Dear Friends,
Summer has finally arrived and it’s time to enjoy the beauty of being outside once again – planting in our organic gardens, watering under the mountains in Stiffe, and harvesting delicious fresh produce to be used in our restaurant & cooking experience.
Our gardens are now looking very good after a slow start because of an unprecedented amount of rainfall this spring. On the other hand, a variety of wild mushrooms were found in abundance this year.
Wild boar salami has been aging over the winter and spring in our cantina and is now ready to be served and enjoyed.
Jaynie and I have made several trips to the Gran Sasso mountain to forage the famous – ‘olaci’ – wild mountain spinach. We are including our new recipe with olaci for you to try at home.
On the 24th of June – San Giovanni , we picked our green walnuts to make a new batch of our walnut liqueur ‘Nocino’, a 300-year-old recipe made with a secret ingredient!
We recently announced the addition of our new one-day cooking experience and are thrilled with the response we’ve received so far. We have already filled several one day experiences and have a few spaces available on other days…contact us to join a group our organize your own. This day is perfect for family and friend get togethers so if you’re in the area call us.
We’ll also be adding cheese making to our cooking experience….you only need to ask and we will tailor your experience according to your culinary preferences.
On the menu this summer – foraged wild greens, fava beans, wild mushrooms, olaci (wild mountain spinach) – foraged in the Gran Sasso, a bounty of veggies from our gardens – zucchini, eggplant, variety of salads, radicchio, green beans, onions, cucumber, chives, basil , the tip of the pumpkin plant ‘teneroni’, friggitelli (sweet chilli peppers), red and green peppers, hot chilli peppers, chard, watermelon, cantaloupe and of course our juicy sun ripened tomatoes. The joys of having our own gardens!
Happy summer and hope to see you soon!
Leonardo & Jaynie
