Hello IFF Newsletter Friends!

With September just around the corner, I am doing my best to try and find some time each day to enjoy summer while I still can, whether that involves going for long walks in the Umbrian countryside, picking wild blackberries, or simply relaxing for an hour or so outside with a good book. Before I know it we will be closing up the pool and fall will be here. This summer just flew by!

My husband is heading off on his biking adventure Thursday and will be riding with a group of friends from Provence, France back here to Piedicolle, Umbria. The trip will be 1,100 km across the Alps and down through Italy over 10 days. We then will have most of the riders here in Umbria for a few days at the end. I hope they all have an amazing, safe trip and that the weather is great throughout the trip! I will be remaining back here in Umbria taking care of things, and plan to spend many full days in the kitchen testing recipes.

I hope everyone can enjoy the rest of the summer before gearing up for back to school. Have a great week!

Roasted Vegetable Lasagna
By the time late summer rolls around every year, I find that I am making these roasted vegetables a lot. I think roasting is the absolutely best way to cook most vegetables as it caramelizes the sugars and the vegetables become golden brown and delicious. I can (and do) eat a plate of these vegetables for dinner all on their own, still warm from the oven and topped with some crumbled goat cheese and a drizzle of really good balsamic vinegar. Add a couple of slices of crusty bread, and I have the perfect dinner! Get The Recipe......

Grilled Octopus @ SeriousEats.com
I learned how to make grilled octopus many years ago, after discovering it while dining along the Tuscan coast. It's now one of my favorite seafood dishes and I prepare it often at home. Octopus is made up of a lot of water, and it needs to be boiled or braised to release that excess moisture and make it tender for grilling—if you throw raw octopus directly onto the grill, you'll wind up with something as chewy as bubble gum. Get The Recipe......

Truffle Hunting in Umbria with Wild Foods – A Photo Journal
For the past five years, ever since we bought our property in Umbria, we had truffle hunting on our "to do" list but just never managed to get to it until this summer. We love Umbrian truffles, and buy them often during our stay in Umbria. This year, although the summer black truffles are plentiful, everyone has complained that they seemed to be milder than other years. The general consensus for this seems to be the very rainy winter and spring. There are a variety of different types of truffles harvested here in Umbria throughout the year (see chart below), but we would be hunting the summer black truffle. Though milder this year, they are still quite delicious and we were excited to finally experience an authentic truffle harvest. Read More......

Lavender Panna Cotta With Raspberry CreamWe do a lot of entertaining, particularly when we are here in Umbria, and when planning my menus which tend to be multi-course events, I always like to include something light and sweet for dessert. Two of my favorite desserts to serve when entertaining are Panna Cotta and Tiramisu since both can be completed ahead of time and everyone seems to love them.

Panna Cotta translates as "cooked cream," although you can use milk, yogurt, and even buttermilk to create a Panna Cotta. Get The Recipe......

Spinach, Chicken & Cherry Tomato FlatbreadIn North America, flatbreads have become very popular and are appearing on many restaurant menus as appetizers. These flatbreads consist of a very thin pizza crust, and can be topped with just about any combination of flavorful ingredients. Although we do make traditional pizza often in our house, I do like throwing together these flatbreads when entertaining as they are a great finger food for folks to enjoy with a glass of wine at parties. A couple of slices of these flatbreads are also great enjoyed at lunch with a nice mixed salad

For this version, I included some sautéed spinach, diced poached chicken, cherry tomatoes and two cheeses. Get The Recipe......