The agenda for the weekend starts with an Italian BBQ

As I went for my early morning run, this morning promised a splendid sunny – maybe even warm (almost hot?) – kind of day.  I spent most of the run planning out my activities for the weekend – BBQ Friday night after work with a glass of Chianti enjoying the sunset over the vineyard, Saturday was to be leisurely including town hopping (Greve and Panzano are bound to have a farm market going on), B-day shopping, gardening and an evening visit to Florence then Sunday (with the promise of really lousy weather) my intention is to cuddled up on the couch and enjoy one of my new e-books.  So my plans to BBQ with DH this evening were almost confirmed and written in stone.

But as I look out my office window and desperately search for the sun, I realize that I had better come up with an alternative plan – at least as far as the grilled chicken with fresh Tuscan Herbs and jacket potatoes are concerned.  Pizza anyone?

Saturday has received rave reviews from the local weatherman – sun sun sun and then more sun.  So town hopping is still on the agenda.  DH and I like to get out the vespa, don our helmets and wind around the country roads looking for a food festival or farmer market where we can have fun picking and choosing all kinds of yummy goodies.  We then pile it all into the basket attached to the back of the bike and anything that doesn’t fit goes into my handbag.  We drive home as fast as possible in order to set up outside in our garden under the umbrella and eat it all in one go!

I have to do some B-Day shopping because my little brother is going to be celebrating at the end of the month, and I don’t want him to wait 4 months (like my little sister did) to get his gift.  I have to calculate normal postal delays between Tuscany and California – AND I have to calculate my perpetual procrastination in taking the box to the post office to actually send it.  He (ever so) casually dropped a hint that our three section Toscanella briefcase was on his wish list  but . . . let’s just say if he wants a briefcase for his B-day he’d better come and visit me first.  I was actually thinking more along the line of a document holder or an iPad case.

I will be planting my zucchini plants this weekend so that they will be ready to sprout flowers real soon – and that of course means fried zucchini flowers.  YUM! And since zucchini plants seem to be constantly in the production mode, two plants should keep us eating zucs until … I don’t know October?  Which is just fine by me because I have at least 50 different ways to make them – the first of which is a Primavera sauce for the Pasta:

2 baby zucchini, 1 baby onion (or sweet onion), 2 ripe tomatoes, 150-200 gr. Ricotta cheese, a bunch of fresh parsley (or basil), 200 grs pasta and as much grated parmesan cheese as you like. (basics for any Italian recipe include Extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper)

Chop the onion and begin to sautee in extra virgin olive oil.

Chop the Zucchini and add to the onion.

Chop the tomato and as soon as the onion and zucchini are soft and golden add the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook until they are soft and you can smell the flavours mixing and remove from heat.  Mix in the ricotta cheese and parsely.

Make your favorite type of short pasta. Drain (put leave just a little bit of the water).

Mix with the sauce and add some of the cooking water if it needs to be thinned out.

Sprinkle the cheese and serve . . . with lots of bread because the left over sauce will need to be scooped up, its just too good to leave behind.

Well, as the Italians are often apt to say – let’s hope for the best.  Hopefully I will get home in time to at least have a little happy hour before the rain falls.

Wishing you all a great weekend – leave a comment with your plans!

Everything is coming up roses in Tuscany

It is springtime in Tuscany and all you need is a drop of sun and the roses are in bloom everywhere!  It almost seems that roses are as proficuo as weeds in some areas.  It is in my nature to be generally super curious and I will find myself asking tons of questions when I find a reliable source and then I tuck these pieces of info into my brain.  I found most of my American friends and family, when they come to visit,  indulge me and listen to these stories and facts – many of them are probably wondering how it is I can remember all of these curiousities but I had the hardest time remembering how to do algerbra or spell anything with more than two vowels in it. And I am about to share with you one of these interesting little facts.

As it turns out both Tuscan vineyards and I share a common like :  Roses.   Anyone who has visited Tuscany might have noticed that at the beginning of each row in the vineyards there can occassionally be found a rose bush.  This is especially true for the older vineyards – like those located around my house.  Some might have thought that is was a gesture of beauty, but I can assure you that the Tuscan farmer has no time for adding a bit of beauty when it comes to something as serious as his veggie garden or vineyard.

