briciole

lorighittas al sugo piccante / lorighittas with spicy hot tomato sauce

ready to dry Inspiration often comes unexpectedly. When I followed the link to read this post by Aioulik of Trattoria MuVarA (in Italian), I expected to be reminded of some of the great dishes typical of the Sardinian cuisine. The photo of the lovely pasta shape resembling a miniature wreath or an earring made me search immediately online for information. Shortly afterwards, I was at the kneading board. Later, I posted this phost to my Instagram feed: from my first batch of lorighittas I think it was not bad for my first try. According to online sources, lorighittas are typical of... Read more →

panini quadrifoglio / four-leaf clover rolls

waiting for the rolls to cool Do you remember the delivery of mail catalogs that was an almost daily occurrence until not too long ago? Annoying as sometimes was, I realize that, as an adult immigrant to the US, I would have not learned about certain brands had I not received their catalogs. King Arthur Flour's1 catalog keeps arriving in my mail box and I like to leaf through it because it showcases a few recipes and they have been inspirational more than once: The recipe for four-leaf clover rolls is the most recent example (and this is a previous one).... Read more →

torta alle noci / walnut cake

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] ready to be cut One year, when I was still living in Milan, for my birthday dinner a friend of mine got me a walnut cake. I remember the nice contrast between the soft cake crumb and the crunchy walnuts. I am not sure why I never thought about making a walnut cake at home, maybe because I am not much of a cake person. However, when I saw the recipe for Gâteau aux Noix in the cookbook "Saveur Cooks Authentic French," a gift from my friend Christine of Christine Cooks, I... Read more →

per la Giornata della Terra / for Earth Day

sweet hills The December day was gray, with a clear wish to rain. The expanse of Briones Park, peacefully empty, was exhilarating for the young woman recently arrived from Milan (that is, me). While people were rushing hither and thither to get all the Christmas chores done, we were luxuriating amid softly undulating hills studded with stately oaks. My first walk in Briones Park occurred during my first visit to California 20 years ago. I have been back countless times. I have walked on pretty much all its trails (and all around nearby Briones Reservoir). My first photographic project had the... Read more →

scatola di biscotti / cookie tin

contained Phoenix Egg Rolls made in Macau There are events that bring life to an abrupt halt. The bombing in Boston is one of those. I thought that sporting events were hallowed territory, but obviously they are not so any more. I took this photo outside the Loka Yoga studio on Sunday morning. It was almost 1 pm and intensely bright, so not an ideal time to take outdoor photos, but I noticed that the cookies came from Macau, where the book we are currently reading for our Cook the Books Club is set, one more reason to take the photo.... Read more →

cappellacci dei briganti / brigands' hats

the hats are made of pasta dough! You look at the image and you want some, right? That's what happened to me: I read about cappellacci dei briganti in the "Encyclopedia of Pasta" by Oretta Zanini De Vita and I immediately made a batch. The word cappellaccio comes from cappello (hat). The suffix has a negative connotation, which matches the idea that they are worn by lawless characters. According to Zanini De Vita, this pasta is typical of Molise, the Italian region sandwiched between Abruzzo and Puglia. (Note that there is another type of pasta whose name includes cappellacci, namely cappellacci... Read more →

iris bianchi e cavolo nero / white irises and Tuscan kale

neighbors at the market Friendly neighbors at the market, fascinating each on its own and striking in their juxtaposition, white irises and Tuscan kale arrested my eyes and made my hands reach for the camera. Darkness and light, ruggedness and smoothness, opposites embrace each other at the farmers' market. This is my contribution to edition #78 of Black and White Wednesday - A Culinary Photography Event created by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, now organized by Cinzia of Cindystar, and hosted this week by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen. The photo was shot in color and then converted to black and... Read more →

ceci al pomodoro per FBAH / chickpeas with tomatoes for FBAH

"Nearly one in five children in America lives in households that struggle to put food on the table" (source). This is not a statistics I just learned. I have been sensitive to the problem of food insecurity in this country for quite some time. The Alameda County Community Food Bank and Food for People are two organizations close to my heart and so is Share Our Strength. The recent documentary A Place at the Table from Participant Media—the same studio that brought us Food Inc.—follows three families struggling with food insecurity, and sheds light on the problem of hunger in America.... Read more →

zuppa di zucca / winter squash soup

[cliccare il link per andare alla versione in italiano] creamy winter squash soup Being a winter squash hoarder means I still have "raw material" (materia prima) for soup, though the calendar says it's spring (primavera). Am I really the only one still drawing from a stash of squashes carefully stored during the winter? I suspect not. In any case, let's face it: it's time to use them. If you live on the other hemisphere, then you have squashes from the new crop to work with. I met this recipe in the waiting room of my doctor's office. A quick look at... Read more →

pane di segale con cumino dei prati / caraway rye bread

densely good and nourishing Rye bread still tastes a bit exotic to me, like the first time I had a bite, many years ago, during my first visit to Germany. The crumb was dense and the palate detected a slight smoky tone. I can't say I fell in love with it, but I was intrigued. Years later, once my bread-baking skills had developed enough, I went back to that memory and decided to renew the experience, this time with a product from my own oven. After I baked my first rye bread, emboldened by my success, I tried making sourdough rye... Read more →