In Love with France, At Home In Italy

WE ARE LUCKY TO HAVE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF LUSCIOUS PEACHES IN OUR ITALIAN GARDEN, BUT THIS IS THE FIRST TO MATURE. IT HAS SUCCULENT YELLOW FLESH AND UNLIKE THE OVERABUNDANCE OF FRUIT PRODUCED BY OUR PEAR, PLUM, FIG, AND APPLE TREES, WE MANAGE TO GOBBLE THESE UP WITHOUT A PROBLEM. IN THE STATES, THIS IS CALLED A DONUT PEACH, BUT THE ACTUAL VARIETY IS CALLED SATURNIA. THEY ARE A JUICY, WHITE PEACH WITH AN EXTREMELY DELICATE, FLOWERY SCENT. SO IF THIS IS A TRIUMVIRATE, HOW COME THERE ARE FOUR PHOTOS? THIS DONUT PEACH DESERVED A SECOND POSE BECAUSE THE FIRST DID NOT DO JUSTICE TO ITS UNIQUE, FLAT BEAUTIFUL SELF. WE SAW PESCHE GIALLE AT THE ORVIETO MARKET AND COULDN'T RESIST TRYING THEM. THEIR SURFACE IS SMOOTH, NOT FUZZY, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY STILL A PEACH, NOT A NECTARINE OR APRICOT. THIS VARIETY, WHICH WAS NEW TO US, HAS A HEAVENLY PERFUME. ********************************** MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL... SO WHICH IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL? WHICH TASTED THE ...

What is that woman cradling in her arms ? A few more baskets of our plums, and the tree is still full! Now what ? This has got to be a new chapter in the TOO MANY???? (INSERT FRUIT OF THE MOMENT HERE) series I began last year.(see post  ACRES OF PLUMS!:NOW WHAT? from March 2011 and also TOO MANY PLUMS from August 2011)   FIRST, TOO MANY PEARS Well, this year we got a heads-up when the pears started pouring in. I did my usual lazy woman's project of cooking them slowly with a bit of sugar and lemon peel, which turned them into a beautiful sauce. But with limited freezer space and a current canning phobia and limit to how much pear sauce can be eaten, that still left plenty. Unfortunately, my neighbor in the States who made a cameo appearance in the previous "Too Many Plums" post--D, the gourmet cook--is back in her own home. She would have been whipping this fruit into ambitious creations without missing a beat. Fortunately...

My mother just celebrated her 88th birthday, so while it's still her birthday month, I need to fulfill my promise not to post any photos or stories about the many insects that share our home. Nevertheless, by looking at these essential tools of life in the Italian countryside, you can probably tell that bugs play a big role here. As a gardener, I've continued to be very interested in learning about the local insects, especially to find out who the good guys are, but I have not found much reliable information. When I explained my dilemma to one of the first visitors to our home, an elegant, diminutive lady who has a country place in Spain, she replied without hesitation:"For the first year, just swat everything!" That didn't sit so well with me (what if one of the spiders was Charlotte?), but I did invest in a flyswatter or two (that's a fliegenklatsche, if you buy them at Lidl, the German-owned store that we like). Next, ...

Does the "Pro Loco" label used by the Festa organizers of so many nearby towns mean that Umbrians are in favor of crazy things? Could be, since their way of saying that everything is hunky dory is "tutto al posto." That makes me think about the American expression, "to go postal." I went looking for a definition and found variations on the theme of to go bonkers and perpetrate acts of premeditated violence due to job stress or other traumatic influence. Come to think of it, the very idea of comparing the Italian Mail (non) Service with the US Mail is pretty far fetched. Our mail in Italy, if it comes at all, does so in no hurry. Where we live, on nobody's traffic pattern, we think that our nice Postina saves up our mail for when she is in the mood for a little outing to the countryside, which would  not be every day. And this is despite the fact that whenever she comes, I greet her with hugs, cherries, figs, or whatever is ou...