All the Spring News from OIT🍃
Rainbows. Friendship. And pizza too!
Benvenuti Spring with all your rainy weather! 🌱 My favorite season is finally here. I just returned from a few weeks in Montalcino where spring wasn’t quite cooperating …for the first week, cold windy days were met with a chilly rain …and even a few hailstorms thrown in for extra measure. But perhaps in payback for turtlenecks in May, nature rewarded us with days on end of spectacular rainbows!!! Big, fat vibrant rainbows filled the windows, spreading out from one side of my apartment to the other. The mist wafted through the valley and as I watched, a hint of a double rainbow would appear only to disappear like magic back into the mist. It was like being in the middle of a huge rainbow cloud - a really cool dance of mist and magic. ✨
“We do not remember days. We remember moments.”
-Cesare Pavesi, Italian poet
We were so fortunate to spend long leisurely days and dinners catching up and cooking with dear friends. I stocked the fridge full of fresh fava beans and artichokes from the local Friday market. I cooked and cooked to my heart’s content…steamed artichokes; fava beans with fresh pasta from the local shop; and perhaps my favorite and simplest: a big basket of fresh favas paired with soft, sweet young pecorino - a springtime treat in Montalcino.
I launched a few new projects - both for my apartment and for Our Italian Table (more news to follow soon 😉). While Jay zipped off to help on some projects at a friend’s vineyard, I hung around the village …well to be honest, I spent most of that time hanging out my window alternating between:
watching the swallows (le rondini) return for spring as they swooped and soared over the village - their beautiful squeak - magic to my ears; their flight - a dance of complete and utter freedom.
and watching this little guy hang out in perhaps the best spot in the world 😊
Italy never ceases to remind me to just stop and celebrate the simple pleasures of life, like long relaxed lunches, soaring swallows, or the dance of rainbows. What are your favorite simple pleasures? I would love to hear about what makes you stop and smile. 🌟
NostraVita visits America ❤️
Before we headed over to Montalcino, we were blessed to have some very dear friends from Montalcino visit us in America. Back in 2021, a friend in Montalcino started managing wine tours for a vineyard just a few minutes by car outside the village. I first visited NostraVita for a tour on a warm summer’s day. As I stepped foot on the property, little did I know that a beautiful friendship was about to be born, or that this family would leave such a beautiful imprint on my heart. That day, we arrived as strangers and left with misty eyes as if leaving treasured family behind.
Their land, anchored by a big old oak tree, is one of magical wonders. From the Sangiovese vines from which their spectacular wines are made to the works of art that are interwoven throughout the property, you immediately feel the love and passion that this family has poured into their lands.
Carlotta, one of the daughters of NostraVita, and I had an immediate connection - one that feels like we have known each other forever. We are always in contact with each other, whether I am in Montalcino or America. Visits are scheduled whenever I am in Montalcino. For me, it is a friendship that I cherish more and more with each passing visit.
One evening over dinner, the idea was born for NostraVita to visit us in America to share their story and their wine. So in early April, Carlotta and Niccolò, who manages hospitality at NostraVita, traveled across the ocean to bring their wines to little New Hope, Pennsylvania. (And before they arrived so did an amazing amount of boxes filled with wines and cheeses! My UPS driver was rather alarmed when he delivered so many boxes filled with wine.)
We hosted a few wine tastings with family and friends. Wine was poured; cheeses were sampled; stories were told; and new friendships were forged. (They even got to experience the earthquake in Pennsylvania.😳)
Carlotta and Niccolò warmed the hearts of all they met. Seeing the new connections and friendships formed makes my heart soar. Grazie, Carlotta, and Niccolò, for sharing your beautiful corner of Tuscany with us here in Pennsylvania. ❤️
Pizza oven update!
For years, Jay has wanted to build a pizza oven….from scratch, top to bottom. And for years(!), we have been arguing debating where the best spot would be for one. Recently after some new construction allowed us to remove some bushes previously needed for privacy, we realized that we had a spot that we could BOTH agree on 💃🏻. Jay dusted off the design that he had been working on for years and ta-dah, construction of the pizza oven was soon underway! Stone by stone, he has been painstakingly laying out each course, maneuvering each stone into place, and out of a pile of rocks (beautiful rocks he would say), a pizza oven is emerging. On one side will be a grill that we can use as we fire up the oven. A few more courses of stone to go and then the dome will start to take shape ❤️
Watch this space as I have started on my quest for the perfect pizza dough! I am learning about all about hydration rates (which I have learned varies whether you are baking in an oven at home or in a hotter outside oven.) I have been devouring a fellow substacker Alexandra Stafford’s excellent newsletter, Pizza Every Friday, and her new book, Pizza Night…fantastic information and tips. I would give my first attempt a ‘C’ (ok maybe a B-) as I didn’t have the time to allow for a proper overnight rise but it was tasty! Round 2 this weekend!
First, it is mastering the pizza dough … then onto the endless possibilities of meals from a wood-fired oven. Woohoo! Send any suggestions, tips, or just come on over for a test pizza, please!! 💃🏻
Opening the doors wide on our recipes and newsletter ❤️
Lastly about a year and a half ago, we moved our newsletter over to this platform, Substack. It has been a welcome and inviting space for us to write; a community of amazing writers where I am often left speechless by their remarkable words. I have forged new friendships here as well. We have been so happy and grateful 🙏 to see the number of new subscribers along with our loyal readers who have been with us for so many years. We are now over 5100 strong as a community!
We launched a ‘paid version’ about a year ago which limited access to some posts. We have been so excited by the number of you in our community that are willing to help support our work. 🌟 However, in our heart of hearts, we realize that we don’t want to limit who gets to read our posts. In the spirit of how we have always operated here at OIT, what feels best for us is to throw open the doors and make all posts accessible to all. We want to share our love of all things Italy with as many of you as possible.
We will still keep the paid option for those that can afford and would like to support the effort that goes into our work 🙏…. and for which we are immensely, immensely grateful! Paid subscribers will still receive a free downloadable version of our annual magazine. (And if you are already a paid subscriber and you just thought… “wait, this isn’t what I signed up for”, do not hesitate to email me at michele@ouritaliantable.com for a refund.) We feel strongly about building the largest community possible around Our Italian Table to share our love of our heritage and all things Italian. 🇮🇹
Sorry this post was a bit longer than usual! 🙏 Stay tuned for June happenings as Joey is headed out to Pennsylvania from California and we are planning a few fun things for OIT! New recipe this coming weekend as well…🥰
Un grande baci,
Alla prossima!
Of course I love this. And I well remember a Montalcino visit not so long ago when you brought the fresh pecorino, the fava, wine and PERHAPS Kendra? to our “palazzo” and we celebrated spring and friendship and Montalcino…just good fortune all. I will see you again I’m sure. And I will keep your “cookery” book close by here in Ky.
Very happy to read about your collaboration with NostraVita, our favourite Brunello winery! And it is so much more than a winery: sculpture garden, wood-working & book-loving, artistic laboratory - the labels alone! - of a talented family not without its challenges. Many of us still mourn the loss of a brilliant daughter. May they (and you) continue to thrive!