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I sautee them in the drippings from my duck breast, and then drizzle with truffle honey! and serve as sauce! If you have a tree.. you will have enough to cook! we also do a fig and walnut Salame!!! meatless.. they mix chopped dried figs and walnuts together, and wrap them in fig leave. tie it and age it..and make fig salame... serve sliced with with cheeses!

I will go to the market today here in Florence and get you foto's. I was a vegetarian when I moved here and now I love tripe! I think it is all in the precooking and the quality of preparation. Here we can buy the precooked tripe, all 4 stomachs, as well as uterus ( wonderful) the udder, achilles tendons and cow face!!! The white tripe is so good that often we eat it in salad, cut into strips dressed with olive oil and lemone juice, new garlic, tomatoes and parsley. Of course Trippa alla Fiorentina is slowly simmered in tomato sauce and served with parmesan.. If anyone is interested I can write more!

I make my own vinegar and can't go back! I only use my left over red wines ( yes I do ahve leftover wine!) teaching cooking I buy fabulous super tuscans almost every day.. and can't drink it all! I have a large wine demijohn , about 20 liters??? and someone gave me a mother... I was told to add new wine, let it sit open ( or with cheesecloth), shake the bottle to get it going... and let it sit for 3 days... then cork it. I find that it goes beyond being vinegar ( Aceto) to being ACETONE.. with a nailpolish smell! So when that happens you need to hsake the bottle again, give it air.. leave it open again for three days and then recork it. I take out about 2 cups at a time and keep them in a smaller bottle, and feed the mother! I also read that if you don't have a mother, you can make one. Italian mamma wisdom.. take 3 dry spaghetti.. and put them in a large jar with your wine. Let them dissolve.. and this will create you MOTHER! Mamma Mia! If you have some homemade vinegar, that can be used to make vinegar... Anyone coming to Florence I have tons! Judy

Most post offices also have ATM's! Be sure to tell your bank you will be travelling!

I was just in the MArche for a mini vacation.. we had some great food.. but Was INCREDIBLE loved everything about it.. we had the tasting menu which I will get into detail in a later email... and then also went to the Aniko' bar in town( senigallia)... and if we had had time would have gone to Clandestino.. his other place below Ancona! He is famous for his Sushi..Susci, and Italian take on raw fish... also has a Fish Salumeria.. making cured fish.. salmon, swordfish and others, prepared like Italian salami's.. fun and fabulous! great sauces ( which you can also buy) raspberry and ginger.. on the Parmacotta di Pescespada... we loved the Salsa Giardiniera, carrot, onion , celery emulsified with fish broth to a beautiful and great yellow sauce.. drizzeled on the plate with our fried fresh cod.. his Happy Toast... on traditional rectangular bread used for the grilled ham and cheese, was wonderful with smoked salmon, pecorino, grilled zucchini and topped with oven roasted cherry tomatoes!! I need more!

where will you be in Chianti. I know of classes out there too.. are you looking for a one day class?

I have toured Puglia and loved it! Ate at Poeta contadino as I collect Piatti di Buon Ricordo.. Although we were the only clients, I enjoyed the meal... and the chef's creativity.. I prefer home style cooking and when I am back on my home computer will look up where I ate! In Ostuni I also ate at the OSteria del tempo perso.. loved the antipasti!

check out my dining guide for Chianti I have been living in Florence for 20 years.. and that was my stomping grounds when I worked with Dario Cecchini in Panzano!

I also adore Gusto.. it has several different dining options from pizza to winebar.. it is listed in the great gourmet issue on Rome

here is my recipe for Limoncello using whole grain ... I use organic lemons, ( remember that the alcohol will leach out everything!!! so if they aren't organic... soak them in water for at least 20 minutes. On the same page is the recipe for Nocino, a wlanut liquore traditionally made on June 24th.. so you have time to get ready! My favorite recipe using limoncello is my version of Sgroppino.. I make a vanilla ice cream milk shake, thinned with milk... and a very large splash of limoncello.. served in wine goblets at the end of a meal! In Venice, Sgroppino is a lemon ice cream ( not sorbet) thinned with prosecco and "corrected" as they say with vodka! But try it with lemon sorbet, prosecco and vodka.. fabulous.. slushy!!

Both Greve and Panzano have Bancomats. The limit on most ATM's is 250 Euro a day.. at the Banco di Toscano I can get 500 euro, I think it is the only one . Try to have your limit raised if you need more cash, or bring several cards. Always let your bank know you will be travelling..

Italy.... I have several soups on my site Ribollita from Mario's andyellow bell pepper soup from Cibreo and my own Pappa al pomodoro which like ribollita is a bread thickened soup.. Cacciucco is a sort of Cioppino fish soup which is also really nice.. or just Pasta e Fagioli with Tuscan herbs.. can you tell I love soup?

wine bars are very hip and very in in Italy right now... there you can get light food and great wines by the glass.. there are fancy ones and simple ones.. I like Cul de Sac, Piazza Pasquino, 73 but here is a site with lot's! wine bars in Rome I like the area called San Lorenzo in Laterno..too WE found some nice outdoor bars for people watching, great sandwiches, ice creams..and Romans! The Trastevere and Testaccio are really local color.. if you can find the old edition of Gourmet,...June of 2003??? they had an incredible guide to ROme!

