Carbonara days of summer

Last month has been unusually hot along the Mediterranean, with a hot Scirocco wind blowing from Africa meaning lazy days spent in the shade of our casetta patio, reading, relaxing and embracing a long "pranzo" {Italian for lunch}, a leisurely long meal stretched out over those hottest hours of the day, playing with local ingredients and re-interpreting favorite Italian dishes ...

One of my all time favorites, even if not a local Maremmana recipe, will always be Spaghetti alla Carbonara ~ and after spotting appropriate substitutes for the original Roman ingredients at our little alimentari, this Carbonara {with a Tuscan twist} has become a favorite staple of our summer lunches ....

An {unintentionally} color coordinated twilight dinner in the Lucca Hills ...

Last month found us returning to the Colline Lucchesi, the fertile olive and wine growing hills surrounding Lucca, a region I had vowed to revisit after scouting culinary tour destinations for Viola's Italy here last year ~ and returning to a favorite Airbnb, a classic Tuscan farmhouse nestled into an olive and cherry grove with a long alfresco dining table overlooking Piana di Lucca and Monte Pisano in the distance.

And after some memorable evenings under the stars, sharing the rustic table along the ancient stone wall with our host Pablo and an ever evolving group of friends, it was once again time to say Arrivederci to the Lucca hills:

firing up the grill for an Italian inspired menu of "surf & turf", it made for a memorable farewell grigliata ~ and looking through these photos made me realize how {unintentionally} color coordinated this dinner turned out to be in camera ...

A birthday tradition in Vetulonia {& a surprise visit}

A balmy summer evening in the rolling hills of Maremma, an annual birthday tradition and a surprise visit of old friends ...

The occasion was Paola's annual birthday dinner, hosted by our friends Clelia and Andrea in honor of their dear friend, a seafood feast a group of Paola's closest friends who were coming off a sail boat journey circling Giglio Island and were expected to arrive in Vetulonia in time for a sunset aperitivo. 

And just as Clelia was done setting the table, two surprise dinner guests wandered onto the terrace: Dania and Clementina {aka "Titti"}, Clelia's best friends from childhood days, turning the evening into yet another reason to raise glasses of prosecco to friendship, birthdays, health and the incredible culinary flavors of Cucina di Andrea ...

A rustic kitchen and favorite table under the fig tree

Summer has arrived again, and as in the past couple of years we have escaped San Francisco's summer gloom and returned to Vetulonia, an Etruscan founded hilltop town nestled into the rolling hills of Tuscany's Maremma region – returning once again to Il Baciarino, our "home away from home", a small agriturismo with five rustic cottages nestled into a quiet oak and olive grove and owned by our dear friends Clelia and Andrea.

The first days have been a much needed timeout, resetting our clocks to life with the cycle of nature, long afternoons spent in the shade of "our" fig tree, embracing the Italian siesta concept, reading, relaxing and cooking simple meals in our rustic outdoor kitchen with endless views.

A long Sunday lunch {& Infiorata} in Lubriano

We are back in Italy and what a treat to start off with a drive into the Tuscia region to join Alice Kiandra Adams {proprietress of Latteria Studio and author of the always inspiring RusticaRetro blog} along with family, neighbors and friends for a long Sunday lunch in Lubriano , sitting down under the vine-covered pergola of her enchanting garden with views of the surrounding valley and neighboring Civita di Bagnoreggio.

And it turned out it was not just any Sunday, coinciding with Lubriano's Infiorata, an annual festival held on the Sunday of the Ascension, turning the small towns narrow streets into colorful canvases of intricate flower carpets ~ a rather temporary spectacle of flower petals, leaves and seeds set up by the town inhabitants overnight and swept away after a ceremonious procession leading over the flower carpet to the main church in the morning.

  

Mediterranean inspired flavors in the desert

A couple of weeks ago we decided to take a road trip, driving from San Francisco to the California desert on a quest to see the desert in bloom. We followed the back roads from the Central Valley towards the high desert, detouring to see the California poppies along Antelope Valley, and spending a couple of days at a favorite desert hideaway to catch up with our friend Nancy. 

With mild desert temperatures and in anticipation of the next Italy trip we cooked up some Mediterranean inspired menus, from octopus salad and cannellini tuna crostini to cured salumi and grilled lamb chops, the perfect flavors for some breezy spring days in the desert ...

A cheese fondue under the moon and stars

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect first weekend of December: a crisp and sunny fall day turned into a glorious sunset and an almost balmy evening under the moon and stars. 

