Getting Back Into The Food!

Those of you who have followed my blog for years know that Johnny & I are vegetarians (not vegans), and that I do love to cook, as well as eat at the many wonderful places available here in our area.

It's taken a little while to get into the groove, but I'm getting back to my little kitchen, with all it's quirks and size restrictions! I'm actually pretty proud of what I can produce in a small space, and I feel like a real Italian doing so. We've witnessed the sizes of many home kitchens here, and they are often like closets, tucked away in a corner!

Anyway...

While we were house sitting a couple of weeks ago, we were taking advantage of collecting fresh tomatoes from the garden there. I love roasting tomatoes with garlic, thyme and a good glug of Umbrian olive oil.

I brought some tomatoes home and did just that...Oh...salt, too!

After roasting the tomatoes, I cut them up into smaller pieces and warmed them in a pan to make a chunky sauce for some farfalle pasta...

 

I'm a big fan of ricotta salata, which is a dried, salted ricotta cheese that is wonderful and grates well. It's a nice change from parmesan. It's also snow white, so it's pretty.

We enjoyed this as dinner with a view from our terrace at The Nut. Like always, as long as the weather permits, we'll dine on the terrace! Small, but mighty!

Another day, for lunch, I did fresh ricotta and cherry tomatoes on grilled bread.

We are so lucky to have good sources for ricotta cheese here. It is nothing like what we get back home. Not even close. 

Often, I'll go for a sheep's milk ricotta, which has a bit of the barnyard taste. Really good with honey or fig jam (our housemate makes the best!), but I like ricotta used in savory ways most.

Fresh from the weekly farmer's market

Also a market score this week.

So, we toast our bread old school style, on this contraption that goes right on the gas burner. It gives the bread a nice char, and is way more fun than a toaster!

The bread is locally made and full of seeds and wholesome goodness. Thanks, Lia....

A simple toss of tomatoes, basil olive oil and salt...then I rub the warm bread with some fresh garlic...

Yum. 

Grilled toast with ricotta and tomatoes.

That's a lunch that will keep you going all day...after a nap, that is.

And speaking of the weekly market, what usually happens is that I buy way too much, and get myself into all sorts of trouble!

But...who can resist??

What am I going to do with all this?

Well, I've already used a bunch of tomatoes and the ricotta, grilled up the eggplant and zucchini, and am looking at roasting the potatoes with onions and bell peppers. The winter squash? Can't decide whether to roast it or braise it in a pan...

The giant garlic is called aglione, and it's used in pasta sauce with tomato puree. I also like to roast it. It gets soft and sweet.

I'm going to shuck the borlotti beans today and cook them up to make a bean 'stew' sometime soon.

Yeah, I'm getting pretty excited about being back. Finally.

It took some time to get over the stress of the past year, especially the past 4 months, but I think I'm getting my act together.

Thanks for sticking around.

More Moments...Art in Florence

We've been back home at The Nut now for a couple of days, but I still wanted to post some moments from our time in Florence...

It really was a nice side trip, and we can't thank our friends enough for letting us use their voucher for Kraft Hotel. The hotel is way nicer than places we normally stay, so what a special treat.

We're sad they couldn't make the trip, but thrilled they thought of us to gift it to!

Again...

Grazie Mille, Dee & Sasha!!

The requisite hotel elevator Mirror Shot!

For three days, we just walked the streets, visiting favorite spots, and finding new places. 

For me, it's just a treasure trove of photo opportunities....

One of many frame shops we spotted.

Waiting outside as Johnny did some shopping for art supplies at his favorite place.

Evening in the piazza. Such great people watching!

So nice to be in Florence without the massive crowds.

 

Time for a Spritz!

Campari for me, Aperol for Mr. J.

Another evening, another favorite spot for wine.

We visited The Uffizzi for the first time in over 20 years...again, taking advantage of less people traveling. We booked an early time slot, and had the place to ourselves, for the most part.

Here is a piece that particularly touched me...

BEATO ANGELICO
The Pontassieve Madonna
Tempera on wood 134x59
c. 1435

There was just something so extraordinary about the eyes of both the Madonna and the Child...

Plus, the loving way they are touching each other...I don't know. Maybe it has to do with me losing my Mom recently...

Most of the 'babies' in these paintings are pretty scary and/or creepy...but this was just lovely.

I also really enjoyed seeing this trippy dome in a side room. The cupola looked like it was made of glass bottle bottoms, and then there is this super cool inlay of maybe oyster shell? Not sure, but I loved the light and textural contrasts...

Not the best close up, but you get the idea...mosaic of some type of shell.

Great detail.

Because I'm a fan of installation and conceptual artworks, I was happy to see some works by Giuseppi Penone, a contemporary Italian artist we've seen exhibits of before.

There were several works scattered throughout  The Uffizzi, as well as a few huge pieces outside around the piazza.

