I don’t know about you, but I’ll be glad with this thing is over. I am sure it is a LOT worse for those of you who are living in the U.S. what with all the robocalls and political ads. I am sure it is relentless. At least that part will be over after today! Here I watch the news, in the evening only, on Sky which has most of the U.S. non-network channels. It is scary. And stressful!
I am happy I will be distracted Wednesday because we are going to help friends with the raccolto — olive harvest. It is a huge deal in Umbria. Just about everyone has an olive grove of their own if they have any land. And they are happy to let their friends help them. The region is known for having some of the highest rated oil anywhere. It is bright green and grassy with a distinct peppery taste in the throat. The new oil is just incredible. Unlike anything I had ever had before moving here. Here is a picture from the mill where I watched the pressing process in 2018.
So today we harvested our tree! We too have an olive tree on the terrace! I think you all know this. And is loaded with olives this year. I don’t want them to go to waste so we harvested them today and will donate them to our friends tomorrow and their harvest. It will kind of be cool to know that a wee bit of our own olives are in the oil we will get. 🙂
Last night we had a delicious cannellini bean soup with cavolo nero (black kale). It was delicious.
Hang in there everyone. Try to distract yourselves. Meditate. Do yoga. Take a Xanax 😉
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Hi Dotti, such a nice comment. Congrats on doing your civic duty. Sorry about the rain. That was a long wait. I have been using the cooktop steadily and I altered how I use it and so far it is working fine. Glad of that! And yup, I’ve got gas downstairs if I need it. Stay tuned for pics from the harvest tomorrow.
Hi James, there will be more photos of an “actual” harvest after tomorrow.
Hi Matt, you’re in the most important state too! Glad you went. I did think about curing them. But decided not to. Maybe next year. At least they won’t go to waste.
Hey Judith! Congrats on the getaway! The soup is one of our favorites. My husband is a bean lover.
Ciao! Yes I think I’d rather be harvesting than standing in the rain for 2 hours as we did here in Saint Louis, Missouri for early voting! Your olive tree is beautiful and bountiful…and so happy the cooktop issue was solved and smart to have the additional stove on the lower level! Happy harvesting… living vicariously in Italy through your tales!😊 Grazie mille, Dotti
Lovely article, by you AND pictures of the olive harvest.
Just returned from doing my civic duty. Never seen a line out the door like this at my rural polliing place, and yes, that soup DOES look yummy! Your olives are impressive too. Did you consider curing them yourself? It would be kind of cool to eat your own olives, or better yet, have them in a martini!
LOL, I promised myself after the last election that I would not be living in the USA come November 2024 … and I’m not! So score one on that account. I always said that Italian politics may not be any better, but I am not fluent enough to catch all the political talk here.
And … the soup looks wonderful. Kale is one of my favorite veggies … in all its forms!
Hey Audrey, I don’t have gummies! But if I did, I’d have them at the ready!🩵
Happy to distract you Tom! It distracted me to write it as well. Yes, we all want this to be over.
Thanks Christie
Xanax and gummies for everyone!!!
I’ll def need them today.
Thanks for writing this post to help distract me. My wife and I are so ready for this election to be in our rearview mirror. Enjoy yourself in Italy! Hopefully, we will be there one day too.
Thanks, Nancy! Soup looks yummy. Have fun at the harvest.