Let's plan one day on the coast, one on the hills, and one in the mountains.
We can start with a day in Bolgheri, where we can have a wine tasting in one of their wineries, and end with dinner at Arduino Bolgheri Osteria Ancestrale, a regenerative farm-to-table restaurant. Then we will move to the Chianti hills, and we can have an e-bike tours that will end up at Querceto di Castellina for one of their dinners in the vineyard. The last day we can drive up, through Lucca, to Garfagnana, and we can end up at Il Ciocco Resort near Barga to taste local salami and chestnut bread.
Hi Juls!. I proposed to my wife (almost 20 years ago now!) in San Gimignano and we have longed to get the opportunity to come back to that area. Any recommendations for places to stay (with good food of course ;) ) and restaurants to visit. I vividly remember eating wild boar ragu in our small family run hotel in Pancole - it was just fantastic and I've spent the last 20 years trying to recreate it as well!
Near San Gimignano I would recommend Poggio Alloro (yes, the food there is just as outstanding as the view). In my area, you could stay at Tenuta Mensanello, another working farm with a simple, cozy restaurant where you can eat their charcuterie, try their olive oil, wine, and even artisanal beer. In Colle Val d'Elsa I really love Bel Mi' Colle for an authentic tuscan dinner.
I would say prosciutto e melone, something that requires 5 minutes total, but I often make also green bean and potato salads and quick omelettes with vegetables.
Last night we had prosciutto e fichi, e prosciutto e pesche. Melone here, I don;t know, it always feels like a roulette game. But when it is good it is a dream!
Omelettes is perfect--and I love the sound of your potato salad. I just got some tiny new potatoes and some green beans at the market! We are not as hot as you are, but still...it’s hot. And HUMID.
I made your green bean and potato salad from the blog last night--it was the most perfect thing!
In the US potato salad is usually a heavy mayonnaise dish--perfect when it is perfect, but we wanted something lighter. This was so dreamy, I will be making it all summer, grazie.
Thank you for trying it!! for me it is addicting, it's the potatoes doing all the job and making the salad well dressed and creamy! Even though I have to admit that from pregnancy I have a soft spot for mayonnaise!
How generous you are with this Ask Me Anything 🥰🥰🥰
We’ll be nearby this autumn with some friends at Spannocchia. Any favorite places to explore or super places for a lunch out in the area (maybe in the countryside?) that you’d recommend?
Ciao Bella, my very dear IG friend lives in Faenza and I like am planning on visiting her when we are in Florence, can you recommend a hotel or a B&B to stay. Also restaurants. Grazie
Hello! I'm looking for a small, personal, and hopefully historic Tuscan venue to hold a writer's retreat. If it were someplace with a lovely view, cooking classes, or meals that would be great. Do you have any ideas? Thanks kindly!
I might have the right class for you! I have the last 3 spots available for a Tuscan Country Cooking Class class on August 3rd. We're about one hour from Florence, and this could be a nice day trip for you and your family.
Four of us will be in Tuscany in mid-September and would like to include a cooking class - is there a class in or near Florence that you would recommend?
Sometimes I miss those old times, it was definitely easier. But so much has changed: I am changed, my blog has changed. It used to be a hobby, now this is a family business. Honestly, though, I like how it evolved, mirroring the several aspects of my personality.
Second printing! Yes, yes yes!! This is thrilling. OK, question (because I love this game): What is the one thing you think Tuscans (by birth, or via migration) understand or value about life that is missing from other places you've lived or traveled? What is the distinguishing common thread of the people?
This is a hard question, and it is difficult to answer it especially when you are so deep into that culture that everything looks normal to you. But this is the first thing that came to my mind.
It is mainly related to cooking, but it can also have a broader meaning, and it's the love for simplicity. Our recipes are usually simple, with a short list of ingredients. Apparently it is not even cooking, it's assembling ingredients, yet this gives the most outstanding results. There's no need to overcomplicate food, recipes, life, when the single ingredients taken on their own have so much flavor/meaning.
I have a pasta roller with a c-clamp to clamp it to the work surface. I haven’t made fresh pasta for a few years (for many reasons! But one of which is) because the counters in my rental have a lip/ overhang (wider at the front edge of the counter) so there’s no way to clamp on the machine. My table also has a lip so it doesn’t work either. I’ve tried various pieces of furniture but either the top is too wide for the clamp, or the work surface is much too small. I’ve used by dresser for my meat grinder (which has the same kind of clamp) in a pinch, but pasta making is a bit messy for the bedroom where the dresser is!
