Author Archives: Lourdes

New Year’s Eve in Florence for Two

We had a wonderful evening last night, in the company of two 🙂 Very romantic…. or not, considering our “cenone” menu: salmon on toast appetizers, Stefano’s pasta with ricotta added to make it extra special and for dessert…. tres leches … Continue reading

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One without the other…

I got two very neat, enjoyable and just awesome gifts this year from the family that cannot be a better match, one definitely making the other even more enjoyable. I am talking of a Garmin Forerunner 305 running watch and … Continue reading

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Half Marathon in Pisa canceled

The half marathon that was supposed to be run in Pisa – and the one I’ve been training for the last 3 months – was canceled last minute due to the extraordinary conditions caused by the snow here in Tuscany. … Continue reading

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Snow in Florence

It started snowing yesterday after lunch and in a matter of 30 minutes, the snow was sticking. It never used to snow at all in Florence but over the last 5 years we’ve seen at least one big snowfall during … Continue reading

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And here she is…

This is how Viola, my 8 month old niece, usually gets when she is eating. She loves her food these days, has grown a lot over the month and half since she started being weaned. I think she was likely … Continue reading

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Love affair

I am currently in a love affair with bread. And I don’t even eat very much bread! I love the smell of the kitchen when it is baking. I love taking it out and hearing the hollow sound it makes … Continue reading

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Playing with words

Playing around with this really neat applet called Wordle – you put in random words or whole phrases and it places them all around to create a really neat whole. You can change font, colors and the placement – go … Continue reading

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A short respite from the rain

I got really lucky this morning with the rain. Forecast said rain all morning with chance of a break in the afternoon (which is true as it is 2pm as I write and the sun is even shining!) but last … Continue reading

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Hiking above Santa Brigida

Last Sunday we went on a hike even if it is November and the weather has been pretty awful lately. But the day promised no rain for once, just gray skies and we wanted to go out for a few … Continue reading

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Bread making

I’ve been experimenting with the No Knead bread offered by Matt Bittman on the NYT over the entire summer, making about 1-2 batches each week. Depending on the weather, humidity, heat etc results have greatly varied. The recipe also calls … Continue reading

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