“We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.”   -E.B. White

Monday, July 14, 2008

Under the Tuscan sun.



Upon entering Porto Venere, after a daytime cruise past the Cinque Terra, I had a geographic realization that we were in fact, in Tuscany!  Wow.  My first reaction was to step outside the galley door (what I call "my porch"), and let the gals know that I was just going to have a bask under the tuscan sun.  Cheesy, I know.   But the real Tuscan realization came when I hit the market one morning in Porto Venere.   The best of the best in produce.  Tomatoes, melons, raspberries, peaches, apricots, cucumbers, heads of lettuce...the most flavor packed ingredients I have ever tasted.  The crew and guests had a lunch tasting of these little beauties, on a platter filled with rotisserie chicken, buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocadoes, fresh focaccia, local pesto, and tuscan Balsamic and Olive Oil.  Ahhh, Tuscany.  Can't wait for a Belini!!!
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Where has this southern gal been in the past year?

  • Bra, Italy
  • Milan, Italy
  • Venice, Italy
  • Cinque Terra, Italy
  • Paris, France
  • Sardinia
  • Ajaccio, Corsica
  • Calvi, Corsica
  • Portovenere, Italy
  • Portofino, Italy
  • Villefranche, France
  • Cap D'ai, France
  • Nice, France
  • St. Tropez, France
  • Cannes, France
  • Monaco, France
  • San Remo, Italy
  • Hilton Head Island, SC
  • Ft. Liquordale, FL
  • Seattle, WA
  • Nosara, Costa Rica
  • Charleston, SC
  • Waxy O'Connors, FL
  • Florida Keys, FL
  • Highbourne Cay, Bahamas
  • Harbor Island, Bahamas
  • Nassau, Bahamas
  • Ft. Lauderdale, FL
  • Big Lake, Washington :-)
  • Mt. Vernon, Washington
  • Seattle, Washington
  • Portland, Oregon
  • Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
  • Wilmington, North Carolina
  • Outer Banks, North Carolina
  • Stuart, Florida
  • Palma de Mallorca, Spain
  • Barcelona, Spain
  • Rome, Italy
  • Sorrento, Italy
  • Sollerno, Italy
  • Agropoli, Italy
  • Positano, Italy
  • Amalfi Coast, Italy
  • Ischia, Italy
  • Isle of Capri, Italy

MY MENU MANTRA

I cannot overemphasize the importance of approaching each new menu or each new dish with a fresh attitude. Never look back, burdening yourself with the memory of the dinner that didn't quite work.  Nor should you endlessly repeat the comfortable dish that you have mastered: that promotes a stagnant attitude.  Move away from that safe old chocolate mousse recipe to new ideas, new cookbooks, and new restaurants for inspiration, motivation and incentive.  Learn to discriminate and choose the best of everything.  More than any other quality in other cooks, the one I most value is the ability to see precisely what is needed in a particular dish, dinner, or event.  This discrimination and attention to detail distinguish those dedicated and perceptive cooks I most admire.  -Alice Waters.