Tomato Bounty in Venice

Another month that I will not be able to join the Daring Bakers' challenge.  I have to say I am happy being where I am though, spending time with my family and old friends.  I apologize for the lack of posts, I will resume shortly and hopefully show you some pictures when I will be able to sort through them.

Particular of a little statuette my dad has in his house

I spoke a little about my dad before, a tough man with an avid passion for food.  In my opinion he would rank high as a chef is he had gone that route instead of working as a chemist, everything he makes tastes amazing.  He is not scared of unusual ingredients and because of his experience with WWII and his mom's upbringing he cooks a lot of so called "cucina povera", simple cuisine based on humble ingredients.  

My dad's other passion is gardening, especially when it comes to growing ingredients for the kitchen.  His "orto", or vegetable garden, gets bigger and bigger every year, slowly taking over what was my beloved grandmother's garden.  

There are lots of gold fish in this little pond

I used to spend hours gardening with my nonna Anita, mostly weeding when she was too old to plant anything new, so this space is really dear to me, even though it resembles very little the manicured garden my nonna used to tend.  

 

 

This year my dad must have planted more than 50 plants of tomatoes, which I just picked since he is away for few days.  What a treat!    

The varieties all have Italian names but one is clearly a San Marzano and another a Beefsteak.

  Ready to be turned into tomato sauce

I leave you with a picture of one of the most breathtaking sunsets I have seen in my life, taken from a terrace in Radicondoli, a stunning little Tuscan town near Siena.

Happy Summer!