The first year we made homemade blackberry jam Maurizio picked the berries and I did the cooking and canning. Blackberries have so many seeds which we find unpleasant in jams and tarts so I decided to remove them. It’s a laborious, time consuming task and I cursed myself the whole way through making the jam…
Equipment & Gadgets
Lemon Lavender Cake
Lemon Lavender Cake Serves 8-12 This cake is a great way to use fresh, seasonal lemons and lavender. You can never go wrong with a lemon cake and the delicate hint of lavender adds something unique and magical to this dessert. It also makes a beautiful presentation when topped with a few sprigs of fresh…
Corzetti Pasta
What are corzetti? I love making unusual pasta shapes and forms and one of my favorites are corzetti, a disk shaped pasta with an imprinted design; the below corzetti have a giglio fiorentino (fleur de lis) design. The Encyclopedia of Pasta, by Oretta Zanini de Vita and masterfully translated into English by Maureen B. Fant, dedicates a…
Neapolitan coffee maker
Giulia will be having her baby any day now so while we are all waiting I’ve started doing a little nesting myself. For a long time now I’ve wanted to go through Nonna’s hope chest; it’s nearing a decade since she passed away at age ninety. She was an amazing woman: frugal, organized, efficient, as…
Olive oil containers
In Italy we buy our oil in large containers of from one liter to five liters, and quite a few containers at a time, just following the olive harvest in December. We estimate that we consume about 30 L and sometimes up to 50 L a year. We use olive oil for everything: to drizzle on…
Handcrafted Wine Bottle Stoppers
Outside of San Francisco’s ferry building I often find more artisanal creations of interest than within. Yesterday, my only day in town on this visit, I ran across some beautiful woodworked items ranging from vases to bowls to cutting boards to wine bottle stoppers. I enjoy taking a bottle of wine to a dinner at…
The Arrotino or Knife Sharpener
This special bicycle was used by the arrotino to sharpen knives, throughout neighborhoods in Rome. The box on the front carries the tools of the trade, and the stone disk (center of the bike) is the sharpening device, powered by the arrotino’s bicycle pedals. I used to love seeing the arrotino in our neighborhood, but…
Wood Burning Kitchen Stoves
I’ve always loved my elderly neighbor’s wood burning kitchen stove. On the left is where the wood that Lina chops daily is placed. On the right is the oven and above that, the cook top. The unit has a lever allowing the heat to be channeled to either the cook top or to the oven….
The Bialetti Moka Espresso Maker
I couldn’t live without my Moka coffee maker! These days everyone wants an espresso machine that uses pods and produces every variety and flavor of espresso. They want to be able to heat and froth their milk. I confess I have one of these too, albeit not one with all the bells and whistles some…
The potato ricer
When I make a shrimp bisque and I’d like to extract those wonderful juices from the shrimp heads and shells, my tool of choice is a potato ricer. Of course the potato ricer’s primary function is for making potato gnocchi. And it’s the best tool to use to mash potatoes and avoid overworking the potatoes….
Chestnut roaster from Pienza
Last week I stopped through Pienza, after a day long Brunello wine, tasting to pick up some cheese and enjoy the beauty of the town. Just as you enter the town from the main piazza outside the town walls there’s a wonderful shop, a sort of combination casalinga/ferramenta, that sells all kinds of articles for…
Linguine with Shrimp, Tomato and Zucchini
One of my favorite dishes that allows me to use the abundance of zucchini from my garden is Linguine with Shrimp, Tomato and Zucchini. It’s simple to make; follow your personal taste and instincts when making it. The potato ricer is a must for preparing this dish. You miss out on lots of flavor…