Truffle Fair in San Miniato -Tuscany

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Miniato is a town built on a hill halfway between Pisa and Florence, is a destination for many tourists and is most famous for its white truffles.
The festival, which takes place in the center of the country in November, is a set of odors and flavors: truffles, meats, wine, olive oil, chestnuts, etc..
Turn to the streets to enjoy these typical Tuscan products, eat a risotto, crostini or salami with truffles, drinking fine wine in Tuscany, Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino , a real pleasure for the palate.

 

 

Torino

Saturday I visited with my husband Turin, historic Italian city full of squares, majestic palaces, churches and museums. 
 

We walked all day, visited lovely shops, fascinated by this elegant and beautiful city: : the Mole, which inside contains the wonderful National Museum of Cinema, Piazza Castello, il Duomo di San Giovanni e la Cappella della Sacra Sindone, Piazza Carlo Felice, via Roma, Piazza San Carlo, via Garibaldi, Piazza Vittorio Veneto, il Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Madama, la Basilica di Superga and we finished our day with a nice walk along the river Po.

We drank coffee and "bicerin" (very sweet drink made of coffee, chocolate and cream) in one of the famous bars in the city and had lunch in a square where he held a cooking competition tasting excellent typical Piedmont dishes: pasta with beans, Tomino sauce and green peppers with "ajà sauce", typical  garlic sauce of this region.
 

In the evening we had dinner with mushrooms and fine wine: Barbera, Nebbiolo, Barolo and Grignolino.

Leave Turin was not easy: it welcomes you and captivates with its elegance and majesty, with all its history that is breathed in every corner of the city. We came back home with a serenity that few cities can transmit, with the promise to visit it again very soon.

Rosanna...Casal di Pari...Siena

 

 

Casal di Pari, a very small village, a divertion on the road that connects Siena to Grosseto, in the attractive square you will find restaurant by Rosanna, which is the owner of this tavern, she will ask you what you want to eat drawing up the list of the menu, you will find almost always pici pasta with garlic tomato sauce , tagliatelle and ravioli, wild boar, pork and tuscan cakes.

The food is great and typically Tuscan, everything prepared by Rosanna, in October you will find mushrooms. 

 

 

 

 

During the Christmas holidays I recommend Ricciarelli and Panforte cakes made by Rosanna, the restaurant is casual, house red wine , historically this place is attended by hunters and loveregular customers.

 

 

After lunch by Rosanna you can go for a walk along the streets of the town or visit Siena, stop in Piazza del Campo and enjoy the warmth of the sun and the view of this beautiful and impressive square.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The secrets of perfect pasta dish

 

 

 

 

Ten rules to cook the pasta. Remeber that pasta must be cooked al dente to be truly Italian.

 

• Use a large bowl
• Use 1 lt. /each 100g pasta
• Add the salt before to boil the water
• The correct quantity of salt is 10g per 1 lt water
• Add the pasta when the water is realy boiling, not before.
• When you add the pasta increase the flame to high
• Stir at regualr intervals
• Before draining the pasta, taste it to see if it is cooked to your liking.
• If the pasta is “al dente,” you should feel a slight resistance when you bite into it or cut it with a fork. There should also be a thin white vein at the center.
• Serve hot in a soup plate.

Consider that today restaurants prefer to serve pasta in a dinner plate, probably the presentation of the dish is better, but you will eat cold pasta!

If you plan to toss the pasta in a pan with the sauce, you should drain it when it is al dente. If, instead, you plan to serve it with pesto, it is advisable to follow the cooking time on the box. If you plan to make a pasta salad, place the pasta in a bowl of ice water and olive oil immediately after draining to stop the cooking process.
 

 

Soft day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today is one of the day that I prefer, working at home, lounge music, lightly cold, not real sunshine and I'm alone! No toys around me, no baby food to prepare, no husband........anybody except ME!

I planned a lot of things, as usual I'll do only 10% but I'm sure that I'll regenerate myself ,

Good Day to everybody....

 

 

 

I decided for a simple dish : steamed vegetables, seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper and thymus citriodorus, so nice!

 

Friday in Pisa with my sister

 

 

 

Pisa, beautiful Tuscan city, charming and interesting.

I graduated in Pisa, where I lived for few years. Here I still have a lot of friends and it's nice to be back and take a walk along Lungarno, stopping for a coffee in Borgo Stretto, enjoy a breathtaking view of Piazza dei Miracoli.

 

 

 

Fast and delicious lunch by Nando, ask for a simply "quarto di pizza" and you will get an exquisite course. "Cecina" is super here, this is a typical Tuscan dish, anyway you can find it also in Liguria ( see below the recipe). Ask for a plate of cecina or "focaccia with cecina" and you will eat something special. Nando is a cheap, informal and delicious pizzeria, waiters are very nice and helpful.

 

 

 

 

In the afternoon shopping with my sister along the streets of Pisa and then a drink at GAP wine Bar with friends!

Cecina Recipe

Cecina is a very simple Tuscan dish, easy to prepare and delicious: cecina or farinata is like a very thin focaccia bread made using chickpeas flour.

I suggest to use a copper flat tray, if you do not have it use a non -stick pan.

 

Ingredients ( for 1baking tray)

 

135g. chickpeas flour

405g. mineral water

5g salt

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

 

In a large bowl pour the water and using a pastry blender, stir in constantly the flour, add the salt. You will get a thick and creamy mixture, let it rest for 3/4 hours.

 

Preheat the oven to 250°, pour in the pan olive oil and the the mixture. Stir in everything using a wooden spoon, blend until smooth.

Bake for 20 minutes, serve hot with a generous dusting of pepper. Ideal with focaccia bread and a light white wine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Farmers' market.....Grosseto

 





Today shopping at outdoor farmers’ market in my town, Grosseto!



 

Typical meat …..in Grosseto it’s usual to eat porchetta on Thursday.
 

I love shopping…. And now I’m ready to cook!

 

September walk.....and pine nuts

Today with my sweet boy I collected pine nuts..........
 

.......walking slowly in the dark pine shadows of Tuscan Coast.

Feniglia - Maremma Tuscany

 

 

Today a walk in the beautiful pinewood Feniglia close to my home, Grosseto. In the heart of Maremma exist this very large and nice pine forest, with accesses to the beach and a wonderful sea .........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Colors from Tuscany

Colors from Tuscany....

Cooking time

I have just bought a very nice book "La cucina del buon gusto" written by Simonetta Agnello Hornby and M. Rosario Lazzati and I would like to share with you few considerations of those writers: "Cooking is the pleasure of taking care of their loved ones, transforming food into meal for the family. Cooking is an ancient instinct and traditionally  a women’s role, mother wean children, she is responsible to choose foods, and she invented new flavors .... cooking recipes at home is to feel close to his family and part of its history."

 

I completely agree with those words, cooking for me is not only to prepare something to eat, cooking is to find a way to relax, to take my mind off things.

Cooking is the best way to live again expressions and words of my grandma and my mother, when they were so busy in the kitchen and I was so fascinated! In Italy food is a part of our culture and of our life style, all recipes required 1 hour at least to be prepared, for example my recipe of pizza dough is ready after 24 hours! I’ll  never lose the pleasure to create dishes for my family or my friends!