Ciao Amici,

Have tomatoes coming out of your ears? This video will show you how to turn a your surplus into a lovely taste treat.

I'll be away most of Settembre (September) escorting a group tour to Tuscany. I always find that fall the best time to visit Italy for several reasons. Less crowds, the bountiful harvest, the start of porcini mushroom season and the vendemmia in some parts of Tuscany when juicy and sugary grapes are plucked from the vine and harvested for wine!

I have a lot planned for our group, including of course, cooking local foods and learning about Tuscan wines. We'll spend some time in the countryside in Pienza, Montalcino and Cortona. Then we will head to Florence and get saturated in art, art, and more art!

I am sure to bring back some new recipe ideas too and while we are there we will be filming a few episodes of the series. Your feedback tells us that you like the on-location segments and that you also love the video postcards from Italy. That was the brainchild of executive producer, Paul Lally. By the time I return we should be ready to launch our new web site. And you can also find me on www.huffingtonpost.com and facebook. Look for my blog on the www.ciaoitalia.com website on the home page.