It's a wild world

This isn't the greatest photo, but at least I captured this "spinoso" as we were driving around at twilight. Earlier this week, there were two of them in our driveway, then we spotted this one on the road to our house. Then, when we got home tonight, the pair was back in the driveway again. So at the beginning of the week, I'd never seen a porcupine in the wild, and by tonight, I had seen five of them. Very cool!

A pranzo to remember

It's a beautiful, sunny day here and both of us decided this morning that our goal for the day was to find a place with a stellar view and outdoor tables where we could enjoy a long, happy lunch to end our vacation.

A few days ago, we spotted Boccon di Vino, just outside the walls of Montalcino (it was closed that day) and we decided to see if we could get in today. Yes! Open! Serving lunch! Outdoor seating in the sun! View!!

The menu was extensive, but rather than order a la carte, we chose to try the Toscana in Tavola tasting menu for 35€ each. 

First course:

Smoked goose breast with orange salt, liver pate with brioche, a crepe filled with lardo and pecorino and topped with tomatoes and arugula, a salad of mixed greens with pine nuts and golden raisins.

Second course:

A homemade ravioli stuffed with gorgonzola with a sauce of pears and chestnut honey.

Third course:

A tiny portion of cream of onion soup with pecorino and a crouton.

Fourth course:

Antico peposo, which is like a slow-cooked beef stew made with brunello and green peppercorns, puree of chick peas.

Fifth course: 

Chocolate fondante with white chocolate shavings, cantucci, espresso gelato with espresso beans and dark chocolate shavings.

Needless to say, it was the perfect way to end a very nice time in Tuscany. Now we need a passeggiata and a pisolino.

Ciao, Toscana. Torneremo subito!

She who dies with the most formaggio wins!

Day in Arezzo

Arezzo, in northeast Tuscany, is one of my favorite large cities in Italy. I think I like it better than Siena and Orvieto as it has a different sort of vibe--more locals, fewer tourists, lots of interesting restaurants and shops--especially antiques! There is a huge antiques faire in Arezzo each month on the first weekend. We've been to that a few times and enjoy it, but today we thought we'd like to see Arezzo au naturale--without all the vendors and hoopla.

We wandered around the shopping district and up the hill to the Piazza Grande, which is on a steep Incline. On our way up I spotted a great shop called La Casa Dei Sogni, full of beautiful home accessories, lighting, etc. It took forever to navigate the narrow maze of rooms chock full of beautiful things. At the end I was overwhelmed, but took Joe back in because I saw something I wanted to hang on the kitchen wall here in Radicofani. We ended up buying it and now will ask Claudio to put it up for us. Here's Joe holding up the ironwork--an architectural design piece that's just the thing to give some interest to la cucina. What do you think?

We found a lovely outdoor cafe for lunch--right on the tippy piazza. On this beautiful, sunny day, we wanted to sit outdoors and watch the world go by. We lingered a long time, having two half bottles of wine, antipasti and a fruit and cheese plate to finish. After a week of gray skies and rain, we didn't want our lunch to end.

A sad scene, followed by a happy scene

The vines and weeds are growing right through this abandoned Ape. Joe wanted to rescue it and bring it home. The ones below are much happier looking.

Montepulciano . . . Again!

Bravo, Signor Sun!! You finally woke up and decided to join us today! 

We just couldn't let Wednesday's visit be the last of this trip, so we headed back and had a great day. The weather was much better, there were tourists around every corner, AND Fatamorgana was open! Yay!

We strolled up the hill, each doing our own thing, then met at the top. Joe wanted to do some wine tasting, so we went to the Talosa cantina, just off the Piazza Grande, and had a wonderful tasting experience with Christian Pepi, the winemaker. We started with a trip down into the Etruscan-era cellars--a vast maze that stretched out like octopus tentacles under the piazza--then headed back up to the tasting room where we were the only customers at the time.

We tasted four wines and their vin santo--all were exceptional. Christian was an excellent guide, passionate and animated about his creations. What a talker!! We were there for nearly an hour and had fun. Of the four wines, the 2004 Riserva and the 2009 Fillilunghi Riserva were extraordinary. We bought a mixed case to ship home.

Then, since we were already at the top of the hill, we decided to get some lunch at Gattavecchi. I had to have the tagliatelli al vino nobile, Joe too. Mine was with a duck ragu and Joe had the special venison ragu. Yum! We also shared the Fantasia di Lilliana antipasti. Yum again!

After lunch, we decided to head up to the shopping area near Bettole. We had been searching for a wine rack for the apartment all week and could not find one anywhere. Finally, at a homegoods shop in the mall, there was a 12-bottle rack. 

