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We have had several storms during the past two weeks and as a result of all the rain, porcini are popping up all over our woods. This morning we went foraging and came back with 3.2 kilos (a little over 7 pounds) of mushrooms in less than 30 minutes. Our guests will be ejoying these forest treasures at breakfast tomorrow morning.
We are celebrating Independence Day at Villa Favolosa. This afternoon we are having a classic American barbecue with hamburgers, hot dogs, creamy potato salad, cole slaw and watermelon for dessert. The one Italian concession: We will be drinking our local Dolcetto delle Langhe Monregalesi instead of beer. We are very proud to be a family of Americans and Italians together.
Mondovì is blessed with atmospheric conditions that are perfect for hot-air ballooning (mongolfiere). This area, called the Monregalese, is protected by the Alps to the south and west. It is a common sight to see balloons drifting across the rolling hills of the Langhe Monregalese and the wine-country. Imagine passing a morning floating above castles and vineyards in a hot-air balloon. Waiting for you is a picnic lunch of Raschera and fresh Toma cheeses, some salame di Cuneo and a bottle of chilled Favorita. It doesn't get much better than this.Thank you Renè D. for your kind permission to use this photo.
Keeping an eye on the progress is our capomastro (supervisor). Our neighbor's little Micio is closely following our garden project from her perch above the scau.
Construction is underway on the garden project and we are cleaning out the old scau (a piemontese word for a small stone structure used for drying chestnuts). Under piles of wood we uncovered many treasures, including this supersized can of Brioschi that has been buried for at least 40 years. This really brought back memories of growing up in Chicago. Our father frequently suffered from acidita' and was always was looking for the Brioschi. Well dad, I found the mother lode!Getting back to the project, our muratore, Bruno, has returned to finish up work on the stone walls surrounding the garden and the courtyard. He suggested that we install a small "roof" which they call a portogese, over the walls to protect them from water damage. Fortunately we have a stockpile of old coppi roof tiles for Bruno to use on the portogese. I can hardly wait to see his handiwork.
As you can see, our garden is currently under a bit of snow. To give you an idea of how much snow, the balcony on the left is more than 6 feet above the ground. The older neighbors say this is how it used to snow all the time years ago, but the statisticians say this is the heaviest snowfall in more than 80 years for our part of Piemonte.The garden space is about 4,000 sf and is bordered by the Cappella di San Giuseppe and some lovely old stone walls. The goal is to create a garden in keeping with the character of the surroundings. We want a green, tranquil space to relax in the sun or under a shady umbrella.Thank you Luca for the photo.
I actually took this photo over the holidays but I remember thinking "Happy Valentine's Day" when I turned onto this street in Milan.
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