I woke up this morning and decided to make myself a little “brunch”. I received a lovely gift of a families homemade maple syrup and so was dreaming about French Toast with the homemade loaf o made after our Master Pizza class with Giovanni Santarpia in Chianti. At the same time, I remembered a savory…
Ivana’s Bread Bakery- Edible Florence
For 20 years I lived just in front of the Mercato Centrale in Florence. What a blessing. Such a choice for ingredients and shopping. In front of the market, hidden behind the stands selling leather, is one of my favorite bakeries in the area, Forno Ivana. Tuscany is famous for the saltless bread, which for…
Spring Escapes
This year, my culinary tours began early. I have always dreamed of attending the St Joseph Day celebrations in Sicily since I read about them in an article by Carol Field. They are held in the tiny villages or Salemi, Gibellina and Poggioreale as well as in many other towns. I organized a tour for…
Tuscan Toast
A common “snack” at the coffee shop bars in and around Italy are “toasts”, not “panini”. Panino means sandwich and they are not put in a “panini press” unless you ask. Most panini are made with lettuce and mayonnaise and they would not think about heating them. But there is a hot ham and cheese…
Simple Pleasures- New Oil
We live in the middle of olive groves and vineyards, but we don’t make our own wine or olive oil. But we know where to get it FRESH. at the mill waiting to be crushed Near our home is a fabulous olive oil cooperative with over 1,000 members. They all live within 30 km of…
Rianata- Trapani style “pizza” – Calvino
When I was in Trapani last month, I took my friends to a favorite pizza spot I discovered a couple of trips ago, Calvino. Their pizza’s are different. Instead of sauce, they use tomatoes. My favorite is their classic Rianata pizza which is made with the cherry tomatoes, anchovy, pecorino cheese and oregano (rianata- oreganata)….
Fall Favorites- Kale Bruschetta
Right now life is a little hectic. When I stop working, I have to catch up on work, if you know what I mean. End of the year paperwork, things I have let slip by. And when that happens, cooking time in the kitchen also gets cut down to quick recipes or really long slow…
Summer is Here
To me, the first sign that summer has arrived is a craving for a big dish of Tuscan Panzanella. A celebration of summer made with fresh sweet red onions, ripe tomatoes and cucumbers with crumbled bread and basil. An edible Italian flag, red, white and green. It is seasoned with rich unfiltered Tuscan olive oil, tart…