tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59471332009-01-05T00:25:33.464+01:00Barb and Art have moved from Kentucky to Umbria. These are their adventures.Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.comBlogger977125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-35698060806236339472009-01-03T06:33:00.000+01:002009-01-03T06:33:00.731+01:00

Okay, so here's a list of things I'm enjoying while I'm in the states: A forced air furnace - nice warm even heat, even in the cornerswall to wall carpet - especially nice in the winterless humidity - although the Ohio River Valley can be miserbly humid in the summer, in the winter it's nice and dry, as opposed to Umbria, where it's wet and damp from now til June.SALES! Yes, sales are a part of

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-83663223616918801582009-01-01T00:01:00.001+01:002009-01-01T21:32:58.854+01:00

Here's hoping 2009 brings peace, love, and prosperity to us all!

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-25554407198462378392008-12-27T22:47:00.001+01:002008-12-27T22:47:26.061+01:00

My Birthday Bouquet, originally uploaded by artnbarb.These are the gorgeous flowers Art gave me for my birthday! I love fresh flowers....and I love Art!

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-32913397681714342752008-12-26T19:45:00.002+01:002008-12-26T19:54:31.007+01:00

Art's recovering nicely from his surgery. There's still some swelling around the incision, but I don't think he's applied ice as often as he should. He's walking around and has even been out of the house twice - once for the dentist and once for a post-op follow-up with our family doctor. He's doing his exercises and now just needs to rebuild his stamina. I think within the next two weeks

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-36181112715844095452008-12-25T06:57:00.000+01:002008-12-25T06:57:04.248+01:00

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-53719611521413310132008-12-24T06:53:00.000+01:002008-12-24T06:53:00.688+01:00

Clear the chimney and don't forget to put out the cookies and milk!

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-12011078111826335992008-12-21T06:45:00.000+01:002008-12-21T06:45:01.233+01:00

Katie over at THYME FOR COOKING has organized a food exchange of sorts for the holidays. Called "Season's Eatings", people were invited to submit their names and addresses, and in return received the name and address of another blogger. The idea was to send a food or spice from your local area to someone far away. I received my package from Jerry, a Canadian and fellow SlowTrav regular, who also

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-45603394302273509292008-12-19T03:33:00.000+01:002008-12-19T03:33:01.387+01:00

Today's recipe from Michelle is for CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES . My only precaution would be for those making these cookies outside of the United States: you really, REALLY, need to use American chocolate chips for these! I've used the Perugina brand chocolate chips which are much smaller than the standard U.S. chips, and I just wasn't happy with the results. Although Nestle's wrote the book on

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-89907756363261367012008-12-14T07:34:00.002+01:002008-12-14T22:20:45.931+01:00

Just the basics, but here's how it's gone so far: Left Umbria on a cold, rainy Friday afternoon. Spent a cold, rainy evening in Rome, but picked up some gifts at the Hard Rock Cafe. On Saturday we flew from Rome to Louisville, arriving about 8:30. My sister picked us up at the airport and we went to bed very shortly after getting to her house. Sunday was a day to relax and enjoy the Sunday

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-67159346762521474042008-12-13T07:11:00.006+01:002008-12-13T07:11:00.726+01:00

Recently one of our realtors told us they'd received a comment about our house and wanted to pass it along to us. The comment, from a person who's looking for a house in Umbria, said they liked our house and everything we'd done to it, but that San Venanzo was not a town they'd like to live in. My first reaction was "What??!!?" I guess most people are proud of their towns, especially if it's a

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-50781618087889550672008-12-12T07:15:00.003+01:002008-12-15T19:52:23.687+01:00

Today's recipe is for TEXAS MUD . I'm not sure what it is, but Cherrye says it only has 3 ingredients, so it's certainly worth a look!If you've been following along, you'll know that Judith first came up with the idea of sharing some really good, really American recipes, mostly to show our Italian friends that we can do more than make delicious sweets. Every Friday we'll feature a new recipe in

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-9309112875529206962008-12-11T04:06:00.000+01:002008-12-11T04:06:02.134+01:00

By the time this is posted we'll be back in the states, back to the place of Diet Cokes, cars with automatic transmissions, and for Art, new hips! If all goes as planned Art will be having hip replacement surgery while we're in the states - a new procedure that promises a really fast recovery. I'm not sure if we'll be able to visit the grandgirls while we're here - the inauguration is right

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-84676157032188113502008-12-10T05:52:00.000+01:002008-12-10T05:52:00.280+01:00

And we have plenty to give, even though we've cut back a little this year! Here's a picture I took of most (but not all) of the stuff we're taking back to the states. Most of this stuff is for gifts: wine, limoncello, olive oil, chocolates...and more chocolates. Nutella snack packs to go in the grandgirls gift lunchboxes, buccatini for our friend Jill who can't find it at her local Trader Joe's

