Michelle Damiani
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Michelle Damiani
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aperol spritz, spello, umbria, italy
Michelle Damiani

writing with Italy at heart

Food and Drink

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

Explore the best of Italian food and drink—classic recipes, regional specialties, and culinary travel stories from across Italy. Get even more tips and inspiration delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for the Grapevine.


December 12, 2023

Chocolate, orange, and hazelnut biscotti

December 12, 2023/ Michelle Damiani
Chocolate, orange, and hazelnut biscotti

My three favorite flavors, in one swoon-worthy cookie.

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December 12, 2023/ Michelle Damiani/ 2 Comments
food, recipe
food, recipe, cooking, Italy
December 05, 2021

Holiday Cookies with Wanderlust Flair

December 05, 2021/ Michelle Damiani
Holiday Cookies with Wanderlust Flair

Searching to jazz up your holiday cookie platter with global flavors? Look no further.

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December 05, 2021/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
food, recipe
cooking, recipe
October 20, 2020

Riso con sugo

October 20, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Riso con sugo

Think of it as a tomato risotto, but it’s ever so much more.

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October 20, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ 6 Comments
food, recipe
recipe, food, cooking
September 16, 2020

Bitter Greens

September 16, 2020/ Michelle Damiani
Bitter Greens

I used to hate greens, now I can’t get enough of them.

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September 16, 2020/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
recipe, food
cooking, recipe
September 07, 2017

"A Kitchen with a View" Cookbook Review

September 07, 2017/ Michelle Damiani
"A Kitchen with a View" Cookbook Review

Looking for a cookbook about Umbrian cuisine?

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September 07, 2017/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
food
cooking, food
June 23, 2017

Rhubarb Jam

June 23, 2017/ Michelle Damiani
Rhubarb Jam

Sometimes a flavor can dog your culinary footsteps. Rarely does that dogging lead to this kind of triumph.

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June 23, 2017/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
food, recipe
food, cooking
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Books and Movies
    • Food and Drink
    • Gabe's Blog
    • 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.

Get Santa Lucia, a novel set in Italy, FREE by signing up for my monthly newsletter, The Grapevine. Recipes, travel tips, and free wanderlust stories delivered right to your inbox.

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NOT ONLY will October’s Book Club with a View go to Umbria, but also Florence (tour is full, but let me know if you want a spot on the waiting list!). I wonder if you can guess what’s on our reading list 🤗 PS, you’re gonna see this
So excited to return to Umbria in October, this time with our Book Club with a View! The trip filled soon after I announced it in January’s Grapevine (check my link in bio to not miss a trick), but let me know if you want more information or a
This snowstorm is the perfect time to begin my dozenth book. What, dozenth isn’t a word? As someone on her dozenth book, I feel like we can also use it as a verb “I am dozening” “I’ve dozened.” I stand by it! Dozen
From the top of the Boot, to the tip of its winsome heel, and everywhere in between…what I love about Italy is the layers. Of history, of humanity, of color, of rock. Glorious, isn’t it? Photos 1) Spello 2) Dolomiti 3) Polignano a Mare.
Twenty year old me, backpacking through Europe. When Keith snapped this photo in the alps thirty-plus years ago, we had no idea how prescient it was.
A pandoro is a star-shaped, vanilla powder sugar dusted, cake/bread hybrid traditionally from Verona. It’s buttery and rich and the perfect way to ring in a new year! Have you had your 2026 pandoro?
Bari doesn’t hide everyday life indoors.
Curtains instead of doors means the intimacy of daily routines spills onto the street. You hear the chime of forks on plates, a TV on in the background. Laundry hangs on a rack in the road. The whine of

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”