UNDER THE TUSCANY SUN

CIAO!
JUST SPENT THE DAY IN THE ITALIAN COUNTRYSIDE WITH LISA VISITING DONATELLA AND HER HUSBAND ANDREA 






DONATELLA is the best ITALIAN COOK EVER - ate the LARGEST and BEST ITALIAN MEAL ever












as we begin we have whole porcino mushrooms marinated in olive oil and black olives

and yummy tomatoes and green or black olives and peppers on great bread

as well as crostini with white creamy cheese with chives on some

and another crostini with all kinds of minced vegetables and mayo and olive oil with a spicy flavor - oh dear
 

 followed by a delectable
ARTICHOKE LASAGNA


i could have eaten my weight in that dish









 





 even the BREAD was exceptional as some of it had salt - traditionally TUSCAN BREAD is unsalted as its main use is to sop up what is left on the plate or bowl

the bottom dish is pecorino cheese topped with mushrooms marinated in olive oil with specks of hot pepper - very very tasty
i had found it at the wine/cheese/meat shop in my neighborhood



lisa is a vegetarian so donatella had fixed her green beans with wonderful tomato-y sauce it was cooked in - so flavorful
and someone told donatella i loved turkey so i have delicious turkey with rosemary and sage - i could have eaten both of those dishes all day













followed by a choice of four of their CHEESES, TOMATOES that were as sweet as any fruit, and BEANS inside a long green pod that looked identical to a pea pod but was larger

the beans inside are best eaten with cheese - a yummy yummy combination

LAST BUT NOT LEAST 

we had delicious CHEESECAKE that lisa had brought and a heaping bowl of sugared STRAWBERRIES for DESSERT
cannot believe i did not take a picture - it was so good i must have dug right in - even after all the other!!!!



then we went outside for a walk to enjoy the scenery and the absolutely perfect spring day 

and the view from their hill - ahhhh

the small walkway down to the olive orchard

donatella's ROSEMARY plants

AND her SAGE with another type of ROSEMARY

OLIVE TREES, MEDITERRANEAN CYPRESS, the GREEN OF SPRING, HILLS dotted with VILLAS - AHH SPRING - AHHHHH ITALY

more olive, more green, more country

donatella and andrea own an orchard with 90 OLIVE TREES

LISA AND I both went back to florence with a bottle of olive oil from the latest harvest - how lucky we are

the little yellow flowers are almost closed up but earlier looked just like our dandelions - andrea said the name they give them in italy means PEE IN THE BED - fun

amen to a grand day