Spring

Spring has finally arrived in Umbria. The farms are tilled and the seeds are sown.  The fruit trees and the redbud trees are blooming, and lilac trees are in full bloom. The irises are beginning to show their purple colours, and wisteria is clinging to the barns up in the hills. I love spring.

I was born and raised in Michigan.  As a child I remember the wonder of spring.  Finally, after the snow, the sleet, the ugly melting ice upon the roads, spring would come.  It seemed to me then, as it does now, a true miracle. Having lived in California for 30 years, I forgot the joy of this season.  I used to think that autumn was my favorite, but I had never experienced an Italian spring.  I wish all of you could be here, to see the valiant irises, that have survived the long, cold winter.  It is a true joy.

Of course food is a big part of all that we do.  We have a guest with us, Justin Sinclair, who is off to England for an internship as a cook at a 1 star Michelin restaurant.  We had to show off Umbrian food for him before he left.  Here is today's desserts.

This is what is looked like when we were finished.

So sad, the after picutre.  This restaurant, Antica Forziere, is our favorite show off place.  We all really enjoyed it and moaned as we left.