“Cucina e amore…” says Piero. Cooking is love. The wood-fired ovens are burning here at La Cucina al Focolare – Cooking by the Fireside, the original crown in Peggy Markel’s Culinary Adventures. We are in the Florentine hills of the Arno valley, outside of Florence surrounded by olive gardens and a stone’s …
Behind the bar on any given day or evening, are a pair of clever wine lovers, better known as foxes. Le volpi e l’uva (The Fox and the Grape) is tucked on a back side street in Florence, across the Arno river not far from the Ponte Vecchio. It’s is my …
Late summer skies are getting bluer and there is the faintest hint of cool in the air. Most people are ending their summer holidays and going back to work or school. So am I. Thank goodness it’s the traveling kind. I’m ready to hit the road for foreign lands and steep myself in a different cultural brew.
In cool white linen, we caught a ride over to Philipkutty’s farm with a kind man headed that way in his boat. Umbrellas were a civilized way to shield from the sun. We were on our way to visit with Anu and her mother-in-law Aniamma, to learn some of her …
“Every meal that we (mostly Peggy) prepared was spontaneously planned. Every island we visited had a different catch of the day. With the basic “materia prima”, like pomodorini (organic cherry tomatoes), limone (organic lemons), basilica (basil) l’olio d’oliva extra virgine, caperi, (capers) and fresh fish, we were able to feed …
Sitting under a coconut palm in Goa, India, watching butterflies flutter to the sound of crashing waves, I am still enough to let my mind wander. Pure amazement radiates from within. “How have I come to this moment?,” I ask myself. I have always loved to travel… not an easy …
“Sour Cherries, After GG”, 2011 by Paulette Tavormina ~ Courtesy of Beetles+Huxley, London June encapsulates the end of spring and beginning of summer. Here in Florence, it’s the time of the swallows dancing euphorically in the sky, the weather is warm enough to bare shoulders and sit in outdoor cafés …
Anyone who has taken a trip with Peggy knows that it’s her ability to create relationships, bring out personalities, to facilitate laughter and a sense of poetry, that set her programs apart. Francesco has driven for our culinary program in Sicily for over eight years now – and it is thanks to …
The world is full of magic patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper. ~ W.B.Yeats India gets under the skin. The desert vistas of Rajasthan with its impressive palaces and forts tell a tale of ancient history and culture. The cities of Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur glitter with palaces, …