In 1958, Doris Muscatine’s husband was awarded a Fulbright that required them to live a year in Rome, and so began a love affair with Italy that would continue for the rest of their lives.

This is a memoir of a happy life, one spent devoted to family, friends, food, and a growing sense of international understanding filled with hope and respect. With the skill of a landscape painter and the ear of a poet, Doris Muscatine writes of the pleasures of the flesh and of the soul. She takes us along on her search for truffles and balsamic vinegar, her visits to Sicily and Venice, her stay with the nuns of Populonia, and her accidental meeting with members of the Slow Food movement. Her adventures are filled with the serendipity of someone in love with the world and willing to allow life to unfold at its own pace.