A new year of adventures!

Well, another Christmas has come and (almost) gone, and I'd like to wish everyone a Happy 2012...I hope it brings lots of new adventures and memories for you and your families!

I'm starting the New Year off in my favourite way - travel!!  My husband and I are headed to Hawaii tomorrow, and of course, I'll have lots to blog about upon my return!

Goodbye for now...I'll be back in 2012....Happy New Year!!

A most unexpected, delightful day!

Sometimes, when we travel, it's the moments that are completely unexpected and unplanned that turn out to be the best parts of a trip.  I experienced one of those days on my recent trip to Italy.

After our wonderful time in Colle di val d'Elsa we were to transfer, by van and private driver, to the spa at Fonteverde.  We knew the trip would take a little under 2 hours and since we weren't expected at Fonteverde until late afternoon, decided at the last minute to hire the driver for the whole day - the plan was to have him take us to an olive grove and a medieval village along the way.  First thing Friday morning, Manuele, our driver, arrived to pick us up.  He spoke impeccable English and we immediately felt comfortable with him.

Cinta Sinese - rare Tuscan piggy!

We had been told ahead of time that the olive grove and production facility were closed for the season, but that they would open it up and give us a tour.  To be honest, I wasn't that excited about seeing a closed olive oil factory, but decided to just go with the flow.  When we arrived at the processing plant, a wonderful little Italian woman named Anna Rita met us and gave us a tour of the plant, explaining how everything was done - she was very interesting and I think we all immediately liked her.  After the plant tour, Anna Rita invited us back to her estate, Casamonti, to view the olive groves, vineyards and the special Tuscan pigs, Cinta Sinese, they raise which are then processed into delicious salamis, and prosciuttos on site.  This turned out to be the most delightful tour and we were all surprised afterwards when we were shown to a small room and the most beautiful luncheon had been prepared for us - complete with the wines and olive oils produced by their estate.  It was, in my opinion, the most delicious meal we had on the whole trip!  We were all so overwhelmed by the kindness and hospitality shown to us 4 girls - we were, after all, only expecting a tour of a closed olive oil plant.  This was far and above anything we expected - and at no cost to us!!  Anna Rita explained that many of the things we were eating were her mother's recipes and then told us she had just renovated the kitchen in the 200 year old house because she dreamed of opening a cooking school - well sign me up!!!  Seriously, I would love to spend some time with Anna Rita learning the secrets of her Tuscan kitchen - and I have a strong feeling she would have so many interesting stories to tell at the same time...all in the most beautiful setting imaginable in the Chianti region of Tuscany.

Beautiful to look at - Delicious to eat!!

After our luncheon, we all made some purchases in the shop, and were preparing to leave, when Anna Rita asked us if we would like a tour of the 200 year old farm house - we had no idea that she had never invited anyone inside the house - this was a first for her.  What we saw was completely unexpected, but let me say that some museums in Italy would be more than happy to have some of the items that we saw there.  The house belonged to her husbands parents, who had passed away several years ago, and had remained virtually untouched since.  It was in amazing shape and I loved seeing such a wonderful example of a historical Tuscan home.  We felt honoured to have been invited inside.  After touring the farmhouse, we reluctantly said goodbye to Anna Rita, but all of us have the feeling that we will be meeting again.

Anna Rita, centre, and Sandro, her right-hand man

Beautiful views in Pienza

After our visit to Casamonti, Manuele drove us to Pienza - his hometown.  Pienza was a delightful town, small and easy to explore due to the rare fact that it is flat - most unusual in these medieval towns which all seem to have a steep slope, which can be tiring when exploring.   We enjoyed some gelato, the beautiful views, and of course made some really neat purchases - a couple of hours is all you need to see most of Pienza, making it a perfect stop if you have limited time.
It was a pleasant afternoon and a great complement to our morning .

After our afternoon in Pienza, it was finally time to head to Fonteverde, the spa in the Siena hillside, and our "home" for the next 3 days.   But what I truly loved about this day was that we were really expecting it to be one of our least exciting days of the vacation and it turned out to be on of our favourites - I love it when that happens!!

www.cintasenese.blogspot.com

Cooking School in Tuscany?...yes, please!

