Whack!

Today when picking up the boys at school, as we were walking up the hill to where my car was parked, one of the teachers came streaking by us with a student.  He looks sheepish.  They were headed to the school bus, which was loaded and ready to leave.  The entire time they are walking, [...]

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Rapunzel

Side note to the post the other day about the lettuce.  I woke up last night to a sudden thought and memory (as I often do).  “Wasn’t Rapunzel a fairy tale about a woman who saw and craved some certain lettuces so much that she steals them from a witch’s garden?”  I never understood that as [...]

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Frozen Fingers

-4˚ C today.  Cold.  There is a heavy frost on the ground.  The trees are thick with the sparkly stuff.  But another day of sun, glorious sun.  Not a cloud in the sky!  My hands were so cold after scraping the ice off the car windshield, that I did not realize I had closed my [...]

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Confession

Bless me Sears Kenmore, for I have sinned.  It has been five months since I last used an electric dryer.  Today I hung clothes outside on the line  to dry for the first time in 2 months - Man it felt good, positively sinful…!!!   I know I should only worship you, but what choice do I have?

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Sun!

Today as I was driving to pick the boys up from school at 4:00pm, I noticed that the sunlight has started to change already.  It seems lighter.  Brighter.  The sun is casting a different light and shadow pattern over the mountains. It is the first glimmer of the spring to come, which will be gently [...]

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Oranges, Greens and Pinks

This past Saturday, the boys and I went to the Sansepolcro open-air market (they have one on Tuesday and Saturdays).  This one was special because on the third Saturday of every month they have something called  “Mercatale” or Sapori Gastronomica, which is a local typical products market where you can find seasonal or specialty products [...]

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New Category – “Fette”

Today I started a new category called “Fette” which literally translates to “Slices”.  These will be quick posts of little snippets from the day’s happenings because I have decided that not everything needs to be or to have a story.  You know, the full length kind.  There is a lot that goes on in a [...]

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Cooking Lessons at the Borgo

From Monday, December 28th (Recipes follow) I had arranged for all of us (Jim, Carole, Andrew, the boys and I) to take cooking lessons from Deborah at the Borgo agriturismo.  The boys love to cook and had even taken cooking lessons over the summer.  Deborah was kind enough to squeeze us in between her busy and [...]

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Ragu Sauce

A Typical Tuscan Meat Sauce for Pasta  Makes: 10-12 cups 1 large yellow onion, chopped fine 2 stalks celery, chopped fine 1 medium carrot, chopped fine 1 whole head of garlic, chopped fine 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 pound ground pork 1/2 pound ground beef 1/2 pound ground veal 2 cups red wine 1 [...]

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Rabbit Braised with Olives and Sage

Cognilio con olive e salvia Serves 6-8 The Tuscan way of preparing delicious home-cooked meals is straightforward and uncomplicated, and proves that you don’t need to spend hours in the kitchen or have hundreds of ingredients. Their food is unfussy and simple (probably what we would call country or rustic fare) but always delicious, letting [...]

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