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 ....

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 rainy day in Antwerp { & stay at Boulevard Leopold }

After spending the past holidays at home, this winter we felt a sudden rather sentimental urge to hop across the pond for Christmas in the "old world" among family and friends.

And with the affordable last-minute airfares flying into Amsterdam, we decided to get on the plane a couple of days early for a pre-holiday detour ~ revisiting Amsterdam and Antwerp along the way.

After a chilly first day in Amsterdam and rainy day arrival in Antwerp, checking into Boulevard Leopold more than made up for gloomy skies, jet lag and tired eyes ...

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.

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 modern townhouse in Cologne & flammkuchen in a hidden garden

More long overdue catching up with this summer's dinners with friends while traveling and finally editing the photos of this fun flammkuchen feast with our friends Andrea and Bernd in Cologne. Both expert mushroom foragers and passionate home chefs, they had invited us to their fabulous townhouse for a long summer evening in their garden and catching up on life over flammkuchen and dry white wine ...

Flammkuchen translates to flame cake, a Southern German {& Alsatian} speciality, a bread dough rolled out very thin, either oval or rectangular and usually topped with crème fraîche, thinly sliced onions and lardons - although Bernd's interpretation with fresh sliced porcini mushroom made for an an amazing variation!

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 ...

Making Gnocculi con Pesto alla Trapanese in Mazara del Vallo { recipe }

I have to admit, if there is one thing that always intimidated me in the Italian kitchen, it's handmade pasta. For some reason I always associated it with a high maintenance dough, special tools, tricky timing - but, most of all, with very little cooking fun.

While cooking with Silvana Mannone & her family in Sicily earlier this summer, I was finally converted! With just two ingredients we made enough Sicilian gnocculi to feed a battalion! And while Silvana shared the secrets for the perfect gnocculi, her husband Giovanni was kind enough to let us in on his interpretation of a classic pesto alla Trapanese - so both of these recipes I am happy to share here ...

An Italian road trip & finding Airbnb gems along the way {Il Mulino del Porticello}

A last minute search for accommodation in Calabria turned into a favorite highlight of this summer's Italian road trip. 

We were en route from Basilicata to Sicilia, only looking for an overnight stay along the way, when we spotted this incredible family compound near Capo Vaticano on Airbnb. After browsing just a few photographs we booked for the next day. And after an exhosting day of driving and sightseeing along the way we found our way down a rugged country road to the grand surprise that was Il Porticello! 

An alfresco kitchen, {mostly seafood} moments and meals with Italian friends

This magical place, hidden in an olive and oak grove on the slopes of a small hill town in Tuscany's Maremma region, already made an appearance on the blog earlier this summer, when our dear friends Clelia and Andrea generously hosted the first half of a 'culinary gemellaggio' at their tiny agriturismo in Vetulonia. 

Apart from that memorable dinner with new friends, we were fortunate to spend a week with Andrea, watching him return from the sea with the morning's catch and effortlessly turning the freshest local fish and crustacea into his refined culinary creations. Memories of many meals and even more photos - so here are, in no particular order, favorite captures of some of these moments and meals at Il Baciarino, prepared in Andrea's fabulous alfresco kitchen and served on their incredible view terrace ...

Il Gemellaggio Toscano {part 2} & an enchanted garden in Montalcino

If you have been following this blog, you may recall another Tuscan dinner earlier last month, part one of a so called "gemellaggio" - a twinning of sorts based on the European concept of connecting two regions, sharing experiences, recipes and making new connections along the way.

We full heartedly embraced the concept with our friends Clelia and Andrea of Agriturismo Il Baciarino when we accepted the invitation to a dinner in Raffaella Cova's enchanted garden outside of Montalcino.

A rustic retreat & dinners with Mount Tamalpais views

airbnb

This summer we really started to embrace airbnb for spontaneous getaways {e.g. some early summer days at a tiny a-frame on the Russian River} So when this unique artist retreat, high up in the Marin hills, popped up in this week's listings, it made a perfect destination for a last minute escape across the bridge. Working from an art filled home nestled under ancient oak trees, enjoying total peace & quiet {just 35 minutes away from the city}, watching the coastal fog roll in and out around Mount Tamalpais - all while prepping easy summer dishes in the well equipped kitchen ...