I have heard from so many of my Italian American friends about the Feast of the Seven fishes for Christmas Eve, but no one in Florence has ever heard about it. Like many Italian American traditions, they came with the immigrants and found new life in the USA. Regional Italian cooking, would trace that recipe…
Ballotte-Stewed Tuscan Chestnuts
When the chestnuts come out you know the temperature has gotten chilly and we have broken out the down comforter, put the mattress heater on the bed (called scaldasogno) and turned the heat on in the house. The grapes have been harvested and driving past the wineries you can get drunk smelling the wine fermenting….
Amatriciana for Amatrice- #virtualsagra (updated)
One of Italy’s most famous sauce, Amatriciana, originated in Amatrice, a small town in Lazio famous for the pasta dish, made using guanciale. The 50th anniversary sagra, food festival, was to be held this weekend. Amatrice no longer exists. Hopefully it can be rebuilt. Usually they move the towns. The earthquake on August 24th leveled…
Cookbook Review: Florentine, The True Cuisine of Florence by Emiko Davies
I recently received a copy of Emiko Davies ‘s cookbook, Florentine, The True Cuisine of Florence. It is filled with her favorite recipes from living in and around Florence. Like me, she got some of her inspiration for the local trattoria’s, pizza places and friends. Marrying a Italian also helps for quality control! I first saw…
Divine Days- Livorno
There is nothing I love more than a food festival except perhaps being by the sea. When the two worlds collide, I am ecstatic! I saw that one of my favorite towns on the Tuscan Coast was having a 3 day celebration for the local specialty, Caccuccio, the fish soup. In San Francisco, we have…
Day Tripping from Florence- Prato- #eatPrato
The Medici family always knew a good thing. 300 years ago, they created the wine producing region of Carmignano. Carmignano is part of the province of Prato, just outside of Florence. I have several favorite restaurants and bakeries, shops and wine producers in the area I love visiting in Carmignano, but the town of Prato…
Certaldo Alto- My Hood
I am a real city girl or so I thought. After 20 years of living in downtown Florence, the noise and air pollution got to me and we moved out to the countryside. We actually bought a tiny 1/2 of a country house to restore. Did I tell you I am NOT FRANCES MAYES? The restoration…
Sweet Home- Toscana
Flying to California a month ago, I had an epiphany. I am the matriarch of my family AND I have no HOME in California. Thirty-two years ago, I bought a one way ticket to France. Little did I know that Italy would become my home. This trip back to California was hard. I was going…