Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Though the present February temps are not conducive to thinking spring time, its hard for me not to get excited about all our upcoming guests coming in when I go and visit new villas to add to our website http://www.discovertuscany-villas.com The selection of authentic, cosy and luxury Tuscan style villas has always been varied – but the market is definitely weeding out those that are just a little too homey, a little too do it yourself and a little too impersonal. With the discerning guest, it is now rewarding those where the owners have gone out of their way to notice details, color schemes and special extras like welcome baskets, soft towels or a bottle of wine on ice. Every week I visit approximately 4-8 new villas – I know it’s a tough job, but a sacrifice that I make willingly for my favourite guests (ha ha). I calculate which ones will satisfy the requirements, demands and hopes of our incoming guests. This week was a gold mind, from Florence to Siena to Fiesole to Chianti - I found the following six new villas: Strella, a villa rental located outside of Siena on a large olive oil producing estate – 6 bedrooms, each with an en suite bathroom, the perfect mix of modern Italian comfort and traditional Tuscan architecture. Oasis, a stupendous holiday apartment rental, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms – spacious and inviting, this rental is positioned in a large family villa just a short distance from Fiesole in north Tuscany. Casa Maxi, a holiday home located between Siena and the crystal clear waters of the Tuscan coast – 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, soft Tuscan colors, incredible silence and views. Villa Luigi, holiday home rental within walking distance of a great Tuscan town – 2 bedrooms and one large bathroom set on a dominant hill surrounded by olive groves. Poggio Ugo only minutes outside of Florence and it has easy access to public transport to many major sites giving you the best of the Tuscany countryside and historic centers. Olivi, a three bedroom, two bathroom vacation rental with access to a huge pool, children’s play ground, and only a hop, skip and jump away from the Florence city center. It’s not easy making choices – I always try to imagine my family in the structures I look at in order to get a feel for their suitability – can I see three kids running all over, discovering every inch of the terrain, racing for the pool and my sister and her husband remaining calm because its safe and smiling because its quality family time . . . not to mention budget friendly and authentic or can I see my other sister, newly graduated, head filled with fun romantic ideas about Italy and …. Italian men, with all her friends gathered together on an “economy” trip to eat pasta, pizza, see David and of course go wine tasting – or is it my brother I see, with his wife, two kids, after the exhausting hours that they put in for work, just simply looking for relax, comfort and affordable luxury with appropriate children’s programs and active vacation planning – or is it my other sister, newly married and on her honeymoon . . . privacy, romance and all the exciting Tuscan sites underhand so they are easy to get to them yet leaving lots of time for gazing into each others eyes . . . then of course there is my Mom, quite the little traveller, both her and her husband are used to comforts – but aren’t foreigners to “roughing it” a little bit, as long as the wine is chilled and the happy hour cheese platter is served at 6 pm along with the Satellite TV news updates, orthopaedic bed and authentic Tuscan meals, they can relax and enjoy the pleasures of Tuscany. I am my own little profiler, every time I look at a new property I run through these images and decide if they will fit – would I send my family - and which one? Check out the villas above and let me know where you see yourself on my list of villas.

Tuesday January 27, 2009

Upon request (Karen) – I am going to put together the recipe for my New Year’s Day Pasta extravaganza. My baby sister and one of her Irish friends were visiting Tuscany for the New Year celebration and I dusted off some of my favourite meals to wow them both. Pasta stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese, covered in a creamy white sauce and home made “sugo” (my special meat sauce). This dish is perfect because leftovers (and believe it or not with the quantity I make there is always something left over) – freeze perfect for that lazy Sunday afternoon when you want to be totally spoiled but have no intention of getting out of bed before noon.

I am going to take you through the entire recipe in steps – because otherwise you would read it, smile a little, maybe even picture yourself at the table with a glass of Chianti red . . . and then pull out a dish of institutionalized pasta and we don’t want to go there. I won’t hide from you that it is not a fast dish – however the build-up to it offers so much potential for showing off that I believe its well worth it.

The dish is made of three basic components: the filling, the creamy white sauce and the meat sauce, better known as sugo.

The filling is actually very versatile and can be used several ways, so let’s start with that. It is practically the same recipe as my tempting Ravioli Gnudi: spinach, ricotta cheese, egg, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg. So if you want to get your hands dirty (literally speaking) try this recipe first, use a simple butter and sage dressing – green salad – a little proscuitto and pecorino afterwards and of course, don’t forget a light but classical Tuscan wine. Once you have worn it out on all of your friends, family and neighbors then you can step up to the next phase.

