October Blues.. and reds and yellows

Here are a few pics I took today - it is a rainy, gray day but marvellous atmosphere here in Tuscany... we are travelling Italy for one year, volunteering in farms in different regions through the WWOOF Organization. Here in Val di Chio we are doing the olive harvest - till end of November, then moving to Sicily. The autumn is giving us so much free fantastic food, figs everywhere, walnuts, apples, almonds, mushrooms.



These are the gorgeous Rani (Female Labrador), Shiva (Male German Shepherd, Sokki(Young mixed breed of the 2) and Kolleken (young female Ladrador), staying at Querceto di sotto, the farm we are house/dog-sitting for until tomorrow - we are then starting the olive harvest. We have now spent 2 weeks with them and it has been the most pleasurable time ever. They are so curious, active, sweet, loving, protective. Each one of them has such a different personality and it is amazing to discover it little by litte and getting their confidence.



This is the view from our living room/office - we are nomads for a year, but we are still running Pure & Authentic Holiday Rentals ... so each farm we go to is also our office... We are really getting to the real essence of P&A with our own experience!
We look forward to sharing it with you!



These are the crab apples I collected on Saturday whilst making bonfires with olive tree pruning waste... I'm loving it!!!!

I also attach a link to the recipe for the cake I have just baked with the crab apples... which normally just feed the wild boar whose dwelling these woods are at night (you can use any apples but it is better if they are juicy - these crab apples were too dry actually) APPLE TART RECIPE

Recipe of the week: "Pappa al pomodoro"

Pappa al pomodoro, a Tuscan bread-and-tomato porridge, sounds like kid's food, and it is - for kids of all ages. In the past it was also very much a homey dish, a tasty summer way to use up leftover bread that no housewife would have dreamed of serving to a guest. Now it's on the menus of Florence's trendier restaurants.

Serves:
8 - 10

Ingredients:

• 8 whole garlic cloves
• ripe tomatoes
• 1 pound loaf of stale bread, sliced (or unseasoned stuffing mix)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 leek, thinly sliced, only white part
• 6 cups water
• 1 bunch basil
• Salt
• Chili pepper

Preparation:

The night before slice the bread and leave it out to get stale.