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-84974086261041299122008-12-08T06:05:00.002+01:002008-12-08T14:00:14.519+01:00

The only remaining Bill and Suzy adventure that I haven’t yet written about is our lunch at IL BACCO FELICE. Located in FOLIGNO, not far from Assisi and Bevagna, this tiny restaurant is well known and it’s fame well-deserved. Owner/chef Salvatore Denaro is Sicilian by birth, passionate about food and a charming if eccentric host. Bill and Suzy had a copy of a LONELY PLANET guidebook, which

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-68022349771353142132008-12-07T06:53:00.000+01:002008-12-07T06:53:01.736+01:00

Not far from Montalcino, the tiny village of BAGNO VIGNONI is home to thermal springs. What could be more decadently relaxing thatn soaking in the warm waters during the middle of winter? Although there are several hotels, surely none is more luxurious or over the top than the ADLER THERMAE SPA. We took a walk around the facilities, feeling slightly out of place...not rich enough or thin enough,

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-59989379506320357632008-12-06T06:39:00.000+01:002008-12-06T06:39:00.924+01:00

The shadows are long, and I couldn't resist playing with the colors on these pictures of LA FOCE. Can't you just imagine this as a field of poppies in May? Gorgeous hills... More photos photos on OUR FLICKR PAGE.

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-80969576369239470012008-12-05T05:32:00.001+01:002008-12-05T05:32:00.570+01:00

Today's recipe is from Mary, and it's for PANCAKES ! We don't have pancake mix here in Italy, and even in the states it's not that hard to whip up a batch from scratch, so give it a try! If you've been following along, you'll know that Judith first came up with the idea of sharing some really good, really American recipes, mostly to show our Italian friends that we can do more than make

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-16473091921850693752008-12-03T06:15:00.002+01:002008-12-03T08:04:00.886+01:00

Because some of our friends still have jobs that demand waaay too much of their time, we had to celebrate Thanksgiving a little early. Here are two videos from that dinner... More videos on OUR YouTube PAGE.

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-76125587460832491082008-12-02T06:36:00.000+01:002008-12-02T06:36:00.663+01:00

Italians don't celebrate Thanksgiving per se, but you'll find festas in every little town featuring the new olive oil, the new wine and roasted chestnuts. We had just such a festa one Saturday night this November, with music provided by hometown girl Erika Mastrini! In a small town like this, everyone is out for a night of food, fun, and of course dancing! There are more videos on OUR

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-40932193286559443602008-12-01T06:59:00.000+01:002008-12-01T06:59:00.312+01:00

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving we traveled to Tuscany to celebrate a little early with our friends from Boston. Here's the turkey before it was baked....all 33+ pounds and huge thighs! then it was put in the wood oven... And amazingly, after just TWO hours, it was ready! Paul donned an apron to carve... And then 24 of us sat down together at this beautiful table... I

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-11221908069309353372008-11-30T06:29:00.000+01:002008-11-30T06:29:00.653+01:00

We recently joined friends at their favorite place to stay in Tuscany, the AGRITURISMO AIOLE, located just outside of Montalcino, and in the gorgeous Val d'Orcia. The setting is incredible, the rooms large and comfortable, but what makes this place really special is the people! Our friends return to AGRITURISMO AIOLE year after year, and have developed a strong friendship with the owners, Paolo

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-543705473471274582008-11-29T06:36:00.004+01:002008-11-30T10:33:07.597+01:00

Now that the shopping season has officially started, I have a few ideas for you! I guess I should say that Kathy McCabe, who publishes DREAM OF ITALY has some great gift ideas for the holidays! You might want to check out the beautiful Italian themed CHRISTMAS CARDS, but don't delay - it's nearly December, can you believe it??? While you're at it, why not go ahead and order extra - that way you

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-13349633007310319672008-11-28T06:53:00.000+01:002008-11-28T06:53:00.248+01:00

Today's recipe is for BREAD PUDDING , thanks to Judith, the creative genius behind this "made in America" idea. Bread pudding is something so easy to make, so delicious, and so comforting! I'm embarrassed to say that it's been way too long since I've made it. This will be the perfect time to check out a new recipe! If you've been following along, you'll know that Judith first came up with

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-41224928686874441432008-11-27T06:47:00.000+01:002008-11-27T06:47:00.918+01:00

We'll be celebrating today too, complete with all the tradtional foods, just minus the football games! From our house to yours, we wish you all the best....we are truly blessed.

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5947133.post-36012491597019860472008-11-25T06:08:00.000+01:002008-11-25T06:08:00.387+01:00

I've written about the lengthy, complicated and more costly expense of renewing our permits of stay now that Italy is slowly entering the digital age. (You can read about the process, step by step HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE). Today was the big pay-off! Yes, it's true, we have our renewals, which now look like credit cards instead of the old fashioned paper forms of the past. Apparently all our

Barbarahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13853057494479680201noreply@blogger.com2