A sunny coffee date at Latteria Studio in Rome

A visit to Latteria Studio had been on my list for a while, ever since meeting Alice Adams last year at Il Baciarino, where she was collaborating on Emiko Davies' second cookbook Acquacotta ~ and even more so after an invitation to a  lovely Sunday lunch in Alice's enchanted garden in Lubriano earlier this year ...

A native Australian who has called Rome home long enough to speak fluent Italian with a destinct Roman accent, Alice is a wearer of many hats of talent - a cook, food stylist, recipe developer, blogger and proprietress of before mentioned Latteria Studio  a sunny gathering space, culinary prop studio and cooking school in the heart of Trastevere.

And while we only had time for a quick caffè, it was nice to get a tour of the studio {with a dash of prop envy} ... 

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.

  

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. 

Everyday family life in a centuries-old villa { Tenuta di Valgiano }

Traveling in Italy, I often wondered what it might be like living in one of the centuries-old villas that dot the Italian countryside. This summer, while scouting the Colline Lucchesi region for Viola's Italy, I finally got a sneak peek into everyday villa life - when I met Laura di Collobiano, who with her two kids and dogs lives in an incredible 15th century villa perched high in the Lucca hills.

A lazy day under the cherry trees and impromptu market lunch in the Lucca hills

This year's Italy adventure started off with one of those experiences that make me love traveling with Airbnb: we had arrived in Florence two days prior, hopped into our tiny rental car and escaped the tourists throngs for the nature and quiet of the Colline Luchesi, the fertile green hills surrounding Lucca. After spending the first two nights at a charming olive farm {another Airbnb find}, we moved just one town over to this rustic farm house with endless views ...

Memories of spring in Southern Italy & a local {taylored} walking tour

With the winter season already showing first signs of spring around here, I find myself thinking back to last spring and travel memories of an epic Italian road trip.

Following roads less traveled from Toscana through Campania, and eventually en route to Calabria and Sicilia, we detoured into Basilicata, to spend time with friends in Matera and to explore the Lucania region.

A Sicilian lunch in the shade of the fig and carub tree ...

On the tail end of an epic Italian road trip {following roads less traveled from Toscana through Campania and Basilicata to Calabria} we eventually boarded a ferry to our final destination ~ Sicilia!
After a day of exploring Mount Etna's lush green valleys {& savoring the ultimate pistachio gelato in the pistachio capital Bronte}, we took in Catania, wandering its amazing fish market and exploring its baroque sights.

And in Catania we met up with our friend Luca for an exploration of Sicilia's South, stunning Siracusa and the Val di Noto, slowly making our way West - and eventually arriving at Il Paradiso, his family's enchanted summer house outside his hometown Mazara del Vallo ...