Do you have any solutions for clamping on my pasta roller?
(Totally understand if you don’t, but I’m just throwing it out there in case this is something you’ve come across).
Hi Danielle, I had the exact same problem! I solved by buying a new pasta machine, a Marcato Atlas, as they have a larger clamp that can extend much more than the c-clamp. I don't remember exactly, but probably they called it 'topolino' clamp, where Topolino is Mickey Mouse (it really looks like Mickey Mouse!)
Thank you so much for those suggestions! You have given me some good ideas of what might work for me. I might try working something out with different clamps, etc. and, if not, it’s good to know there different machines out there that might work better. It’s inspiring me to make pasta again!
My favourite tool is a pastry brush I use only for that purpose: it must be dry and not greasy at all! Sometimes I also use a clean tea towel to remove flour and dust.
Hey Juls! Imagine you’re my tour guide- If money was no restriction, and I had 3 days in Tuscany, where would you take me?
Restaurants, things to do, sights to see, etc?
Let's plan one day on the coast, one on the hills, and one in the mountains.
We can start with a day in Bolgheri, where we can have a wine tasting in one of their wineries, and end with dinner at Arduino Bolgheri Osteria Ancestrale, a regenerative farm-to-table restaurant. Then we will move to the Chianti hills, and we can have an e-bike tours that will end up at Querceto di Castellina for one of their dinners in the vineyard. The last day we can drive up, through Lucca, to Garfagnana, and we can end up at Il Ciocco Resort near Barga to taste local salami and chestnut bread.
Would you come with me?
Absolutely! It sounds like a dream
Hi Juls!. I proposed to my wife (almost 20 years ago now!) in San Gimignano and we have longed to get the opportunity to come back to that area. Any recommendations for places to stay (with good food of course ;) ) and restaurants to visit. I vividly remember eating wild boar ragu in our small family run hotel in Pancole - it was just fantastic and I've spent the last 20 years trying to recreate it as well!
Near San Gimignano I would recommend Poggio Alloro (yes, the food there is just as outstanding as the view). In my area, you could stay at Tenuta Mensanello, another working farm with a simple, cozy restaurant where you can eat their charcuterie, try their olive oil, wine, and even artisanal beer. In Colle Val d'Elsa I really love Bel Mi' Colle for an authentic tuscan dinner.
And one more question--
Favorite dinner to bake for these hot hot days?
I would say prosciutto e melone, something that requires 5 minutes total, but I often make also green bean and potato salads and quick omelettes with vegetables.
Last night we had prosciutto e fichi, e prosciutto e pesche. Melone here, I don;t know, it always feels like a roulette game. But when it is good it is a dream!
Omelettes is perfect--and I love the sound of your potato salad. I just got some tiny new potatoes and some green beans at the market! We are not as hot as you are, but still...it’s hot. And HUMID.
It’s the humidity that is killing me!
Yes, exactly!
I made your green bean and potato salad from the blog last night--it was the most perfect thing!
In the US potato salad is usually a heavy mayonnaise dish--perfect when it is perfect, but we wanted something lighter. This was so dreamy, I will be making it all summer, grazie.
Thank you for trying it!! for me it is addicting, it's the potatoes doing all the job and making the salad well dressed and creamy! Even though I have to admit that from pregnancy I have a soft spot for mayonnaise!
Oh I do love mayonnaise as well--but this was the perfect alternative. 💖
Ciao Giulia!
How generous you are with this Ask Me Anything 🥰🥰🥰
We’ll be nearby this autumn with some friends at Spannocchia. Any favorite places to explore or super places for a lunch out in the area (maybe in the countryside?) that you’d recommend?
Let's begin saying YAY! I know a place where you will be invited for lunch (let's just plan it!)
Then, the guide I'll be sharing soon is all about this area, so you'll find all our top picks for the Val d'Elsa there!
Non vedo l’ora!! Che gioia, sarà un piacere grandissima.
Anche per noi!
