Saturday: Two friends left for the Chianti region yesterday morning, another friend arrives this afternoon in Pisa from London.

It’s quite cold at night and I can’t figure out how to light the pilot light for the heating system, which seems to shut down nightly around 8PM. I love sleeping in cold rooms, but waking up in them is not so nice. The caretaker came by to re-light the pilot and brought me a bottle of olive oil made from the olive trees on the hill behind the house.

Made Spaghetti Carbonara for dinner. Amazing how long food stays hot here – compared to Santa Fe’s elevation at 7,500 ft. (2,286 m) above sea level.

Thought about Italian cuisine and what I like about it. I love that the cooking highlights the freshness of the ingredients as opposed to spices and sauces. Beans are served with a little olive oil, meats have a little lemon juice on them etc. Compare that with French, Chinese, or Mexican food. Chinese food is all about making lower quality meats taste better with sauces and spices. I was told the same is true for French food. Paris was a long way from the farms and slaughterhouses before refrigeration and even further from the sea. The wonderful French sauces were invented to hide the taste of meat that might have been a little less fresh…

Here in Tuscany nothing needs to be hidden as everything is fresh.