Author Frances Mayes’ new book is a travel memoir that explores Italy from north to south On this dreary winter morning, Hillsborough author Frances Mayes already has picked out her recipe for dinner. Her copy of Joshua McFadden’s “Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables” is open on the kitchen counter, revealing a colorful casserole dish of Roasted Fennel with Apples, Taleggio Cheese and Almonds. Mayes, the best-selling author of the 1996 novel “Under the Tuscan Sun,” knows how to make a cozy nest in any space. She lives in the historic Chatwood, originally built by Quakers as a dignified Federal farmhouse in the early 1800s as a commercial and…