My Summer of Italian... Food Porn

I went to Italy.
I saw Italy.
My tastebuds were conquered by Italy.

After a fantastic writer's residency at Tuscany's Lemon Tree House and a fun-filled family vacation in Italy, my body may be back in Southern California, but my taste buds aren't. To stay nothing of my soul, which is still dining at the Piazza Navona, lingering in Vatican City, and floating  somewhere along the Arno. At. The. Same. Time. So even though I'm here in L.A., I'm still there in Italia eating the pici pasta, the paper thin pizzas, and luscious gelatos. Fior di latte flavor anyone?

I long to be in Italy so I will do the next best thing--cook, eat, and drink like I'm still there.

Every year I get a cookbook and cook, bake and concoct the heck out of it. I've done this with French, Greek, and raw food cuisines. Although the summer of my raw food I didn't cook at all, which was--a-hem--the whole point to the "raw" food cookbook in the first place.

But this summer is my Summer of Italian food and I'll be learning from the best: Marcella Hazan, the Italian cookbook author who married an Italian, and lived in New York City for decades. With her books, namely, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking she is the go-to source for high-quality, pure Italian recipes. Even Mario Batali returns to her cookbooks again and again.

I like Mario, and Italian men. But I love Marcella.

Marcella's recipes are simple, wholesome and delicious. The only thing I don't like about her book Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking--and this is a teeny, tiny fribble quibble: There aren't any pictures.

So this summer I will read her cookbook, make her recipes, and take pictures of them for your reading and dining inspiration pleasure. Get ready for Italian Food Porn!

Writing in Italy

“I need to cook and clean less,” I said sweeping the kitchen floor.
“Okay,” Mr. Wonderful said putting the breakfast room chairs on top of the table.
“I need to work less.” I said sweeping under the table.
“Okay.”
“And I need to write more.”
“… Okay.”

Between doing home improvement work, caring for a baby, and putting food on the table, it had become abundantly clear to me that there were not enough hours in the year for my writing. So I did what any self-respecting writer does: I got out of Dodge.

Specifically I went to Italy to write with The Lemon Tree House Residency Program for writers and artists. There I stayed in a villa atop a hill in beautiful Tuscany.

Every day delicious breakfasts and dinners were prepared by talented chefs (no shopping, cooking or cleaning for me!). 

There was a daily cocktail hour (to help relax me after a day of writing). The estate had molto kilometers of walking paths (to get my brain in the writing mode). 

There was a daily cocktail hour (yum). The staff was kind and the other writers were diverse and creative, which made for dynamic dinner conversations. 

My writing room was bright and quiet. And did I mention the daily cocktail hour?

The residency’s location, program, and that daily cocktail hour were so amenable that I was able to achieve my goal: to write like a fiend, which was fantastico! The Lemon Tree House helped recharge my batteries and jump start my writing. For me it was the perfect residency with the best people in a glorious corner of the world.  It was a wonderful experience. Thank you, Lemon Tree House!

 

In fact, I'd love to go back... If only for that cocktail hour. Salute!