When I first started gardening in Tuscany, planted flowers all a long my fence.  I was continuously under the scrutiny of my neighbors – the older they were the more curious as to what the American girl was up too.  Bruno,  as old as they get and with a face that never cracked a smile, shook his head and gave me a look bordering on disgust he said:  ”boh, fiori?”  Of course, don’t they look good?.  ”boh (a Tuscan way of saying I don’t know) non si può mangiare fiori” –  you can’t eat those flowers so, I was just wasting my time.

But not all flower are a waste of time, for example fried fiori di zucca (fried zucchini flowers – need I say more?) and roses.  Yes, back on the topic at hand.  Apparently roses were traditionally planted at the end of the rows in vineyards because they are delicate – more so than the vines.  In this way, if the flowers or the bushes started to show signs of bugs or diease the farmer would be alerted before the problem could attach the vineyards.  The rose bush above is one of my favorites, nestled underneath a olive tree pushes out blooms from May to November non stop – and not scrawny blossoms but long stem red roses!

Not all roses are found in or around the vineyards, like this silver plated Nomination bracelet with a rose motif, this one can be found on line at Pierotucci.com  And let’s just say that the younger generation of Italians are just as fond of planting flowers and roses as they are of planting tomatoes and zucchini plants.

This bush with is spectacular yellow and pink blossoms stands taller than me!  I love the idea of it protecting all of these vineyards.  Of course today – it is more for show than utility because there are lots of other ways to keep an eye on the health of a vineyard.  However, I love it that some farmers still go out of their way to protect these reminants of cultural history.

This pole actually has two different kinds of roses – one is what I would call a wild rose – that the white one crawling up high.  Then there is the romantic white and pink rose – similar to this pink gold rose and silver bracelet from the ROSES collection from Nomination.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures I took of the vineyard and roses surrounding my home in Tuscany.

Whatever you call it: holiday, vacation, free day, it all equates to one more day of Liberty!

April 25 in Italy is celebrated as the Festa della Liberazione – or rather the anniversary of the day Italy was “liberated” of the nazi-fascist occupation. This event was courageously fought for by persons of every age, creed and economic possibility uniting provinces and regions in the name and honor of their country.
When I first came to Italy, I must admit WWII was only a long list of dates and a series of cliff notes but upon my arrival 20 years ago the events of this traumatic moment in history were still very much present and on certain occasions I felt as if I was breathing history.  My arrival in Italy was not to some large city like Milan, Rome or Florence – I was dumped in the countryside.  The poetic, romantic and green countryside where by chance the partisans where particularly strong and where the foreign liberators were seen almost as saviors.  Ignorant of the part the partisans played along with the United States and Great Britain  in this liberation, it took just a few years of learning the language, meeting the people and being my naturally inquisitive self to discover the hardships, the reality, the togetherness and the drive which pulled an entire country through tragedy, massacres, political and religious  persecution and horrors.  Somehow things just came alive to me when I asked – why is that building riddled with holes  and received the answer oh that was machine gun fire from the Nazis … yikes, you realize how not so far off things were.

So even though I am not an Italian citizen and though I am not one to dwell on the disasters of the past, I find that I celebrate this holiday all the same, not because it means a day off of work but because it means honoring people – of all nations – who believed in freedom and achieved it.  I see it as a sign of respect for all of those persons who gave of themselves for something that they felt to be right and true.

Thank you!  Thank you for your actions then, 67 years ago, and thank you for your actions today, to all those who still strive to uphold freedom.

Weekend Line-up in Florence Italy

1) Thunderous looking clouds are pushing the sun out of the sky! Its always rather eiry when warm yellow sunlight penetrates through the heavy gray clouds. But let it rain, we won’t begrudge the water reservoir the pleasure of filling up, even if it does mean a possible weekend under the umbrella.

2) Working double time to get all the new products on line in time for our pre-Mother’s Day Sale.  Managed to wriggle out a great discount on so many of our designer leather handbags . . . I am beginning to wonder if maybe M & M didn’t have a touch of a fever when they gave the go ahead !  Buy now before they make me change all the prices.

