food — Writing with Italy at Heart — Michelle Damiani
Michelle Damiani
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  • Blog
  • Spello Visiting Umbria Travel in Italy Around the World
  • Gabe's Blog Food and Drink Books and Movies Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
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Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Food and Drink
    • Books and Movies
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/
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Michelle Damiani

writing with Italy at heart

Blog

The journey continues.

Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Food and Drink
    • Books and Movies
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/

Chronicling our return home from a year in Umbria and the preparations for our around-the-world journey.

October 26, 2020

Modernization and Mass Production are not the same thing

October 26, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Modernization and Mass Production are not the same thing

How I gained a whole new appreciation for olive oil at Frantoio Filippi.

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October 26, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ 5 Comments
travel, blog
Umbria, food
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September 16, 2020

Wild Asparagus and Me

September 16, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Wild Asparagus and Me

How a single stalk of wild asparagus can be ever so much more than that.

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September 16, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ 2 Comments
blog
Spello, food, neighbors
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July 23, 2018

How to Host a Spritz Party

July 23, 2018/ Michelle Damiani
How to Host a Spritz Party

Aperol is an Italian apéritif that tastes lightly of citrus with bitter undertones. Learn how to turn Aperol into a cocktail that will elevate your afternoons, and how to turn that cocktail into a party.

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July 23, 2018/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
blog
food, drink, life, party
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  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Food and Drink
    • Books and Movies
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/

Michelle Damiani

Website for Michelle Damiani, author of Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center, the funny and heartfelt memoir of an American family living in Spello, as well as Santa Lucia, a page-turner set on the Umbria border. 

Rumors. Romance. And more than a little espresso.

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In 2017, I did one of the best things I’ve ever done in my whole life. I held a fundraiser for International Neighbors (a local agency that provides support to our refugee community) designed around the power of breaking bread together. I recru
I gotta say, after 3 days in Jerome Arizona, I have half a mind to set a new cozy mystery in a 19th century mining town. Old west vibes, a messy but fabulous medley of characters from foreign lands (Croatia, Ireland, Scotland, China, Belgium, and Ita
Kind of a profound experience to bring our three generations to a historic sight like the Tuzigoot pueblo.
“Making a Killing in Aramezzo” is off to my editor! What does an author do when a manuscript leaves her desk? First up, laundry. Then more laundry. I am seriously behind in laundry (and emails). And then I’ll have a meal that’
As the weather warms, I have a profoundly important question for you. Aperol, Campari, or limoncello spritz?
Do you believe that the same person made both of these renderings? A drawing of “swallows” (which my children call “squali”, Italian for sharks, for some reason the Italian word has stuck in our brains and we pull it out more
One of the beautiful things about visiting a place more than once is you can capturing it in new ways. Venice’s colors are so inspiring, it never would have occurred to me to photograph her in black and white, but on our last visit, I got more
Between Spello and Assisi lies Monte Subasio, a bald mountain composed of pink stone that gives both cities their characteristic hue. It’s a fascinating mountain, in that it seems like fifteen landscapes stitched together, Frankenstein style. T
As the weather warms, my thoughts turn towards the arrival of swallows in Italy. How I loved watching their morning show as I sipped my coffee. Fun that now, as spring arrives, the bulky socks come off and the swallow tattoos around my ankle also get
Umbrian artist Norberto was known for his tiny, hooded monks wandering vast landscapes. Each image is humble, timeless, and full of contemplative whimsy. Inspired by Norberto’s work, when my son was seven he created his own tribute, an attempt

A trip to Italy is better with language basics! Here’s my recommended course to learn Italian and make your trip fantastico!
Festival participant, speaking about “Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center”

Festival participant, speaking about “Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center”

Featured speaker on panel discussing Romance for “Santa Lucia”

Featured speaker on panel discussing Romance for “Santa Lucia”