Not the usual Sunday postcard

but an excuse to share a couple of announcements

If I could send you a postcard now, it would be that of a woman curled up on a yellow armchair, wrapped in a hand-knitted wool blanket with a pile of books next to her. I am that woman, and it’s not a romantic vision of a calm afternoon spent next to the wood burning stove reading my favorite food writers. It’s more the perfect representation of my desperate attempt of staying on top of things (an online food writing lesson on Monday), when you’ve been caught up by the last seasonal virus. I’ve been surviving on brown rice, miso soups, steamed fennels (surprisingly luscious when drizzled in freshly pressed olive oil), and chamomile tea.

So why do I pop up here, unannounced, on a Sunday, stealing Tommaso’s space for “Postcards from Tuscany”? For a couple of announcements!

November Cook Along and Live Chat

Next Sunday, November the 20th, we’ll be back with our monthly Cook Along and Live Chat reserved for subscribers (you’ll receive the link for the live events in the next days). We will meet at 9 pm CEST - 3 pm EDT - 12 pm PDT.

We’re going to cook a risotto, and we’ll go through all the important steps and most significant elements of a risotto. On this matter, you might want to listen to this old episode of Cooking with an Italian Accent, our podcast (yes, I tell you this every time, but we’re going to be back with new episodes sooner or later).

EP44 - On risotto

We’ll make the risotto in the traditional way, and we will also talk about my latest obsession: risotto in a pressure cooker, with which I recently made the best risotto I have ever made. Our online gatherings are always so fun, intimate, and full of chats… I can’t wait for the next Sunday to come!

To make risotto, you’ll need the basic ingredients (butter, finely minced onions or shallots, Arborio or Carnali rice, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, a good stock, dry white wine), and your flavoring of choice (saffron, roasted squash, roasted tomatoes, sautéed radicchio, dried mushrooms, pear and mascarpone…). Of course you can also join us just for a chat, no need to cook along with us!

Risotto Cook Along Sunday 20th November 2022

58.7KB ∙ PDF file

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You can download this simple worksheet to be ready for the Cook Along

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Subscribe to Letters from Tuscany and you’ll also have the chance to join the Monthly Cook Along and Live Chat.

I Love Toscana

We recently launched a new project for our subscribers, I love Toscana, a serialized Tuscan cookbook that you will receive over the course of one year, a collection of tested classic Tuscan recipes to add to your cooking repertoire. Learn more about the I Love Toscana project here.

These are the recipes we already shared:

• Crostoni Salsiccia e Stracchino | Sausage and stracchino crostoni

• Fettunta | The Tuscan bruschetta with new olive oil

• Risotto ai funghi porcini secchi | Dried mushrooms risotto

• Frittata di zucca | Squash frittata

• Cantucci alla farina di castagne | Chestnut flour and chocolate biscotti

Coming in the next weeks: potato tortelli from Mugello, cauliflower flan, rustic persimmon cake.

Illustration by Daniela Bracco (I was really hoping to get one of these portraits one day!)

My recipe for pinolata in Domenica Marchetti’s Newsletter

This Sunday you can read my recipe for pinolata, a Sienese cake with a soft pastry cream filling dotted with plump, booze-infused raisins, a buttery crumb, and a golden surface studded with pine nuts, in Domenica Marchetti’s newsletter, Buona Domenica. Here’s the link.

Giulia's Pinolata Senese

Substack App and Chat

Now that Substack gave us the possibility to chat, there’s even one more reason to download the App, available for iPhone and Android, where you can read all your favorite newsletters, comment, and connect with authors and writers.

Italy in Season | An idea for Christmas

We are very happy to share the project of Mary and Wes Riddle, Italy in Season, whose aim is to bring Real Italian Artisanry directly to your doorstep with a very unique seasonal subscription box.

This is what you will find in the December box, that you can order within December 1st. Isn’t it a perfect Christmas gift?

a set of handmade espresso cups by Mudmoiselle (I am very partial to these beautiful cups!)
a pack of Florentine holiday greeting cards by This Tuscan Life
a handmade Christmas ornament made with the traditional Florentine scagliola technique by Cecilia Falciai
a gorgeous travel wallet made from rescued couture leather by Sieme Studios
a loom-woven tea towel made by Busatti, a family that first opened shop in 1795
perfumed bath salts from Ortigia
annual subscribers will receive an extra surprise item

Mary and Wes also graciously gave us a 10% discount for you, should you be interested in ordering a box: just enter julskitchen at checkout.

Mary and Wes moved with their two small children and their dog to Fiesole, Italy in 2021 to follow their dreams and build a new life here. Their goal is to share the beauty of Italian artistry with the rest of the world and to leave the planet in better shape than we found it.

They search for artisans who share their values of environmental and social responsibility, and work with them to create something special for their subscribers.

Mary and Wes used to be sustainable farmers in the United States. Mary even has a master's degree in sustainability. Shipping artisan goods across an ocean has an environmental impact, and they want to make sure they are making up for the carbon emissions however they can. They have partnered with Treedom, and are planting enough trees to ensure that their operations are carbon neutral.