Hi Everybody,

Just finished packing and leaving for Italy in a few hours. I am heading to Santo Stefano di Sessanio, Abruzzo to help celebrate food, wine, music and my book: Breaking Bread in L’Aquila.

Special thanks to Daniele Elow Kihlgren, owner of Albergo Diffuso Santo Stefano di Sessanio for hosting this special event. Also a special thank you to Giovanni Pacificio, General Manager for organizing the event. We look forward to breaking bread with him on Friday afternoon! Here’s the link to beautiful Sextantio Albergo Diffuso http://sextantio.it.

Here’s some information about Santo Stefano di Sessanio:

Preservationists, historians, sybarites rejoice. The boutique Albergo Diffuso Santo Stefano di Sessanio is Italian living at its finest, in an absolutely stunning setting. An abandoned medieval hill town and castle in Italy’s Abruzzi region, a former ghost village, has been restored and guests can book a stay at the magnificent hotel. The entire town’s renovation project– a $5.1 million price tag– has been sponsored by the Italian-Swedish philosopher-preservationist Daniele Elow Kihlgren. During the restoration, the attention to detail was staggering: the exclusive use of material found in the surrounding area, interiors furnished in the Arte Povera tradition (folk arts and crafts from the Abruzzo mountains), imperceptible modern amenities (like heating beneath the floors). The press has gone wild. Gourmet magazine described it as “pretty enough to be in the movies.” Enjoy the fairy-tale of this Italian Renaissance.

I promise to take lots of photos and share this Cinderella experience!

Why Santo Stefano?

On February 3rd, during the final copyediting phase of my book, at approximately 1:30am, I was very tired and ready to go to sleep. I stopped for a moment while I reading the “pasta and lentil” recipe page. I began to reminisce about the time that Paul and I visited Santo Stefano. I felt his presence as I remembered the day that we walked to the Medici Tower and the church of the Madonna del Lago. We ended that beautiful day with a hearty bowl of lentil soup with sausage, bread, and a few glasses of wine. It was an experience that I would treasure for a lifetime—not to mention the incredible food and wine!

In a moment, it was 2:30am. I began to make more changes to my book. I wanted to include the variation on the recipe that we enjoyed eating in Santo Stefano, and to share more about Santo Stefano di Sessanio with my readers.

These are experiences you can’t make up ! !

ciao,

maria