Someday . . .

I am going to go to Italy at a time when every public toilet seat isn't f@&);/g freezing!!

Pouring!

It's raining sideways! Not the kind of day that's conduscive to exploring new places, or nooks and crannies. All the nooks and crannies are soggy. I still have my pajamas on with no immediate plans to get dressed. Joe is pacing from window to window, noting where our resident pair of ducks is each time he looks out the one near the kitchen.

 "They are in the field."

"They are back at the edge of the pond." 

"They are in the pond." 

"One is in the pond and the other is getting in."

Ooof! If I have to listen to his blow-by-blow account, I may go out and join the ducks in their restless marching around.

I guess we'll just hang around for awhile and see if the situation improves. 

Una vista molta triste

Uffa! Today we went to Montepulciano and it was nearly a ghost town. I wanted to stop at Fatamorgana and it was closed, as was Gypsea and several other shops I typically like to visit. Gypsea, was in fact, closed for good--there was paper covering the windows. It was gray and cold today, so maybe it was a good day just  to stay home. I still want to go to Fatamorgana--it will have to wait for another day.

We walked back down the hill and stopped for a cappuccino at Alessandro's bar. Then we walked past Il Sasso and Costanza was outside having a cigarette, so we stopped to chat with her for awhile.

We are still on a mision to try new retaurants so we drove through Pienza, toward San Quirico d'Orcia and stopped at Agriturismo La Fonte, which has a highly-rated restaurant on TripAdvisor. We were not disappointed. In fact, the restaurant is cozy, clean, inexpensive and our lunches were excellent--another good place to put on our website! They also have a good wine list. 

On the way home, we decided to check out the huge cheese-making factory we spotted in Contignano the other night. They have signs pointing to a sales room around the back. We were amazed by the number of large trucks entering the property delivering rivers of sheeps' milk from all over the region. We found the shop and the friendly guy who told us all about the cheeses. They make a very fresh pecorino, one that's aged 10 days, one 20 days, and then a two-month and six-month aged cheese. Also some flavored with black pepper, red pepper and truffles. We bought a couple of the vacuum-sealed truffle cheeses to bring home and two pots of fresh ricotta to eat here. They also have a nice selection of local wines by the bottle.

Giocattoli sul supermercato

I love this!! In Italy, the little girls' "tea set" comes with a Moka and espresso cups--just as it should be!

Montalcino: put on your hard hat!

I don't know what's up with Montalcino, but the whole town seems torn up or covered with scaffolding. No matter where we walked today, buildings were being refurbished in some way. It gives the town an unattractive look, but then it also makes me want to come back to check on the progress sometime in the future.

We had an appointment this morning for a tour at Pian dell'Orino, a biodynamic brunello producer, just outside of Montalcino on the way to Sant'Antimo. Caroline and Jan, the owners, and their two dogs, walked us around their property, which abuts the famous Biondi-Santi vineyards. The views from their cellar are magnificent.

 Caroline took us down to a new vineyard where they are planting several different sangiovese clones to see which are most successful in that soil. We have been on many different winery tours, but this is the first time we've watched the grafted canes going into the freshly manured ground. The green wax protects the graft union until it sets. Eventually it will dissolve.

Pian dell'Orino only has 6 hectares of vines in production, which is very small (especially when compared to Felsina yesterday, which has more than 90 hectares of producing vines). The biodynamic methods go even further than organic as there are only a few home-made sprays that can be used to combat fungi and pests, the work is done by a moon calendar, and the materials used to harvest, make and store the products must be natural and breathable. Last year we toured a biodynamic vineyard in France and I am amazed by the passion and commitment the proponents of this philosophy adhere to. It's almost a meeting of gardening meets science meets cult.

They do not offer tastings, as their production doesn't really lend itself to opening bottles for everyone who shows up, but we did purchase four bottles to try at home.

A true artist

While walking around Monte San Savino we spotted a ceramics shop that had truly beautiful and unique pieces in the window. The door was locked, but we could see the artist working in her studio in the next storefront. We knocked and were amazed by the quality of work from this one lone woman--she makes delicate openwork pieces in muted colors, also in white. I just had to buy a small piece to bring home. Her name is Orietta Lapucci.

New places to visit

Despite being "regulars" in this region since 1998, there are still many places that Joe and I have never visited. We headed out early today so we could experience a few new towns--new to us anyway--and try something different for lunch.

Our first stop was Lucignano, near Sinalunga, which is a beautifully preserved village with all its original walls intact. We took a stroll around the perimeter and found a happy, lively vibe. This is the kind of village where you could stay for a long time and not need to leave. In addition to being "cute" Lucignano has every amenity and at least a dozen good-looking restaurants. 

