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.