Frances Mayes's Blog, page 12

Compost

At the end of the last photo shoot for the cookbook Ed and I are writing, I snapped a picture of the compost.  We had worked for a week with Steven Rothfeld and later I'll post some shots of the glorious food we made.  Kim Sunee–who wrote the memoir Trail of Crumbs–came over for three days and helped us cook and style.  We had only one failure and I think it was because the flour is different there.  We had lots of fun in the kitchen because we share a raucous sense of humor and a staggering fortitude for fourteen-hour cooking and photo sessions. Our friend Ivan Italiani cooked too–and offered many great suggestions. We made and loved his pear and gorgonzola agnolotti.  I swear that the compost was not touched or arranged.  It just seemed amazing that even the compost was lovely.

Italophile Contest

Readers of "See You in the Piazza" are invited by Diane Hales, author of the charming La Bella Lingua, to check out a contest on her site. Here's the link:  http://www.becomingitalian.com/contest2010.php

The Viva l'Italiano Book Bonanza celebrates Italian Heritage Month. The contest features seven  books about Italy. It's open to US residents and closes at midnight (PST) on October 31st. Five winners will be chosen at random from the pool of entrants. The five winners will receive all seven titles:

La Bella Lingua, by Dianne Hales
Passion on the Vine, by Sergio Esposito
Every Day in Tuscany, by Frances Mayes
100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go, by Susan Van Allen
Fodor's Italy 2011
Marcus of Umbria, by Justine van der Leun
Bold Italian, by Scott Conant

Blissful September

Cortona is hopping with people right now and they are wise–this is the month most likely to woo you with soft, golden light, balmy days, and big sunsets. I can't stay inside. I'm walking into town in the mornings, gardening in the afternoon and leaving open every door and window in the house.  The roses have agreed to give us an encore, the figs challenge me to come up with new ways to use them, olives are plumping up, and wild heather blooms on the roadside.  Our orto gives forth the last...

Inventing with Melanzane

Melanzane sounds more appealing than eggplant.  Except for the multi-talented tomato, really a fruit, this may be the most versatile vegetable.  It likes to be grilled, roasted, stuffed (see my recipe called Imam Fainted in Every Day in Tuscany), included in ratatouille, and made into spreads.

We were in North Carolina for most of August and just before leaving, we had a last-of-the-summer family dinner.  Italians love the involtini concept—something filled and rolled.  I experimented with...

20 Years at Bramasole

This summer we celebrated–over and over and over–our 20th anniversary of owning Bramasole.

The major feasts were the weekend of July 9.  On Friday, we had a drinks party at Bramasole, followed by the most wonderful dinner ever at Il Falconiere.  On Saturday, we had a wine tasting of Cortona wines at Enoteca Molesini, then a dinner for out of town guests at La Loggetta, overlooking the piazza below. Then on Sunday, we had a festa at Fonte delle Foglie, our mountain house way out in a chestnut f...

Fascicles of Summer Vegetables

A small iron bundle (fasces in Latin) of sticks with a protruding ax head was discovered in a 7th Century B.C. Etruscan tomb at Vetulonia.  This is the earliest image of what became an enduring symbol all over the world.  The Romans, who borrowed much from the Etruscans, took over the rod and ax bundle and used it as a reminder of their authority.  The ax, lest anyone forget, showed the power to execute.  The red leather strap binding the wood and ax together symbolized unity.  Later the...

The Wheel of Summer

The wheel of summer has turned, as August arrives.  Everyone is saying that the fierce heat of the end of July is over.  Not that it lasted long—the days were chilly  all of June and until mid-July.  Global warming?  More like global chaos.  Tuscan summers used to cook.  This morning could be September, all mellow and soft.  Perfect for walking to town over the Roman road, meeting a friend for cappuccino, then climbing uphill to the old residential quarter of Cortona and stopping in at two...

Five Hours North: Friuli

We drove to Mira.  Never heard of it, right?  Neither had I.  We were picking up our friend Robert at the Venice airport Saturday morning early and selected an overnight in Mira, for its proximity to Marco Polo and for a hotel and restaurant that looked intriguing.  Good choice!  Mira is a village on the Brenta, famous for several Palladian villas along its banks.  Instead of the sublime villas, Mira has hydrangeas, monster hydrangeas—all pink—reflecting in the water.  Hotel Margherita is my ...

Back to Bramasole

Returning to Bramasole, we found the garden in full frisson.  This is an especially good year for roses, after all the downpours of May.  The Edens on the herb terrace wall decided to run rampant and they are a joy.  Sally Holmes I always refer to as a cheerleader and this year she's doing the twist and shout.  I love the full-bouquet blooms—a bride could not do better than three stems of these and a few ribbons.  From the third floor, I can smell jasmine, the yellow ginestre (broom) on the h...

"Under another Tuscan Sun"

11 June, Wall Street Journal link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703561604575282892054989772.html?KEYWORDS=mayes

I admire Kate Bolick's articles and am happy that she chose to write about our mountain house, and also about my good friend Fulvio Di Rosa's project, the renovation of a medieval borgo in the mountains near Cortona. Included are slide shows of our house and Borgo di Vagli.

Another Italian jaunt of Kate's: -Back to the Futurists: Italy's First Avant-Garde Turns 100...