Sometime I wish to have a year that is entirely made of September. This is especially true after the record high temperature of this past summer. However this month is always my favorite as our home is lively with guests who come to visit us from all corners of the world. Most often than not,… Continue reading figs preserved in spiced wine syrup
I know it might seem a bit odd to publish a pickle recipe at a time of the year when everyone else is busy with cookies and panettone. But – thanks to generous friends – I have been so pumpkin and squash-rich recently, that I had to develop new ideas. After making squash soup, pumpkin… Continue reading how to make pickled squash and other holiday edible gifts
I have made a scientific study of making marmalade with sweet oranges. Bid deal – you will say – the whole world makes marmalade! Indeed, but the “famous” British-style marmalade is made with bitter oranges. However, there are no bitter oranges in rural Umbria. We grow no oranges at all actually, it’s too cold. Try… Continue reading chunky Italian-style sweet orange marmalade
My father will not touch my elderberry jelly. Despite my assurance that I have been eating it for years and even his beloved granddaughter has had it with no ill consequences, he is still convinced that it’s dangerous. Not even when I tell him that you can buy it in most supermarkets in Switzerland and… Continue reading Elderberry jelly
Making a jelly from flowers has an alchemic feeling to it. It ‘s not the same as making a jam from fruit. It’s more like making a perfume, except you can eat it. Flowers are ephemeral creatures and so is their scent. The scent we so love is not made for our own pleasure.… Continue reading Giulia’s elderflower jelly
PERSIMMONS. I better hurry up and pick them before the frost makes them burst. Every autumn it’s the same story. We first have a brief spell of leaf glory, when the proverbial Umbrian green turns to golden and red. Then rain comes, more rain than we want. Everything becomes gray except the persimmons. You see… Continue reading spiced persimmon and orange jam
I love October in Umbria. Soon the winter sadness will descend on us, but right now colors are working full-time. Everywhere is golden and red. Everything seems to taste sweet, chestnuts, pears, grapes. There’s wonderful grapes everywhere. We are the lucky owners of a 1/2 century old vine-arbor. We don’t make wine with the fruits,… Continue reading spiced grape jelly
