There are many reasons why I love living in Italy and for me one of the main reasons is the rich food traditions here. When I returned from London I stayed for 6 weeks in a B&B on the outskirts of the town called B&B Padalino. Rita and Salvatore who own the B&B took me in as one of their family members the day that I arrived. They do not speak English so it was a great opportunity for me to practice my Italian. They have a garden right outside of their kitchen and they grow the most incredible produce - tomatoes, cherries, oranges, zucchinis, beans, olives, pears, peaches, cucumber and lettuce. Every week Rita would knock on my door and hand over a big bag of fresh produce that she had just picked from the garden.
Food is at the heart of every family here in Italy and I so loved sitting there on my balcony and watching Rita go about her day preparing food. Drying tomatoes in the sun and together with Salvatore making a massive batch of tomatoe salsa. As I sat there I imagined that these traditions have been passed on from generation to generation and I am sure that the recipe has not changed a great deal in all those years.
This week I moved into the house that I have bought that is just down the road from my 1 euro house. It is a 1 bedroom house with a garage and it has a view of the mountains which is stunning. The house was in a good condition when I bought it, however, the cement balcony was causing the house to move slightly and cracks had started to appear. The tiles in the living room were also embedded in a thick layer of cement that caused some movement as well. I worked with a local architect by the name of Maurizio Messina and his team was able to fix everything in one week. I now have a new balcony and the walls have been pinned so that there is not more movement in the house. I will share some pictures with you all soon.
Oh, I nearly forgot - the last photo is of me with a big plate of Rum Balls that I made for some of my Italian friends. I was invited to a street party to watch the final of the Euro Football tournament as I did not want to arrived empty handed I whipped these little beauties up! A great day for me as there was compliments from all of the Italians, that sure did mean a lot to me as Italians sure do know about food.