Marianne’s Antique Pasta Roller

In Col di Rosa (our landlords Marianne and Andrew’s wonderful house outside of the town of San Leo Bastia), there is not only a lovely separate apartment that you can rent (if you visit Italian rental site Amici Villas, that is) but also the possibility that you might get invited upstairs for a meal cooked by Marianne. I’ve detailed one we had here, but didn’t talk enough about how amazing the kitchen/dining room is, packed with intriguing pieces like this antique pasta maker:

I probably didn’t talk enough about how wonderful a cook Marianne is, either, but really, you should go over to Italy and discover that for yourself.

*Note: We were on pre-tirement, and now we’re back. Want the full story? Start the pre-tirement journey here. Want to go backwards? Read the last pre-tired post here and scroll back. Or, just keep coming back for pretty Italy pictures.

Oscar Searches for Treats

Oscar is (if you didn’t already know) Italian/British auntie and uncle-y Marianne and Andrew’s puppy, who we saw tons. He quickly figured out that I kept dog treats (and crumbs of dog treats) in my right hand coat pocket:

*Wanna meet Oscar? Start your own dreamy Italian vacation by stopping by Amici Villas

*Note: We were on pre-tirement, and now we’re back. Want the full story? Start the pre-tirement journey here. Want to go backwards? Read the last pre-tired post here and scroll back. Or, just keep coming back for pretty Italy pictures.

Lunch at Cucina la Marianne

This is one moment where I hand my head in shame--with all the food and restaurant and eating posts, I have yet to post about perhaps our favorite eating spot: Cucina la Marianne. Or, eating at our wonderful landlords and pals Marianne and Andrew’s house. We’ve had a whole host of happy lunches there, sometimes eating on the deck (if warm enough) and sometimes in the wonderful kitchen surrounded by Marianne’s lovely dishes:

We’ve had the best (I think) creamy-gorgonzola-y sauce and pasta there, yummy veggie lasagna and creamy lush cheesy cannelloni, as well as incredible (even more so cause change is needed at times) Indian food. A week or so ago, though, we stopped by for bruncheon fare, with our charming hosts and new pals Terry and Michele. We started with some snacks and soon followed an orange and fennel salad:

Oh, even before that, our starter, which we’ve had a couple times, and which is one of our all-time favorite Italy dishes, mushrooms in cream and garlic. The mushroom are whole and just bursting with flavor, while the cream just riches up the dish and the garlic provides accents (the picture is not doing the combo any sort of justice):

Next on the amazing menu was a roasted veggie tart: red and yellow peppers, artichoke, and olive oil with a bit of salt and pepper. Simple, tasteful, and allowing the vegetable flavors to shine, this dish would have been worthy with solely veggies, but the crust, the crust brought it to another level as it managed to be both firm and flakey:

That tart, the mushrooms, and the sprightly salad would have been enough (you might think), but Marianne also served up a scrumptious quiche with asparagus and tomatoes and another great crust (and really, what a lineup of veggies between this and the tart--it’s like a whole farm on the table), with (and this was such a pleasant surprise for us Kansans) baked potatoes on the side:

Hold on! I almost forgot (and I never forget this usually), there was also a bright, fresh, green and red (lettuce and radicchio) salad. I always like having a good bunch of greens on the side (keeps the insides healthy):

The piece de resistance (as they say) was still to come, however, a coffee cream pie that was full of coffee flavor (but not so much it overwhelmed) with yet another great crust, and served up with fresh strawberries:

Another delicious lunch served up by Marianne, accompanied by good conversation (and, naturally, good wine).  We’re lucky Americans-in-Italy indeed. You know, now that I think about it, if you have your own dreamy Italian trip with a stop at one of the Amici Villas (all of which are in the most beautiful place on earth), you might also be lucky enough to eat at Cucina la Marianne (just be nice and see if the invite comes). I think you should start planning.

Basics: We’re Moving to Italy and Taking the Dogs

After about 11 (A.J.) or 12 (Natalie) years of working hard at multiple jobs (which we did enjoy, by and large), Nat and I decided to move to Italy for an extended break, which we’re calling our pre-tirement, as we know we’ll have to work after this break. And this blog is about that pre-tirement (and we’ll talk more about the whole pre-tirement later, too), and about taking our two little 80 pound dogs with us to Italy, and about Italy and the Niccone Valley, which is where we’re staying, and a lot about Italian food and drink, which we love. But I thought the first post should just be about the basics. So, here they are.

Starting October 6th, we are staying at a house called Cielo Chiaro, which means “clear sky” and is owned by the people who run Amici Villas--they’re folks my wife and I have rented from every other trip we’ve had to Italy (5), a nice British couple that rent Italian villas and apartments owned by local Italians and themselves. So, they’ve been very helpful. And they have a dog, named Oscar, so know where the vets are, which is also important. The Niccone Valley is an area right on the border of Tuscany and Umbria, though maybe 1 or 2 miles over the mountains from houses/apts we’ve actually stayed at in the past (that area is called the Morra Valley—all these valleys due to it being a hilly and valley-y area). It’s probably 1 to 1-1/2 hours from Florence, depending on traffic, and maybe 30 minutes from Cortona. The closest little village is Lisciano Niccone, which we’re a mile or two from (our house is a bit rural).

The best pizza place in the world, Nestor’s Pizza, is about 20 or 30 minutes away, and you can read a bit about it on this blog (which is a blog by an English guy living right in the area we’ll be in—he even self-published a book of hikes in the area, a book we now own). I’ve also written more about the Morra valley and general area (on my booze-ier blog Spiked Punch), though we won’t be in San Leo Bastia (the village I mention), but a bit south.

As far as what we’ll be doing: well, spending a lot of time at Nestor’s. And the other various restaurants in the area. The market in Umbertide (mentioned in the Spiked Punch blog post I referenced above) is on Wednesdays, so we’ll be there for that every week (and will post about it here). The retro flea market is in Citta di Castello on the third Sunday of the month, so we’ll do that then (and post about it here). I suppose drinking Aperol, reading, and relaxing will fill in the time outside of those moments.

Also, the dogs will learn how to hunt truffles (in my mind) and boars (in theirs). And I’ll let you know how it goes. So, come back and see how our adventure progresses (and read some Italian poems, and get some Italian recipes, along the way).