My brother is the kind of dad who goes out early on a Saturday morning to buy fresh blueberries for pancakes requested for breakfast by his four year old daughter. Or who bakes moon-sized chocolate chip cookies on his day off just for her, a prize for when she eats the kind of food a... Continue Reading →
Crime scene parmigiano
We think of Thanksgiving as a standard holiday, with a standard meal, and yet, there’s no standard way of celebrating Thanksgiving. Some like turkey. Some don’t. Some like a roasted turkey. Some like a deep fried turkey. Or an ice cream turkey. Some have a glazed ham or steaks or a pork roast or vegan... Continue Reading →
Taking advantage of the shoulder season in Orvieto
Amazing food with a side of culture. That sums up Italy, and in less than 140 characters. The side of culture comes in different flavors, staying with an Italian family, getting pickpocketed, or eating dinner over a labyrinth of tunnels dug out in 300 BC. Now, now you've got Orvieto in Umbria. It takes some... Continue Reading →
More than a pasta shop
Gelato, cioccolato and pasta. You can marinate yourself in history, culture, and art in Italy. And then there is gelato, cioccolato and pasta. Any bad day, even if you’ve been pickpocketed (unfortunately I know the feeling), can end in one of those shops and erase any negative feelings you have about what happened, or didn’t... Continue Reading →
Making peace, one blueberry pancake at a time
The funnest person I get to talk to right now is my three-year old niece. Conversations are about eating, playing and sleeping. We don’t always agree, but she’s a grand diversion from the junk that comes out of the mouths of adults today who get paid millions to say it. When she speaks – she’s... Continue Reading →
Dinosaur days…
I’ve been living in the Los Angeles area for almost a decade now. To what end I didn’t know - it's too expensive - other than I live close to the beach, the airport and my brother. But then his daughter was born. Being an aunt who lives so close is the luckiest of situations.... Continue Reading →
Dialing 911 for pasta
An emergency text from a friend: Hi! We got a pasta making attachment for the KitchenAid mixer. Some recipes say all purpose flour and some say 00 flour. I thought we should ask an expert. That’s how my holiday season started, and it seemed to be a theme that carried through to the end when... Continue Reading →
Have chicken stock, will travel
Have chicken stock, will travel by Janice Nigro I know the best restaurant in Los Angeles. You won’t read about it in any magazines or newspapers, only here in this blog. It’s a pop-up restaurant though that is only open three to four weeks out of the year (at this location), and not just anyone... Continue Reading →