"Tastes of Italia" Interview... of little ole me

Thanks to some help from a variety of young volunteers. We are starting to get things shaped up around here at Bella Baita.  The major move from upstairs to downstairs, figuring out where everything goes, only to arrange, and rearrange, all the tools and such to get the new space to feel like home. It truly is starting to feel like we are settling in and it is home. The garden is now deer and wild boar proofed these days and at long last the seedlings have finally decided to get a move on and grow. It has been a rather odd spring and summer, weather wise, so far. Lots of variations and temperatures, from cold to hot, to cloudy and muggy, which isn't all that common here, to downright thunderous and drenching, to hot and parching again. What's a garden to do. We are getting some things to eat and put up for winter, but have had the usual seasonal setbacks that most gardeners experience. Mountain weather is always fickled, but this year it has been quite capricious.

The news around Bella Baita has been that the latest July/August 2013 issue of "Tastes of Italia," The Steak Issue", included an interview of me and an article about Fabrizio and my endeavors here at Bella Baita, along with a simple zucchini and tagliatelle pasta recipe. Pretty exciting stuff.
Susan Van Allen, author of "100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go" interviewed me last March for her article about the Flavors of Piedmont, based on our interview. I met Susan virtually, when she came across us in her research about some of the less well known places and experiences of traveling in Italy's Piedmont region. She invited me to write about what I thought was a "golden day" in our part of the Italian Alps. You can read my "Golden Day Fifty Three: A Little Piece of Heaven in Serre Marchetto"  blog post on her blog here.
Oh yes, back to the original story. Tastes of Italia is a beautiful magazine that I wasn't familiar with before recieving this latest copy. Looking back through their archives, I think it is well worth ordering a few back issues on CD as it seems to be part travelogue, food tips and recipes and advertisement of quality products. Susan's article also included a recipe from me for my Spaghetti with Zucchini, you can find that recipe here. I love this ever so simple recipe for its sheer simplicity and flavorfulness, but if you want to enhance it a bit and punch up the dish here are a few of my favorite additions. Add slightly sautéed batons of parma ham or smoked ham with a diced clove or two of garlic, or add some sun dried tomato pieces and a sprinkling of crumbly goat's cheese to the top for a lightly salty finish.

Zucchini pasta

It is exciting to not only have one's efforts to bring a business to life in an area that is not well known and off the beaten path, but to have one's effort acknowledged in a gorgeously glossy print magazine.  We love showcasing traditional food and artisan products as well as carrying on the tradition of making food by hand, from scratch, with love. It is deeply gratifying to have other people, besides our ever so lovely guests, appreciate our efforts to bring attention to food that is flavorful, grown or produced by people that diligently work at unglamorous jobs to bring great food to our tables year round. What can I say, but thank you Susan VanAllen, thank you.

Marla and her bread fresh from the wood fired oven