Divina Cucina

Your Best Friend in Italy

Project Food Blog – Challenge # 1- Ready, Set, Blog

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I love a challenge, so when FoodBuzz sent out their Food Blog Challenge I jumped in.
Follow a fabulous group of food-bloggers as we set out on this adventure.
The FoodBuzz team is giving us a weekly subject and YOU get to vote! 
This week is: why we blog and why we should be the next food blog star.

Voting will start on Sept 20 at 6am to Sept 23 at 6pm 
To Vote, click on my profile link  HERE

Why I Blog:

When I moved to Italy in 1984 from San Francisco, it was hard to stay in touch. Snail mail was so slow, it wasn’t until the internet and email came around that I felt less isolated from friends and family.

 living in the Tuscany countryside can be lonely

Finally the internet opened up to the public. I opened my first website in 1997 and began sending newsletters out to those that signed up on my site, but I still needed a webmaster to process everything for me and limited my postings.

I was so thrilled when I heard about blogging. July of 2003 I began blogging on a slow dial-up here in the Tuscan countryside. Little by little, I have been able to get better connections, learn more from fellow bloggers, adding photos and really began to share my incredible experiences with the culture of food in Italy. Now I can keep my culinary diary online and have been able to meet and exchange information with fellow food-lovers all over the planet. 

my tiny kitchen means being creative; hanging pots and wine box spice racks
From my tiny home in the middle of olive groves, in my even tinier kitchen, I experiment and tweek recipes to share them with my virtual friends. What I adore about cooking here is that it doesn’t take a large kitchen or fancy tools to make fabulous food. Its all about finding the best ingredients and cooking with the seasons. My mother-in-law said; “Spend more time shopping and less time cooking.”
That is what I pass on to my students in my classes here in Tuscany. Good quality foods need little done to them to make a fabulous meal.

 come to Tuscany and join me for cooking classes

I try to share images and recipes from everyday Tuscan life, where food is truly the most important thing in life, from the market to table, meeting artisans and chefs. I bring you into my kitchen and introduce you to my students and my friends. Offering you an assaggio, a taste, of daily life. Passing on traditional recipes, simplifying the mysteries creating great food.


sharing my restaurant tips- like where to eat this


Follow the Project Food Blog and vote for your favorites, make new friends around the world and break bread with someone you love!

Voting starts on Sept 20 – Winners of each challenge go on to the next round.
Vote by clicking on my profile on the right hand sidebar of go directly here.

Join me at my Kitchen in Chianti and sit down and have a glass of wine.Meet my friends and enjoy.

Italians say, ” A Tavola non si invecchia“One does not grow old at the table.Pull up a chair, pour a glass of wine.It’s almost like being here.
Why should I be the next Food Blog Star?:

I love to participate in events, but really…. in my own little world I am already so happy with my blog, I enjoy feedback from my followers and love to see the numbers grow weekly.
To me, I have already won!
 

Comments

  6. Divina says

    Thanks laura- glad you pointed out that my comments had been turned off–
    can’t wait for the competition—will be fun- I have always loved homework!

  7. Kristie says

    Great post and good luck! Your beautiful blog is always a treat to read especially for those of us that long to be in Italy! 🙂

  8. Lawyer Loves Lunch says

    I love that this post is such a great glimpse into your life. It sounds so idyllic to live in the Italian countryside and host cooking classes! Best of luck to you tomorrow- I’ll be pulling for all of us 🙂

  12. JayP says

    We’re voting for you because we just love Italy. I’ve just seen your blog via the contestants’ photos. Good luck. It’s a great blog and I can’t believe you managed to start it so early in the world of technology! An achievement in itself! 🙂
    Great photos too by the way.