Here in Itri, Italy we live among the olive groves, in the months since we have moved here we have walked amongst the groves and enjoyed the suns golden rays between the branches at sunset. The olive trees are beautiful with their silver grey leaves and gnarled trunks.
It’s mid September and the current “fruit of the Season” here in Italy is figs! We have a large fig tree on our property and I have been walking past the fig tree for months eyeing the dangling figs, I reach up and squeeze one hoping it would be ripe but the waiting continued. Finally it is fig season and they are ripe and ready for harvesting.
I love the taste of dark chocolate and orange together. Recently a friend took as to a local Gelateria and I tasted a fabulous gelato from Sicily. Wow! Almond and orange together! I could just feel the warm breeze of Sicily as I tasted that delicious flavor combination!
The Peach tree in my Moms back yard was laden with peaches when we first arrived home to California. We excitedly inspected the peaches to see if they were ready for harvesting but the results came back that we needed to wait a few more days after giving a gentle little squeeze to the hard fruit. Within a few days we were picking the first ripe fruits and happily eating the warm fruit from the tree.
Several months ago when I was up to my elbows in cherries, I came across a recipe that was mind blowing for me. It was for Noyaux (pronounced Noy-you). Noyaux is the French word meaning “stones” and is referring to the little kernel inside the pit of stone fruit such as cherry, peach and apricot.
I love waking up in the cool of the morning before the heat of the summer bares down, sapping me of precious energy. I brew a cup of coffee and step out of my front door while still in my pajamas. My front door leads into my moms beautiful back yard that is more like a garden oasis with little cobblestone pathways meandering around fruit trees and koi ponds. In the morning at first light everything is fresh and dewy and beckons me to stroll along the garden, inspecting every rose and cascading petunia. I nip off the spent flower heads by snapping it off between my thumb and forefinger.