I appreciate you getting back to me so quickly. Thank you and I will be in touch 🇮🇹🇺🇸🙋♀️
Ciao Bella, my very dear IG friend lives in Faenza and I like am planning on visiting her when we are in Florence, can you recommend a hotel or a B&B to stay. Also restaurants. Grazie
In Florence or Faenza? I don't know Faenza at all, but for Florence I have a guide on my blog: https://en.julskitchen.com/other/travel/one-day-in-florence-my-city-guide
Hello! I'm looking for a small, personal, and hopefully historic Tuscan venue to hold a writer's retreat. If it were someplace with a lovely view, cooking classes, or meals that would be great. Do you have any ideas? Thanks kindly!
You can try at Querceto di Castellina https://www.quercetodicastellina.com/en/home/
of Tenuta Mensanello https://www.mensanello.com (that would be also close to our studio!)
Thank you, I will do so!!
Like Ina's comment above. 3 of us will be in Florence in early August. Cooking class options - kinda day trip thing. :)
I might have the right class for you! I have the last 3 spots available for a Tuscan Country Cooking Class class on August 3rd. We're about one hour from Florence, and this could be a nice day trip for you and your family.
Let me know if you have questions regarding it!
Four of us will be in Tuscany in mid-September and would like to include a cooking class - is there a class in or near Florence that you would recommend?
Thanks!
My classes! :P https://en.julskitchen.com/tuscan-cooking-classes
We are about one hour from Florence.
Otherwise, I’d be happy to recommend a friend.
You can contact Antonella, this is her email antonella.lamacchia@gmail.com
Here is her site: http://antonella.cooking/en/
You can also check with Querceto di Castellina, they are a lovely winery and also do cooking classes. https://www.quercetodicastellina.com/en/home/
Ask Mary directly: mary@querceto.com
Thank you!
Everything has become more complicated and busy. I enjoyed the simplicity of your original blog and Newsletter!
Sometimes I miss those old times, it was definitely easier. But so much has changed: I am changed, my blog has changed. It used to be a hobby, now this is a family business. Honestly, though, I like how it evolved, mirroring the several aspects of my personality.
Second printing! Yes, yes yes!! This is thrilling. OK, question (because I love this game): What is the one thing you think Tuscans (by birth, or via migration) understand or value about life that is missing from other places you've lived or traveled? What is the distinguishing common thread of the people?
This is a hard question, and it is difficult to answer it especially when you are so deep into that culture that everything looks normal to you. But this is the first thing that came to my mind.
It is mainly related to cooking, but it can also have a broader meaning, and it's the love for simplicity. Our recipes are usually simple, with a short list of ingredients. Apparently it is not even cooking, it's assembling ingredients, yet this gives the most outstanding results. There's no need to overcomplicate food, recipes, life, when the single ingredients taken on their own have so much flavor/meaning.
Hi Juls,
I have a pasta roller with a c-clamp to clamp it to the work surface. I haven’t made fresh pasta for a few years (for many reasons! But one of which is) because the counters in my rental have a lip/ overhang (wider at the front edge of the counter) so there’s no way to clamp on the machine. My table also has a lip so it doesn’t work either. I’ve tried various pieces of furniture but either the top is too wide for the clamp, or the work surface is much too small. I’ve used by dresser for my meat grinder (which has the same kind of clamp) in a pinch, but pasta making is a bit messy for the bedroom where the dresser is!
Do you have any solutions for clamping on my pasta roller?
(Totally understand if you don’t, but I’m just throwing it out there in case this is something you’ve come across).
Thank you!!
Hi Danielle, I had the exact same problem! I solved by buying a new pasta machine, a Marcato Atlas, as they have a larger clamp that can extend much more than the c-clamp. I don't remember exactly, but probably they called it 'topolino' clamp, where Topolino is Mickey Mouse (it really looks like Mickey Mouse!)
https://www.marcato.it/en/product/manual_machines/ampia-150180
Or, I also found this very interesting article: https://www.instructables.com/New-Life-For-Old-Pasta-Machines-Use-Bar-Clamps/
I hope this has been useful: you are so right, you need the right table to make pasta, it has to be comfortable.
Thank you so much for those suggestions! You have given me some good ideas of what might work for me. I might try working something out with different clamps, etc. and, if not, it’s good to know there different machines out there that might work better. It’s inspiring me to make pasta again!
oh, that's great! so here's to more pasta making in the near future!
Hi Juls! What is the best way to clean your pasta roller/cutter? Any tips?
My favourite tool is a pastry brush I use only for that purpose: it must be dry and not greasy at all! Sometimes I also use a clean tea towel to remove flour and dust.