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Announcing: Novel Food #35

In the northern hemisphere winter still rules, but not for long: by the time the 35th edition of the culinary/literary event Novel Food ends, it will be spring! In the meantime, as inclement weather keeps us inside, we have a perfect excuse to curl up in our favorite armchair with a book and a steaming mug of tea. Novel Food is a little voyage of literary discovery and a delightful party featuring literary-inspired dishes contributed by event's participants. I hope you will join. I am looking forward to learning about a published literary work (a novel, novella, short story, memoir, bio,... Read more →

Novel Food #34: the finale

Welcome to the roundup of the 34th edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I created in 2007. Novel Food is about literary works (prose or poetry) that inspire the preparation of dishes. I continue to host this event with great pleasure, as it brings together two of my passions: literature and food. Every edition delivers a great reading list and a lovely set of recipes. A group of book-loving food bloggers has contributed posts, each describing a literary work and the dish that the reading inspired. You are invited to follow me on a... Read more →

sweet pepper, onion and zucchini tart / torta salata con peperoni dolci, cipolle e zucchine

a favorite dinner fare (linen by La FABBRICA del LINO) At a conference this past February I met author Anne Perry and a few days later to I found myself in a bookstore that had a copy of The Cater Street Hangman, first book of the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series1. The coincidence was too tempting to resist. I liked the book so much that I read the following three novels in the series: Callander Square, Paragon Walk and Resurrection Row. Besides being good mysteries, the novels attract me because of their setting: Victorian England. They look at the life of... Read more →

sourdough whole-wheat cheese crackers / cracker integrali al formaggio

one by one, they will soon be all gone (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) The August-September selection of the Cook the Books club is the novel Sourdough by Robin Sloan1. Intriguing title, I thought immediately, but did not know what to expect: I rarely read reviews before I read a book (sometimes do so after turning over the last page2). Being familiar with the San Francisco Bay Area contributed to the story's appeal, but even if you don't know the island of Alameda or the San Francisco Ferry Building, you will enjoy the twists and turns of Lois Clary's adventures... Read more →

Announcing: Novel Food #34

As summer slowly slides into the warm colors of fall in the northern hemisphere, it carries the announcement of another edition of the culinary/literary event Novel Food. I read a lot and cook a lot and although many things in my life have changed in the 11 years since I started my blog, those two pillars still stand firmly. Novel Food is a little voyage of literary discovery and a delightful party featuring literary-inspired dishes contributed by event's participants. I hope you will join. I am looking forward to learning about a published literary work (a novel, novella, short story, memoir,... Read more →

Novel Food #33: the finale

Welcome to the roundup of the 33rd edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I created in 2007. Novel Food is about literary works (prose or poetry) that inspire the preparation of dishes. I continue to host this event with great pleasure, as it brings together two of my passions: literature and food. Every edition delivers a great reading list and a lovely set of recipes. A group of book-loving food bloggers has contributed posts, each describing a literary work and the dish that the reading inspired. You are invited to follow me on a... Read more →

chocolate and walnut whole-wheat dinner rolls / panini integrali al cioccolato e noci

everything is better with chocolate, including bread (placemat by La FABBRICA del LINO) On a recent visit to a local bookstore, I purchased Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout1. A friend had told me the movie was really good, but I rarely watch TV, so the recommendation made me buy the book. I loved every page of it. The writing is superb and the characters of the stories are drawn with delicacy, precision and empathy. I also like the author's choice in writing a collection of short stories, rather than a novel. In some of them Olive is the protagonist, in others... Read more →

sugar snap peas with pancetta and pine nuts / piselli mangiatutto con pancetta e pinoli

sugar snap peas with pancetta and pine nuts (napkin by La FABBRICA del LINO) Opening a book and starting to read it is one the sweetest of life pleasures. Planning and executing a recipe is another. When I am invited to do both, I cannot refuse. Jenna Blum's The Lost Family1,2,3 is a novel rich in strong characters. Not only the main ones, Peter, June and their daughter Elsbeth, but also those in their lives, from Masha, the wife Peter lost, to Ruth and Sol, the cousins who took in Peter when he emigrated to the US, to Gregg, June's first... Read more →

Announcing: Novel Food #33

Spring is on its way and with it comes another edition of Novel Food, the culinary/literary event with a long history, going back to the fall of 2007. I read a lot and cook a lot and although many things in my life have changed in the 11 years since I started my blog, those two pillars still stand and support me. I am announcing another edition of Novel Food, a little voyage of literary discovery and also a delightful party with the literary-inspired dishes contributed by event's participants. I hope you will join. I am looking forward to learning about... Read more →

Novel Food #32: the finale

Welcome to the roundup of the 32nd edition of Novel Food, the literary/culinary event that Lisa of Champaign Taste and I created in 2007. Novel Food is about literary works (prose or poetry) that inspire the preparation of dishes. I continue to host this event with great pleasure, as it brings together two of my passions: literature and food. Every edition delivers a great reading list and a lovely set of recipes. Book-loving food bloggers have contributed posts, each describing a literary work that the blogger read and the dish that the reading inspired. Please, follow me on a short literary/culinary... Read more →