His works a lot with natural materials, and these pieces were my favorites...

Here, he takes trunks of dead trees down to the core, which is just an amazing concept to me.

We saw this piece at the Venice Biennale a few years ago.
I loved it then, and was excited to see it again.

But...just as stunning were these massive canvases. There were maybe 3 or 4 of them, and I didn't know what they were until I got up really close. (no...I didn't set off any alarms. This time....)

At first I thought it was an old map or something...
This was huge.

These are acacia tree thorns. Thousands of them.
I love this!

Anyway, it was loads of fun to see some art, old and new.

Here are some moments just walking around on a pretty day...in Florence...

And, as always, we made our pilgrimage to the Church of Santa Felicita to warm ourselves in the glow of the artist Jacopo Carucci, simply known as 'Pontormo'....

Sublime.

Other Worldly...

That's it for Florence.

We are happily tucked back into our Nut, waiting for some much needed rain, and thinking we might run to the weekly market for veg and flowers, before the showers start.

I'll keep posting!

Thanks for being there, Dear Readers...

Lunch At Cinque

One of our favorite places for lunch in Florence is 5eCinque.

It's a lovely vegetarian restaurant that we've been enjoying since 2004. The food is amazing, and the owner is such a dear man. It's always, always on our 'must do' list.

This visit was no exception...

Patiently waiting for lunch with a 'mezzo litre' of house white.

Mr. J is a fan, as well.

Cinque, as we call it, is located in a lovely little piazza on the Oltrarno side of town. This piazza is very busy these days, with several popular spots for both tourists and locals. 

Make a reservation in advance.

After enjoying a taste of house made focaccia with our first sips of wine, we decided on two statrters to share...

In the foreground, a slice of 'cecina', a tasty chickpea flour pancake that is so good, we order it every time we visit. We paired this with a soft sheep's milk cheese served with the most amazing red onion mostarda ever. I asked if they sold it in house, but sadly, no...damn.

Next we shared one of their always good seasonal salads. This one includes sesame, sunflower and squash seeds. It was refreshingly crunchy, with a light dressing of olive oil and vinegar. Really clean and simple.

Johnny ordered a linguine with chicory, olives, garlic and red pepper flakes. It was nicely topped with a ricotta and cacio blended cheese from Puglia. This added a nice salty bite to the pasta. It was really good. I know, because we always switch plates for a few bites.

 

I opted for a veg couscous with a spicy curry sauce. It was full of cauliflower, squash, potato and onions. I like this version because it's kind of 'soupy', so not too much couscous...you can really enjoy the sauce.

I've ordered this in the past, and I always like the different flavor profile after a few weeks of tomato sauces! 

 

We did ourselves proud.

Only downside...we ended up still so full later during the day, that we cancelled our much anticipated dinner reservation. 

We've finally gotten the memo:

One meal a day is more than enough when in Italy!!! Well, at least for us....because we do love our chips with wine!

 

A Gift ...Florence

 

Florence...sigh.

What can I say that hasn't already been said?

In this case, we were gifted three nights at the wonderful Kraft Hotel by some friends back home.

Thanks, so much Dee & Sasha!!

We've been to Florence many times over the years, and I've posted about this gorgeous city several times here on the blog. We have our favorite spots, and this trip we just revisited most of them. Why not? 

We also stopped into some new spots, too, but here's a few shots of random beautiful moments...

The Duomo and her surroundings...

Santa Maria Novella at sunset...

Ponte Vecchio at sunrise...

The rooftop bar at Kraft Hotel.

Another shot of the rooftop at Kraft Hotel.
There is a bar, restaurant and pool. Swanky!!

We walked around a lot over the three days we were there. I just took in all the sights and sounds, shot lots of photos, and thanked our lucky stars that we were actually in Florence again.

Evening reflection on The Arno River

I kind of love this photo.

Great views from the Bardini Gardens...

More reflections on the Arno River. 
I can't help myself...

 

We really took time to just walk the streets on this visit. We had a few things we wanted to do, places we wanted to eat, etc...but we ended up just floating around this amazing city.

Johnny in his version of Heaven.

A beautiful facade.

I always love the window displays!

I think I have to buy these.
If only...

We had some yummy food, as always...

A little bite to hold us over.

A lovely cheese and grilled veg platter
for apertivo one evening.

We visited the Uffizi Galleries for the first time since 2004! Johnny really wanted to go, and we went super early in the morning. It was great...we had the place to ourselves.

Getting inspired.

We also went a little low-brow and stopped into a local pub to watch a soccer game. It was big fun!

As always, Florence did not disappoint. We'll go back again later in the trip. There is a big Jeff Koons exhibition opening in October, so that's a must see for us.

I'll be posting some more about the trip soon!

Sending a giant hug and a big "Grazie" to our pals for giving us the gift of Florence!!