Monday November 24, 2008

Well, it looks like everyone is finishing up picking the last of their olives - in fact last week I even got a taste of the some of the new oil from my area (the Florentine Hills) . . . a little piccante (Italian for a spicy kick) and with a rich olive perfume. Florentine Hills are a perfect place to begin exploring the flavours of olive oil in Tuscany and the delicious chianti.
This weekend I had friends over with the intent of "showing off" the oil - we started with fett'unta (the Florentine way of saying toasted bread with garlic, salt, pepper and of course extra virgin olive oil). Then I followed up with a classic Tuscan dish – Cavollo Nero (in English this would literally be Black Cabbage, characterized by its long, very wrinkly and kind of dark green leaves, best used after the first frost of the season which softens up these tough leaves). This veggie is boiled down – and then chopped up finely and spread on toasted bread. If you want to be truly traditional, you need to scrape a little garlic on the bread and then dunk rather quickly into the water left over from boiling this Tuscan treat and then spread the cavollo nero on the bread. Lavish on the olive oil and eat hot - - with a glass of red wine (of course). . . . sound strange and un-appetizing, well then try to imagine my mind when they tried to describe a favourite Tuscan desert for this time of year : Castagnaccio. The bare bones recipe is made with chestnut flour, water, fresh pressed extra virgin olive oil (thus why it was on my menu), pine, nuts, raisins, walnuts and fresh rosemary twigs. - - I couldn’t phantom a desert with rosemary! Yet it is definitely a treat to be tasted. Were my friends impressed, boh, don’t know but, I do know that we ate everything right down to the last drop of red wine.

Donna Scharnagl

Friday November 7, 2008

What fun! Took a hike up to one of our favorite Chianti producers on our Chianti wine tour and caught him pressing wine. Of course, it was small scale - but that was the beauty of it. One of their friends was fermenting his grapes in their spare containers, and it was time to press. The day was perfect and sunny, and it just had me daydreaming of the end results - a glass of rich red wine, maybe a little Tuscan salami from one of the best butchers down in Greve and hey, while I am at adding in the calories, why not some pecorino cheese. Oh yes, the day was looking good. Our wine partner saw my obvious curiosity, he tried to satisfied every question bubbling in my brain. He even offered me a special treat - go ahead, he said encouraginly, taste a grape (yeah one of the ones that had been fermenting for the last 10-12 days - whatever was I thinking!) It was pure, 100% yuck! all alcohol!! But it hasn't dampened my desire to wait the next three years to taste the final product.

Donna Scharnagl

Tuesday November 4, 2008

The rest of the world may be watching their TV’s to see what President the good US of A is struggling to select – but here in Tuscany we are watching the olive harvest. This has probably been the best in years, and there are lots of smiles as locals strip their trees clean of this tiny black and green fruit . . . many are already imagining the distinct olive flavour on a piece of toasted bread with a sprinkling of salt and pepper - - - and for those with a desire for the spicy there may even be a swipe of garlic on the bread.
I have several olive trees surrounding my home, there are four in the front that have always given me the sense of being protected and guarded by 4 stalwart knights. Their dark and gnarled trunks stretch out and create an umbrella of silver green. Each of these four trees gives the impression to have its own distinct and intricate personality, gruff yet loving, playful and joking, loving and caring . . . in the two years that I have lived right outside of Florence, they have invoked numerous images and daydreams.
I remember my first Christmas in Italy, as a governess for two little kids. The family was making its traditional haul to the Italian Alps to ski and was busy packing suitcases with clothes and holiday gifts. The family father came home with 6 dark green bottles – obviously recycled from a local who bottles water – and very enthusiastic about his “treasure” . . . little did I know that extra virgin olive oil from your own grove was a prized gift at any time of the year!
And so I have learned, Need a unique holiday gift idea? - - Extra virgin olive oil - nuovo, of course.

Donna

Tuesday October 28, 2008

Congratulations to Graham and Marleen! They brought their family together from Belgium and South Africa to celebrate their wedding in Tuscany. Together with Bridgett in Belgium we worked together to make a special dream destination wedding come true. Discover Tuscany selected a quaint farmhouse in the southwest area of Tuscany – close to many historical sites yet rich in the authentic flavour of Tuscany. A religious ceremony was arranged in the private chapel on the rented property – and here the couple were free to create their own special vows and exchange rings. We weren’t able to control the storm clouds that raged all day – but as the Italians say “sposa bagnata – sposa fortunate”, a wet bride is a lucky bride ! However the weather did play in our hands after the ceremony and we were able to take lots of photos of the happy couple with olive trees and cypress trees in the background. The fall colored wedding bouquet was the perfect touch adding a splash of colour to what could have been a rather drab day. We finished off the event in the owner’s formal dining room with a delicious menu – risotto with cheese and basil, a mid course meal with a chicken terrain and fresh veggies and a main course of wild boar in a red sauce with a potato sformato (vegetable cake). And the dessert . . . well that needs no words, it was simply fattening!! Even to look at you could have risked gaining a few pounds!!

Donna

Friday October 24, 2008

It's been a long (but fun) week! I had family visiting Tuscany, throwing down the gauntlet: how do you entertain three children between the ages of 6 and 9 in a foreign country where the only thing they care about is PIZZA and riding their bikes?

Well long hauls in the car are to be nixed - at Discover Tuscany I learned you need to incorporate fun things in the itinerary in order to help keep their attention. Thankfully I knew of a lot of places that let me combine their passions with cultural events - how about biking along the wall at Lucca or eating pizza at a restaurant where the wood burning stove is open to all to watch?

My sister was able to enjoy the medieval streets of San Gimignano, a great little Tuscan towns , while the kids ran up and down the alley ways and in and out of arched doorways. San Gimignano was a special treat all the way around, maybe just a bit of a road trip, but once we parked and started to climb into this historic town we were able to find pastry shops, gelato shops and lots of places with gadgets that will distract their attention long enough for the adults to absorb the unique atmosphere that this place offers the curious tourist.