3) Yum, dinner is breaded lamb chops and fried artichokes – gees, when you are about to eat this well who cares if its raining outside. Looking forward to a gorgeous fire, a leisurely dinner, a glass (or three) of a robust Chianti  and cuddling up on the couch with my favorite Italian Sweetie and a warm wool blanket for a romantic film, which half of us will sleep right through.

4) This month we have been flying through our stock of Italian leather jackets, looks like the 2012 collection is going to be a roaring success. I have been trying to entice my Sweetie to have a look and pick one out but I think he is waiting for me to surprise him. Won’t he be surprised when the jacket I bring home is for ME and not him.

5) FORZA VIOLA! It’s looking a bit desperate and I think we will need all the help we can get on the soccer field this Sunday. In fact, I have considered taking all the lucky charms off of our FORTUNATA BAGS and bringing them home just to tip the balance of the scales in our favor.

6) I am sitting here counting the minutes till break time so I can dig into this box of dark chocolate covered hazelnuts cookies that I saw at the supermarket this afternoon.  I can’t believe I am actually hungry after the Girls Night Out yesterday with my ex-pat colleagues and an improvised  Mexican Menu, who knew Chianti went so well with tacos and fajitas.  And Bria, that Guacamole was … well, let’s just say I am without words.

What is filigree jewelry?

Florence and the surrounding area is particularly well known in Italy for its long tradition in working gold into beautiful pieces of art.  In fact,  this art was advanced to its highest perfection by the Greeks and Etruscans from the 6th to the 3rd centuries BC.  As a testament to this tradition , a number of earrings and other personal ornaments found in central Italy are well preserved in the Louvre and in the British Museum.  Almost all of them are made of filigree work.

The filifree or as many cultures know it “filograno” is used in the production of gold and silver pieces.  This particular technique consists of reducing the precious metal into fine wires to create a type of jewelry characterized by braiding and bending these  threads to create delicate swirling, curving motifs.  The patience and skill required to work these extremely thin threads is what contributes to the value of these unique designs.

Filigree (also less commonly spelt filagree, and formerly written filigrann or filigrene) often suggests lace, and in recent centuries remains popular in Indian and other Asian metalwork, and French from 1660 to the late 19th century. It should not be confused with ajoure jewellery work; while both have many open areas, filigree involves threads being soldered together to form an object and ajoure involves holes being punched, drilled, or cut through an existing piece of metal.

It is interesting to note the origins of this technique was historically considered part of the ordinary work of a jeweler, even though filigree has become a special branch of jewellery in modern times.  A. Castellani states, in his “Memoir on the Jewellery of the Ancients” (1861), that except for items intended to follow the owners to the grave, the jewelry of the Etruscans (from central Italy) and Greeks was made by soldering together  gold rather than by chiseling or engraving the material.  Below is a gorgeous example of how the Etruscans solder together and decorated with fine gold threads.  Click on photo for more details on where you can see this set of ear rings.

Etruscan, Pair of bauletto earrings, 6th century B.C., gold, Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Mr. and Mrs. James H. Clark

These pieces are more are on sale at Pierotucci.com where you will find an interesting and ever changing collection of handmade Italian crafted 18K gold rings, bracelets, pendants, necklaces and more.

Friends for lunch in Tuscany

The idea started off as a fun afternoon in our garden with some warm sun shining down on us, ribs on the grill and us with some friends enjoying the fresh cut lawn and the colorful array of flowers popping up everywhere.  But with a mini-cyclone in arrival this weekend, I don’t think that is going to happen.  However we are not going to let this unexpected weather situation change our plans, my Sweetie and I are a bit like the mailman – come rain, sleet and cyclones, the meal must go on.

So have I decided take this as a great opportunity to serve up those wonderful winter dishes typical to the Tuscan menu before we are forced to eat fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil for months on end   It will also give me a great opportunity to use my black leather pants one more time before the summer temps settle in.

