September 2015 Newsletter from Elizabeth Minchilli

september 2015 newsletter

Summer's over. I know summer doesn't officially end for a few more weeks, but for me, leaving our house in Umbria, and going back to Rome means it's the end of cookouts, dinners with friends and family, swimming and way too many cocktails than is probably good for me.

I had a great month doing not much. While I did cook up storm, I did not photograph and document each and every meal. I thought I'd make some videos, but that didn't happen either. You'll be happy to know that I did manage to work my way around Umbria, doing research for Eat Umbria But since 'research' was basically going out to lunch and dinner with friends and family, I can't really complain.

Highlights of the month included tomatoes at every meal. We plant tons every year, but the harvest varies so much, we never know what to expect. This year was stellar. Even though the tomatoes were on the small side, they were juicy and packed with flavor. We managed to eat them at every meal, mostly with mozzarella (see my instagram feed for more on that #tomatomozzarellalife ). Just as the tomatoes started to fade, figs came to the rescue. And although many made it to the table with prosciutto, way more were eaten with sticky fingers right from the trees.

As we pack up the house, getting ready to head back to Rome, Domenico is busily planting over 60 cabbage plants. So yes, do send me any and all cabbage recipes you have.

what's new

I've gotten lots of inquiries from you about my Weeks in Rome tours. The first one will start on October 18, but I've still got a few spots open. During the week in Rome with Sophie and me, we'll be exploring the city from a food point of view. We'll be visiting markets and vendors, get behind the scenes tours of food artisans, learn how to make cacio e pepe ; take a trip up to Umbria to visit a farm and a cheese maker and more. The deadline for signing up is September 15, so please let me know if you're interested. And if you can't make it in October, we have another trip in November. It's tons of fun, and I hope you can join us! If you're interested, just hit reply to this email.

And if you can't manage a week in Rome with us, both Sophie and I offer day tours both in Rome and in the countryside.

And a quick thank you if you are one of the many users of my app Eat Italy. The response to my newly relaunched apps, Eat Rome, Eat Florence and Eat Venice has been huge. And I'm very happy that you're enjoying Eat Milan and Eat Umbria as well. If you did use my apps, and feel like leaving a review, that always helps tons. Here is the link to the iTunes store

travels

In July I traveled a lot and am still catching up with all I saw and learned. Sophie, Gillian and I spent an incredible three days immersing ourselves in everything there is to know about getting anchovies from the sea into jars and finally onto your plate. Here's a blog post about them, and a recipe for using colatura. I also spent five days in Abruzzo, with pasta makers Rustichella, leaning all about wheat and pasta. I still haven't managed to write up the trip (I told you August was lazy month) but here is a post about a great little seafood street food spot we went to one day.

But in August? I Did. Not. Move. Can I tell you how heavenly it was staying put in one place for an entire thirty day stretch? I love traveling (and will be doing a lot of it in September) but these days the biggest luxury I can think of is staying put for a month. Don't worry though, I didn't stay in the house all the time. I went to Deruta often, and discovered that one of the best restaurants in town is hidden behind a gas pump. While my sister was here with her family we spent a fantastic day with my friend Jennifer, who leads culinary tours in Umbria, visiting a working farm and a very special bakery (more on that soon). Another day Rolando, Salvatore and I took a road trip, and headed up to visit Nancy Silverton who has a house near Lago di Trasimeno. But mostly I stayed at home, cooking stuff like this and this.

videos

It was very hard to compact everything I learned about anchovies into one three-minute video. But I did it. Everything you ever wanted to know about fishing, processing and packing up those little fishies but were afraid to ask. The only thing I didn't get enough of, and no film of, was eating them. I think a return trip is in order, don't you?

While down south I also had a crash course in learning how to use colatura, the anchovy sauce that is the precious by-product of anchovy making. As it turned out, I'd been doing it al wrong See this video to learn how to do things all right.

And remember: please subscribe to my You Tube channel, to receive an update whenever I post a new video.

what I'm reading

I'm currently reading The Martian and loving it.

Other good summer reads included discovering a new crime writer, Tana French. I loved In the Woods and am looking forward to more.

Looking to meet neighbors on your street? Start a facebook page and virtual might turn into reality like it did in Bologna.

Want to take a nap after that wine tasting? You can at these Italian vineyards.

27 food stories none of us ever want to read again.

Blogger blackmail. Is it a thing?

and finally....

I had a great time chatting with my friend Evan on Good Food.

And if you hurry over to Dianne's blog, she's giving away a copy of Eating Rome this week.

Michele wrote a very sweet review of Eating Rome here.


And now, back to Rome. Back to writing, filming, touring, traveling and cooking. I'm recharged and ready. How about you?
x,elizabeth