Spring is here! Let’s have some fun.

Hello everyone! It has been a while but I’m still here!!! I just taught a cooking class on vegan food! – you know me, I am not vegan and I really dislike labels – but that was the theme of the class and a perfect one for a good internal spring cleaning…  I  call this a “meal…

Eating your Friend… ‘s vegetables

All summer long, our friends have given us cases of their garden’s vegetables. I have yet to purchase a tomato! I’ve received every shape, every color; from sweet to tart, all were packed with flavor. I have already made tomato sauce for the year. Well… I am leaving for a week so that stock of tomato jars is probably…

Heart Healthy, anti This and anti That… did someone say “Banana Bread”?

As far as I can remember, I have been obsessed with Bananas. So much so that as a kid, for my birthday, people would give me banana scented everything… pencils, shampoo, scratch-and-smell gadgets, you name it, if it came in “banana”, someone bought it for me. So I have no idea why I never made…

Summer Spaghettata “con pesto”

If it was up to my husband, we would have pasta every single day for lunch, and … he pretty much does… Spaghetti is his favorite kind of pasta. So this post is all about “spaghettata” an italian word that with the addition of a question mark (spaghettata?), simply stands for “shall we have a bite?” On…

Translation Please…

As requested by a friend of mine, I am translating two recipes that appeared on my Italian blogs. I have mentioned this before, I collaborate with a great blog called Taste from Abruzzo focused on the greatness this region (Abruzzo) has to offer. The other is a health food column for my school’s online magazine LUI.Ben …

Blogging around Italy

Dormant for a while, my blog re-appeard to you to deliver the delicious puff recipe inspired by a french classic. You see I now write for two other blogs and my day job has been keeping me pretty busy. I am however, very proud of my collaboration with the other blogs as one dedicated to…

Italian style Saffron Gougères

As soon as I wrote the title, I realized I would be in trouble with my French friends. Gougère is in fact a delicious little French cheezy puff and it is made one way and one way only. But since I was inspired from the original recipe to create my own, I felt it was…

Sardine & the purple Orach

Hi! Did you miss me? The book? No… not finished but I’m almost there… I can see the finish line. I know, I’ve said “almost” before. But let me tell you, a finish line, is a tricky thing. I’ll explain: a couple of years back, I was in Brazil in a great yoga/kayak/hiking retreat called the…

A cherry on top

Though I am not a free woman (still held captive by my cookbook), I tought I would share this quick delicious recipe with you. Cherries arrived at the market a couple of weeks ago. They started pale and tart then with each market visit they got darker and sweeter and are now perfect. Last Thursday…

Whole Foods

This week I was inspired by three different people. Nicole has been a dear friend for 26 year! Ugh… I can’t believe it has been so long. She has always supported me in all my adventures and promoted me in every way she could. Now she is working in fitness so healthy food is important…

“Agretti”, a short season not to be missed

Agretti, lemony crunchy wonderful vegetable, called Salsola Soda in english… If any of you know a more appetizing english name for this wonderful delicacy, please let me know and I will add it to this post. Fun facts: Agretti are filled with water and fibers making them both diuretic and slightly laxative… 😉 Rich in…

Me, my salads and I

When we opened our restaurant in Brooklyn more than 13 years ago, I wanted a restaurant that reflected the food I grew up with in Florence. It was in fact a pretty traditional restaurant, for Italy that is, for New York, it was all new and adventurous. The only exception to the very Tuscan menu…

Did you miss me?

If the answer is not “YES!” … keep quiet. Spring is here and it is a time of re-birth, renewal and of course all my favorite vegetables. I brought home the first fava beans, spring peas, spring onions a nice piece of young pecorino and of course some fresh herbs. I was not sure what…

The Cookbook has arrived

After almost a year of hard work, the cookbook is finished. As promised I am including a link to the book for those of you who wish to purchase a copy. You all want one right? I have used Blurb to publish my book as they are one of the lowest priced self publishing sites…

Mamma Cristina

THE BOOK IS DONE!!! Wohoooo! All I have left is a good read through. My sister Elisabeth is helping me with editing. As soon as it is up for sale I will give you a link. Walking to the Chatelain market on Wednesday, we ran into Andrea in front of his restaurant “La Piola“. Andrea…