We are going to start with an antipasto of polenta fritta and crostini with melted mozzarella, anchioves and capers.  Polenta is one of those truly under rated foods, made from yellow corn meal it is great served hot and creamy with chunks of pork and potatoes, or cut into hard blocks covered with meat sauce, or heated in the oven with cheese on top  – are you getting the idea, that it is delicious in any form.  Well we are going to cut it into bite size pieces and fry it till it is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside and serve it with a spicy tomato sauce for dipping (now that would be my American touch to the meal – Italians just serve it straight up!)  I will also be cutting up a delicious hunk of mozzarella into tiny bits and placing it on bread with chopped anchovies and capers, toast it in the oven till the cheese becomes nice and gooey and serve it up with the fried polenta.  YUM!  We will be in 8 – one of which is under 6 – but these goodies will probably be gone before they reach the table.

Any Sunday lunch in Tuscany (Italy for that matter) must have a pasta and since I am catering to an all Italian crowd this weekend, I will have to abide by the rule.  We are going to take a classic (pasta in meat sauce) and dress it up into the Florentine Pasticcio – a pie crust base filled with pasta, meat sauce, besciamela, grated Parmesan and about a zillion calories  (but who cares about that!)  Now pasticcio normally means to make a mess out of something (a lot like the Italian government, in fact when I tried to find a good picture of this dish – that’s exactly what came up photos of Italian government officials!) When you put this dish together it kind of has a messy look to it but that has absolutely no influence on the taste, which ranks right up there with lasagna!

We will follow this up with another classic winter dish arista di miale al forno – roast pork with rosemary and garlic.   Normally this is served with roast potatoes but I had a wonderful opportunity at the local market to pick up fagioli di Cetica – a small white bean and I will be accompanying the main course with green veggies and beans.  One of the fun and interesting things that have come out of the European Community is that many local areas have been protecting recipes and foods that are particular to certain zones.  Cetica is a gorgeous little town about an hour southwest of Florence located in the mountains.  The mix of cold temps and rich soil have produced several delicacies (red potatoes from Cetica, chestnuts, mushrooms and of course these white beans.)  I will be doing a very simple recipe of beans cooked with garlic, sage and black peppercorn, to be served with extra virgin olive oil on top.  The simplicity of this recipe is exactly what makes it so delicious.

Needless to say all of this will be served with a healthy portion of classical Tuscan bread, olive oil and red wine.  I bet you were all wondering when I was going to mention the wine . . . but we could say that it is a tacit agreement that all Sunday lunches – well any lunch for that matter – in our house is served with a Chianti Classico.

We are being treated to homemade bread with walnuts – which should be nicely complimented with the Gorgonzala DOP that I picked up.  In addition to the bread there will be a surprise dessert that one of our friends is bringing over.

Tune in on Monday – and I will have photos of all these goodies . . . if they last long enough for me to take a few.

My B-day Wish List is in the makings

It’s one of those things that you will never finish doing and you can  never get it wrong!  To start off, I have been checking out a new car . . . with a sunroof please and tan leather interiors.  I can just see me doing daytrips in Tuscany to Montalcino, Chianti, Arezzo and so much more with windows down and the fresh breeze filtering through as I listen to my favorite music!

Of course a means of transport this sexy just begs to have a pair of these tucked in the center console with my designer sunglasses:

Ladies Leather Driving Gloves

Moving right along,  how about something just a bit more feminine :

and staying with the femme side, I would love a leather mini-skirt but, with a twist:

This leather mini skirt - but I would like to have it in this awesome tobacco colored distressed leather with the decorative snaps at the front slit.

Some things were on my wish list and have already been delivered:

Birthday Cake Torta Mimosa with cream and chocolate chips (hic cup) OK, and a touch of rum (hic cup)

Kindle with sleeve - Thanx Mom & Bob (my sister even handmade a personalized cover!!)

and there were somethings that weren’t on the list but came anyway – wonderful wonderful surprises:

Red roses for my Birthday

and a shopping trip carte blanc at :

All this will finish this evening with happy hour overlooking my vineyard, a bottle of prosecco, assorted Tuscan cheeses and snacks, to be followed by steak on the grill by my own personal chef … the rest is my secret!

Another celebration in Italy, Father’s Day is today

We are guest blogging at one our favorite English blogs today.  DressItalian mix food and Italian culture perfectly, offer well informed and interesting articles..

