A Tuscan Wedding Feast

‘…picked by Teresa and her girlfriends from the meadows around the village.’

You are all invited to an Italian wedding feast.  Dust off your gladrags and let Angela Petch tingle your taste buds with an extract from the final chapter of ‘Tuscan Roots’. 

 

 

 

 

Extract

‘Teresa and her friends from the village have been busy for days in the kitchen, banning Anna from the food preparations..’

The railings on the steps to Il Casalone have been festooned with laurel branches, garlands of white roses and long strands of variegated ivy and Teresa and her friends from the village have been busy for days in the kitchen, banning Anna from the food preparations. The wedding meal and sharing of food is every bit as important a ritual as the nuptial mass. Tables are piled with a feast of colourful, appetising food, spread on freshly laundered Busatti linen. A warm, balmy October has followed a wet summer and so a separate round table is arranged outside on the terrace to hold a whole Parmesan cheese, cut into squares and served with sparkling Prosecco to each guest as they arrive. Teresa and her team have been busy with starters of roast peppers, courgettes and aubergines, pastries with asparagus and artichokes and melting soft cheeses, home-made cappelletti, small hat-shaped ravioli stuffed with chicken breast, lean beef, lemon zest and nutmeg – and tagliatelle, with Anna’s favourite fresh tomato and basil sauce.

‘And all this is to be washed down with glasses of full-bodied local Sangiovese and Chianti Classico.’

And for the main course, Teresa carries in a platter of whole roast suckling pig served with tiny potatoes kept from the ‘orto’, roasted in olive oil and pungent rosemary, a salad of flowers: nasturtiums, borage and marigold petals with young dandelion leaves, wild sorrel and rocket picked by Teresa and her girlfriends from the meadows around the village. And all this is to be washed down with glasses of full-bodied local Sangiovese and Chianti Classico.

End***

The food prepared by the locals, in the Italian Apennines, transcends time and bridges the gap between the generations.

The food prepared by the locals, in the Italian Apennines, transcends time and bridges the gap between the generations.  I enjoyed ‘the stuffed zucchini flowers, little squares of crostini topped with spicy tomatoes, liver pate and a creamy relish made from dandelion flowers, roasted bay leaves topped with ovals of melted cheese.’  Food is prepared: to celebrate feasts, to welcome people into the home, to celebrate family occasions and to woo.

Let Angela Petch tingle your taste buds with her final chapter of ‘Tuscan Roots’.

Read Tuscan Roots, and you will not want to leave the romantic beauty of ‘indigo blue mountains’, or the ruins of Il Mulino (The Mill).  You will be impressed with the bravery of the Italian community during the war, and you will not want to leave the blossoming romance.  I highly recommend this book! Please read my whole review.

Angela has also published ‘Now and Then in Tuscany’: the sequel to Tuscan Roots.

She has published several stories in People’s Friend and is currently writing her third novel.

About Tuscan Roots

If you like Italy, you will enjoy this novel. A story of two women living in two different times. In 1943,in occupied Italy, Ines Santini’s sheltered existence is turned upside down when she meets Norman, an escaped British POW. Years later, Anna Swillland, their daughter, starts to unravel romantic and historical accounts from assorted documents left to her after her mother’s death. She travels to the beautiful Tuscan Apennines, where the story unfolds. In researching her parents’ past, she will discover secrets about the war, her parents and herself, which will change her life forever.

Angela’s Love Affair with Italy

Angela Petch in Italy

I live in the beautiful Italian Apennines for several months each year. Such an inspiring location.
My love affair with Italy was born at the age of seven when I moved with my family to Rome where we lived for six years. My father worked for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and he made sure we learned Italian and visited many places during that time.
Later on I studied Italian at the University of Kent at Canterbury and afterwards worked in Sicily, where I met my husband. His Italian mother and British father met in Urbino in 1944 and married after a war-time romance.

 

Contact Angela
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/AngelaJaneClarePetch/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Angela_Petch
Website:  https://angelapetchsblogsite.wordpress.com/

 

Please see all my extracts at Book Extracts and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

Kitty Wilson’s Christmas Wishes in Cornwall

Take a peek at Kitty’s book in her handbag.

Kitty Wilson is author of the bestselling Cornish Village Series.  How can anyone resist a visit to Cornwall at the most magical time of year?  Her novels are celebrated as the ‘perfect escapist read’ by her dedicated readers.  I have invited Kitty to tell you more about her Christmas novel.

Hello everyone,

I am delighted to present the fourth in The Cornish Village School series, Christmas Wishes. This series of romantic comedies centre around a primary school in the fictional village of Penmenna with each story featuring a member of staff and involving the whole community. This is the first Christmas-themed one and tells the tale of Alice, a teaching assistant in class four, and Dan who moved to Penmenna to be its vicar a couple of years ago. Alice and Dan are firm friends with a penchant for getting into mischief but when Dan’s grandmother, Annie, moves into The Vicarage with him she is determined to push the two of them together.

I wanted to choose an extract for you that both summed up the Christmassy nature of this book, the sense of community and the romance between Alice and Dan so I hope this short piece does that.