Pretty much the clinching factor in my deciding to go on the Italy trip was when I heard that we would be attending a cooking school to learn some authentic Italian recipes.  To be truthful, Italian food is not tops on my list of favourite cuisines - if I have pasta twice a year, that's plenty for me - but I figured by attending a real Italian cooking school, I would learn the recipes and techniques that would change my mind....I wasn't wrong!
 

For this portion of our trip we headed to the medieval village of Colle di val d'Elsa, about an hours drive from Florence.  We checked into our hotel, Palazzo San Lorenzo, and waited to meet Judy Witts Francini, who would be our teacher for the next 3 days.  Judy is a U.S. expat who's lived in Tuscany since 1984 and is married to an Italian .  She runs a cooking school called Divina Cucina and is somewhat of a celebrity chef in Italy and abroad - but without the celebrity chef attitude. Now, when I say "cooking school", I'm not talking a classroom with industrial style appliances...Judy runs her school out of a second floor, 2 room flat in the middle of the village, that works perfectly for its purpose - while the kitchen wasn't huge, it had everything we needed to create the fabulous dishes Judy would show us.  It was like cooking with a favourite aunt or sister...comfortable, casual and fun.  Each day Judy would ask us what we'd like to make...then we would visit the various shops - butcher, baker and market - to purchase the needed supplies for that day's meal.  The great part was we were learning things that we could actually take back to our own kitchens - real recipes for real people - not some fancy, schmancy dishes with ingredients we would never find.  Judy had this wonderful way of keeping all 4 of us girls busy doing different things - with a lot of laughs and "quality control", and before we knew it, we were sitting down, family-style, to enjoy the spoils of that days efforts.

Pappa al Pomodoro - Tomato and Bread Soup

One of our favourite parts of cooking school (besides eating the food!), was the last morning when there was the weekly travelling market that comes to Colle di val d'Elsa.  We met Judy there and she introduced us to all of her favourite vendors - it was obvious she is well-liked and respected by them as we were all given the star treatment!   We had some wonderful cheese-tastings with the Cipriani brothers - we were even invited behind their counter for a photo, and sampled a delicious porchetta sandwich which I'm still salivating over!  Plus, this was our opportunity to pick up some of the items we had been using in Judy's kitchen - nothing like an Italian parmesan grater with it's handy olive-wood box or my new favourite kitchen tool - the mezzaluna :-)

Cheese tasting (and buying!) with the Cipriani Bros.

During our 3 days with Judy we made a myriad of dishes - lasagna, roasted tuscan potatoes, grilled pork belly with fennel pollen, homemade pasta, pumpkin ravioli, pear and gorgonzola pizza, eggplant pizza, pappa al pomodoro, fagioli all'Olio, roast beef, stir-fried peppers, chicken stuffed with mortadella and artichokes, ragu sauce, salsa di pomodoro, fennel and orange salad, and my personal favourite - eggplant parmesan.  For desserts we made Torta di Mele Montagliari - an apple cake with a crepe-like batter, pear and ricotta pie, and Panna Cotta.  Each day we would leave Judy's school stuffed and happy to have learned so much in such a short time!

Pear and Ricotta Pie with a cookie-like crust - yum!!

One of the nice things about our time in Colle di val d'Elsa was its proximity to other medieval villages that we were able to visit during our down time from school.  Judy had arranged a wonderful driver for us - a sweet, little Italian man named Fausto, who didn't speak a word of English, but was happy to communicate through hand signals and lots of nodding!  He took us to San Gimignano one day and Sienna the next...we loved walking around these unique cities and looking in the shops - and of course we had to sample the Gelato everywhere we went - yum!!

Gelato in Sienna - a work of art!

Cooking school was everything I hoped it would be - and more!  I learned that not all Italian food is pasta, and I really could enjoy eating it more than twice per year.  Although we were already scheming about a return visit, all 4 of us girls were so anxious to get home and try out our new skills and recipes on our "guinea pigs"....but not so fast - we still had the spa portion of our trip to look forward to!

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Judy Witts Francini

Divina Cucina, Judy's culinary program in Italy, includes market tours, tastings and programs in both Tuscany or Sicily.  For more information about her, visit her website www.divinacucina.com where you will find recipes, her blog and info. on her classes.  She has also just released a cookbook called Secrets from my Tuscan Kitchen which I can personally say is fabulous!

