Often it is hard to know when to change your wardrobe here in Italy. Spring has arrived and the days get longer, more sun and warmth. Next thing a storm blows in and temperatures drop and back to layering with sweaters to keep warm and soup and stews back on the stove. Sometimes there are…
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…
Can’t stand the heat?
My Tuscan-Russian Salad It is sooooooo hot here right now that it is almost impossible to even think about cooking, but one must eat, so I was inspired to create a cold New Tuscan Style- Russian salad. Insalata Russa was a classic when I first moved here, a vegetable salad bound together with at least a…
Winter or Spring?
Usually winter means less sunlight, dark cold days, warm soups, stews and risotto. This year has only had a couple of really cold spells which have passed quicky. Not enough to get into winter foods. Except two of my favorite winter foods, salads and blood oranges. Here we are in the heart of what is…
Brutto ma Buono
Brutto ma Buono….Ugly but good Heirloom tomatoes are not always pretty but they are pretty good! Rich and almost meaty! Today’s Cuore di Bue ended up in a riff on a traditional summer salad lightened up. Insalata Russa , russian salad, is a classic, made from tiny boiled veggies, usually peas, carrots, potatoes and string…
Market Recipes- Polpo- Octopus Salad
Saturday’s market also includes the fish truck.Although Italy is surrounded by water, fish is still considered to be an expensive item. Dried fish such as Baccala, the salt cod, is often the fish of choice. Even on the Island of Ischia, the local specialty is rabbit.. not fish.Fishermen sell the fish to make money and…
Winter Greens to Spring Salads
Winter tiptoed through Tuscany, barely chilling us and Spring has snuck in. My tiny yards, front and back, are covered with wild violets, filling the air with a perfume like a grandmother’s hankie! Iris have started to stick their heads up, yellow mimosa trees also are full early this year. The hills are a velvet green…
Winter Shopping
While shopping for my Pumpkin soup for my Friday with Fergus I couldn’t resist the winter veggies calling my name! A woman doesn’t live by pork alone! We are getting ready for our Big Pork Blogging Weekend, have you sent us a recipe? I adore salads in the winter, and the fresh puntarelli, from the…