I hope this letter finds you well and in good spirits.
October has been another month full of visits, events, and cooking classes.
The season keeps changing its mind: one day feels like summer (you can still swim!), the next like autumn, and sometimes even winter. We’ve had short heat waves, incredible rains, and a few chilly days. The produce is changing too: from the abundance of tomatoes, peppers, and basil to colorful squash, the first greens and persimmons.
I’m still picking my own tomatoes, and the basil plants are still so lush. The eggplants are over-producing, so I just try to use them as much as possible before they’re gone.
One easy recipe to use them is:
- Cut them in big chunks;
- Boil them in water and vinegar;
- Season with plenty of olive oil, salt, pepper, and fresh oregano.
- Store for one day to meld the flavors and they are a great side!
And I can’t get enough of my cosmos flowers, which are having a spectacular bloom, dancing like little mandalas against the blue sky.
The light these days is golden, and the sun seems to find a shorter path each evening as it sets into the Mediterranean. Our gelato bike rides have resumed, and we can’t wait to meet friends and enjoy the road together.
These are some of the best days to tour in Tuscany: local food festivals fill our villages, celebrating everything from chestnuts to polenta to wild boar. It feels like people want to celebrate life before diving into the quiet of winter.
A Cool Project
We feel both honored and grateful to be part of a wonderful new initiative. We were selected among 15 new sustainable tourism experiences created within the Costa degli Etruschi Green Community Project to promote the Quality Made label: sustainable, ethical tourism rooted in local culture.
The catalog presented for this project is called “Travel at the Rhythm of Nature,” and we couldn’t imagine a better title. We also believe in a tourism that is sustainable, inclusive, and deeply respectful of both community and nature.
The biggest event was at the beginning of October, called Buy Tuscany. More than 160 Tuscan hosts and over 200 international buyers came together to build new relationships. I also welcomed a group of international tour operators for a mini cooking class!
Within this project, Arnaud was invited by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Marseille to represent our small business at the second-largest fair in Marseille. He traveled there entirely by train, following the coastline of Tuscany, Liguria, and Cote d’Azur into Marseille. It was a long journey, but a sustainable one, and he thinks the most beautiful beaches are in Castagneto Carducci – Bolgheri!
If you come to visit, we would love to share with you: good food, great wines, ancient culture, rolling hills, a community of friends and local connections, slow living, and sunny days for most of the year (thanks to our beloved Mediterranean!).
For us, traveling isn’t just about moving from one place to another; it’s about connection. I’ve always believed that Tuscany makes you feel connected to the people and the food, to the past and the present. Here, nature and human hands have worked together for centuries, creating a landscape that feels timeless and full of harmony.
Our Tuscan trip is a special opportunity to explore the food and wine culture of Bolgheri in depth and to spend one-on-one time with my husband and me, cooking together in my kitchen and immersing ourselves in the true rhythm of Italian home cooking and Tuscan life. We have new dates for next year, when we’ll once again open the doors of our farm to guests from around the world. Check on the website. And don’t miss watching the lovely video Arnaud made below:
We also had the joy of welcoming wonderful friends and familiar faces this month.
Esther, one of the founding members of our Cooking Club, visited us! Since she had missed two live classes while traveling, we made fettuccine and focaccia together to catch up, having such fun moments in the kitchen!
Nathan and Kathryn from Da Terra Cucina came with their parents, and we finally got to meet in person! They’re the lovely people who sponsor us with their beautiful nonstick, non-toxic pans. Our Cooking Club members get a special 12% discount on their products.
And Taylor, who volunteered at my cooking school for several months in 2023, came back with her sweet boyfriend. I loved being back in the kitchen with her; she feels like family now.
A special mention also goes to Carl and Delanie, who spent a whole month here as volunteers, washing dishes, fixing things, and helping in so many ways. What a joy to have them around!
Arnaud documented all these moments of this past month on our Instagram, with photos and videos that you can check out if you’re curious!
I have just a couple of more classes and then I’m ready to slow down a bit to immerse myself in new projects!
Stay tuned. Until next time!
With love,
Chicca