The saying in the wine shop window was spot-on:

We were visiting in the morning, so it was too early to stay for lunch, but we are book-marking this town so we can come back and try a couple of the restaurants.

After Lucignano, we headed over to Monte San Savino, which is known for its antiques shops and furniture restoration businesses. We saw several such places around the town and I just had to stop at this lighting specialist to take some pix for Luisa:

We had a fantastic lunch at a place called La Terrassse, a very attractive restaurant with panoramic views from the inside dining room, as well as a multi-level terrace that would be perfect on a warmer day. My appetizer was pan-seared octopus and potatoes, Joe had the Stravaganze dello Chef, which was a tasting of many of the apps on the menu. Both were buonissimo! We followed up with some hearty pasta dishes. I would highly recommend this place as everything was delicious, the decor is lovely and the prices were very reasonable.

Our next planned stop was Castelnuovo Berardegna, but as we were both feeling sleepy from the big lunch, we decided to do a drive through. Just on the outside of town is the famous Felsina winery, so we stopped in for a tasting in their very stylish tasting rooms. 

We tried two whites and three reds and bought a total of four bottles to drink this week. Perhaps a couple of them will come home with us.

Here is Joe doing what he likes to do best--walking out of a winery with souveniers:

Sunday dinner

We went out to eat both Friday and Saturday nights, so I decided to cook tonight. In Pienza, we hit the macelleria and bought salcicce, some porchetta and un fegatello--a sheep's liver! I found a bag of dried white beans in San Quirico d'Orcia. With this mix I am making a "cassoulet," which is a classic French dish, but I am putting a very Italian spin on it.

Joe went out in the yard and picked some thyme, sage, rosemary and bay leaves, which I added to the dried cannellini beans, along with olive oil and salt. I covered the beans with half white wine and half water (notice that some of the wine also made it into the chef's glass!). Then I sauteed all the meats and put them on top of the beans, along with the pan juices. Now they are in the oven in my clay roaster and the apartment smells fantastic. It will be about 2.5 hours before we eat, that is giving me a chance to put my feet up and do a little blogging.

While we were in Pienza, we also found a shop selling Marzolino, which is my all time favorite Italian cheese, only available in March. It's made from the milk of sheep after they eat the first new shoots of spring grasses, and it's just creamy, soft, fresh and can be eaten at every meal. We will break it open later as an appetizer. I'm sure I will have it for breakfast too.

Back home, ahhhh . . .

Well, being a homeowner in Tuscany certainly has its benefits, but there's also a lot of chores and responsibilities that come along with the fun. Today, for example, Joe and I drove north of Florence to go to the IKEA store to stock up on things for the rental season. Our housekeeper Nadia sent me a nice note at Christmastime, which, in addition to the holiday good wishes, alerted me to the fact that we need some fresh towels and sheets for the apartment. So today we took a trip and made Nadia very happy by buying lots of towels, sheets, wine glasses, kitchen tools, etc. We filled the back of our car with all sorts of new things.

After our excursion to Florence, we headed back in the direction of hone and stopped at Montepulciano for a snack at the Bottega del Nobile on the corso as you head up the hill. We tried several half glasses of vino nobile and brunellos along with a nice plate of various pecorino cheeses, then headed home to unpack the car.

Tonight, we decided to try a new restaurant, La Fattoria di Bellandi, which is just 15 minutes away in the borgo of Contignano. What a great meal!

The owner/chef, Enza, came to the tabe to describe the specials and make recommendations. She didn't speak a word of English, but I happily followed along, asking questions, and by the end of the night we were old buddies, exchanging recipes and discussing the merits of "cucina povera" versus the "non genuino" food served in many restaurants. An old man sitting alone at a nearby table came over to tell us about his Nonno who went to America and lived there for some 60 years, working as a goldsmith. Another woman heard me say "siamo Americani" and she came over to ask us where we were from and complimented me on my Italian. It really felt good to have so many different conversations in Italian with strangers--it made the night so much more rewarding. I have a feeling that they don't get too many stranieri at that place.

Did I mention that the food was fabulous? My coniglio Ligurian style included pignoli nuts, green olives and white wine. Joe's tagliata was perfectly cooked and flavored with rosmarino. The homemade pasta was so light and tender.

By the time we were leaving, Enza kissed us and our waiter walked us out to our car. We felt so comfortable there. I told her "torneremo subito," and we will!

Oh, and when we were coming home, two huge porcupines walked in front of our car as we were coming up the driveway. How cool is that?