Local Day - Radda

Tuesday, May 30, 2006


Today was a local day. We did a lot of normal entertaining stuff. CJ, Abby and Aunt Shelley went exploring looking for leaves and flowers for Freddie’s (la brucca) habitat. Great rocks to climb….lots of lizards to chase……and vineyards to get lost in. CJ did a very humane act of kindness when he allowed Freddie, the caterpillar to return to his native land within a few hours. The rains came and went, but the Derzak/Sullivan/Hiegel clan went off to Radda in Chianti, a local little town that has a petrol station, bank and ATM.



The sun came out and we lunched outside at a small café which allowed you to bring your canine family members also. Four varieties of local chiantis with peora cheese and a biting honey sauce made up our appetizer. I had the zuppa toscanna which was to die for, as the rest of the clan tried a different crusty bread sandwhich with fresh buffalo mozzarella cheese and one of three pancettas or salami.

We originally were just going to go into town to buy some food to take home, but became bewitched with the quaint little shops ( and I mean piccolo!), the winding paths, the tree lined children’s park and gelateria, of course. Abby wanted her own, naturally. We made ourselves head back to Eoli ( cool to have a name for your house) when we realized that we had only an hour before Andreas and Michela arrived to cook a 3 course Italian regional dinner for us. Oh my, more wonderful food. Annie and I had discussed this trip early on as one of eating our way through Tuscany, and she was right. Might have to come back every year. Allan and Linda would love the various beans and greens combinations.

Annie was so good about snapping pics for RJ to share the presentation of each course before we dug in. And what an adorable couple Andreas and Michela seem to be. We pried and checked their relationship status. Appears that they live together, but Michela wants to keep it that way. Andreas looked hopeful that his culinary talents may someday change her mind. Their age to Pat and I were “30ish”, mere kids. They brought a large cooler with all their supplies and were surprised that we had already set the table. They didn’t allow us to lift a finger after that. Within minutes of cracking open our chianti Michela served platters of meats and cheeses (one of the meats was a homemade salami that Andreas makes), with a fresh tomato bruschetta. The primi course was a luscious pici (locally made pasta with no eggs, just flour and water, shaped much like traditional spaghetti pasta, but wider and longer) with the BEST Bolognese sauce. Yes, Annie and I became members of the clean plate club on this one. The boys pulled back a little short, but we now have a “cane” bag for tomorrow. The second course was medium rare beef strips sautéed with garlic and rosemary in olive oil and served in a pool of extra virgin olive oil….so flavorful. Our side was cannelini beans with garlic and olive oil. As if we weren’t piena (full) enough, dessert was one of those dark chocolate volcanoes Andreas baked and served warm. MMmmm. What a memorable event. And we have leftovers!!!