Day Three - Sienna and Brick Oven Pizza

A quick shot inside Le Pianore of what was a feeding trough for stable animals, in the dining room of the main building.

As beautiful as this city was, we shot only a few shots of Sienna. We visited the Duomo which did have a no photos rule inside the church.

Here is some of the famous Italian gellatto, stacked high first thing in the morning for the crowds that visit the city daily.


Here is where we grabbed a quick lunch. You find out that pizza is a more grab and go evening food item, rather than it being available as a lunch item. For many parts of Italy, the mid-day meal is the largest, and is the reason why businesses close for a few hours mid-afternoon (1:00 to 4:00 or 5:00 pm, frequently).




We join a good friend of Vincenzo's after going down the "strongest" road we have been on during this trip. When we get there, we find the "hippie" van that Antonio parked 20 years before that has never been moved since he retired the vehicle. If the purple dice could talk!


Here is Michaelo's home where we would spend a truly remarkable evening.

Pizza dough is the name of the game and individual balls are rolled for the second rising, and recovered with a blanket.




It is important when rolling to create a small air pocket within the dough ball.


Here is the fire that has been built to heat up the oven. We turn a knob and the oven gets pre-heated in 6 minutes. For this brick oven, Michaelo started the fire at 1:30, and it is ready for the first pizza to go in about 7:30. We just do not take the time that they do in many things, and maybe that explains some of the outcomes that we have in our daily lives.

While we were outside we found an iron horse....

....and a little bit more tame mother and child donkey. Note the stripe looks like a cross and is believed to be the same breed ridden by Jesus into Jerusalem.

Here we get a little bit of cat frolic time.




Michaelo's beautiful daughters, three in a row, and then his wife.




Jane and John are obviously singing 70's folk songs...Michaelo, Row the Boat Ashore!

The oven gets prepped, by moving the coals and cleaning the surface with an extremely wet mop.





The assembly line begins and Jane and Muriel hop in to get their hands dirty!


Creativity is the name of the game, and Michaelo explains how to best position and not overfill the shell. Olive oil gets drizzled after each creation is complete.

These would bake in about 3 minutes!





The master slicer at work...we have got to by Michaelo a pizza slicer!

Antonio is manning the ovens...he didn't burn a single pie!

Another culinary still life....pizza in St. Mary's County will never hold up to this!







Vincenzo has just had his foot stomped by Anita and is teasing that "He didn't feel a thing. It really doesn't hurt!"

Fruits of our labor.....extremely tasty. Fresh Italian olives and the various cheeses that they routinely have make all of the difference.

The Three Amigos....yes that knife was then used to cut the Tiramisu.

Or was that the Three Stooges!

Just when we thought we were done, calzones and breads were made for the plannied picnic the following day. They did NOT have to do that but boy were we grateful. The breads have sprigs of rosemary added along with an olive oil drizzle and seasoning. Perfect for our beach picnic!

The dessert at the end of the night!

This was truly one of those days that gets remembered for a lifetime. Michaelo opened up his doors for us and shared his traditions, time and friendship. His family was involved and engaged with us the whole time we were there and you could feel the joy that they share as a family.