This was one of the great dessert recipes I taught for the college students I taught while they were on their study abroad programs. We made a mixed fruit bowl, but it started as a simple way to finish a meal. Cut a piece of fruit into your wine glass and add a spoon or…
Gifts from My Kitchen- Limoncello
Winter is time to get your Limoncello going for the year! Using the whole grain alcohol, it only takes 3 days, not 40 to make. So if you start today, it will be ready for the holidays. I like to peel my organic lemons with a potato peeler, over the jar I am going to…
ExtraDolcemente Pisa
There is a lovely artisanal sweets fair in Pisa yearly. I participated in creating a dessert using olive oil for one of their online events. I created a sweet sformata, a flan sort of a cheesecake, based on a friends savory dish. I have been making olive oil gelato since I first heard about it…
Sweet Tuscany- Frittelle
Tuscany has been dark and grey, wet and windy this past week. The hills are saturated with water, mudslides blocking the roads near where I live, rivers overflowing near Pisa. We did receive a small window of sun and a reason to celebrate. March 17th is St Patrick’s day, but although it is said he…
Cooking Therapy- Sbriciolona
My best therapy is cooking and I needed some therapy! Am up in Seattle now where I have a lot of friends. Did a huge Valentine’s day cooking class at my friend Carol’s cooking school in Bellvue, Sizzleworks and we had a blast. But teaching cooking is not like the quiet zen of just preparing…
Pie Party 2012
It is so hot in Italy, you could probably cook a pie outside? But who am I not to participate? I did not grow up in a normal home. I did not have “American” pie-making mom or grandmothers. When I became a pastry chef, I learned to make all sorts of doughs, crusts etc, but…
Cioccolosa!
When the chill of winter first blows into town, any good Italian knows it is time for a Cioccolato Caldo. If you have never experienced a Italian hot chocolate, you are in for a surprise. It is not that thin water thing we drink in the USA with marshmallows, but rather like drinking pudding. I…
Tasting the Past- Cotognata ( Quince Paste)
There are some fruits and vegetables that remind me of the past. Odd shapes and incredible flavor and fragrances. Quince are one of those fruits. Impossible to eat as is. Often when at the market something catches my eye that I HAVE TO COOK. I don’t think I ever cooked or saw quince in California…