Continue reading Wordless Wednesday: The Beautiful Mirror of Venus (Lago Specchio di Venere); Pantelleria at Our Italian Table.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

This week’s photo challenge theme is ‘Journey’.   This photo was taken in Pantelleria in October 2008. This was my second journey to this magical island which lies closer to Tunisia than Sicilia.

Continue reading Weekly Photo Challenge: Journey at Our Italian Table.

Relaxing rainy day here today in Pennsylvania.  I spent the morning excitedly planning out the garden! With spring just around the corner and an expanded garden for the season ahead, I am chomping at the bit to start my seeds and dig my little paws into freshly tilled soil.  Every corner of my expanded space is now reserved and after a morning pouring over notes on various tomato varieties found myself hungry for the pure heavenly taste of my garden tomatoes. 

Continue reading Sicilian Tilapia with Roasted Lemon Asparagus at Our Italian Table.

“There are places you leave. And places that never leave you.”

“Michela, guardi! (look)” said my new friend, Francesco, as we turned toward the street. I turned to see two fire trucks making their way down the main street in Pantelleria. To my amazement, the trucks stopped in front of me and out jumped the firemen. Front and center was my new friend, Angelo, who had come to say goodbye to me on my last day in Pantelleria. 

Continue reading Postcard from Pantelleria: “Daughter of the Wind” at Our Italian Table.

In late August, I visited the tiny island of Pantelleria, off the southern coast of Sicily. The island finds itself closer to the shores of Northern Africa than Sicily and it was here that I found some of the warmest souls on earth.  I spent a short 5 days on the island and found myself headed back to America with a suitcase full of gifts, a journal full of memories and a heart filled with warmth. 

Continue reading L’Angolo di Angelo (Angelo’s Corner): Insalata Pantesca at Our Italian Table.

Is it possible to feel hugged by an island?? Is it possible that I may have stumbled on the most wonderful souls on the planet??  I just returned from the amazing island of Pantelleria in the sea south of Sicily.  I am brimming with excitement to share my adventures from this wonderful slice of paradiso. The people of this island are quite possibly the warmest souls in Italy. I have returned with my bagagli brimming with gifts, my notebook filled with recipes, my camera filled with amazing images and my heart filled with warmth for these wonderful, wonderful people. 

Continue reading Pantelleria: Hugged by an Island at Our Italian Table.

The islands of Italy are as diverse as mainland Italy itself. I am currently on a mission to visit as many of these beautiful and mysterious islands as possible.  It all started with a love affair – a love for both Sicilia and a Sicilian.  (But all that on another day!)  After spending many days and weeks on this amazing island, I decided to venture out to see what the other islands were like -spurred on by the romantic yet hopeless portrait painted by D.

Continue reading The Islands of Italy at Our Italian Table.