La Cucina Povera and the Beauty of Simple Ingredients...A three part episode that begins in the chicken pen

“I just think food is so important to us, it is the most important thing we do, so why not enjoy it”...Rick Stein

Welcome to Episode 21:

This is just me, the real me, the girl that decides to make it happen regardless of the original plan.

A garden walk and a podcast recorded in the chicken pen.   A little cook up of the stinging nettle I foraged in the garden was the outcome of this spontaneous episode on the philosophy and heritage of La Cucina Povera.  

It goes without saying that 2020 has been an interesting social experiment and I have been contemplating  many things that relate to less waste and more good living on my own terms.

After listening to the book on Patience Gray about her evocative life by Adam Federman this week, she died early 2005 and published many books and essays on food and life in particular the classic 'Honey From a Weed'  on her journey of living in the wilds of the Mediterranean lands and sea.  I have been musing over many things related this past few months that I ponder in this episode.

This is an offering of sorts, a whimsical share and a possible rant on what it means to be a modern woman and what it means to juggle the anxieties of the modern trappings this world offers.   Certainly I am a privileged woman who can make her own decisions about the give and the take on an ordinary Wednesday.  

If you want the real truth it is most of all the ordinary kind of magic that interests me the most.  The kind of alchemy that happens in the kitchen and in the garden, and when you spontaneously decide to make a plate of pasta for lunch from something on hand and within reach.   An improvisation of sorts.  This is my favourite kind of day, a privilege yes, and a humble thrill to even ramble and share this musing on a detail of Italian culture and how I feel inspired by it daily.

mj xo

Enjoy, See You Next time with Florence and Lucca, Italy.........


© 2021 A Writer In Italy - travel, writing, art and life

Music Composed by Richard Johnston, © 2021

Please find all Show Notes and details mentioned at:

www.michellejohnston.life

Instagram:  @awriterinitaly and @theyellowhouse__

About A Writer in Italy Podcast:

Five years ago Michelle Johnston traveled to Italy to create space for herself and her writing.  Michelle traveled solo giving herself time to recalibrate after many years of parenting and life in general.  Leaving her husband to take care of the family she reconnected with her writing, her art and her love of travel.

The adventure turned into the book and travel memoir...............

In the Shadow of a Cypress: An Italian Adventure

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