Villa D'Elsa

10/07/2024

Come stay with us! We are only 20 minutes away from this Medieval Tuscan jewel.

19/03/2024

Discovering Joy, a Women’s retreat.

Join Maria and Christy for 6 days of deep care.
Restore your spirit under the Tuscan sun: enjoy workouts with breathtaking views, yoga, clean eating
straight from our garden, cooking class, winery visits and walking through the woods to achieve physical
and emotional goals we create together!
Are you ready to restore, relax and renew?

Contact Maria at [email protected]
Or Christy at [email protected]

27/02/2024

Villa d’Elsa’s secluded grounds, nestled in rolling hills of olive groves, vineyards, and woods. Located in the countryside between Florence and Siena, in a quiet atmosphere accompanied only by birdsong, this place out of time beckons you to experience true hospitality and deep nurture.

24/02/2024

What's in the pot???

A dream come true!
DISCOVERING JOY
Women's Retreat
21 September 2024
Villa d'Elsa, Tuscany, Italy
Join me and CChristy Ogilvie McCreary
6 days enfolded in Chianti Region's rolling countryside.

05/03/2023

06/01/2023

How did your New Year start off??
Holidays are always a busy time of celebrations and get-togethers with family and friends!! Intense positive emotions such as reuniting with older relatives you don't get to see very often....
After all of the hoopla for people it's normal to experience a letdown...the so called post- holiday blues!!
But I have a good tip for you on how to feel better right away!
Start planning your next trip, focus on things you like the most!
I haven't met one person in my lifetime who din't have a desire to travel!
What's more exciting than packing a bag, buying a flight and hit the open road?
Needa pick a destination??
How about Tuscany?
Hit us up and you'll have already taken your first step to the realization of your dream.


[email protected]
Phone +39 3331071514

20/06/2022

Traditional floral display "infiorata" on Corpus Domini day in Italy. Town streets filled with flowers, scents and colors!
Skilled artists create paintings using only flowers.

31/12/2021

Happy New Year to all our family, guests and friends!
Hoping for a better 2022!
May the new year be filled with many blessings for all of us!!
🍾🥂🎉🎊❤

02/10/2021

Balooning over the green Tuscan hills!
An experience you shouldn't miss planning in your next trip to Tuscany!
There's no better way to enjoy the view of an incredible land as far as the eye can see!

20/07/2021

Can't wait to have guests around again!

20/07/2021

So excited to welcome back our dear guests!!

01/06/2021

01/05/2021

05/04/2021

Pasquetta
Little Easter

The day after Easter in Italy is the day of Pasquetta, literally Little Easter.
A fully Italian tradition indeed, one we don’t share with any other country in the world. Because we are Italian and we love “la dolce vita” it’s a way we have to lengthen for an extra 24 hours the celebrations of Easter.!
It’s the day you eat outdoors to go on a trip out- of -town with family and friends.
Everyone brings “some leftovers” of the Easter feast packed into picnic baskets and head off to parks, beaches, countryside, vineyards to enjoy the spring sun and warm breezes.
Blankets are laid out, folding tables are set to welcome our baskets filled up with cold dishes such as spinach an ricotta pie, eggs - hard boiled, baked frittatas and varieties of salami and cheeses, lovely breads, chunks of focaccia, pastas and the leftovers from Easter dinner are also included. And, of course, a bottle of red wine!
Biscotti dipped in vinsanto ( sweet holy wine for dessert) finishes off the meal; and then both kids and adults will play soccer and bocce ball together.
What if we haven’t enough leftovers ….. ??
Let’s have a BBQ!!
Another day of cheer , sun and food is over and we are happy until the next one

And to get you into the picnic mood, I leave you with one of my recipes, a perfect addition to the Pasquetta picnic basket!
Enjoy!!

Asparagus Cheese Frittata

Ingredients for 6/8 servings
• 1 dozen eggs
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• pinch of sea salt
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1 bunch fresh asparagus
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 1/4 pound spicy Italian sausage meat broken up
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 6 sprigs fresh parsley chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil chopped
• 1 bunch green onions whites and 1/3 of green tops, chopped
• 2 1/2 cups fresh Mozzarella cut into 1/2” cubes
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Whisk the eggs together with ¼ cup heavy cream, salt and pepper to taste, and the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, then set aside
3. Lightly roast the asparagus. Cut off the coarse tips and drizzle with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Sauté them in a pan for about 10-15 minutes. Remove from pan and cut into 1 ½”, and set aside
4. Heat a large skillet to medium high and sauté the sausage in olive oil until no longer pink, breaking it up as it cooks. Drain the sausage and set aside.
5. Return the skillet to medium high heat, add the garlic and green onions and sauté for two minutes.
6. Add the parsley and basil, stirring well. Let it cool down for a while.
7. Add the asparagus, sausage, green onions and cubed cheese into the bowl with the eggs and stir to distribute ingredients evenly.
8. Line the bottom and the sides of a baking dish with parchment paper, then pour all the ingredients in the bowl into the baking dish and place it in a 400 degrees F. oven.
9. Cook until the frittata is completely set and the center is firm, about 20-25 minutes and the surface is slightly brown.
10. . A butter knife inserted into the center should come out clean when done.

