All posts filed under: Italian Cooking

Food: Embracing Gelato

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I am sure many of you will chuckle when I say, every person that’s ever been to Italy has certainly stopped at a Gelato stand or a shop or boutique gelato bar and downed a few scoops of gelato – my favorite, in case you ask, being pistachio, or espresso. So, since I’m researching at this moment about all things Italy, this article popped up, explaining why it is that I LOVE 🙂 Gelato.  Here’s the important points, the rest of the article you can read here: “First, traditional gelato has way less butterfat. About 4 to 8 percent of gelato is butterfat, compared to 14 percent for ice cream in the United States. That means gelato freezes less solidly than ice cream (and it’s actually served about 10 to 15 degrees warmer than ice cream), so it melts in your mouth faster.” “Second, gelato has a much higher density. To make ice cream, producers mix cream, milk, sugar — and then add air, which increases volume, and water, which increases weight. But all that …

Sunday Cravings: A Week By The Poolside – Italy

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We’ve made it through the first quarter of the year, although really I don’t know how we got here. Wait. I do know exactly how I got here. I was too busy helping with three moves in four months, a remodel, a book edit going on sale April 16, the ear to everyone’s problems, the one doing all the comforting, ego boosting, problem solving and care giving. I know exactly what filled my days. On Saturday, instead of staying home,  I got up early, showered, and actually got dressed up, even wore my make up and left the house. To have breakfast with a friend who called to say she was in town for a vet appointment.  Spending the entire morning with her, on Chestnut Street, having breakfast, chatting up a storm, then window-shopping, checking out the books on display at my favorite Books Inc. store, and even grabbing a freshly squeezed fruit juice in a bottle. It turned out to be a nice day. In our conversation, both of us longing for a week-long …

Monday Recipe: Pasta with Yogurt and Caramelized Onion

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First glimpse of misty mornings, possible long overdue rain in the city, and I decided on Pasta for dinner tonight while commuting to work this early morning. I do love the time change though, because it makes my favorite part of the day, dawn, much more visible from the train-ride to downtown. Anyway, back to the recipe. With my family’s meditterean roots, we often use yogurt  for cooking. Yes even in the winter months. So  when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it, not once second-guessing how good the combination of ingredients would taste. So for dinner tonight we will have pasta with yogurt and caramelized onions, paired with a wonderful red of course. Happy Monday! {Source}

Missing Tuscany…

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I think I took my annual trip to Europe too soon this year (in May), because I am having withdrawals right about now. Usually we go in October.  Italy is always on the list. Tuscany a must. I pick a different place each year and we spend a few days taking it all in, and wishing we could simply buy a villa and remodel it “Under The Tuscan” style. The sad thing is I add to my misery by searching online for everything Tuscany, of course I’ve also subscribed to a few sites so you can imagine my inbox daily, reminding me that I am not there. So, Tuscan desserts  will have to do from this site to get me by through the holidays, and into the next year,  when I begin planning my annual trip – for sure October 2016.  Until then I share with you these recipes:

travel: it’s all about italy

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What is it about this wonderful country most of us Americans can’t get enough? I can only speak for myself of course when I say I am madly in love with Italy – Rome, Florence, Venice, Genoa, and every other corner in between  from the hillside small villages of Cinque Terre, to the wonderful Como district, the country the most romantic in my opinion –  and very different  from the well known city of love – Paris. That is where I chose to base  my first novel Piazza Navona, the story unfolding in my imagination and mind, over a cup of espresso sitting in a cafe on the historic Piazza Navona. One day, while I sat in a cafe in Rome-in Piazza Navona, staring at a small stationery store, I realized I wanted to write a novel, about a woman who falls in love in Rome. But I knew I needed a twist on a story that has been told a thousand times. So in 2011, after my return to San Francisco, I began working on my first …

inspired to write in portofino, italy

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When I worked in the travel industry, I thumbed through hundreds of travel and tour marketing brochures, aiming to learn everything about the business. At the time, I turned the pages, marking with a sticky note or a paperclip, all the places around the world I wanted to see. Portofino was one of those places. I finally got a chance to go there two years ago, and the moment I arrived From Genoa by train-to-bus to the small fishing village, I was completely taken aback by how perfectly surreal the place was. Enchanted if you will, surely one of the best places to photograph and fall in love with. I spend hours at an outdoor eatery, people watching and taking in all that I could about the place, while imagining how people lived and vacationed in the quant town. I couldn’t get enough of the best facaccia bread also , baked perfectly with local olives and grilled onions among the dozen or so other ingredients; all choices displayed in small bakeries, lined along the narrow …

day 6 – a day in camogli, italy

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Genoa is a good base if you want to explore the Italian Riviera. (In my opinion anyway). So, I included the destination on this year’s trip to Europe to do just that. After a stormy day in Lake Como, (a day trip from Genoa) we loaded up on esspresso and pastries and got on an intercity train for a half hour journey to Camogli from Genoa. A fishing village I haven’t been to for over 15 years. The easy going small town, adorned with charming pastel colored buildings, put me at ease right away and I had a difficult time leaving the place to catch the last train back to Genoa for the night. I can see myself spending at least a week, if not more there, simply existing, eating focaccia, plenty of fresh seafood and rum balls, in between napping and oh yeah simply existing. 🙂

day 6 – travel journal – portofino, italy

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After the hectic day we had while trekking through the Cinque Terre, we decided to take a day to just relax and what better place to do so than Portofino, Italy. From Genoa, we took a train to Santa Margherita for 3.50Euro pp each way, then for  1.50Euro pp each way, we hopped on bus no 82 from the train station to Portofino and within an hour’s time from Genoa we were in one of the most peaceful fishing villages (and a hide out for the rich) in the Italian Riviera. We spend the entire morning leisurely circling the small town on foot, then stopped for lunch at the best bakery in the area for roasted onion focassia  or two or three and then climbed up a hillside to get the postcard views which I have only seen on the cover of most  travel brochures promoting the region. We ended the day by sitting at a sidewalk bar/cafe to people watch while we contemplated their lifestyles and reasons for visiting Portofino. The town is small, …

day 2 – travel journal – day trip to roma, italy

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There is no way for me to travel through Italy without stopping in Rome, even if it’s just for a day. So, while plotting out this year’s trip abroad, I decided to make Firenze (Florence) my base and take day trips via TrainItalia to Rome, Venice, Pisa and hopefully Verona (will see how that goes). We took an early morning train (7:00 a.m .to be precise ) from Firenze S.M.N. station and arrived in Roma Termini within 2 hours. Upon our arrival we wasted no time taking our walking tour of the city.  The point to remember is that, the suggested independent walking tour  is not recommended for a first time visit to Rome, it’s just intended for people like me who have been to Rome  a dozen times but just can’t get enough 🙂 So, in our case, we started the walking tour with: The entire trip took us twelve hours on foot, with an hour break for lunch and one hour rest break at the Spanish Steps. The train ride back to Florence …

interior decor and design: kitchen extraordinaire

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Although I am a fan of simply white kitchens, I must admit I have grown to love this unique and extraordinaire kitchen. The only downfall is, if I had a kitchen such as this one, I would probably order take out food every day to avoid messing it up.  What do you think, is this your dream kitchen or simply a museum masterpiece?