Tuscany

For the past several evenings I’ve snuggled myself beneath the covers in bed to read Under The Tuscan Sun, a wonderful and vibrant tale of a woman who buys a crumbling house in Italy and the daily life that develops in the midst of the dwelling’s rehab. I heard there was a movie of the same name starring Diane Lane but it doesn't seem to follow the book very well (no thank you, Hollywood). This is one of those well written tales that actually transports you to the countryside’s locale with its abundant fragrances, rivers of vino and mountains of local foods. These are my favorite sorts of books, ones where I can almost inhale the essences, hear the locals talking at a sidewalk café and the descriptive mention of edibles actually makes my stomach growl in response. I have a tendency to carry with me the feeling of the story throughout the day and yearn for long, lazy lunches of seasonal dishes followed by a cozy siesta in a hammock, a bit of gardening and then dinner party preparations in anticipation a hungry crowd of friends. The Hubs and I had lunch at Enoteca today which was just about as close as I can get to Italy right now…and it was lovely. Some of my other foodie-oriented author favs include Peter Mayle, Julia Childs, Michael Ruhlman, Patricia Volk, Anthony Bourdain (of course), Amanda Hesser and Amy Sedaris (foodie?…not sure), to name a few. If you have recommendations of food memoirs, food travel and the like please let me know.