radicchio made easy.
I confess, radicchio evaded me for many years. I looked at it forlornly… knowing I needed to invite it back to my kitchen, if just for a dabble of this and that. It is a glorious looking vegetable, bursting with purples leaves and white veins, with a flavor pushing bitter and spicy… but milder once it is grilled or roasted. I meant to give it a chance, and knew if I did we would become fast friends. I finally took the time to get to know radicchio: it shows up with overwhelming consistency at Italian markets this time of year. Every little ‘

Castellina in Chianti
I love this town. We only visited because I had an interview—to write articles on all that is available to tourists in Tuscany. It looks promising; sign me up to research on the art, history, food and culture of Tuscany. Castellina in Chianti is a small, quaint hilltop town south of Florence by about an hour. We rented a car and drove to my meeting, then drove home along the olive tree, vineyard heavy roads back to Florence. So many signs for vineyards, castles and frantoio were along this route—it was surreal. In Castellina (next time, I

Carbonara
All summer while we cycled across Holland, Belgium and France—and even during our stay in London—we sought out Italian food. Sure we would try new food, but part of risking adventure means finding some comfort and familiarity in the crevices. Sure we sold our house, our cars, left our neighborhood, school and city… and yep, we packed all of our belongings into some storage warehouse south of Seattle. And we bought bikes, packed them into boxes, threw them and ourselves onto an airplane and… had a gin and tonic. If you ha

snacks revisited
It is interesting when you revamp your environment (e.g. going abroad for a year), to see what adjustments we make in our eating and cooking habits. In Florence, I find myself converting measurements such as kilograms, pints, liters and grams, Celsius. In the states I relied on cups, teaspoons, Fahrenheit, ounces and pounds. I thought in quarts, not liters, and based my measurements on our American system. So I am adjusting. Sometimes I actually translate baking directions from Italian to English. Just the other day, I was making rolls and

my fashion faux pas meal
As in: no white shoes before Easter, loose the leg warmers and satin is out. This meal is all wrong. I learned in cooking school that it is important to consider the combination of foods on a given plate. In other words, what are the varying textures? Are the colors contrasting? Do you have a protein, vegetable and starch? Have you styled it and stacked it? Are you presenting it properly toward the guest? Sauce should not go over the protein, but in front. And so forth.