Podcast from Italy: Ashley & Jason Bartner

A January update from our farmhouse & cooking school! With 55 kilos of salami hanging in our rafters, we’re adding another 55 kilos of sausages this Saturday. This warm winter we are ready for winter projects around the house after a short trip away. We flew out of our local airport of Ancona which was a pleasure (especially compared to Florence) and we share a priceless long layover travel tip! T...

A festive Christmas Eve episode with the holiday higlights from around town! An update on the kitchen renovation - it's finally done and then the fire department arrived...find out why! Happy Holidays - Buon Natale, Ashley & Jason  

In a post turkey/stuffing/pumpkin pie haze we covered a lot of ground this podcast plus another chapter of the Book! After we took the dog (dog sitting for our Dutch neighbors) on a frozen walk we fired up the mics! A little late to the party - Italy joined America by enthusiastically celebrating Black Friday with crazy sales & on thoughts on this. But first RAI (Italian TV station) arrived to int...

Now that the last guests have checked out for our 2017 season we are ready for winter projects & a christmas tree! But before we closed the doors and began to batton down the hatches we hosted a truffle hunting weekend! Jason stews over being nickle & dimed in the immigration process and begins to add up the costs already associated with our Italian citizenship! Then a little "Yummy" talk and our...

An autumn update - from the garden and our first frost to kitchen renovations planned for the winter! We announce our 2018 calendar of cooking classes and workshops along with Ashley's thought's on the health care system in italy vs. the US.

For the faithful podcast listeners your questions will be answered in this podcast on where we are moving next! It feels good to have made a decision and now it's time to get to work with the house projects we want to tackle before the 2018 season begins! In local news: Thankfully September has brought mild wet weather - perfect for mushroom hunting - so this is the talk of town, along with the ro...

We're back with this podcast all about our house hunting and negotiating wooes! Plus the latest lineup of food festivals in the area this September. Of course there's the usual morning banter and update from the garden!

Ciao from HOT and dry Italy! We've had a heatwave for what feels like all summer but this Sunday morning was nice and cool after a steady soft rain so without watering in the garden to do - we fired up the mics to share the hottest local gossip in town! From an antique credit card machine to funeral fun and the hot topic of immigration/refugees. This week is a bit of a downer, we're not gonna lie!

After a little local gossip - we share our thoughts on fine Italian dining after a lunch at a Michellin Starred restaurant in Le Marche. Another chapter from the book: Porchetta Passion Thanks for listening!

We snuck away while family was in town to Lake Bolsena and Orvieto for a few days to explore Lazio and enjoy the tourist free lake...but more importantly due to listener demand we have interviewed Jason's brother Zack (aka Fat Zac) and we hope you enjoy the banter!

It feels like Christmas in June with a huge delivery of copper cookware for our cooking classes!! Jason researched for months and explains his choice  - listen to find out who we went with and why. Plus I read a few more chapters of the book including "Welcome to the Neighborhood" delivering apple pies to our new neighbors...

On a gorgeous Spring day we record the podcast outside under the cherry tree & talk about blowing Gaggi's mind with...fresh peas! We comment on the freak show of food videos filling our facebook feed and more excerpts from the Book: The Wood Bandits & Learning to Live & Cook Slow

Our season is underway with yoga retreats, cooking classes & bottling wine! An update on the coop - it's a full house with our new chickadees! During a break in guests we snuck away South to Puglia and tell you all about our adventure in buying caccio cavallo!

A freak April snowstorm hit just before we fired up the mics! An Easter recap, Gaggi's thoughts on our new car, the trials & tribulations of having a pool and our thoughts on train travel in Italy!

We are fired up for our first cooking class of the season - pizza, only to have a classic April shower washout. The workshop went great - we just don't know if it was the content or all the food & wine!! Jason shares one of his favorite lamb recipes. And Ashley shares her frustrations on vlogging...damn Casey Neistat! This week - we share a few more excerpts from the unpublished, unnamed, unfinish...

We are in full spring cleaning mode - from painting the guest rooms, working in the garden, planting flowers and taking care of business before the guests arrive in a week and half! That means tieing up loose ends with our immigration and farmer's union as well....We find out the hard way that even 8 years later the beauracracy can come back and bite ya if you didn't take care of it properly. Lots...

 This week is a doozey! We share with you our honest opion of 48 hours in Venice with a few great recommendations including a truck stop for lunch! We are getting ready for the start of the season and busy working on the vlog & projects around the house.  While trying to support his strong back, Jason is strengthening his mind...with basic algebra and a little music from Tennesse Earnie Ford. And...

After catching you all up on the latest happenings: from ladri in Piobbico to carnevale & citrus season we swtich it up and read an excerpt from the unpublished book Ashley started years ago... Thanks for listening and send us your comments & quetions to read on an upcoming episode!

Happy 2017! After spending the holidays in France we share the differences vs. Italy. While we were away Gaggi stayed busy with yard work just in time for the snow storm on it's way! And our annual tradition continues - we made 50 kilos of salami with Gaggi & Vittorio! Thanks for listening & buon anno nuovo!

After a month of work at the house and visiting family in the States, we are back reminiscing about our first Christmas in Italy, 10 years ago! Jason runs down his top list of Christmas gifts for the cook and we compare Christmas in the States vs Italy. Happy Holidays!!

We woke to the first hard frost of the year after a light snow on Saturday. Jason shares his tips for menu planning and preparing your holiday feast! From brining the turkey to making the most of your equipment - plan ahead & you'll do great! We talk Italian politics from the new garbage bins to Renzi's reform. Happy Holidays & thanks for listening!

It's the end of the season at La Tavola Marche (farm, inn & cooking school), we fire up the mics as we prepare for winter. Thankfully safe & sound after another round of earthquakes in Central Italy, we chat about our mezzo-gallo (half rooster), kimchi & stocking up on olive oil. Ashley shares her truffle hunting adventures and Jason explains the traditions of local hunters and the unique feast fo...

Autumn is at our doorstep on this beautiful morning! This episode we chat about the modernization in Italy and the arrival of Amazon.it and the effects. An immigration update which leads us to a discussion on how we 'grease the wheels' out here! Then we move on to the kitchen at talk about cooking rabbit. We announce our first Consulting Workshop in Italy for those of your dreaming of moving here...

Thankfully we are safe & sound without any damages in our area after the devastating earthquake. We recap the last few months and how the Dutch saved our Summer! The fun vs. frustrations of kids at the farmhouse and menu planning involved for families. And Jason asks if 'Stuffed Zucchini & Carbonara what you really want?!' Announcing the 2017 NEW cooking classes! Thanks for listening & have a grea...

He fled the country!! The unbelievable true story of selling our cooking in Italy. Two days after all the documents and contracts were signed at the notary (and legally binding), the “new owners” of La Tavola Marche fled the country on a plane back to the good ol’ U.S of A.!!  They lasted 6 days in Italy. We were in total shock - not only did they leave without telling us but without paying either...