Rainy Afternoon, a Good Book, and a Great Olive Oil Recipe

We finally had a long rainy afternoon in Northern Virginia. I sat on the almost-completed porch, and enjoyed the hours of thunder and lightning, while reading (and finishing!) Andrea Lee's Lost Hearts in Italy. It's a compelling novel, very well crafted! I didn't know until now that it's on Oprah's Summer Reading List. (Lucky author!)

Throughout it all, organic heirloom plum tomatoes were roasting in the oven. I purchased 2 lbs. of tomatoes at the Farmers' Market on Saturday morning, where I also saw my favorite baker who gushed over the bottle of Tenuta di Ferento's Merlano that I gave to him two weeks ago. (Someone else gave him a bottle of Trader Joe's olive oil, and Wes expressed that there's no comparison).

To roast tomatoes....set the oven at 250F. Spray a light coating of oil on the bottom of a large roasting pan. Cut each tomato in half and placed cut side up in the roasting pan. Next, drizzle a good extra virgin olive oil (just 3-5 tablespoons) over the tomatoes, sprinkle with sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and a teaspoon of rosemary. Roast at 250F for 3-5 hours. For the olive oil, I used a notable Tuscan, Frantoio Franci Le Trebbiane.

We enjoyed them with Italian (turkey) sausage, sauteed in Santisi Extra Vergine di Oliva (2006 Harvest), and also with fresh corn on the cob, and pasta salad. The pasta salad included more Santisi, along with low-fat mayo, peas, red pepper, scallions, and sun-dried tomatoes (those were from a jar!)

During the week, we celebrated Carly's half-birthday with dinner at Roberto Donna's Bebo Trattoria in Crystal City, where they are presently serving Olio2go's Frantoio di Sommaia Extra Virgin Olive Oil with their lovely bread. Two of us had pizza from the new pizza oven, and two had pasta. All was wonderful. Also the Gelato selections are more than enough to share. We don't need to order three desserts!(Next time....)

In a change from the Italian theme, I recently read Susan Vreeland's Luncheon of the Boating Party, which I greatly enjoyed and keep meaning to recommend to my friend, Suzanne. I think she would enjoy it for her love of France and art. A bit of light reading was a mystery, Knock Off by Rhonda Pollero, set in a Florida law firm. I attempted to read the Barbara Taylor Bradford biography, but couldn't be captivated. I'd read her novel long-enough-ago, that the constant references to the various books was tedious!

I was lucky enough to run into a mom-friend, Janet, this week to get to say good-bye before her move to New Hampshire. I hope she writes a blog about her adventures in moving from a big city to a small town, on a move they didn't expect to make at this point in their lives! I'll miss her.