Please go check us out as we give you the low down on la Festa del Papa’ here in Tuscany

Let them know who sent you – thanks a million and

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY from Pierotucci.com

And the green grass grows all around

Just a little bit of water and sun to make the green grass grow all around as well as the flowers and all of my aromatic plants. Springtime in the countryside is synonymous with color and perfumes. What really got me thinking of sun and water is that last weekend I watered my chives (or the brown stubs of what was left of my chives) and this afternoon I noticed new green shoots coming up…look out baked potatoes!!  What I always found fun living in Italy, is that each season brings with it’s own personal menu.  In Tuscany you begin to see agreti, fresh basil,  fave and baby red onions in the market at this time and they all have their own specialties tied to them.

Fave Broad Beans with pecorino cheese in Tuscany

I love all of these, each comes with a particular tradition and favorite recipes.  Fave beans are traditionally eaten with the fresh percorino cheese which is also just coming into season, in fact many times this is on the Easter menu.  Fresh basil  . . . well even though tomatoes aren’t in season . . . everyone will tempt fate and try a few of the green house tomatoes with some fresh basil and mozzarella cheese.  One of my particular favorites are baby onions – nice and sweet.  I like to put them on the table with fresh veggies (carrots, artichokes, red bell peppers and fresh baby onions) along with a nice dish of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.  The perfect happy hour nibbler this and a glass of bubbly prosecco, and I am in heaven.

And just to keep in the theme with green – here is our St. Patrick’s Day favorite picks:

Designer Ladies Handbag in leather from Caterina Lucchi

Ladies Leather Jacket in Wrinkled Green Lambskin

Toscanella Green Leather Document Holder and Laptop or iPad Bag

And just to keep in the theme with green – here is our St. Patrick’s Day favorite picks:

Weekend Excursion included pizza with mozzarella di bufala

Saturday was a beautiful day in Firenze, possibly a bit windy but still sunny and delicious.  A hop into town on our motorino and we were strolling along the Arno river admiring the warm rays and the exceptionally low water line.

In town we stopped in at Enoteca / Wine Bar Cantinetta dei Verrazzano for a piece of yummy warm foccacia with artichokes and ham, a glass of wine and a little atmosphere before heading over to the cinema to see the French film “Intouchables”.  After a refreshingly fun movie in the late afternoon, our tummies were longing for a good pizza and a glass of beer (or two).  So we picked up our motorino and weaved through the streets of Florence.  It appears nothing is more difficult then getting into a good pizziarea at 8:30 PM on a Saturday night! Sure there are tons of places – but well, since we were out we wanted something really good not to just settle for any ol’pizza…

We finally left the motorino so we could infiltrate the narrow roads of the city center.   I can quite honestly say that we worked up even more an appetite walking from one place to another till we finally just decided to wait it out at our first choice, FLB (Fratelli La Bufala).  Two cold beers, Roma beating Palermo in soccer and two hot pizzas later we were “sazia” (happily stuffed).  I had a pizza with provolone, anchovies, cherry tomatoes and black olives and he had a Capriciossa…which means that just about anything goes.  We didn’t want to exaggerate, however if we did I would have gone for our neighbors starter – a caprese with fresh tomatoes, basil and fried mozzarella!

After a pizza (come Cristo commando) we walked the streets in search of a bit of gelato … for me at least, DH stuck to his cigar.  And I gave in and went to Grom.  I say I gave in because, I have a hard time imagining how an authentic Italian gelateria can have a name which appears so anglo-saxon.  As luck would have it, my timing was perfect and there were no lines AND when I showed just a little indecision (very unusual for me  in front of chocolate ice cream) they practically insisted that I taste another 3 flavors before making my final decision.  I experimented this time with caffè espresso (very caffè and very little sugar, undecided if I like it) and Crema di Grom (an egg cream base with cookies and chocolate chips).

While making our way back to the motorino (and to brace ourselves for a chilly trip home) we window shopped for shoes and the new collection of leather jackets. Mostly for him, since his B-day is right around the corner and I  would like to surprise him.

All in all it was a beautiful night great company, lovely weather, fun film, good food and no cost shopping, it couldn’t have gotten much better – except for the near full moon which illuminated the countryside as we bumped back to our humble abode in Chianti.