Final post from Pienza, but had to do this one all on it’s own. “Pici Night” is always Thursday night at the farm. Isabella gives a class on how to make the local pasta. It is great fun, and everyone enjoys listening to and watching Isa show how it’s done. I will just put a few pictures in this post, but take a look at all of them in the album, to get a better sense of the entire thing.

Isa talks about how once she married into this family (a great story of its own) she had to learn how to make Pici from Liliana (her mother-in-law), as Carlo only liked hers. “One egg for every 3 people” and flour and water - that’s it. Eventually they went to one egg for every 5 people, and as Isa found out in her research, many people did not use eggs at all. It seems “rich” farmers were the ones that added eggs, as they had chickens and eggs available. Others were not so lucky, so just flour and water.

Make a mountain of flour, then turn it into a volcano, and add the eggs and water. Then fold it in a little at a time - never letting the sides break, until you get the right consistency.

Then after working the dough for a while, it’s time to make the Pici. Gently pulling with one hand while rolling with the other to get the proper thickness.

It’s all good fun to listen to Isabella tell her stories, but then...it’s time to try it for yourself, and it’s not as easy as she makes it look.

Everyone joins in - some Pici ends up like angel hair pasta - some is like a tree branch - but is a great time, and it all goes in the same pot.

Carlo brings around some wine (which makes everything go better), and some crostini he has toasted up outside on the barbecue.

Finally, enough Pici has been rolled out to serve the Roman Army, and it’s time to relax and get ready for dinner.

Carlo has cooked up some great ribs and sausages to go with our pasta. And just as we are sitting down to eat, in comes Luciano - bottles of Limoncello in hand, and a few stories of his own.

Everyone enjoys a great meal together (and endless wine). It is a great time and truly one of the highlights of visiting Cretaiole and this wonderful family.

On Friday night we get an added bonus - we have the opportunity to visit Isabella’s newest property - “La Moscadella” and have yet another feast together. This is her venture into a higher-end boutique hotel type experience. And she knows how to do it right. The place is gorgeous and the staff are wonderful.

We enjoyed it so much, that we added a few nights to the end of our trip in October to come stay a few nights.

E stato delizioso! (It was delicious)

Looks like we’re going to need to do a lot more hiking !

Ciao Pienza!