I have really enjoyed writing Christmas Wishes, the antics of Annie and her new best friend Ethel, make me giggle every time I read them and I hope they raise a smile for other readers too. I am so fond of Alice and Dan, both have had very different upbringings yet carry the same values and hopes for their future, I think the two of them are perfectly matched.

All love, Kitty

Meet the lovely Kitty Wilson

Here is the extract:

One minute Alice had been sipping Ethel’s mulled wine, giggling at the memories of last year as she cast her eyes over the church they were all in. A church that smelt strongly of Christmas with mulled wine spices mixing with the scent of pine from all the greenery. Ethel’s brew packed such a serious punch that it had had Bill Meacher attempting to Elvis dance down the aisle last year – very definitely ‘All Shook Up’ – as he chased Mrs Talbot and promised her the moon if she would consider his hand in marriage. Luckily Mrs Talbot was a Very Sensible Woman who cordially informed him that it would take a bit more than a gyrating pelvis to persuade her to give up her hard-won independence. Although if he was available for the evening and promised to be silent then a one-off arrangement may be possible.

The next minute everyone had left, she was alone with Dan and needed to take a gulp as she realised what he had just said to her. At least what she thought she had heard him say. She asked him to repeat it, just so she could be sure.

Jessie: Your Christmas novel sounds as if it is full of Christmas sparkle and delicious humour.  I can’t wait to step inside your world.  What did the reviewers think of your Christmas Wishes?

Kitty:  The reviews warm my heart and it’s great to connect with the readers.  It is lovely when readers connect with the characters.  Here are a couple of reviews that capture the essence of the feedback.

‘Full of romance, letting go of the past to move forward and plenty to do with Christmas and children. It’s a heartwarming read and has great characters and just a brilliant read and we’ll worth more than five stars.’ (Nicola – Amazon reviewer)

‘Kitty Wilson continues to please with warm tales of the people that make up the little village school in Penmenna. I will be sad when I come to the end of the series as I have become so attached to the characters in these books. Easy to get absorbed in they are easy cosy reading.’(Lorna Vickers – Amazon reviewer).

It’s the most wonderful time of the year in Penmenna…

‘The magic of Christmas shines through the pages, and I loved everything about this one – it’s an amazing addition to a superb series and Kitty Wilson has done a first-class job. A joy to read and fully deserving of every one of the five shiny stars I’m more than happy to give it. Highly recommended!’  Grace J Reviewer Lady

‘Loved this book. Great characters, easy read, uplifting, funny, romantic and charming… the perfect escapist read.’ Beanie L.

Jessie:  You must be so proud of the positive responses to your novel.  It is wonderful the way the readers connect with the characters.  How did you feel when you had finished writing your book, and did you miss any of the characters? 

I loved writing this book but part of the joy of writing a series is that the characters remain the same throughout, it’s only the level of focus upon them that changes. This makes it so much easier as I don’t have to say goodbye to them yet. I am writing the fifth book now and both Dan and Alice will certainly pop back up. The downside is that when the series does finish I am going to be slightly heartbroken. I have spent almost every day over the last few years in Penmenna with these characters so I suspect there may be a big Cornish Village School shaped hole in my future. I shall just have to come up with characters that I love even more in my next books.

Kitty Wilson lived in Cornwall for twenty-five years having been dragged there, against her will, as a stroppy teen. She is now remarkably grateful to her parents for their foresight and wisdom – and these days spends her time writing romantic comedies with heroines who speak their mind.

I’ve heard very positive comments about Kitty’s Cornish Village series.  Indeed, a blogger explains:
‘I have read a few books by this author now and one thing I will say is that she never disappoints. She produces well planned out stories that leave you feeling warm and cosy inside and that was exactly how this heart-warming book made me feel – and I loved it!’ Donna’s Book Blog.

More about Christmas Wishes

It’s the most wonderful time of the year in Penmenna…

Teaching assistant Alice has sworn off men, which is fine because with Christmas coming she’s super busy organising the school Nativity. This should be a blast with the help of close friend and village vicar, Dan – if she can ignore those more-than-just-a-friend feelings she’s developed for him…

Dan is happy to help Alice – his secret crush – but not only is his beloved Granny Annie about to be made homeless, the church choir has disintegrated and he’s battling some dark demons from his past.

With meddling grannies and PTA wars thrown in the mix, can Alice and Dan overcome their past hurts to move forward? Will they be spending Christmas together as friends… or something more?

A festive feel-good romance perfect for fans of Tilly Tennant and Holly Martin.

Kitty’s contact details and book links

I love hearing from readers so do please come and say hello on either twitter or facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/kitty.wilson.1610
https://twitter.com/KittyWilson23

All the book links for the series can be found on Amazon.

And for other retailers, here are the links to buy Christmas Wishes.
Kobo                http://bit.ly/2lDXCn6
iBooks              https://apple.co/2kAWqk6
GooglePlay      http://bit.ly/2lIbTzm

 

Please see all my extracts and excepts at Book Extracts and my website and blog at JessieCahalin.com.

A copy of my novel is available here.