Strawberry moon 🌕
the first full moon of summer with a side of British strawberries 🍓
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Looking back…
It’s been a busy month to say the least. I’ve been cooking on sailing yachts, exploring Greek islands, and most importantly, we started the renovations on the farmhouse in Italy. The days and weeks are flying by and I need them to slow down a bit. The time has been filled with wonderful memories made possible by new and also familiar faces. Which is why, now that I have a moment to myself, I’ve been taking time to reflect on the many events that have shaped this current reality. And when I say many events, I mean the many stories and people that have shaped the plot over the years. Some sad, others filled with so much joy. But what both these kinds of moments have in common and what they both have taught me is that, in the ‘getting there’ there’s so much that others don’t see - heck, there’s so much we don’t see until later reflections.
With each reflection a new reality takes shape, offering different perspectives from the ones we originally thought as the hard truth. This all sounds so deep and meta, I know - that happens sometimes (and you thought you just came for some recipes) but as I sit here in our London flat and think about the plot - this story - I’m reminded of the small trips that got us here - to this place of building what will now be the farmhouse that will host tavolotwelve guests on land.
Without going back to the very beginning, the full plot with all it’s twists and turns; I flipped the pages back a few chapters to when we first started running tavolotwelve in barca. Tavolotwelve in barca was and still is (for those who want to explore Italy by sea) our Italian sailing experience which was designed to navigate our guests around the islands of Ponza and Palmarola - the very first islands I ever sailed to. We explored the island and made friends with the wineries, restaurants, and local guides. We designed tavolotwelve tote bags and made flags to fly from our mast. It was a creative and beautiful time for us to work on something we’d dreamed up.
And now, here we are, well under renovations to our tavolotwelve farmhouse. The sea will always be there for us and I can’t wait to see how we combine both the farmhouse and sailing experiences into our lives. For now, as the strawberry moon has come and gone, we take a moment to reflect on the growth. From cooking experiences on zoom during a pandemic, to cooking while floating at sea, and now to land. I can’t wait to share these moments of growth with you all. So as renovation continues on, follow the updates on the tavolotwelve instagram page. We’ll see you over there!
Strawberries and cream
This is not a recipe because it’s far to hot (around the world) for cooking anything substantial. Also because we just celebrated a strawberry moon AND Wimbledon is on the television in our London home constantly.
Ingredients:
10 strawberries (as per Wimbledon rules)
Double cream (to your liking)
Dusting of sugar (optional)
Wash the strawberries, pour over the double cream, dust the sugar, and enjoy.
I told you. Not a recipe. Stay cool as a strawberry in cream on a hot day in Wimbledon.



Traveling to Italy?
Need more recommendations for traveling in Italy, a custom itinerary, or a private chef for your Italian vacation? Head over to tavolotwelve.com for all that good stuff or reach out to me via email, instagram, and the likes.
Until next time at a standing reservation…
With love & snacks,
Paige
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Need a happy moment?
June 28, 2022 - my parents and I went to Wimbledon together. It wasn’t a heat wave as you can tell from our outfits - it was a normal British summer day. We drank Pimm’s and ate strawberries and cream and it was perfect. Look forward to another day at Wimbledon together.



