La Sfiga
Shit happens.
Welcome to my eleventh monthly post of my culinary memoir:
Simply Divina: Becoming Italian One Recipe At A Time.
Thank you for subscribing. I appreciate the love.
Each month, I post a newsletter open to everyone. This year, for the paid subscribers, I am posting a memoir, then one on the Italian Pantry, and a post about my mentors.
When you become a paying subscriber, you have access to:
-All the archives
-Markets of Italy: 12 guides to 12 cities and their markets ( on Thatch app)
-My ebook: Secrets From My Tuscan Kitchen.
Cook along with me and become a little more Italian every day!
It takes a village to dive deep into a new culture and make it home.
It’s impossible to cruise smoothly through life without a few bumps. When we finished the house, I was commuting to Florence to teach and do my market tours. The market was the heart of my life. Starting with my cooking classes for college kids and adding the market-to-table classes, life changed. I joined a culinary association based in the USA. I attended their yearly convention and broadened my connections with fellow teachers worldwide.
I began hosting weeklong culinary vacations in addition to my one day classes. I love the research and development of the tours and sharing my Italy with food lovers. Often, I hosted my fellow cooking teachers and their groups who came to discover Italian regional cooking. Florence has given me so much and has so much to love. It was fun evolving into more than just cooking classes, but also street food and street art tours and the quirky side of town.
I kept my teaching space in Florence until 2009. Florence had many cooking schools by then, so I decided to offer the same program in the smaller town of Colle Val D’Elsa, closer to my village of Certaldo. The weekly market was on Friday, just below my teaching space, and the local artisan shops were fabulous. The town is famous for its crystal production. The architect Arnoldo di Cambio, who worked on the Duomo in Florence is also from Colle Val D’Elsa. There is a Medieval upper town and then the lower village where my space was located.
I kept that space until 2015 when my husband was diagnosed with cancer—the bump in the road which changed everything. I needed to be there for my husband. I closed the cooking school space as we didn’t know our future.
This month for my paid subscribers I am including my Tuscan Thanksgiving videos and recipes:
Saffron Risotto in a pumpkin
Tuscan Turkey Porchetta
Roasted vegetables and Tuscan pan-fried potatoes
Fig and Walnut Crostata
Apple cake from Montagliari