The fields behind our house are a veritable forager’s dream. Last weekend we spent all day Saturday enjoying the prolonged Indian summer we’ve been having in Rome this October. As we walked along we managed to pick a variety of greens for a misticanza salad. We also picked bunches and bunches of wild spinach which…
Cuisine
Zucchini Ice Cream
I’ve been making a lot of ice cream recently and experimenting with different flavors. The best one I’ve made so far is zucchini ice cream. It’s also the ice cream that everyone, across the board, loves. This is what I gather in my basket every day: I love to make all my favorite sweet things…
Banana Ice Cream
Lately I’ve been trying to make ice creams that recall something sweet and delicious that I love. Banana bread is one of these things, but it’s only recently that I’ve perfected my banana bread. My approach to ice cream (in this case banana) is to look at the ingredients in banana bread and try to…
Cherry Ice Cream
When I was little we used to spend part of the summer at our grandparents’ home in Downers Grove, outside of Chicago. I haven’t been back since, but at the time Downers Grove was a small suburban location, almost rural. Two of my strongest memories from those visits pertained to food. Pepperidge Farm was located…
Pea Soup topped with Crunchy Guanciale
Whether you’re using fresh peas from the garden or dried, split peas in the winter the procedure is the same; only the cooking time varies. I love pea soup in the winter, and in the spring when peas are fresh and in season, and what really makes it tasty is the addition of crunchy…
Italian “Colomba” Easter Cake French Toast
One way to serve Colomba that is exquisite is French toast. It’s incredibly moist and as the bread is sweet to begin with it barely even needs butter and syrup. The Colomba is filled with candied bits of orange and coated with whole almonds and sugar which adds to the flavor. I slice it into…
Buttery Scones
Hot, buttery scones. That’s what came to me this morning when, after a series of gorgeous, sunshine filled days, I looked out my kitchen window to see a gray, rainy Sunday. Scones have to be the biggest bang for your buck if you want a hot, melt in your mouth breakfast in just a half…
Persimmon season & Persimmon Yogurt Gelato
Persimmons, known in Italy as kaki, cachi or loti, are a delicious fall fruit that can be found growing all over the Lazio region. Persimmons grow on a tree and have been cultivated in Italy since the mid 1800’s. The persimmon tree is perennial and is originally from China and then Japan. There are two types…