After a long beach walk everyone gathered in the backyard with a glass of wine or bottle of beer, watching the sun set over the ocean, while the kids set up a sidewalk stall selling "Sunset Lemonade", lighting fires in the Mexican chimenea on the patio and the wood burning stove inside the house, before sitting down along long tables set for an authentic Swiss cheese fondue ... along with new world additions like tomatoes, roasted potatoes and whole grain breads.

I { heart } San Francisco

SF AMATRICE Italy Earthquake Relief Fundraiser

I ♡ San Francisco. This pretty much sums up the experience of SF AMATRICE,  the Italy Earthquake Relief Fundraiser I was honored to support {with web & graphic design} for my dear friends Marcia Gagliardi, aka Ms. tablehopper, and Gianluca Legrottaglie of Montesacro & 54 Mint. 

Two weeks of string pulling, fund raising and ticket selling ended with an epic all-day event last Sunday - and we could not have asked for a more glorious Indian summer day or a more generous outpouring of support from community and friends!

A full moon gathering in West Marin

Disclaimer: this post was supposed to go live months ago. Let's blame the jet lag ... returning from Europe just a  couple of days prior to this dinner, I ended up getting distracted with work/life, eventually misplacing the camera chip and only re-discovering the photos this week {well into fall!}

It was one of those rare balmy summer evenings with no coastal fog in sight, as we headed across the Golden Gate Bridge and over the ridge to Stinson Beach. joining our friend Renee for a sunset gathering and dinner with friends in celebration of the summer night's full moon known as Full Buck Moon, symbolizing the time of the year when male deer {bucks} start growing new antlers.

Pizza, cocktails and music in an enchanted olive grove

Finally a long overdue update on this blog, while still playing catch up with so many rolls of {digital} film after this year's #anItalianroadtrip ...

After exploring the Colline Lucchesi, scouting culinary destinations and hidden foodways for Viola's Italy, we returned to the Maremma, Tuscany's wild and beautiful coastal region, to revisit favorite haunts and catch up with friends old and new.

One of those friends is Katja Meier, author of the incredible MapItOut travel sites and overall woman-in-the-know on all things culinary, cultural and literary in the Maremma and beyond. Katja and Sergio had invited to a summer celebration in their olive grove, a magical evening of wood fired pizza, cocktails and music under the olive trees - all served with endless view of the surrounding Tuscan hills and Monte Amiata in the distance.

A summer lunch with friends in the Florentine hills

The impromptu invitation to a summer lunch in the Florentine hills arrived a day before, in the form of a private cooking class hosted by cookbook author and blogger Emiko Davies at the magical Villa Medicea di Lilliano, a historical hunting lodge of the Medici family turned wine estate high in the hills overlooking Florence.

The occasion was the launch of Emiko's beautiful first cookbook Florentine: The True Cuisine of Florence and she had invited food bloggers of the region to come together to cook some of the book's recipes in the villa's wonderfully rustic cucina - so together with Valeria Necchio {Life Love Food}, Irene Berni {Val di Rose}, Ilaria Gori {Tuscany Buzz}, Denya Pandolfi {Grazie A Te}and Nardia Plumridge {Lost In Florence} we explored the estate, its gardens and wine caves before joining forces in the beautiful kitchen to whip up a perfect summer menu ...

A springtime lunch at La Dolce Vita

A {late} dispatch from Maremma and what has turned into our home away from home ~ Il Baciarino, a rustic agriturismo nestled in the hills of Maremma, Tuscany's rugged coastal region. As we are about to embark on the next hop across pond, I realize I never posted these photos from this springtime lunch.

Our hosts and dear friends Clelia and Andrea are the most gracious and generous hosts, but with a bounty of fresh ingredients from our days in the Lucca hills, we thought it would be fun to turn things around and invite our hosts over for lunch at our tiny "casetta" instead. 

A backyard house concert & potluck dinner on a warm San Francisco night ...

Last Friday was one of those rare San Francisco days that start off with a pink sunrise, turn sunny  and windless - and actually stay balmy into the evening, making it the perfect night for a backyard house concert and potluck dinner hosted by San Francisco artist and product designer Windy Chien. 

I first met multi talented Windy at last winter's Remodelista Market, where her beautiful hand carved corner spoons {see below} and hand knotted hex lighting had caught my eye - and as it turns out, we have some dear friends in common!