning home on the train, I LOST my Nikon SLR- high price to pay.

So finally we are in my beloved September. As a perpetual student, for me, September is the starting of a new year- new beginnings.
Twenty-five years ago, I bought a one-way ticket to Europe and arrived in Paris! I was hoping to find a job in France and take a break before moving up to California’s wine country to open my own pastry shop. Paris, Lyon and Nice- connecting with friends or friends of friends along the way to make connections.

I had planned to come to Florence for a month to study Italian and check it out. My roommate Cathy told me, ” You will love Italy and Italy will love you!”.
No truer words were ever spoken.

I was not a Italophile– I was smitten with France. But the key was that France was not smitten with me. I always felt that my French was never good enough to be loved by the French.
Thirteen years of classes were not enough- one needed to be perfect!

I arrived in Italy in October- and it was love at first site. They don’t have the pastries that France does, but the passion for life won me over.

So the heat has broken, I have my MACBOOK back and am ready to roll!

I also have new programs online. Just up the hill from me is a beautifully restored villa with apartments and a house for rent where I will be holding Wednesday cooking classes and my new Kitchen in Chianti Culinary Weeks at Villa Poggiolaia. I hope you can join me in my Chianti in the hills of Certaldo with San Gimignano in the distance!

If you follow me here and are also on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter I am too!

See you soon I hope!

Here is a quick little recipe I made yesterday for lunch:
When I first arrived in Florence I went up to Fiesole the hill town overlooking the city and sat outside to have a pizza. I ordered a peperoni pizza, expecting to get a pizza with spicy salami slices. Instead it was covered with bell pepper slices! YUCK! There are many of those sort of “lost in translation” mistakes that happen when one doesn’t speak the language. I speak Italian almost perfectly now, but still don’t like bell peppers on my pizza, but adore roasted red bell peppers.

Here is my take on turning them into a :

Peperoni “Pizza” . Gluten-free
I roast the bell peppers whole and then place them in a bag to sweat, making it easier to peel them.

Cut into 1/4’s, place in a skillet and top with mozzarella cheese, torn into pieces.
Sprinkle with oregano, anchovies if you like, capers and drizzle with oil.
Heat covered on top of the stove, creating an oven.

Serve hot.