VaBene A Cook Not Mad is heading to Northern Italy on another exciting tour. After logging thousands of miles, pictures and hundreds of recipes on previous trips to Italy the idea for our new book, Va Bene, was born. This trip will find us visiting some of our favourite spots and discovering plenty of new […]
The Extraordinary Italian Taste
The extraordinary Italian taste Have you ever returned home from the grocer only to discovered that the expensive bottle of what you thought was Italian olive oil is actually not Italian at all? The label sure looks Italian and the name sounds Italian, but what’s in the bottle has never set foot in Italy. It’s not […]
Best Restaurants to Eat in Venice
Venice is a popular city in Italy that is known for their numerous attractions such as the Piazza San Marco, Doge’s Palace, Rialto Bridge, Murano, and a whole lot more. But as a hub for fine dining, this capital is known for its amazing restaurants. Whether you are looking for authentic and delicious Italian dishes, […]
A Day of Butchery at Casamonti – Part 2
Freshly fallen snow Early the next morning we made our way back to Casamonti Estate, through a couple of inches of freshly fallen snow that carpeted the vineyards and rolling hills of Chianti. Alvaro and Silvano were already in the norceria and as we pulled in, we saw Massimo wave, while escorting a huge male […]
Parco dei Mostri
Secret garden Have you ever dreamt of having a secret garden behind tall stone walls? An oasis of paths and fantastic statues tucked amongst the landscape to disappear into and escape the reality of the outside world? Just a few miles down the A1 from Orvieto you will find the small hilltop village of Bomarzo. […]
A martyr, a miracle and coregone
The martyr The town of Bolsena is the sister city of Orvieto and just a short drive away. We decided to investigate this medieval fishing and vacationing village nestled on the shores of lake Bolsena for a couple of reasons. The first was to eat a special fish, called coregone, that is stocked in the […]
3 months in Italy – a pictorial
Thousands of photos Since returning to Canada I’ve been sorting through thousands of photos taken over the three months we were in Italy. I wanted to share some but it’s so difficult to pick just a few since I have many favourites. I’ve done my best to pick just ten. This first one, of a […]
One Day in Florence
Well, we’re finally back on Canadian soil after almost a year of travel and housesitting. It’s incredible how fast the time flew and looking back at our adventures we consider ourselves very lucky to spend time in parts of the world we love and to discover new, inspiring places. Returning home was a bit of […]