Life at Capitignano in a rural area near Borgo San Lorenzo is a dichotomy of the new and the old, blended together, co-existing in the 21st century. One can use the Wi-Fi in the library, get up, walk 20 feet and take your laundry off the clothes lines, walking by the rabbit hutch where the evening meal might just possibly come from as you go. On one hand life is very sophisticated-we’re using computers, taking graduate level courses. On the other, it is very primitive and reminds me very much of life at my granny’s house in Arkansas or my grandparent’s farm in Kansas when I was a kid. Whether I am sitting in an art history class learning about 12th-15th century Italian artwork or plein air painting outside with my easel and oil paints, this rural 13th century Italian estate (really just a working farm) has taught me many things this summer. One of these things is that life is to be lived, enjoyed, relished, and absorbed!
Our world in the United States in 2012 is full of work, meetings, emails (home email, work email), voice mails, cell phone messages, Tweets, Facebook comments and messages, texting, laptops, desktops, and so much more. In between all those communication details that fill our day we also hop in our oversize vehicles like my Suburban (no Panda for me!) and drive hither and yon running errands, delivering things we could probably just keep, gathering things we could probably live without, and stopping for a $4.00 cup of coffee on the way. (Hey, don’t be messing with my Starbucks. Oh wait, that was me! Erase that!) But, when the suitcases are packed and we venture off to another spot on the globe we can often find a much different life. In fact, many of my ventures to places like Ecuador and Uganda, and other places, greatly (or gravely) reminds me that the American way of life is in many ways so wonderful; in other ways so excessive.
This weekend in Italy I didn’t travel anywhere. Other weekends I have gone on great adventures riding trains, buses, boats, and with drivers to places like Seina, Arrezzo, Livorno, and Venice, Burano and Murano. But this weekend I wanted to just stay put and enjoy Capitignano and it’s simplistic beauty; knowing that our time will be ending soon. I volunteered to fix lunch for those of us who did not travel as the cook is given the weekends off.
I moved the smaller patio table out under the giant shade trees on a ledge that overlooks the Mugello valley on both sides of where I positioned the table. The breeze was so refreshing and the view was stunning. I found a tablecloth in a drawer in the kitchen, ran down to my room and got a strawberry juice bottle I had been saving and picked some wildflowers on the way back for a centerpiece, quickly grabbed my camera so I could document our pretty lunch, and then, for a moment, I pretended I was Frances Mayes in Under the Tuscan Sun. I spent about an hour in the kitchen making a delicious salad full of local produce, a light vinegar and oil dressing, warmed up Maria’s delicious minestrone from the day before, and made my own bruschetta. I made a tomato bruschetta, the Tuscan way. The recipe is easy:
Chop tomatoes, add grated fresh Parmesan cheese, chopped fresh basil, some chopped bread crumbs from the heel and maybe another slice of a baguette, salt and pepper. Mix together well. Slice a baguette in angular pieces. Rub the bread with garlic, brush with olive oil. Place the tomato mixture on the slice, be generous, and bake in a warm oven, maybe 350, until nice and toasty. The Italians are very frugal. Using the heel ensures you use ALL the bread, but the bread crumbs also bind the tomatoes together so they don’t fall off the bruschetta. The other bruschetta was my own invention….quite excited about that….I used the same baguette bread, slathered it with herbed goat cheese, and placed fresh blueberries on it. Toasted it until nice an heated through; drizzled with peach honey with a bit of a pepper kick that I got at the Borgo County Fair our first weekend here.
And, for the real treat, I gathered some tea bags kept for the morning hot tea drinkers, and made a delicious ICED TEA! Yes, first ice tea I have had since I left Texas on June 8th! We sat outside under this big, old beautiful tree, breeze blowing and keeping us cool, enjoying the view. While we didn’t say it, I think it was visible on all of our faces…we knew that moment was one to remember. I found myself thinking I need to do this more when I get home. How can I squeeze in a lunch here and a supper there on the patio with friends who are caught up in the same life-is-too-busy-routine as I am? I don’t know, but I’m going to try. Don’t be surprised if you get an invitation! I can be pretty persistent! In Under the Tuscan Sun, Frances Mayes says, “There is no technique, there is just the way to do it. Now, are we going to measure, or are we going to cook?” Make some bruschetta today. Put your own favorite ingredients on it! Be inventive! And invite some friends over!
