Feltre Winter Bliss: hot chocolate and caramelized fruit from Sommariva (above) and winter vegetables and citrus fruit from the market this morning (below).

I am in Feltre now, my mother's small town in the North East of Italy, under the Dolomiti mountains. I hope to have more opportunities to blog about this place, but for now I just want to leave you with some images of the Palio of Feltre, a three days' festivity which included dinners, races, markets, games, drummers and flag weavers, parades, costumes, music, fireworks and everything that makes you feel that Italy is a magic place.

Last year I wrote an article about it in the Australian press ( here the Italian version) and previously I have written about it in the Japanese, New Zealand and local press. I will do something for next year, to publicize it before the next Palio, which always takes place in the first week-end of August, but just to let you know: this year winner was Duomo, which I congratulate, even if our family supports Santo Stefano....

I would like to thank Sue for visiting me from New Zealand to see Feltre and the Palio, and blogger friend Sasa, who lives in Austria and also managed to come to Feltre to meet me. Sorry Sasa if I wasn't able to get you some drummer boys, next time we will time it better :-)

My cousins Giovanna and Saverio asked me what I wanted to eat and I wanted the most traditional staple I could think of: Polenta and Schiz. Schiz is a kind of fresh white cheese, similar to Holloumi. It can not be eaten 'raw' but it needs to be cooked in a frying pan (with no oil) until soft and lightly golden. Butter and cream are usually added once all the water from the cheese has dried up.

A few calories here, I know...but we are in the mountains!