Amici Miei- My Mentors
My personal Life Coach and Best Friend- Andrea Francini, my husband.
Celebrating my 12th mentor post to the person who has accompanied me for almost my entire life here in Florence seems appropriate. I met Andrea in 1985, and we’ve been together ever since.
It is also the perfect time to celebrate as we were married in December.
As I mentioned in a previous post, we used to winter in Mexico. My mother was worried about me living here with Andrea and not being married, as I would have an easier time staying in Italy if I were married.
I agreed to get married, but we would elope to Mexico and have a party when we returned. The shattering of my tibia and fibula crushed the wedding idea. We put it off until later.
In 1990, we did get married in Vegas! December 20th is our anniversary.
It’s not easy to be accepted in a new country. When I first moved here, most of my “friends” were other expats or immigrants. It was hard to break into the inner circle of the locals. They had their friends of a lifetime, and making new friends who may or may not stay in Florence was not a priority. I had seen the same in France.
Dating an Italian, I was introduced to his circle of friends and met his family.
I learned so much from his mom, Tina, and her sister, Vivetta, who owned a restaurant in Southern Tuscany. Vivetta’s son, Roberto, also shared his recipes with me.
Through friends of friends, I got my first job as a baker in a restaurant in Florence.
Andrea has always been my most significant support system, working my way through the maze of red tape and helping me blend into the local culture.
When we first met, he allowed me to experiment in the kitchen, and eventually, through his constructive criticism and my tears, I became a Tuscan cook.
It was easier for me to win friends through the international dinner parties I threw. At the time, Florence had no “foreign” restaurants. There were two “fancy” Chinese places and one Sardinian restaurant in the tiny village of Maiano in the hills outside of Florence. Eventually, I also worked at two Mexican restaurants that opened in Florence.
Our house was large enough to host these dinner parties. Food in my love language and being able to introduce new foods from my travels around the world was an excellent way to express who I was.
My Italian slowly got better, and so did my Tuscan cooking. I was also learning the Italian food language, which they didn’t teach in my Italian lessons at school.
We have always been a team:
I opened my cooking school in downtown Florence, and he helped me do the dishes after class.
When I decided to offer weeklong culinary trips, Andrea always went with me to research and explore new areas.
Last year we traveled to create the Market Guides to Italy.
As time passed, we switched roles of the “breadwinner” in the family. I took over the major role of supporting us and he became my house husband, a casalingo.
We’ve come full circle now, and now that I am retiring, Andrea is not used to having me at home all the time. If I were an Italian man, my wife would make me leave the house during the day and sit in the piazza with the other retired guys and I would be able to come home for lunch, right?
He is teasing me now, asking when I am leaving to go on tour again or if I really want to retire? I am a social butterfly and have always filled my life surrounded by people, sharing my love for Florence and Italy, and touring with clients. I am trying to adjust to sitting still and not constantly being on the go.
Time will tell. For now, I am looking at my plans for writing next year and wanted to share how Andrea and I plan our day trips around Tuscany and also some other longer overnight destinations.
Shorter trips are perfect for us. We can find someone to feed the cats and we just pack an overnight bag and head out.
We like to pick a destination based on several things. Food is one of the most essential parts. We look for a special dish that is a regional speciality. Then we look at the town and find something historical to visit. Many of the recipes are only produced in limited areas and are often seasonal as well.
There are also food festivals, usually held on weekends. We always love a good sagra.
Next year with be filled with “Divine Destinations”, my ideas on where to go and what to eat during the year. Favorite sagra’s locally and regional specialties.
I also have a long list of places I haven’t been to yet that I want to visit next year.
I am constantly in awe that I get to live in this beautiful country and want to share more of what Andrea has taught me about living like an Italian. Taking it all in.
I also have a website where I began listing some of Italy's holidays. Holidays are such an important part of the life here. It’s important to know who is celebrating what and when. So many things may close on holidays as well.
This year, we celebrated Christmas lunch in downtown Florence. We were invited to join the lunch Andrea’s nephew and his work friends organized. It was stress-free, and no, it was not the Feast of the Seven Fish. That is not a thing in Tuscany but rather was brought to America with the Sicilians and Napolitano’s. Tuscans love meat and my nephew is a butcher for a restaurant in town. We ate at another traditional restaurant which had a meat heavy menu as well. Luckily, we could order what we wanted to I could pace myself and eat lightly. It was perfect!
Happy holidays. Tomorrow is Santo Stefano, another holiday here. Many Italians organize to be off work until La Befana, January 6th ( the Epiphany).
I am offering a discount this month, 20% of for the year.
Looking forward to sharing my recipes with you and also helping you discover my Italy.
This week’s recipe is perfect for New Year’s Eve- and old school classic, Penne with Vodka Sauce ( it features smoked salmon as well).
And another seasonal favorite Tuscan hot chocolate, which is really decadent.
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