This Morning

The vendange is almost over. The leaves on the vines have just started turning color.



And in a couple of months the olive harvest will begin. Pin It

My Favorite Italian Food

Just thinking about some of my favorite Italian food while I wait (impatiently) to leave for our trip.

Crostini di Fegato
Inslata Caprese
Lagane e Ceci
Spaghetti al Pomodoro
Bucatini all'Amatriciana
Gnocchi
Fiori di Zucca Fritti
Gelato
Granita di Limone


I excpect I'll have many more dishes to add to this list when we return! Pin It

Counting the Days

We leave for Italy in one week!
Our friends have graciously invited us to stay in a gorgeous medieval apartment they've rented for two weeks in Lucca.
So, we get to go to Italy and see our friends from New Orleans at the same time! It just doesn't get much better that that.

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Five Things I've Eaten and Think Everyone Should Eat at Least Once

Melissa at The Traveler's Lunchbox suggested this project in late August and ever since I've been mulling over my list of five things I've eaten and think that everyone should eat at least once before they die.

Here they finally are.

1. huckleberries
My grandparents had a cabin in the mountains of Oregon and every summer we would help them pick these beautiful little berries for pies and jam. (although most would end up getting eaten immediately)

2. New Orleans BBQ shrimp
A gorgeous, messy, peppery experience! Must have french bread alongside for soaking up the sauce.

3. young chèvre drizzled with acacia honey
Such a beautiful pairing...the smoky, saltiness of the cheese and the sweetness of the honey.

4.Oaxacan mole
I try it in any restaurant that makes their own. The best I've ever had was a little place in El Paso, a lucky find on a road trip from New Orleans to San Francisco. It is so amazing and complex and impossible to find in the south of France! Avoid the commercial jarred version.

5. peanut M & M's
Can't explain why I adore them, I just do.

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Sanglier

I finally saw one! Well, not one, but six babies and their mother.
2:30 in the morning, driving home from a friend's birthday dinner (a great dinner, by the way, with much depleting of their wine cellar) and these little piglets appeared out of the vines and sauntered across the road with mom bringing up the rear. You could almost hear her saying, "come on, come on, move it along."
It was so amazing to finally see a sanglier in person. They were much more delicate looking than I thought.
But now we feel guilty, as just last week I made a delicious Tuscan Wild Boar Stew from The Italian Farmhouse Cookbook out of one of their relatives. I guess we should apologize... Pin It

Mardi Matin

Tuesday is market day in Olonzac, a ten minute drive from our village. I look forward to it and have every week since we moved to France.
Almost all of my fruit and vegetable shopping is done at the market. I also buy eggs from a local farmer, goat cheese made a few villages away, our neighbor's honey, olives, olive oil, wonderful roast chicken and potatoes, used books, kitchen utensils, clothes, scarves and jewelry.




Each season has it's specialities.

Spring
strawberries
fennel
small, purple tinged artichokes
fava beans
radishes

Summer
cherries
melons
figs
peaches
eggplant
zucchini
tomatoes


Autumn
grapes
apples
pears
quince
wild mushrooms
chestnuts
walnuts
pumpkins

Winter
pomegranites
persimmons
citrus fruit
leeks
cabbage
swiss chard
brussel sprouts
winter greens















I usually get my shopping done early, especially in the summer when the heat and the crowds worsen as the morning goes on.
Then I take a seat at our favorite café, have a coffee and enjoy the rest of the morning. Pin It