Pasta Fagioli (fazool)
Pasta Fagioli, Pasta Beans with Trofie shaped pasta In Italy, beans are used in a variety of ways--salads, mashed on bread or bruschetta with olive oil drizzled on top, in soups and stews. A side dish (contorno) of beans is often served with any main...
Taking a Break from Italy Retreats
SLOW IT DOWN: Slow It Down. That was the assigned title for our writing group several weeks ago. A difficult thing to do during the holidays. But, I am practicing. I've made a big decision not to lead my Italy Retreats for Women in 2019. Along with that decision...
4 Favorite Foods in Cinque Terre
This will be my 10th year hanging out in Cinque Terre--the five fishing villages-turned tourist-towns in the region of Liguria in Italy during my Italy Retreat for Women Tours. Hiking, swimming, and eating four of the traditional local foods is always part of living...
Tuscany
To write about Tuscany would take volumes of books filled with beautiful photos and stories of vineyards, artistic treasures, historical architecture and churches. In fact, there are mountains of books written about Tuscany, one of Italy's 20 regions! It is often...
5 Must-See Places in Lecce, Puglia Italy
I love traveling in Italy. My dream is to visit each of the 20 regions, and most cities in Italy in my lifetime. Because I had never been to two of the southern regions of Italy--Puglia and Basilicata, I traveled there in 2017. I was so impressed and delighted by my...
Hiking Trails of the Cinque Terre
Embraced by the calm turquoise Ligurian Sea of the Italian Riviera, I am always in awe of the simple but extraordinary beauty of the five fishing villages known as the Cinque Terre. I guess that's why 2018 will be my 10th consecutive year taking one of my Italy...
Matera, Basilicata
Other-Wordly Matera, Basilicata: Italy's oldest city: The culture of Italy is diverse. To experience a place like Matera in Italy's southern region of Basilicata in the middle of nowhere, is other-wordly and totally unique. This city's cultural heritage is...
The simplicity of making grape jam
The beauty of Italian cooking is in its simplicity. Most importantly, use the freshest produce, and the finest ingredients to produce excellent taste. That goes for making jam also! First of all, our recipe uses about half the sugar as compared to "normal" recipes....
Angels and Saints in Italy
A surprise meeting with an 'angel' outside of Saint Clare's Church in Assisi last year was delightful to the women in my Italy Retreat For Women group. This surprise is a perfect example of the happiness that can be created when we travel. I wrote about this in my...
Cooking Class in Umbria, Italy
Cooking class at La Chiusa Agriturismo in Umbertide, in the region of Umbria, Italy. For the first time, I scheduled a cooking class in 2016 for my Italy Retreat For Women. We had so much fun making everything organic--hand-rolled tortellini (belly-button shaped...
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