Fabulous, friendly Florence!

So I travelled to Italy for some "girl-time" to celebrate a friend's birthday, and Florence, Italy was our first stop on this adventure.  I have to admit to being less than excited about Florence being the city portion of our trip.  I had visited the city 2 times prior, and unlike almost everyone I know, just didn't feel the "wow" that people describe in Florence.  Sure, there's the statue of David, some beautiful churches and interesting architecture, but compared to other cities in Italy, I just wasn't inspired.  Venice - so romantic and unique, unlike any other place in the world. Rome - numerous ruins, including the Colisseum- all the images that conjures up, the Vatican, palaces and museums, so many famous landmarks - I love Rome.  But Florence was always kind of "meh" for me...so I was determined to see Florence with different eyes this time, and find some new reasons to love this city.  Here's what I found:

Florence has a wonderful little airport that's extremely easy to navigate - a pleasant surprise after the chaos that is the airport in Paris. For a larger city, it definitely has a small-town feel.  Unfortunately, there are not really any direct flights into Florence from the U.S. or Canada, so you will need to fly to a major European airport and catch a smaller flight into Florence from there.  Impossible to get lost in it, only 3 baggage carousels, and no huge line-ups for passport control - a breath of fresh air, airport-wise.  And only 20 short minutes from the center of Florence.  I love the Florence airport!

Something that really stood out on this trip to Florence were the Florentine people...they were just so friendly!   From shopkeepers, to waiters, to hotel staff, there was a distinct difference in the friendliness here that definitely wins out over Venice or Rome.  We were warmly received in the family-run trattoria's that we dined at, often with explanations of entire menus without so much as a roll of an eye - and desserts sent to the table, "on the house" - how sweet!  The shopkeepers seemed pleased to have our business, taking the time to explain who or how our purchase was made and beautifully wrapping it up like a present.  The hotel staff practically bending over backwards to make sure our stay would be comfortable and was there anything we needed?  Taxi drivers that greeted us and didn't make us fear for our lives!  I felt comfortable and welcome in Florence...and I loved that!

Delicious Caprese salad from Vine e Vecchi Sapori, Florence

The shopping in Florence is said to be some of the best in all of Italy, and I can't disagree!  Whether you are looking for a high-end purchase at a store like Chopard or Cartier or something a little more affordable from one of the numerous street-vendors, you can surely find it in Florence.  On past trips to this city,  the focus had been on the history of the city - museums, churches, statues, etc., leaving very little time to explore the shopping.  This trip, the history was merely a backdrop for our exploration of all the wonderful offerings in the shops of Florence.  We visited the Central Market and had some wonderful cheese and balsamic vinegar tastings with Paula at Baroni.  We purchased spices and sun-dried tomatoes at Conti - a shop that looks like a work of art with all of the beautiful colours of the vegetables.  We bought high-quality leather goods at Peruzzi ( a must-see if you go to Florence).  Florence is also known for its gold jewellery and my personal favourite store is the Gold Corner right by the Santa Croce church.  Fabulous, unique pieces and they give great discounts!  We visited the oldest, still-operating, pharmacy in the world - Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy was like a living museum - so beautiful and selling products made from original recipes from the monks...it was really interesting!   In fact, we did so much shopping in Florence that it was necessary to purchase another suitcase to bring home all my stuff  - but no problem, there is luggage available to purchase too!  I love shopping  in Florence!

Conti, Central Market, Florence

And finally, one of the greatest things I loved about Florence was its "walk-ability"...put on a comfy pair of shoes, and most everything a person would want to see or do is within a 20 min. walk from one place to the other.  Grab a map, readily available at any hotel, and you're good to go.  Its nice not to have to spend money on taxis (unless you're overburdened with purchases!), and wandering the streets often leads to unexpected finds in shops you wouldn't discover otherwise - one of my favorite things!!

River Arno, Florence

Now, when all is said and done I still don't think I'd pick Florence as my first choice for a trip to Italy where I'd only be visiting one major city.  Is that a bad thing?...I don't think so - after all, if we all fell in love with the same place, we'd never get a chance to visit because it would be too busy!   But I definitely saw the city in a different light, perhaps one more suited to my interests.  I would definitely welcome a return trip to Florence and in fact, would look forward to it.