03/04/2021

And so, Easter morning comes and how would you begin a day of celebration in Italy, if not with loads of food? In many parts of the country, especially in the center and the south, it is traditional to have a Colazione di Pasqua, or Easter breakfast: it is the only time of the year when an Italian accepts without complaining to have something savory this early in the morning — you know the way we are, we rarely stray from our “cappuccino e brioche.”
Romans begin Pasqua with a frittata di carciofi, artichoke omelette, while Umbrians break the fasting of Lent with local capocollo, a type of cold cut and cheeses.
In my family, ever since I remember, Easter morning starts with a Torta di Pasqua, a gloriously rich parmigiano and pecorino cheese pie, to die for even on its own, but that we usually pair with prosciutto, salami and of course hard boiled eggs that have been blessed during the mass celebrated at midnight on Easter Saturday.
Here are a few pictures taken in my kitchen, that I want to share with you and hope you will enjoy!

Wishing all our amazing guests
a very Happy Easter!

02/04/2021

Hello my friends!

It's ready!!

My second video is available NOW!!

Tell all your friends! Please encourage them to register and join us! It's my way to bring you to Italy now!❤️

Here is the link:

https://platform.wim.tv/embed/?vod=f6ca4fe8-a640-4a31-9310-794dc44395c3

01/04/2021

It’s ready!

The first video is available NOW and the second will be available tomorrow morning! ❤️

Just like the delicious aroma of the cake I baked in the middle of the night in the Villa kitchen, the anticipation for the cooking class is almost overwhelming!

The cooking lesson is long, and we broke it into 2 parts! (Probably because I talk so much, but I’m Italian, what can I say? It is because I want you to have it all!!)

Don’t worry, I am sending out the first link now, and the second, shortly after. And your registration covers them both!

All the best! And see you in the kitchen soon!

Maria

https://www.arrivo.tv/back-to-maria-s-tuscan-kitchen.html

Tell all your friends! Please encourage them to register and join us! It’s my way to bring you to Italy now!

30/03/2021

Please join us for:

“Back To Maria’s Tuscan Kitchen” 2021 Episode 1 Easter Lunch

How to register and watch:

(1) The video will be online Easter Wednesday (tomorrow) at noon Eastern time

(2) To watch it, please go to this web platform: www.ogntv.it

(3) You must register to access the Villa d’Elsa page, and there you will find “Back To Maria’s Tuscan Kitchen”

(4) This is your cooking class to create your complete Easter Lunch - 4 courses from antipasto to dessert. The fee of 80 euros is payable either by PayPal or by credit card.

(5) If you pay through PayPal, flag the option Family and Friends, and there will be no extra fee

(6) Once registered, you can access this video for one month - watch it as many times as you want! If you wish to see it after one month, please contact me and I will send you the private link (a personal link only to the registered guest)

(7) My plans are to create many future videos, available only to my treasured guests and friends, and for future guests and friends (not available free on the web). Your fee will vary depending on the content and scope of each video (1 recipe, 2 recipes, in the kitchen, to the market, through the village, through the winery, etc.)



Tell all your friends! Please encourage them to register and join us! It’s my way to bring you to Italy now!



Thank you! Enjoy! and remember to send me pictures! I will choose a few to upload to my “Cooking With Maria” photo pages.

Maria

29/03/2021

Back to Maria's Tuscany kitchen!

Easter is coming soon!
My new exciting venture with you is about to start! 🎊🎉

Easter lunch cooking class video will be online on Wednesday.

Stay tuned for details on how to access my video!

28/03/2021

Palm Sunday
La Domenica delle Palme

It's the day that marks the start of Holy Week.
It 's the celebration of the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem.
You may wonder why this Sunday is referred to as "palm" Sunday? Because the legend has it that the crowds in Jerusalem waved palm branches in the air to greet an arriving Jesus.
In Italy we replace them with olive branches which also symbolize peace.
Typically these branches are kept in big bunches at the front of the church and handed to those who enter to hear mass.
The priest wearing a deep scarlett red robe ( symbol of Jesus' sacrifice) will bless olive branches at the end of the mass.
According to the bible, Jesus enters Jerusalem riding a donkey. So, here in Barberino Val d'Elsa on Palm Sunday traditionally a donkey carries two wicker baskets full of olive branches for the priest to bless. Each believer takes his branch and all the crowd, in procession, enters the church for mass.
Sadly this year in covid-19 times, we are not allowed to carry on this tradition.
But we still celebrate it with the family and a nice home-cooked meal!

26/03/2021

Wish me Good Luck!

25/03/2021

I invite you to join my first experience!

08/12/2020

🎄

11/06/2020

All's well that STARTS well!!
First day of summer holidays!
Lake Trasimeno. Italy

09/04/2020

To all the wonderful people I know out there, I would like to reach out for you and hug each and everyone of you. I cannot phisically do it but my heart is doing it right now!

Stay strong, safe and healthy!

We will come out of this bad time because we are fighting all together!
The world will be bright and colorful again! Happy early Easter to all!
Photo credit

09/04/2020

Hello my dear friends, we all know that this year for Easter time we will have to stay at home, but we can still find a way to feel close to each other by sharing what we love to do with others and you all know how much I enjoy cooking for my guests. Even though sadly the Villa is empty right now and you can't come to my cooking class I can surely come to you!
I will welcome you in my Tuscan kitchen during an Instagram live streaming, Saturday 11th at 5 pm ( 11am EST) on

We will make Tiramisú, one of the most loved Italian dessert. Swipe right to see all the ingredients you will need to prepare it along with me.
Can't wait to enjoy cooking together again like we've done so many times in the past!
Maria