We had great pizza at Gusto It is right down the street from Piazza di Spagna.. and has several venues.. We had Pizza in January on a rare warm day ( when it was snowing in Tuscany) outdoors!!! I had a pizza with MOzzarella and Zucchini blossoms ; touch of anchovy! but they are a pizza place, wine bar... kitchen shop.. buffet.. jazz club.. all spread out on a city block near the river! It is in the Piazza Imperatore Augustus.. right around the corner from Alfredo's.. where they chef that invented Fettucine Alfredo relocated!!! ( alfredo sauce only exists in Rome, the original restaurant being on Via della Scrofa) I would also take your kids to see the Campo dei Fiori market, there is the Forno there where you can get Pizza Bianca, which is a flat bread with oil and salt.. FAB.

The villa di Ulignano is a great base!! I haven't been but on my list is the Vecchio Mulino AS it is a Piatto dei Buon Ricordo restaurant and I an avid collector! if you are coming up to San Gimignano... Dorando, Osteria del Carcere San GImignano has some wineries ( mostly white, VERNACCIA) I like the tasting room for Terruzi e Puthod, one of my favorite producers.. of the road to Ulignano.. which is a small village near san Gimmy.. but not where you are ( there is info on My Site for Chianti... and Florence! In Colle Val d'Elsa.. Arnolfo's... if you want fancy and famous! You may just see sheep and Cheese makers on the road.. ( Pecorino is the local sheeps cheese) As for wine etc.. you will see yellow signs for wine, cheese and oil producer's all along the roads if you just want to have fun! Volterra has some nice Enoteca's to enjoy wine by the glass.. cheeses etc..

In expensive classes ( $50 or so???) can be had at language schools in Italy and are designed for college kids.. or just hanging aorund together. Where will you be? and when? Some farmhouses will give classes if you are staying there.

When making Mostarda I have always bought Mustard essence.. which I have not seen for sale elsewhere.. unless as listed as not for human consumption in an Indian shop.. It is dangerous!! you must hold it away from your eyes when opening.. and only use about 10 drops per kilo of fruit. All said and done.. I buy mine at Bizarri shop in Florence.

I just ate at Cibreo with 6 friends the other night.. so let me answer some of your questions.. The Tomato flan ( Gaspacho like) is a tomato, garlic and veggie..puree solidified with gelatin.. The ricotta Souffle.. is made with potatoes and ricotta and cooked in a hot water bath which makes it so silky..( in summer it is sreved with pesto) The jelly on the baked pecorino is my recipe!!! which is produced at the Macelleria Cecchini in Panzano where I worked for 2 years. The cheese souffle thing is herbed ricotta... The recipe for the yellow bell pepper soup is on my web site The priests hat ( cappello di prete) is a recipe typical of Modena, where the chef learned it from one of the best restaurants there Osteria Giusti.. it is poached.. then the fat is cut off and served sliced.. again with my jelly!!! and I belive candied mustard fruits from Cremona. I don't think that Cibreo is for everyone.. he is a wild and strange guy.. and does what he likes.. no pasta... and some odd choices for the American palate as main courses. Some of the favorites are the Pidgeon ( which I had), the sausage and beans ( sausage made by Cecchini), the eggplant parmesan...and a new entry, milk roasted veal down with herbs and served with artichokes, ( in season) also now there is Tuna two ways.. a carpaccio, just drizzled with oil and lemon before coming out of the kitchen on a mountain if thinkly sliced celery.. and cubes of tuna belly marinated overnight in oil. Being 6 of us we had all the desserts..and my favorites are the marscarpone cheesecake, the chocolate flan, and the minature tart with fresh berries. Tuscans are not big dessert eaters... but there is also an incredible cheese assortment!!!

or was it Boccondivino in Montalcino??? Welcome back!

My name is Judy and I am an Acetoholic! ok, I do live in Italy, and teach cooking so I have an excuse! I probably have about 8 traditional balsamics in my house right now. I adore it on vanilla ice cream, the traditional is an elixir, but not all are alike, they each have their own personalitly. I adore the Leonardi Cherry Balsamic, only aged in cherry wood,also their Eccelence and Patriarca.. I was sucked into buying patriarca ( about 75 euro) when a past client had asked me to check into buying some for her, she had seen it online for $450! What a discount!!! even now with the dollar Euro not doing so well, it is a real treat! they use it a lot with any recipe with a lot of fresh herbs.. an omelet for example, and a recipe I got from the fabulous Lancelloti restaurant ( which in closed now I believe) Thin beef slices, lightly floured, and sauteed in butter... add heavy cream, to to cover, salt to taste.. add freshly chopped tarragon, chives and marjoram.. and one or two tbs of balsamico!!! Heaven!

In Florence we call those little berries Alchechengy and they are great dipped in chocolate.. leaving their papery husk on... Love the foto's!

Here they do stop production of many chocolates during the summer as they melt. So we all wait for the first delivery after the heat.. also Baci... Pocket coffee has a chocolate outside, the a crunchy sugar crystal inside.. with a liquid expresso filling... I pop them! in the mouth!!! better than drolling the coffee all over you!

putting 2 and 2 together.. Panzano has some great wineries, including La Massa, Cennatoio, Villa Cafaggio and Fontodi to mention only a few!

I am surprised in a country where MASTERS are so respected as to be national treasures, that this would be taken so lightly.. but perhaps the phrase sommellier is being used.. to set it apart from being a MASTER.. a lower level.. perhaps a beginning level.

toasted salted almonds one fabulous dish I will never forget from Cesare's in Berkely CA.. cold oven roasted grapes. still on the bunch.. served with prosciutto!!!