I think Julia Childs taught us all to cook and to have a sense of humor while we cook! Thank you Julia. I am so glad she left us with lovely volumes of recipe and great video from her tv show. She will live on in our kitchens. My favorite memory of Julia is her…
Summer in Chianti-Pesce Finto
Summer in chianti… Off to Londa.. above Pontesieve, to take a class in mask making..feeding the soul! I am making pesce finto, “fake fish” to take, it is a cold potato salad, with tuna and capers. I learned this from my Mother-in-law, Tina Barchielli, another old recipe which is almost impossible to find in local trattoria’s…
La Dolce Vita
Since Under the Tuscan Sun, everyone has been dreaming about the Dolce Vita here in Tuscany. Well .. wake up and smell the expresso! I think that Frances Mayes writes very poetically and does create visions of Tuscany that make you dream.. but in between the lines there there are some nightmares too! Living here…
Death by Chocolate
This year went by so fast and got a little out of control. I was luckily very busy this fall, making up for the lack of work due to Sadam and SARS. But the summer heat ( record in 300 years!) also made my computers crazy and impossible to BLOG. I have finally caught up…
Ferragosto- August summer festivals
August 15th is a biggie in Italy. If you are not already on vacation, you will be! In anticipation, my food guru Dario Cecchini threw a big party for 1,000 of his closest friends. He created a new holiday the Festa del Nocciolo, the hazelnut tree party. Of course, August 15th is a big religious…
Too much Tuscan Sun!
When there is too much of the Tuscan Sun, it feels like we are being grilled. It is the feast day of San Lorenzo, St Lawrence, the patron saint of the Central Market in Florence. San Lorenzo, patron saint of cook.He was martyred by being grilled to death, that is a grill in his hand.I…
Summer refreshments!
It was hot out and we needed something to cool us down, summer refreshments in Italy are always wonderful. We tried out our friend Sabina’s new place in the old city of Certaldo, Antica Fonte. Certaldo is still a sleepy medieval village where the locals hang out in the evenings and talk!!! Next week there…
Roma Amore
I love Rome– Roma is AMOR spelled backwards. It is a little too large for me, more like LA, but I tend to do it in small bites. Yesterday went to Rome on a field trip. Object of the game was picking up a new series of regional Italian cookbooks, only available there. I…